How sleep timing and length affect teen depression and ability to feel pleasure
Official title: Mechanisms of Depression and Anhedonia in Adolescents: Linking Sleep Duration and Timing to Reward- and Stress-Related Brain Function
Funded at University of Oregon · NIH-11031378 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether changing sleep timing and how long high-school teens sleep can help brain responses to reward and stress and reduce depressive symptoms and loss of pleasure.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Oregon NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Eugene, United States) |
| Project start | February 10, 2022 |
| Project end | December 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $743,433 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH126109-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11031378 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are high-school adolescents aged 14–19 who have current depressive symptoms or a history of stressful events, and who have either short/late sleep (≤6 hours on weekdays with a late midpoint) or long/early sleep (≥8 hours on weekdays with an earlier midpoint).
✕Less likely to help
Teens without depressive symptoms, those outside the 14–19 age range, or those unable to undergo sleep changes or brain imaging are unlikely to benefit from participation.
What this research studies
You would be part of research that first watches how your sleep patterns, stress history, and mood relate to brain activity linked to reward and stress. The team will enroll about 150 high-school teens (14–19) for an observational phase and about 100 teens for an experimental phase where sleep duration or timing is shifted. Participation includes sleep monitoring, mood questionnaires, and brain imaging to measure reward- and stress-related brain function. The study focuses on teens at higher risk for depression because of past stressful events and current depressive symptoms and compares teens with short/late sleep to those with long/early sleep.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to sleep-based ways to prevent or reduce depression and loss of pleasure in teenagers.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies link poor sleep to worse mood and some sleep-focused treatments have improved mood, but experimental work targeting reward- and stress-related brain responses in adolescents is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Oregon
Eugene, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Casement, Melynda D — University of Oregon
- Study coordinator: Casement, Melynda D
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.