Summary
This large genome-wide association study identified 78 genetic loci influencing habitual sleep duration in 446,118 European ancestry adults from the UK Biobank, with validation in a separate cohort of 47,180 individuals. The identified loci were enriched for pathways involved in striatum and subpallium development, mechanosensory response, dopamine binding, and synaptic neurotransmission. Genetic correlation and Mendelian randomization analyses revealed bidirectional causal relationships between sleep duration and schizophrenia, alongside associations with anthropometric, cognitive, and metabolic traits.
UK applicability
Findings are directly applicable to UK populations, as the primary analysis utilised UK Biobank data from adults of European ancestry. However, applicability to non-European ancestry groups and clinical interventions in UK healthcare settings requires further investigation, as the study was limited to European ancestry populations.
Key measures
Self-reported habitual sleep duration; accelerometer-derived sleep duration; sleep efficiency; daytime inactivity; number of sleep bouts; genetic loci (p<5×10⁻⁸); replication p-values; genetic correlation; Mendelian randomization analysis
Outcomes reported
The study identified 78 genetic loci associated with self-reported habitual sleep duration through genome-wide association analysis in 446,118 UK Biobank participants, with replication in the CHARGE study (n=47,180). Secondary analyses demonstrated these loci also associate with accelerometer-derived sleep duration, daytime inactivity, sleep efficiency, and number of sleep bouts (n=85,499).
Topic tags
Dig deeper with Pulse AI.
Pulse AI has read the whole catalogue. Ask about this record, its theme, or how the findings apply to UK farming and policy — every answer cites the underlying studies.