Mar 5, 2026
- Study published January 2026 in Sleep Advances
- Led by Assistant Professor Chris Depner in the College of Health’s Department of Health & Kinesiology
- Sleep extension intervention feasible for adults sleeping less than 6.5 hours per night
- Participants showed significantly reduced daytime sleepiness and increased REM sleep
- Findings support future development of interventions aimed at lowering diabetes risk
A new study published in January in Sleep Advances and led by Chris Depner, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Health & Kinesiology, offers promising early evidence that extending nightly sleep may help reduce risk factors for cardiometabolic disease. The research tested a sleep extension intervention designed for adults who routinely sleep less than 6.5 hours per night, aiming to gradually increase sleep duration over several weeks.
The findings show the intervention is both feasible and effective in improving several aspects of sleep. Participants experienced dramatic reductions in daytime sleepiness and increases in REM sleep, which plays a crucial role in metabolic regulation, memory processing, and emotional well-being. While maintaining consistent sleep schedules remained a challenge for many participants, the study provides a strong foundation for shaping more robust sleep‑based interventions. These insights will guide next‑step research to determine whether longer-term sleep extension can lower diabetes risk in people who habitually experience insufficient sleep.
Depner’s research centers on understanding how chronic insufficient sleep increases vulnerability to cardiometabolic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, and on developing practical strategies to mitigate these risks. By integrating sleep physiology, metabolism, and behavior change, his work aims to create scalable interventions that can improve long-term health outcomes. This study marks a key step toward translating sleep science into accessible, effective prevention tools.
