Improving your weight control may be as easy as getting enough shut-eye. Prior studies have shown a consistent link between sleep loss and increased hunger, and in a new study, scientists have identified specific changes in the brain that explain this relationship. The investigators had already shown in a previous study that a single night of sleep deprivation boosted hunger and appetite. In the current study, they used MRI scans to carefully examine various areas in the study subject’s brains while they looked at pictures of food, both after a normal night of sleep and after a single night of sleep loss. After the night of lost sleep, the study subject brains exhibited marked increased activity in an area known to prompt us to seek food and eat. Take home message: Get your beauty rest for better appetite control (The Journal of Clinical Endorinology and Metabolism, 2012 DOI: 10.12101jc.2011-2759)!