Melatonin (IMAGE)
Caption
The behavior of humans and all animals is governed by a variety of natural cycles. The shift of seasons, tides, and day and night influences animal breeding and mating, predator-prey relationships, migration and foraging. Melatonin, depicted as a constellation in the night sky, is the key molecule that allows one of the most stable of these external cycles, a 24-hour day-night rhythm, to be correlated to an internal cycle, with responses at the level of individual cells and the whole animal. High melatonin levels during night time induce sleep-promoting properties by acting through melatonin receptors, depicted in the central reference point of the image composition.
Credit
Yekaterina Kadyshevskaya/Bridge Institute of the University of Southern California
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