Abstract
Chapter Highlights
* Distinct characteristics of human sleep are regulated by different molecular and genetic mechanisms with different degrees of heritability.
* The genetics of sleep and sleep‐wake regulation are still relatively unknown when compared to the genetics of other complex traits.
* The sleep EEG is one of the most heritable traits in humans. Elucidating the underlying genes may reveal novel sleep functions.
* Independent replication and confirmation of most of currently proposed genetic associations with distinct characteristics of sleep and sleep regulatory processes in high‐quality protocols and data sets is required.