A new study published today in Nature Communications has found 47 links between our genetic code and the quality, quantity, and timing of how we sleep. Ten of these genetic links are affiliated with sleep duration and 26 with sleep quality.

The researchers looked at data from participants with accelerometers—wrist-worn devices similar to a Fitbit that record activity levels continuously. The accelerometers provided more detailed sleep data than was acquired in previous studies, which have relied on people self-reporting their sleep habits.

One uncovered gene is PDE11A. The research team discovered than an uncommon variant of this gene affects not only how long you sleep but also your quality of sleep. The gene has previously been identified as a possible drug target for treatment of people with neuropsychiatric disorders associated with mood stability and social behaviors.

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The study also found that among people with the same hip circumference, a higher waist circumference resulted in less time sleeping, although the effect was very small—around 4 seconds less sleep per 1 cm waist increase in someone with the average hip circumference of 100 cm.

The team found that, collectively, the genetic regions linked to sleep quality are also linked to the production of serotonin—a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of happiness and wellbeing. Serotonin is known to play a key role in sleep cycles and is theorized to help promote deeper and more restful sleep.

“We know that getting enough sleep improves our health and wellbeing, yet we still know relatively little about the mechanisms in our bodies that influence how we sleep,” says senior author Andrew Wood of the University of Exeter. “Changes in sleep quality, quantity, and timing are strongly associated with several human diseases such as diabetes and obesity and psychiatric disorders.”

The group also found further evidence that Restless Leg Syndrome is linked to poorer sleep from the genetic variants they found to be associated with sleep measures derived from the accelerometer data.