Published September 15, 2026, this Molecular Psychiatry study examined whether transcranial near-infrared photobiomodulation could influence adenosine signaling and sleep. The program combined cell experiments, implanted EEG and biochemical measurements in mice, and a double-blind randomized trial involving 40 people.
What the researchers found In mice, stimulation increased non-rapid-eye-movement sleep, delta power and frontal-cortex adenosine relative to sham. The human trial reported significant short-term reductions in insomnia severity, sleep disturbance and sleep latency.
How to read the result This is promising early translational evidence, not proof of a durable sleep treatment. The checked publication does not expose the human allocation, device dose, effect sizes, comparator details, adverse-event counts or follow-up in its accessible abstract. Two authors co-founded TEDi MEDi, which supplied prototype devices.
Source and disclosure Peer-reviewed translational study; publisher page and indexed abstract checked. Prepared with AI assistance and source-checked September 17, 2026.