SummarySleep is a fundamental pillar of human health. Recently, environmental, lifestyle, and social changes have increasingly disrupted natural sleep-wake cycles in humans and animals. As a result, we are frequently exposed to various external and internal stressors (i.e., exposome) that contribute to accelerated brain aging, mental health disorders, and neurodegenerative conditions. However, the interplay between sleep, brain, and exposome is underexplored. This project utilizes advanced multivariate analyses and machine learning techniques to identify key environmental and lifestyle factors, as well as neurobiological mechanisms, that impact sleep health. Additionally, we will investigate how these interconnected factors may heighten the risk of clinical depression and Alzheimer’s disease. The duration of this project is 48 months. The findings of this project will benefit three groups: 1) individuals, by providing interactive tools to improve health literacy and awareness of sleep health; 2) researchers and clinicians, through shared datasets and machine learning tools to accelerate reproducible research and ensure clinical relevance; and 3) policy experts, with evidence-based frameworks to guide health strategies and urban planning, adaptable to global contexts.

Keywords Brain Environmental-Exposure Lifestyle-risk-factors brain-health environment lifestyle sleep

InstitutionsForschungszentrum Jülich, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf