Physiology, Volume 41, Issue 5, Page 000-000, September 2026.
Introduction
Despite being a universal human experience, sleep remains one of the least understood physiological processes. We know that we spend nearly one-third of our lives sleeping, yet the precise neural mechanisms that make sleep restorative and what happens when this goes awry are still largely mysterious. The most exciting open questions in physiology today lie at the heart of sleep neuroscience: how do subtle neural rhythms like K-complexes, sleep spindles, and microarousals orchestrate sleep stability and what role do they play in insomnia?
These questions are not just scientific curiosities: they are a matter of growing public health importance. Chronic insomnia affects 10–15% of adults worldwide and is linked to impaired cognitive function, emotional dysregulation, cardiovascular disease, and even early mortality. Understanding the microarchitecture of sleep may be the key to unlocking more effective, noninvasive treatments for this pervasive condition.
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