Current biology : CB
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Current biology : CB · Mar 2014
SLEEPLESS is a bifunctional regulator of excitability and cholinergic synaptic transmission.
Although sleep is conserved throughout evolution, the molecular basis of its control is still largely a mystery. We previously showed that the quiver/sleepless (qvr/sss) gene encodes a membrane-tethered protein that is required for normal sleep in Drosophila. SLEEPLESS (SSS) protein functions, at least in part, by upregulating the levels and open probability of Shaker (Sh) potassium channels to suppress neuronal excitability and enable sleep. Consistent with this proposed mechanism, loss-of-function mutations in Sh phenocopy qvr/sss-null mutants. However, sleep is more genetically modifiable in Sh than in qvr/sss mutants, suggesting that SSS may regulate additional molecules to influence sleep. ⋯ Together, our data point to an evolutionarily conserved, bifunctional role for SSS and its homologs in controlling excitability and synaptic transmission in fundamental processes of the nervous system such as sleep.
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Current pain management is limited, in particular, with regard to chronic pain. In an attempt to discover novel analgesics, we combined the approach developed to characterize traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), as part of the "herbalome" project, with the reverse pharmacology approach aimed at discovering new endogenous transmitters and hormones. ⋯ Our study casts DHCB as a different type of analgesic compound and as a promising lead in pain management.
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Mirror neurons were discovered over twenty years ago in the ventral premotor region F5 of the macaque monkey. Since their discovery much has been written about these neurons, both in the scientific literature and in the popular press. ⋯ Indeed so much has been written about mirror neurons that last year they were referred to, rightly or wrongly, as "The most hyped concept in neuroscience". Here we try to cut through some of this hyperbole and review what is currently known (and not known) about mirror neurons.
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Current biology : CB · Nov 2013
Seeing left- or right-asymmetric tail wagging produces different emotional responses in dogs.
Left-right asymmetries in behavior associated with asymmetries in the brain are widespread in the animal kingdom, and the hypothesis has been put forward that they may be linked to animals' social behavior. Dogs show asymmetric tail-wagging responses to different emotive stimuli-the outcome of different activation of left and right brain structures controlling tail movements to the right and left side of the body. ⋯ Here we report that dogs looking at moving video images of conspecifics exhibiting prevalent left- or right-asymmetric tail wagging showed higher cardiac activity and higher scores of anxious behavior when observing left- rather than right-biased tail wagging. The finding that dogs are sensitive to the asymmetric tail expressions of other dogs supports the hypothesis of a link between brain asymmetry and social behavior and may prove useful to canine animal welfare theory and practice.
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The aggressive expansion of ‘unconventional natural gas development’ — more widely known as ‘fracking’ — has triggered protests across Europe. The concern is not just the direct impact on the environment but the production of fossil fuel in quantities we can no longer afford to burn, along with the side effect that the availability of cheap gas undermines the economic viability of sustainable energies.