Research Topic · Peer-Reviewed

Physiology of Sleep

The physiology of sleep is the study of the biological processes that generate, regulate, and sustain sleep and of the functions sleep performs for the body and brain. Sleep is an active, reversible state organized into recurring cycles of non-rapid-eye-movement and rapid-eye-movement stages, each with characteristi…

Curated from this journal's research 📚 5 peer-reviewed articles cited Cited 40× across the literature 🔖 ISSN 2574-4518 🗓 Reviewed July 2026

Overview

The physiology of sleep is the study of the biological processes that generate, regulate, and sustain sleep and of the functions sleep performs for the body and brain. Sleep is an active, reversible state organized into recurring cycles of non-rapid-eye-movement and rapid-eye-movement stages, each with characteristic patterns of brain electrical activity, muscle tone, and autonomic function. Its timing and architecture are governed by two interacting systems: a homeostatic drive that builds with wakefulness and dissipates during sleep, and the circadian clock, which aligns sleep–wake timing to the day–night cycle largely through light. A network of brainstem, hypothalamic, and thalamic centers, together with neurotransmitter and neuromodulator systems, orchestrates transitions between waking and sleep stages; signaling systems such as the endocannabinoid system are implicated in circadian regulation and sleep modulation. Physiologically, sleep supports restoration and energy conservation, regulation of hormones and metabolism, immune function, and central nervous system processes including memory consolidation and clearance of metabolic by-products. Respiratory, cardiovascular, and thermoregulatory control all shift during sleep, and breathing patterns are especially sensitive to sleep state. Understanding normal sleep physiology provides the foundation for recognizing sleep disorders, interpreting measures of sleep quality, and appreciating how disrupted or insufficient sleep affects physical and cognitive health across the lifespan in both children and adults.

Research published in this journal

5 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

2014

Hypertension in Hypoxia

Guchhait PrasenjitCorresponding author
UNESCO Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Delhi NCR, India.
Hypertension and Cardiology doi:10.14302/issn.2329-9487.jhc-14-edt3

How this research is being cited

The 5 articles above have been cited 40 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.

A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Physiology of Sleep, linking to each citing work.

Editorial oversight

Curated from peer-reviewed research published in Sleep And Sleep Disorder Research (ISSN 2574-4518).

Journal editorial board
Dragos Octavian Palade · Romania Mauro Manconi · Switzerland Karim Sedky · United States

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.