| Title: | Sleep chart of biological ageing clocks in middle and late life |
| Journal: | Nature |
| Published: | 13 May 2026 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42129562/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10524-5 |
Publication 20058
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Abstract
Optimal sleep has a vital role in promoting healthy ageing and enhancing longevity. Here we propose Sleep Chart to assess the relationship between self-reported sleep duration and 23 biological ageing clocks derived from in vivo imaging1, plasma proteomics2 and metabolomics3. First, a systemic, U-shaped pattern emerges between sleep duration and biological age gaps across nine brain and body systems and three omics technologies. The sample-specific lowest biological age gaps are achieved between 6.4 and 7.8 h of sleep duration, varying by organ and sex in the UK Biobank (aged 37-84 years). Furthermore, short (<6 h) and long (>8 h) sleep duration, compared with a normal sleep duration (6-8 h), are associated with increased risk of systemic diseases beyond the brain and all-cause mortality, with evidence from genetic correlations and time-to-incident survival predictions, such as depression and diabetes. Finally, the pathways by which long and short sleep duration are associated with late-life depression differ: ageing clocks may partially mediate the pathway for long sleep duration, while short sleep duration shows a more direct link. Although Mendelian randomization does not provide strong evidence that disease causally affects sleep, it cannot completely exclude such reverse causality. Our findings suggest a cross-organ, multi-omics U-shaped relationship between sleep duration and biological ageing clocks, highlighting the potential of sleep optimization to promote healthy ageing, lower disease risk and extend longevity.</p>
26 Authors
- Cliodhna Kate O'Toole
- Zhiyuan Song
- Filippos Anagnostakis
- Zhijian Yang
- Ye Ella Tian
- Michael R. Duggan
- Chunrui Zou
- Yue Leng
- Yi Cai
- Wenjia Bai
- Cynthia H. Y. Fu
- Michael S. Rafii
- Paul Aisen
- Gao Wang
- Philip L. De Jager
- Jian Zeng
- Hamilton Se-Hwee Oh
- Xia Zhou
- Keenan A. Walker
- Daniel W. Belsky
- Andrew Zalesky
- Eleanor M. Simonsick
- Susan M. Resnick
- Luigi Ferrucci
- Christos Davatzikos
- Junhao Wen
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 647044 | MULTI: modeling human aging and disease via multi-organ and multi-omics biomedical data |
Enabling scientific discoveries that improve human health