The rotational movement of the Earth influences the configuration of human sleep and hunger patterns due to light and dark or circadian cycles. So does the movement of translation with the circannual cycles, so the hours of light and temperature variations have a lot to do with the functioning of our nervous system. If the position of the Sun with respect to the Earth has such an influence on our behavior, could the same thing happen with the Moon?
The term lunatic has historically been used in a derogatory way to refer to those individuals with strange behaviors or close to madness. Mythology, popular folklore, or even literature, have contributed to the roots of this idea throughout the centuries, through characters that change their nature with the full moon or that perpetrate the most violent and bloodthirsty crimes. Numerous scientific studies have focused on the impact of this satellite on our behavior and the truth is that they have reached different conclusions depending on the subject in focus.
In Antiquity, the Greeks already referred to those people who ‘changed with the Moon’ as lunatics and who, in reality, suffered from diseases such as epilepsy or suffered convulsive episodes. Currently, research suggests that the incidence of epileptic seizures could be related to the brightness of the night, rather than lunar phases. A study has found that a greater number of attacks have been recorded on dark nights than on nights with clearer skies. Despite other research indicating a curious increase in Internet searches for information on epileptic seizures during full moon phases, these relationships have not been able to be definitively demonstrated, as this is still a line of study to be explored.
In nature there are animals such as wolves, owls or bats on which the Moon is an influential factor in their migratory, hunting or sleeping dynamics. In this last aspect, they have investigated a study with a large sample, in which its participants showed greater difficulty in achieving deep sleep and lower levels of melatonin —the hormone that produces sleep—, as well as a worse subjective evaluation of their rest. , in the full moon phase. Regarding other biological patterns of the fauna in which the Moon intervenes, such as the rate of calf birth, relationships with humans have not been established, not even in those areas with difficult access to artificial light.
Other researchers have evaluated the hypothesis of a relationship between the phases of the Moon and a higher incidence of psychopathological diseases. Actually, studies in this field have not been able to obtain consistent results. The University of Oxford quantified psychiatric admissions and emergency calls during the different lunar phases and could not verify differences.
Scientists have also failed to link any lunar phase to an overall higher rate of suicide or violent crime in general, although Florida International University does discern a greater effect of bright nights on open-air crime.
