Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27780049›Full record

ReviewCurrent biology : CB2016

Unraveling the Evolutionary Determinants of Sleep.

William J Joiner

Open access · bronzeAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Current biology : CB, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 111 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
111citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
11.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

111 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 220 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Emerging genetics of sleep and circadian disorders.Current opinion in pediatrics · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Zebrafish sleep displays distinct sub-states.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  14. Sleeping upside-down: Knockdown of a sleep-associated gene induces daytime sleep in the jellyfishProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Article

51 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.

William J JoinerDepartment of Pharmacology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0636, USA; Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0636, USA; Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0636, USA; Center for Circadian Biology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0636, USA. Electronic address: wjoiner@ucsd.edu.
University of California, San Diego · US

Funding

Molecular and anatomical basis of sleep regulation by SLEEPLESSR01NS072431 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI JOINER, WILLIAM J · 2011 to 2015
$1.7M
NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS072431
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Despite decades of intense study, the functions of sleep are still shrouded in mystery. The difficulty in understanding these functions can be at least partly attributed to the varied manifestations of sleep in different animals. Daily sleep duration can range from 4-20 hrs among mammals, and sleep can manifest throughout the brain, or it can alternate over time between cerebral hemispheres, depending on the species. Ecological factors are likely to have shaped these and other sleep behaviors during evolution by altering the properties of conserved arousal circuits in the brain. Nonetheless, core functions of sleep are likely to have arisen early and to have persisted to the present day in diverse organisms. This review will discuss the evolutionary forces that may be responsible for phylogenetic differences in sleep and the potential core functions that sleep fulfills.

Indexed as

Biological EvolutionSleepAnimalsInvertebratesVertebrates

Identifiers

PMID27780049
PMCPMC5120870
OpenAlexW2534346109

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.