http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. With the help of tiny, see-through fish, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers are homing in on what happens in the brain while you sleep. In a new study, they show how the circadian clock and sleep affect the scope of neuron-to-neuron connections in a particular region of the brain, and they identified a gene that appears to regulate the number of these connections, called synapses. http://phys.org/news205588181.html Medicine & Health Wed, 06 Oct 2010 12:49:59 EST news205588181 Why is it that only some drug users become addicts? This is the question that has been addressed by the teams of Pier Vincenzo Piazza and Olivier Manzoni, in Bordeaux (Inserm unit 862). These researchers have just discovered that the transition to addiction could result from a persistent impairment of synaptic plasticity in a key structure of the brain. This research is published in the journal Science on June 25, 2010. http://phys.org/news196607304.html Medicine & Health Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:08:56 EST news196607304 In the fruit fly Drosophila, oskar mRNA, which is involved in defining the animal’s body axes, is produced in the nuclei of nurse cells neighbouring the oocyte, and must be transported to the oocyte and along its entire length before being translated into protein. http://phys.org/news178448851.html Biology Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:20:01 EST news178448851 In an article published in the June 25th edition of the journal Neuron, researchers at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, have found that synaptic plasticity, long implicated as a device for 'change' in the brain, may also be essential for stability. http://phys.org/news165161725.html Medicine & Health Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:20:02 EST news165161725 If you ever argued with your mother when she told you to get some sleep after studying for an exam instead of pulling an all-nighter, you owe her an apology, because it turns out she's right. And now, scientists are beginning to understand why. http://phys.org/news153578717.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:45:56 EST news153578717 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new molecule important in a part of the memory that allows recognition of people has been identified by researchers at the University of Bristol. This type of memory is impaired at an early stage during Alzheimer’s disease and so it is hoped that understanding the function of this molecule may lead to better cures and treatments for this devastating disease. http://phys.org/news149345656.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:54:16 EST news149345656