Mice slept similar amounts without a brain protein
Experiments in male mice found largely intact recovery sleep after loss of a brain protein; nicotinamide mononucleotide supplementation also left sleep duration and quality unchanged.
Our read
Interventions- Studied:
- Experiments in male mice, against littermate wild-type mice
- What changed:
- Mice lacking the brain protein slept similar amounts to littermates that retained it
- The catch:
- Only male mice were studied; sleep effects in females could differ
- In the record:
- One of 726 papers on nicotinamide mononucleotide on record: 103 with results in people, 327 in animals.
- Why it’s aging research:
- An intervention with evidence on lifespan or healthspan.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In experiments in male mice, researchers compared animals lacking the brain protein sirtuin 1 with littermates that retained it. Baseline sleep patterns, time asleep and recovery sleep after six hours awake were similar. Mice lacking the protein had lower slow-wave brain activity during non-REM sleep, the stage without rapid eye movements. The length of their internal daily rhythm did not differ.
Researchers also tested nicotinamide mononucleotide, a supplement, in middle-aged mice of both types. At 10 months old, mice received abdominal injections of 500 milligrams per kilogram of body weight daily for 10 days. A longer regimen supplied 300 milligrams per kilogram daily in drinking water for two months. Neither regimen changed sleep duration or quality compared with control sessions. The researchers observed no behavioral adverse effects during the longer regimen.
Why it matters
The authors suggest that potential sleep and fatigue benefits of nicotinamide mononucleotide in older people may arise indirectly from improvements in muscle function and energy metabolism.
Caveats
These experiments used only male mice, so they do not establish whether the findings apply to females or people.
Nicotinamide mononucleotide is part of David Sinclair's daily regimen in LifespanMore supplements
The paper
Stanford Medicine
Scientific Reports, Jun 23, 2026, Open access
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