Transcranial photobiomodulation to enhance sleep by elevating adenosine signaling: a translational study.

The small human trial reported short-term improvements in insomnia severity, sleep disturbance and sleep latency. Larger, fully reported studies are needed before drawing treatment conclusions.

Jung J, Cheong C, Oh Y, Lee Y, Do KV, Zhu X, Kim J, Yeo C, Cho H, Kim JG, Kim T.
Molecular psychiatry · Publication date: 2026-09-15
Added to site: 2026-09-17
DOI: 10.1038/s41380-026-03875-y

First electronic publication date verified on the publisher page and in the authoritative index.

Modalities

PBM, EEG

Clinical focus

Sleep, Insomnia, Adenosine

Population

Human participants with sleep disturbance; mice and neural-cell preparations in the preclinical components

Sample

40 human participants; animal and cell denominators were not available in the abstract

Intervention / method

Transcranial near-infrared photobiomodulation; detailed human dose, allocation and schedule were not available in the accessible abstract

Comparator

Mouse experiments used sham controls; human comparator details were not available in the accessible abstract

Clinician summary

Mouse work found increased NREM sleep, delta power and frontal-cortex adenosine versus sham. The 40-person double-blind randomized trial reported significant sleep improvements, but accessible reporting omitted effect sizes, group allocation, dose, adverse-event counts and durability.

How to interpret the findings

The mechanistic chain spans cells, mice and a small human trial. Cross-species findings do not establish the human mechanism, and the accessible abstract lacks essential human protocol, comparator, effect-size, safety and follow-up details.

Equipment and disclosures

The human study used non-commercial prototype devices supplied by TEDi MEDi, Inc. Wavelength, dose and device configuration were not available in the accessible abstract.

Tae Kim and Jae Gwan Kim are co-founders of TEDi MEDi, Inc., which supplied the prototype devices. The indexed record lists South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare support.

Related evidence

Compare findings from the same clinical area, including mixed results.

• Infra-slow EEG neurofeedback for insomnia: a single-case experimental study in primary care. · Positive with limitations
• Infra-low frequency neurofeedback impact on post-concussive symptoms of headache, insomnia and attention disorder: Results of a randomized control trial. · Positive with limitations
• Closed-loop auditory stimulation in phase with slow waves during sleep enhances cerebrospinal fluid flow in humans. · Positive with limitations
• Personalizing sleep therapy: Integrating EEG neurofeedback into the sleep disorders management. · Positive with limitations