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... courant.com | Hunger May Help Learning Subscribe Newspaper ServicesCourant Extras HOME NEWS SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT JOBS CARS REAL ESTATE SHOPPING CLASSIFIED WEATHER TRAFFIC Jobs Cars Real Estate Mortgages Apartments Classified Sales/Deals Place an Ad Coupons News Connecticut Towns Latest News Education Health NE Magazine Politics Specials World/Nation Business Life Sports Opinion Obituaries ctnow.com Dining Movies Music Nightlife Stage TV/Radio Site Tools Yellow Pages Maps Traffic Weather Site Map RSS Feeds Services Subscribe Archives Extras HC Jobs Reprints Pix Reprints Browse Ads View Page 1 Media Kit Services courant.com the web Log in Register Services HEALTH Hunger May Help Learning February 21, 2006 By WILLIAM HATHAWAY, Courant Staff Writer A hunger to learn may be more than just an educational cliché, Yale scientists report.A hormone produced in the stomach directly stimulates parts of the brain involved in learning and memory, a Yale-led team of scientists reported Sunday online in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

ADVERTISEMENT The hormone, ghrelin, is produced in fat cells and circulates mostly during daylight hours whenever the stomach is empty.

But the new study suggests the hormone does more than simply help regulate appetite.The scientists found that in mice and rats, ghrelin directly stimulates activity in the hippocampus, an area of the brain crucial to enhanced learning and memor...

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