Tag Archive for 'Growth hormone'

Velazquez-Arcelay et al. found that genetic material from Neanderthal ancestors may have contributed to the propensity of some people today to be early risers, the sort of people who are more comfortable getting up and going to bed earlier. Image credit: Holger Neumann / Neanderthal Museum.

Neanderthal Gene Still Shapes Muscle and Jaws in Some Living Humans

Aug 7, 2026 by Enrico de Lazaro

Neanderthals vanished roughly 42,000 years ago, but a piece of their biology appears to be quietly at work in some people today, according to a new study...

Mostly plant-based low-amino-acid diets have the most potent effects on healthspan but require moderate methionine intake to minimize frailty. Image credit: Fanti et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2026.05.015.

Modified Mediterranean Diet Extends Healthy Lifespan in Mice: Study

Jun 25, 2026 by News Staff

In a new animal study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, scientists found that adding a precise amount of a single amino acid to a low-protein,...

Sleep is known to promote tissue growth and regulate metabolism, partly by enhancing growth hormone (GH) release, but the underlying circuit mechanism is unknown. Ding et al. demonstrate how GH release, which is enhanced during both rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM (NREM) sleep, is regulated by sleep-wake-dependent activity of distinct hypothalamic neurons expressing GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin (SST). SST neurons in the arcuate nucleus suppress GH release by inhibiting nearby GHRH neurons that stimulate GH release, whereas periventricular SST neurons inhibit GH release by projecting to the median eminence. GH release is associated with strong surges of both GHRH and SST activity during REM sleep but moderately increased GHRH and decreased SST activity during NREM sleep. Furthermore, Ding et al. identified a negative feedback pathway in which GH enhances the excitability of locus coeruleus neurons and increases wakefulness. Image credit: Ding et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.05.039.

Animal Study Sheds New Light on How Sleep and Growth Hormone Regulation Interact

Sep 9, 2025 by News Staff

Neuroscientists from the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University have explored brain circuits that control growth hormone release during...