Neuroscience

Novel technique helps explain why bright light keeps us awake

In recent decades, scientists have learned a great deal about how different neurons connect and send signals to each other. But it's been difficult to trace the activity of individual nerve fibers known as axons, some of ...

Overweight & Obesity

Study explains what triggers those late-night snack cravings

A study published in the most recent version of the journal Obesity found that the body's internal clock, the circadian system, increases hunger and cravings for sweet, starchy and salty foods in the evenings. While the urge ...

Medical research

A key switch in biological clocks

Just as we abide by an external time schedule to eat, sleep, and go to work, our body is similarly dictated by internal clocks. Known as circadian rhythms, these daily cycles keep us on a regular 24-hour day and are involved ...

Medical research

The role of dopamine in sleep regulation

A group of Spanish researchers has discovered a new function of the neurotransmitter dopamine in controlling sleep regulation. Dopamine acts in the pineal gland, which is central to dictating the 'circadian rhythm' in humans—the ...

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