The researchers found mice bred to lack the ghrelin gene had 25% fewer 'synaptic' connections between nerve cells in this area.

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The hypothalamus reacts to ghrelin, a hormone excreted by an empty stomach, by releasing appetite-stimulating neurotransmitters into other parts of the brain.

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Elixir hopes to design drugs that block the effects of the natural hormone ghrelin, which prompts the release of growth hormone and stimulates appetite.

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They also showed that injecting normal mice with extra ghrelin increased the number of synapses in the hippocampus - and improved the animals' performance in several learning and memory tests.

BBC: NEWS | Health | Hunger pangs 'may trigger memory'

Bristol University research found that people who habitually slept just five hours each night had 15% more ghrelin, a hormone which increases feelings of hunger, than those who slept for eight hours.

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Once their stomachs are tiny, most patients not only eat far less but also lose the desire to over-eat, possibly because of changes in a hormone called ghrelin that is secreted by the stomach.

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