VIP treatment for jet lag
A small molecule called VIP, known to synchronize time-keeping neurons in the brain’s biological clock, has the startling effect of desynchronizing them at higher dosages, says a research team at Washington University in St. Louis. Neurons knocked for a loop by a burst of VIP are better able to re-synchronize to abrupt shifts in the light-dark cycle like those that make jet lag or shift work so miserable.
Scientists map the wiring of the biological clock
In the June 5 issue of Neuron, WUSTL biologist Erik Herzog and his
colleagues report the discovery of a crucial part of the biological
clock: the wiring that sets its accuracy to within a few minutes out of
the 1440 minutes per day. This wiring uses the neurotransmitter, GABA,
to connect the individual cells of the biological clock in a fast
network that changes strength with time of day.