PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Scientists identify the switch that says it's time to sleep

2014-02-19
(Press-News.org) The switch in the brain that sends us off to sleep has been identified by researchers at Oxford University's Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour in a study in fruit flies.

The switch works by regulating the activity of a handful of sleep-promoting nerve cells, or neurons, in the brain. The neurons fire when we're tired and need sleep, and dampen down when we're fully rested.

'When you're tired, these neurons in the brain shout loud and they send you to sleep,' says Professor Gero Miesenböck of Oxford University, in whose laboratory the new research was performed.

Although the research was carried out in fruit flies, or Drosophila, the scientists say the sleep mechanism is likely to be relevant to humans.

Dr Jeffrey Donlea, one of the lead authors of the study, explains: 'There is a similar group of neurons in a region of the human brain. These neurons are also electrically active during sleep and, like the flies' cells, are the targets of general anaesthetics that put us to sleep. It's therefore likely that a molecular mechanism similar to the one we have discovered in flies also operates in humans.'

The researchers say that pinpointing the sleep switch might help us identify new targets for novel drugs – potentially to improve treatments for sleep disorders.

But there is much still to find out, and further research could give insight into the big unanswered question of why we need to sleep at all, they say.

'The big question now is to figure out what internal signal the sleep switch responds to,' says Dr Diogo Pimentel of Oxford University, the other lead author of the study. 'What do these sleep-promoting cells monitor while we are awake?

'If we knew what happens in the brain during waking that requires sleep to reset, we might get closer to solving the mystery of why all animals need to sleep.'

The findings are reported in the journal Neuron. The work of the Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour is funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. This study was also supported by the UK Medical Research Council, the US National Institutes of Health, and the Human Frontier Science Program.

The body uses two mechanisms to regulate sleep. One is the body clock, which attunes humans and animals to the 24 hour cycle of day and night. The other mechanism is the sleep 'homeostat': a device in the brain that keeps track of your waking hours and puts you to sleep when you need to reset. This mechanism represents an internal nodding off point that is separate from external factors. When it is turned off or out of use, sleep deficits build up.

'What makes us go to sleep at night is probably a combination of the two mechanisms,' says Professor Miesenböck. 'The body clock says it's the right time, and the sleep switch has built up pressure during a long waking day.'

The work in fruit flies allowed the critical part of the sleep switch to be discovered. 'We discovered mutant flies that couldn't catch up on their lost sleep after they had been kept awake all night,' says Dr Jeffrey Donlea.

Flies stop moving when they go to sleep and require more disturbance to get them up. Sleep-deprived flies are prone to nodding off and are cognitively impaired – they have severe learning and memory deficits, much as sleep loss in humans leads to problems.

Professor Miesenböck says: 'The sleep homeostat is similar to the thermostat in your home. A thermostat measures temperature and switches on the heating if it's too cold. The sleep homeostat measures how long a fly has been awake and switches on a small group of specialized cells in the brain if necessary. It's the electrical output of these nerve cells that puts the fly to sleep.'

In the mutant flies, the researchers were able to show a key molecular component of the electrical activity switch is broken and the sleep-inducing neurons are always off, causing insomnia.

INFORMATION: END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Study finds potential solution for feeding, swallowing difficulties in children with autism

Study finds potential solution for feeding, swallowing difficulties in children with autism
2014-02-19
WASHINGTON (Feb. 19, 2014) — Collaborative research out of the George Washington University (GW) reveals new information on the pathogenesis of feeding and swallowing difficulties often found in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and intellectual disability. Using an animal model of DiGeorge/22q11 Deletion Syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes autism and intellectual disability, the GW group found clear signs of early feeding and swallowing disruption, and underlying changes in brain development. The research, featured on the cover of Disease ...

U of I study: Couples, pay attention to your relationship work ethic

2014-02-19
URBANA, Ill. – Is a date with your partner as important to you as a meeting at work? A University of Illinois study recommends that couples develop a relationship work ethic that rivals—or at least equals—their professional work ethic. "When people enter the workplace, they make an effort to arrive on time, be productive throughout the day, listen attentively to co-workers and supervisors, try to get along with others, and dress and groom themselves to make a good impression," said Jill R. Bowers, a researcher in the U of I's Department of Human and Community Development. ...

Self-employment growth does not bank on access to capital

2014-02-19
An entrepreneurial climate is more important than access to financing and banks in encouraging self-employment growth, according to rural economists. "Because people who get laid off may end up working for themselves, self-employment can be a good news, bad news situation," said Stephan Goetz, professor of agricultural and regional economics, Penn State, and director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development. "However, the self-employed do tend to support other nearby businesses and that can lead to employment growth and income growth across the county." The ...

A step closer to a photonic future

A step closer to a photonic future
2014-02-19
WASHINGTON, Feb. 19–The future of computing may lie not in electrons, but in photons – that is, in microprocessors that use light instead of electrical signals. But these so-called photonic devices are typically built using customized methods that make them difficult and expensive to manufacture. Now, engineers have demonstrated that low power photonic devices can be fabricated using standard chip-making processes. They have achieved what the researchers dub a major milestone in photonic technology. The work will be presented at this year's OFC Conference and Exposition, ...

Research prevents zoonotic feline tularemia by finding influential geospatial factors

Research prevents zoonotic feline tularemia by finding influential geospatial factors
2014-02-19
MANHATTAN, KAN. -- A Kansas State University epidemiologist is helping cats, pet owners and soldiers stay healthy by studying feline tularemia and the factors that influence its prevalence. Ram Raghavan, assistant professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology, and collaborative researchers have found that a certain combination of climate, physical environment and socio-ecologic conditions are behind tularemia infections among cats in the region. More than 50 percent of all tularemia cases in the U.S. occur in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas, Raghavan said. Francisella ...

Infants with leukemia inherit susceptibility

Infants with leukemia inherit susceptibility
2014-02-19
Babies who develop leukemia during the first year of life appear to inherit an unfortunate combination of genetic variations that can make the infants highly susceptible to the disease, according to a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Minnesota. The research is available online in the journal Leukemia. Doctors have long puzzled over why it is that babies just a few months old sometimes develop cancer. As infants, they have not lived long enough to accumulate a critical number of cancer-causing mutations. "Parents ...

NASA satellite sees a ragged eye develop in Tropical Cyclone Guito

NASA satellite sees a ragged eye develop in Tropical Cyclone Guito
2014-02-19
NASA satellite data was an "eye opener" when it came to Tropical Cyclone 15S, now known as Guito in the Mozambique Channel today, Feb. 19, 2014. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Guito and visible imagery revealed a ragged eye had developed as the tropical cyclone intensified. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Guito on Feb. 19 at 1140 UTC/6:40 a.m. EST as it continued moving south through the Mozambique Channel. The image revealed a ragged-looking eye with a band ...

Surveys find that despite economic challenges Malagasy fishers support fishing regulations

Surveys find that despite economic challenges Malagasy fishers support fishing regulations
2014-02-19
Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and other groups have found that the fishing villages of Madagascar—a country with little history of natural resource regulation—are generally supportive of fishing regulations, an encouraging finding that bodes well for sustainable strategies needed to reduce poverty in the island nation. Specifically, Malagasy fishers perceive restrictions on certain kinds of fishing gear as being beneficial for their livelihoods, according to the results of a survey conducted with ...

Kessler Foundation researchers study impact of head movement on fMRI data

Kessler Foundation researchers study impact of head movement on fMRI data
2014-02-19
West Orange, NJ. February 19, 2014. Kessler Foundation researchers have shown that discarding data from subjects with multiple sclerosis (MS) who exhibit head movement during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) may bias sampling away from subjects with lower cognitive ability. The study was published in the January issue of Human Brain Mapping. (Wylie GR, Genova H, DeLuca J, Chiaravalloti N, Sumowski JF. Functional MRI movers and shakers: Does subject-movement cause sampling bias.) Glenn Wylie, DPhil, is associate director of Neuroscience in Neuropsychology & Neuroscience ...

Clouds seen circling supermassive black holes

2014-02-19
Astronomers see huge clouds of gas orbiting supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. Once thought to be a relatively uniform, fog-like ring, the accreting matter instead forms clumps dense enough to intermittently dim the intense radiation blazing forth as these enormous objects condense and consume matter, they report in a paper to be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, available online now. Video depicting the swirling clouds is posted to YouTube http://youtu.be/QA8nzRkjOEw Evidence for the clouds comes from records collected ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Researchers create ‘virtual scientists’ to solve complex biological problems

AI-Powered brain stimulation at home could enhance concentration, new research finds

Carbon-based molecules open new pathways for quantum sensing

Immunotherapy for leukemia may affect the bone marrow environment, cancer researchers find

World’s largest tropical peatlands revealed to be more than 40,000 years old

Pick up the pace of your daily walk to boost longevity, experts say

Normal hormone levels trigger severe depression in some women; researcher discovers mechanism

Mexican neuroscientist identifies glutamate biomarker predicting schizophrenia treatment success

Living brain tissue reveals 80% of genes behave differently than assumed

How much time did our ancestors spend up trees? Studying these chimpanzees might help us find out

Discovery of role of gut hormone in chronic diarrhoea could aid development of new tests and treatments

New discovery reveals the spinal cord’s role in bladder control

Kākāpō decline reveals threat of parasite coextinction

Astrocytes identified as hidden culprit behind PTSD

Offering self-collection kits in routine GP appointments could prevent 1,000 women a year from developing cervical cancer

European study offers clearer picture of childhood brain tumor survival

The Lancet: Three in five liver cancer cases due to preventable risk factors; obesity-linked cases on the rise, new analysis suggest

Tiny artificial cells can keep time, study finds

How aging quiets lupus and brings relief to some older patients

Research alert: Synergistic treatment approach supercharges cancer immunotherapy

White veteran high users of online portal generate and exchange more messages than certain patient minorities in the Veterans Health Administration

Web-based tool helps Michigan physicians navigate diabetes coverage and prior authorization

Most primary care patients with opioid use disorder who start treatment stay engaged

U.S.-born Latinos have higher rates of obesity compared to foreign-born Latino and white youth

Study finds veterans experiencing homelessness who gain housing are more likely to get colorectal and breast cancer screenings

Body fat percentage beats BMI in predicting 15-year mortality risk among U.S. adults ages 20 to 49

Umbrella review summarizes family physicians’ experiences with clinical integration

HEAL protocol addresses human trafficking in Brazilian primary care

Study finds uneven progress toward diabetes goals across patient groups in the enhanced primary care diabetes program

Veterans experiencing homelessness who secure housing more likely to get cancer health screenings

[Press-News.org] Scientists identify the switch that says it's time to sleep