Enhancing sleep, wakefulness, and cognition with transcranial photobiomodulation: a systematic review
Disruptions in sleep are common across clinical populations, particularly those with neurological and psychiatric disorders, making restorative sleep and sustained wakefulness a public health priority. Sleep is essential for brain function, impacting cognition in addition to serving as a critical fa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1542462/full |
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| author | Naomi L. Gaggi Zamfira Parincu Anna Peterson Courtney O’Brien Korey Kam Umit Tural Indu Ayappa Andrew W. Varga Dan V. Iosifescu Dan V. Iosifescu Ricardo S. Osorio Ricardo S. Osorio |
| author_facet | Naomi L. Gaggi Zamfira Parincu Anna Peterson Courtney O’Brien Korey Kam Umit Tural Indu Ayappa Andrew W. Varga Dan V. Iosifescu Dan V. Iosifescu Ricardo S. Osorio Ricardo S. Osorio |
| author_sort | Naomi L. Gaggi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Disruptions in sleep are common across clinical populations, particularly those with neurological and psychiatric disorders, making restorative sleep and sustained wakefulness a public health priority. Sleep is essential for brain function, impacting cognition in addition to serving as a critical factor in memory consolidation and healthy aging. Neuromodulation via transcranial photobiomodulation (t-PBM) increases cerebral mitochondrial activity and blood flow. These effects may underlie improvements in sleep quality and wakefulness observed after t-PBM. In this systematic review, we summarize the current literature across clinical and healthy populations, which describes t-PBM’s potential to improve sleep, wakefulness, and cognition. The scope of this review also includes t-PBM’s effect on the brain’s glymphatic system and blood flow, the potential of this strategy to augment alertness, wakefulness, and associated cognitive processes, and the suggestion for targeted t-PBM application for future research based on the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of t-PBM and wakefulness across diverse clinical populations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-dd01a02f4f4544e293b22e7a4acc6687 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-dd01a02f4f4544e293b22e7a4acc66872025-08-20T03:58:36ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532025-07-011910.3389/fnbeh.2025.15424621542462Enhancing sleep, wakefulness, and cognition with transcranial photobiomodulation: a systematic reviewNaomi L. Gaggi0Zamfira Parincu1Anna Peterson2Courtney O’Brien3Korey Kam4Umit Tural5Indu Ayappa6Andrew W. Varga7Dan V. Iosifescu8Dan V. Iosifescu9Ricardo S. Osorio10Ricardo S. Osorio11Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, United StatesGrossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, United StatesGrossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, United StatesGrossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, United StatesIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United StatesNathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United StatesIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United StatesIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United StatesGrossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, United StatesNathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United StatesGrossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, United StatesNathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, United StatesDisruptions in sleep are common across clinical populations, particularly those with neurological and psychiatric disorders, making restorative sleep and sustained wakefulness a public health priority. Sleep is essential for brain function, impacting cognition in addition to serving as a critical factor in memory consolidation and healthy aging. Neuromodulation via transcranial photobiomodulation (t-PBM) increases cerebral mitochondrial activity and blood flow. These effects may underlie improvements in sleep quality and wakefulness observed after t-PBM. In this systematic review, we summarize the current literature across clinical and healthy populations, which describes t-PBM’s potential to improve sleep, wakefulness, and cognition. The scope of this review also includes t-PBM’s effect on the brain’s glymphatic system and blood flow, the potential of this strategy to augment alertness, wakefulness, and associated cognitive processes, and the suggestion for targeted t-PBM application for future research based on the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of t-PBM and wakefulness across diverse clinical populations.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1542462/fulltranscranial photobiomodulationsleepwakefulnesscognitionsleep disorders |
| spellingShingle | Naomi L. Gaggi Zamfira Parincu Anna Peterson Courtney O’Brien Korey Kam Umit Tural Indu Ayappa Andrew W. Varga Dan V. Iosifescu Dan V. Iosifescu Ricardo S. Osorio Ricardo S. Osorio Enhancing sleep, wakefulness, and cognition with transcranial photobiomodulation: a systematic review Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience transcranial photobiomodulation sleep wakefulness cognition sleep disorders |
| title | Enhancing sleep, wakefulness, and cognition with transcranial photobiomodulation: a systematic review |
| title_full | Enhancing sleep, wakefulness, and cognition with transcranial photobiomodulation: a systematic review |
| title_fullStr | Enhancing sleep, wakefulness, and cognition with transcranial photobiomodulation: a systematic review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhancing sleep, wakefulness, and cognition with transcranial photobiomodulation: a systematic review |
| title_short | Enhancing sleep, wakefulness, and cognition with transcranial photobiomodulation: a systematic review |
| title_sort | enhancing sleep wakefulness and cognition with transcranial photobiomodulation a systematic review |
| topic | transcranial photobiomodulation sleep wakefulness cognition sleep disorders |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1542462/full |
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