(Medical Xpress)—What makes us happy? Family? Money? Love? How about a peptide? The neurochemical changes underlying human emotions and social behavior are largely unknown. Now though, for the first time in humans, scientists at UCLA have measured the release of a specific peptide, a neurotransmitter called hypocretin, that greatly increased when subjects were happy but decreased when they were sad.
Really? You had to name this happy-making peptide hypocretin? Jeebus. From dictionary.com:
Cretin. Noun.
- A stupid person (used as a general term of abuse).
- A person deformed and mentally handicapped due to a congenital thyroid deficiency.
Synonyms: nitwit, imbecile.
