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Sleep: Melatonin dims the lights on wakefulness

Pittman TK, Rihel J

Current biology : CB, 2026

Abstract

The hormone melatonin is one of the most widely used over-the-counter sleep aids, yet, rather surprisingly, how it promotes sleep is not understood. A new study shows that melatonin uses a specific receptor to simultaneously stimulate sleep and dampen the brain's responsiveness to visual inputs.

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