Scientists discover new photosensitive retinal cells that run the body's sleep-clock. They speculate that people with damage to these cells are "time blind." Man, that's a nice, skiffy turn-of-phrase.
This region, called the suprachiasmatic nucleus or SCN, is just above the optic nerve on both sides of the brain. A pinhead speck of tissue, the SCN measures the passage of every 24 hours by making and consuming proteins in precisely timed fashion — letting the body know when to wake up and when to go to sleep.
(Thanks Bill!)
