Your Brain is a Time Machine: The Neuroscience and Physics of Time

by Dean Buonomano

It has long been hypothesized that the phases of the moon play a role in human physiology. For example, as the term lunacy suggests, it was believed that the full moon could cause people to go insane; contemporary scholars think this association arose because changes in sleep patterns triggered by the light of the full moon may have pushed people suffering from epilepsy or bipolar disorder over the edge. Additionally, the fact that the human menstrual cycle is very close to the lunar month hints at a role for the moon in human reproduction. This appears to be a mere coincidence, as the menstrual cycle of other primates can be significantly shorter or longer. So, other than the obvious fact that lunar light could alter sleep and social activities, there is little evidence that the phases of the moon have any direct impact on human physiology.25