Attention, chocolate lovers: You may not be able to help yourselves. Swiss and British scientists have linked the widespread love of chocolate to a chemical "signature" that may be programmed into our metabolic systems.
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Enzyme Sets Internal Clock
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THURSDAY, Aug. 19 (HealthDayNews) -- The activation of an enzyme called PKG-II triggers biochemical reactions that may be critical in helping our biological clock tell the difference between night and day. That's what researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found. In experiments with rats, the scientists blocked the action of PKG-II and noted the impact on the rats' internal clocks. Without PKG-II, the rats' circadian rhythms seemed stuck in the "late night" phase, suggesting the enzyme helps regulate the transition from night to day. "Activation of PKG-II may serve as a critical checkpoint," the authors wrote, allowing our internal clocks to "align with dawn in the solar cycle." The study appears in the Aug. 19 issue of Neuron. More information The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has information about sleep.
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