Swiss researchers have identified a gene variation that might explain why some of us are sound sleepers, and some are not."Animal studies suggested that sleep intensity is under genetic control, yet the physiological mechanisms remain unknown,” explained study author Hans-Peter Landolt, an associate professor at the University of Zurich. His report appears in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Landolt and his colleagues focused on the adenosine neurotransmitter system in the brain, and isolated the gene that regulates adenosine. Adenosine is a compound believed to act on specific receptors that induce sleep. Compounds known as antagonists that block the receptors, such as caffeine, increase alertness.
