An experiment on mice, which aimed a laser beam at neuron connections deep inside the brain telling animals to eat or not to, was conducted according to Science News. The US study suggests that such a laser targeted at human’s brains could curb hunger attacks. During the study, scientists forced the critters to eat even thought they were already hungry. Yet, once the light from the laser was targeted at the hungry mice, they chose to ignore the food. According to the report, when the laser activated these neurons, the mice became very hungry. They would actually refuse to take the food, though they were starving, when the laser quieted neuron messages sent to the lateral hypothalamus, a section in the brain linked to initiating hunger. "This is a really important missing piece of the puzzle," neuroscientist Seth Blackshaw of Johns Hopkins University said and added on, "These are cell types that weren't even predicted to exist." It is still unknown as to whether the laser treatment, named optogenetics would give a user long term results in their overall eating patterns. Voice of Russia, MSN NZ. Source: Article
