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. 2020 Jan;51(1):422-428.
doi: 10.1111/ejn.14132. Epub 2018 Sep 20.

The molecular genetics of human sleep

Luoying Zhang  1 , Ying-Hui Fu  2
Affiliations

The molecular genetics of human sleep

Luoying Zhang et al. Eur J Neurosci. 2020 Jan.

Abstract

It has been known for many years that genetic influences account for some of the individual differences in human sleep parameters, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. With major advances of molecular biology and the recognition of heritable sleep behaviors in humans over the past 30 years, a number of genetic variants have been identified to be associated with human sleep timing, duration and quality, both in healthy individuals and under pathological conditions. Some of these variants were further validated and characterized in animal models, shedding light on the mechanism of how these variants likely alter sleep in humans, which may provide new insights into developing more effective treatments to improve human sleep.

Keywords: animal model; genetic variant; sleep disorders; sleep homeostasis; sleep phase.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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