Future horizons: Toward an integrated neuroscience of sleep.

Abstract

Sleep is now recognized as a vital biological process with roles beyond rest, including neurodevelopment, memory, emotional regulation, metabolism, immune function, and neuroprotection. Advances in neuroscience and technology reveal that sleep is an active, multifaceted process involving multiple brain and body systems. This chapter explores how neural networks, waste clearance, circadian rhythms, immune responses, and cognition interact to influence brain health and disease. We examine sleep's connections to neurodegeneration, mental illness, aging, and cognitive resilience. We also highlight emerging directions, including personalized sleep medicine, digital mapping of sleep networks, AI-based diagnostics, sleep biomarkers, novel therapies, wearable technologies, and circadian interventions. Integrating genetics, computational modelling, and real-time monitoring could transform both basic and clinical sleep science. Ultimately, advancing sleep neuroscience will require a unified approach that links molecular mechanisms to behavior and disease, positioning sleep as a central target for enhancing cognition, preventing brain disorders, supporting mental health, and promoting overall well-being.