sleep

Wisconsin researchers identify sleep gene

...um channels are also involved in the generation of sleep in humans. Reported in the April 28 issue of Natu...the finding points to novel approaches to treating sleep irregularities in humans-from promoting restorative sleep to prolonging wakefulness. "This research...

Glow-in-the-dark zebrafish at UH hold keys to biological clocks

...elp with tracing why humans develop such things as sleep disorders or mental illnesses like depression." Per3 is the naturally occurring clock-regulated gene. The protein that it encodes is produced at highest levels near dawn, and when the luc gene is inserted into it, the luciferase protein is produced ...

Brain-mapping technique aids understanding of sleep, wakefulness

..., shed light on the complex mechanisms involved in sleep regulation and may help to explain why once a pers..." Dr. Yanagisawa said the trigger that causes the sleep "seesaw" to tip from one side to the other and maintain a proper balance between time spent awake an...

Canada approves marijuana-based pain spray

...o. Sativex also significantly reduced pain-related sleep disturbance. Principal components A product resulting from the pioneering research efforts of UK-based GW Pharmaceuticals plc and marketed in Canada by Bayer HealthCare, Pharmaceuticals Division, Sativex is the first product indicated in Canada as a...

The circadian clock: Understanding nature's timepiece

...heir counterparts on regular day shifts. "If your sleep schedule is constantly changing, you can't help but be less alert," Antle says. "When you look at disasters such as plane crashes, or Three Mile Island or Chernobyl, there is often a sleep-deprived person with critical responsibilities behind it all....

Discovery clarifies role of peptide in biological clock

...s uncoordinated. This causes irregular patterns of sleep and wake, for example." The study was published on-line in Nature Neuroscience on March 6, 2005. Herzog's work is funded by the National Institutes of Health. "In a light-dark schedule, these mice looked normal, but as soon as you leave off the lig...

Researchers Identify Cause of Early Bird Sleep Disorder

...awn, can blame a newly-found mutant gene for their sleep troubles, Howard Hughes Medical Institute research...odd "time-shift" trait -- called familial advanced sleep phase syndrome (FASPS) -- was studied in one affected family by neurologist Louis J. Ptacek, a Howar...

Unlike other mammals, newborn dolphins and orcas stay active 24/7 during first months of development

...ng their first month. The mother also has minimal sleep during this period, but unlike all other mammals always manages more sleep than her busy newborns. The newborns and mothers gradually increase sleep over a period of months un...

Going To Extremes To Improve Human Health

...ysiology. His research includes a special focus on sleep apnea which can set the stage for high blood pressure. Halliwill, who also studies factors responsible for changes in blood flow to various regions of the body, co-directs the university's Exercise and Environmental Physiology Laboratories with Chri...

Deep sleep short-circuits brain's grid of connectivity

... that the fading of consciousness during dreamless sleep seems to occur as the different regions of the cer... vivid dreams, indicating that the later stages of sleep can be associated with conscious experience, Tononi says. But why does consciousness fade during de...

Frog peptides block HIV in lab study

... that the fading of consciousness during dreamless sleep seems to occur as the different regions of the cer... vivid dreams, indicating that the later stages of sleep can be associated with conscious experience, Tononi says. But why does consciousness fade during de...

Investigating 'brain shrinkage' in alcoholics

...changes in the brain. In addition, head injury and sleep apnoea are more common in alcoholics and can contribute to brain damage. All of these factors ?particularly the alcohol, thiamine deficiency and cirrhosis ?are linked and probably contribute in a complex way to cause brain damage." - Both permanent ...

Gene controlling circadian rhythms linked to drug addiction

...y controls the body's circadian rhythms, including sleep and wakefulness, body temperature, hormone levels, blood pressure and heart activity, it may also be a key regulator of the brain's reward system. UT Southwestern researchers showed that, in mice, the Clock gene regulates the reward response to coca...

A novel method to measure circadian cycles

...hm does not vary with changes in light exposure or sleep habits. The researchers point out that their metho...to screen large populations for genetically linked sleep disturbances such as advanced and delayed sleep phase syndromes. They may also use this test to hone...

Opiates Better Than Sedatives For Treating Newborns In Withdrawal

...or without other drugs (including antidepressants, sleep aids and marijuana) during pregnancy. Researchers say two of the studies may have included identical patients. Newborns suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) exhibit seizures, poor feeding, diarrhea and vomiting that lead to excessive we...

Researchers discover new route to hemoglobin synthesis

...or without other drugs (including antidepressants, sleep aids and marijuana) during pregnancy. Researchers say two of the studies may have included identical patients. Newborns suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) exhibit seizures, poor feeding, diarrhea and vomiting that lead to excessive we...

New understanding of jet lag

...- who encounter alertness problems, and those with sleep disorders. A team of researchers at the Universit...fit shift workers and older people who suffer from sleep disorders. In nature, day and night cycles shift slowly as the seasons change. The body is able to ...

Clocking in Pillow Time without the Pillow

...essure, and heart problems. Indeed, the effects of sleep deprivation can be so serious that some sleep scientists liken lifetime sleep debt to a heavy backpack: every sleep hour missed adds an extra poun...

Noise And Delays Explain Why Some Genes Oscillate In Activity

...essure, and heart problems. Indeed, the effects of sleep deprivation can be so serious that some sleep scientists liken lifetime sleep debt to a heavy backpack: every sleep hour missed adds an extra poun...

Do the Europeans turn ill sitting up so late?

An extensive EU-financed sleep research project is coordinated from FinlandIn spr...to investigate the causes and implications of poor sleep from the medical as well as from the social point of view. This EU-financed sleep research project, ...

Brainstem blocks pain to protect key behaviors

...nfant death syndrome. Overactive OFF cells during sleep could mask the discomfort of oxygen deprivation. Fields suspects that the link between eating and pain relief, in a society where the risks of caloric plenty far exceeds those of predation, may even be related to obesity. "Are OFF cells promoting b...

What can change in the brain? Electrical synapses, research shows

...lows it to form memories, make transitions between sleep and waking, and focus attention on objects of inte...mplicate it as a major player in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness, the researchers said. The pairs' work sheds important light on electrical synapses...

Travelers can avoid jet lag by resetting their body clocks

.... This treatment can also help those with delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS), a persistent condition that... Each participant was assigned a strict eight hour sleep schedule that was similar to their typical sleep schedule. In addition, they had to remain in bed, ...

'Uniquely human' component of language found in gregarious birds

... previously collaborated on studies of the role of sleep in speech perceptual learning. Gentner, a neuropsychologist, expert on starlings and, at the time, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Chicago, was an essential addition. To assess the birds' syntactical skills, the research team exploited ...

Team discovers possible 'universal strategy' to combat addiction

... to serotonin, a hormone associated with learning, sleep and mood. The team discovered that PTEN acts on these serotonin receptors, increasing brain cell activity. This is the same "reward" process sparked by drugs of abuse. Armed with this knowledge, the team designed a molecule called a peptide, tailore...

Morning grogginess more debilitating than sleep deprivation, according to CU-Boulder study

... that people who awaken after eight hours of sound sleep have more impaired thinking and memory skills than they do after being deprived of sleep for more than 24 hours. The study showed test subjects had diminished short-term memory, counting s...

Losing sleep undoes the rejuvenating effects new learning has on the brain

...meet their obligations by getting less sleep. But sleep deprivation impairs spatial learning -- including ...ly mimic the common human experience of inadequate sleep during the work week, said lead investigator Ilana Hairston of both the University of California, Be...

Oops! Researchers publish new findings on the brain's response to costly mistakes

...sed to study the brains of people with epilepsy or sleep problems, but the electrical signal from the brain is processed in a different way. In prior studies, Gehring and his colleagues observed a distinct brain electrical response to errors, dubbing it ERN for "error-related negativity." Using ERP, Gehri...

Gene variation increases SIDS risk in African Americans

... SIDS in half by teaching parents to put babies to sleep lying on their backs. The campaign was based, in part, on the assumption that babies sleeping on their bellies had more spells of interrupted breathing or apnea. One of the immediate consequences of apnea is a slight increase in acid levels inside ...

A large step forward in the fight against African sleeping sickness

...can sleeping sickness. The disease produces severe sleep disorders that ultimately end in coma, followed by death. At present, fewer than 10% of the patients are treated in time. But on the other hand, the current treatment is also very toxic, and in many cases also results in the patient's death. Africa...

New Research Shows Artificial Light at Night Stimulates Breast Cancer Growth in Laboratory Mice

...hythm, an internal biological clock that regulates sleep ?wake cycle, body temperature, endocrine functions, and a number of disease processes including heart attack, stroke and asthma. “Evidence is emerging that disruption of one’s circadian clock is associated with cancer in humans, and that interference...

New fruit fly protein illuminates circadian response to light

...multitude of internal functions such as periods of sleep and wakefulness, body temperature, and metabolism....t for one week, the controls developed a disrupted sleep pattern after a few days, while the mutants maintained a regular circadian rhythm. The mutant and co...

First human trial of antibacterial contact lens

...n one in 500 contact lens wearers per year if they sleep in lenses. There is currently no antibacterial contact lens in the market. Biosignal's technology prevents and disrupts microbial infection by "jamming" the signalling systems bacteria rely on to form biofilms. Because the technology does not kill...

How can identical twins be genetically different?

They sleep together, eat together, and most people find it impossible to tell them apart. Identical twins who grow up together share just about everything, including their genes. But sometimes only one twin will have health problems when genetics predicts both ...

Studies suggest new brain protein may help in treating schizophrenia, insomnia and anxiety

...hat are associated with the regulation of arousal, sleep and wakefulness, anxiety, appetite, learning and m... promotes strong arousal, suppresses all phases of sleep and lessens anxiety in stressful or unfamiliar situations. Now, at ICN 2006, Dr. Reinscheid's grou...

Robotic joystick reveals how brain controls movement

...inutes, according to the researchers, showing that sleep is not required for learning such simple movements. The robot-controlled joystick used in these experiments can measure precisely how hard and in what direction it's being pushed by the hand holding it. Using computer programs, the researchers then...

New approach to vaccine development provides potent, long-lasting immunity

...inutes, according to the researchers, showing that sleep is not required for learning such simple movements. The robot-controlled joystick used in these experiments can measure precisely how hard and in what direction it's being pushed by the hand holding it. Using computer programs, the researchers then...

Ever-happy mice may hold key to new treatment of depression

...otonin is known to play an important role in mood, sleep and sexuality. By breeding mice with an absence of TREK-1, researchers were able create a depression-resistant strain. The details of this research, which involved an international collaboration with scientists from the University of Nice, France, ar...

Breaks in hibernation help fight bugs

...ergy to stay warm is high. The immune system is in sleep mode as well. "The production of antibodies, and white blood cells is stopped. Basically all cell reproduction shuts off," says Angela Luis, a doctoral candidate in ecology at Penn State's Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics. However, anim...

Sleep deprivation doubles risks of obesity in both children and adults

...School at the University of Warwick has found that sleep deprivation is associated with an almost a two-fol...both groups Professor Cappuccio found that shorter sleep duration is associated with almost a two-fold increased risk of being obese. The research also sug...

Brain region linked to fly slumber

...aising interesting speculation over the purpose of sleep and its possible link with learning and memory. ...at the so-called mushroom bodies are essential for sleep regulation in the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster. (In the same issue, a second study, led by Amita...

Serotonin, acting in a specific brain region, promotes sleep in fruit flies

...ehaviors, also appears to promote lasting, quality sleep in an animal model for understanding how sleep is regulated. While central to the lives of most animals, the proper regulation sleep remains a larg...

Why we could all do with a siesta

...or after-meal tiredness and why it is difficult to sleep when hungry. "Now we know how glucose stops orexi...er understanding of what may occur in disorders of sleep and body weight. "This research perhaps sheds light on why our European friends are so fond of thei...

Melatonin improves mood in winter depression

...sulting in a circadian phase delay with respect to sleep similar to what happens flying westward. Some people appear to be tracking to the earlier dusk of winter, causing a similar amount of misalignment but in the phase-advance direction. Symptom severity in SAD patients correlated with the misalignment i...

UCSD study reveals how plants respond to elevated carbon dioxide

...With very good ear plugs, someone might be able to sleep through the concert, but without the earplugs one would respond to the changes in the rhythms of the music," said Young. "Similarly, our findings suggest that carbon dioxide primes the calcium sensors to respond to the calcium spikes in the cell. Sin...

For super-obese patients, duodenal switch beats gastric bypass

...d cholesterol levels, acid reflux, and obstructive sleep apnea in these patients. We don't know yet how much weight loss we need to get those health benefits, but losing more of the excess weight certainly seems to be better." ...

Circadian gene helps the brain predict mealtime

...eir roots in a disturbed circadian system, such as sleep problems, eating disorders, obesity, and depression. ...

New mechanism underlying pain found

...muscle to contract, and in the brain, they control sleep and waking. Made up of glycoproteins, or proteins with sugar molecules attached, pacemaker channels -- also known as HCN channels (Hyperpolarization activated, Cyclic Nucleotide-gated cation channels) -- allow the entrance of sodium ions into the cel...

Fighting like a girl or boy determined by gene in fruit flies

...es as models to study complex behaviors, including sleep and responses to painful stimuli, Tompkins said. "Drosophila have marvelous advantages in terms of genetic tricks," she said, "and flies in many respects behave and respond similarly to humans." The findings provide a welcome guidepost to help ena...

Slow brain waves play key role in coordinating complex activity

...e fast, seemingly random pulses accompanying dream sleep - are generated by coordinated firing of neurons in the brain triggered by waves of excitability that wash over an area. Waves of excitability in the theta range of oscillations lower the threshold for neuron firing, making it more likely that input ...

First biomarker for human sleepiness identified in fruit flies

... identified the first biochemical marker linked to sleep loss, an enzyme in saliva known as amylase, which increases in activity when sleep deprivation is prolonged. Researchers hope to make amylase the first of a panel of biomarkers that ...

Need to pull an all-nighter?

...ide from building up in the brain may ward off the sleep urge. The research, conducted by investigators f...inland), ties together previous observations about sleep and finds that nitric oxide production in a specific region of the brain ?the basal forebrain ?is bo...

Learning during sleep?

...e within hours or a few days - usually during deep sleep - into the cerebral cortex where they enter long-t...r understanding of how nerve cells interact during sleep consolidation," confirmed Edvard Moser, Director of the Centre for the Biology of Memory in Trondhei...

Negative effects of caffeine are stronger on daytime sleep than on nocturnal sleep

...ight of studying will strongly hurt their recovery sleep the next day. The study published in the current i...p. We have shown that these effects of caffeine on sleep are way stronger when taken at night prior to a daytime recovery sleep episode than in the evening b...

Chronic jet-lag conditions hasten death in aged mice

...ased mortality is not yet clear, but could involve sleep deprivation or immune-system disruption. The body's physiological reaction to time change may be complex. Past research has indicated that circadian clocks govern physiological rhythms in a great variety of tissues in the body, and that different ...

A potential biological cause for sudden infant death syndrome

...d risk factors for SIDS, such as putting babies to sleep on their stomachs, and protective factors like pac...d temperature during waking and sleep. When babies sleep face-down or have their faces covered by bedding, they are thought to re-breathe exhaled carbon diox...

Huddling and a drop in metabolism allow penguins to survive the South Pole cold

...ir eyes closed. It is known that the proportion of sleep increases during the fast of emperor penguins, and that sleep is associated in penguins with an eight percent drop in metabolic rate. Conclusions The fin...

Army research mission focused on autism

... that address the root cause of the problems. With sleep and GI function operating optimally, many of the residual behaviors we see in children with autism decrease significantly." Reynolds speaks from experience. With biomedical and behavior intervention, her son is now a well-functioning 11 year old. ...

Hay fever can send work productivity down the drain

...as of life, and study participants cited a lack of sleep and a negative impact on their overall health as t...cts to control their milder symptoms. A lack of sleep and a decrease in quality of life had the greatest impact on a person's ability to work, regardless ...

Boosting brain power -- with chocolate

...ancing brain function for people fighting fatigue, sleep deprivation, and even the effects of ageing. Ia...ividuals are cognitively impaired such as fatigue, sleep deprivation, or possibly ageing." He emphasised that the level of cocoa flavanol used in the stud...