http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A team of scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory reports on Thursday their success in solving the molecular structure of a key portion of a cellular receptor implicated in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other serious illnesses. http://www.physorg.com/news177250907.html Chemistry Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:22:55 EST news177250907 Glutamate is to the brain like coffee is to our bodies. A cup of Joe in the morning can wake us, but overloading on caffeine causes the stimulant to work against us. http://www.physorg.com/news175191974.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:20:01 EST news175191974 The latest work to 'turn off the taps' in the brain and stop a chemical being released in excess amounts - which can lead to Parkinson's Disease - will be presented at The British Pharmacological Society's Summer Meeting in Edinburgh today (Wednesday, 8 July 2009). http://www.physorg.com/news166251940.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:20:02 EST news166251940 Many plants protect themselves from hungry animals by producing toxic chemicals. In turn, animals rely on detecting the presence of these harmful chemicals to avoid consuming dangerous plant material. A paper, published in this week's issue of PLoS Biology, investigates the response of an insect to a common plant weapon - the toxin L-canavanine. http://www.physorg.com/news165566601.html Biology Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:20:01 EST news165566601 (PhysOrg.com) -- Distressed swimmers often panic, sapping the strength they need to keep their heads above water until help arrives. When desperate for oxygen, neurons behave in a similar way. They freak out, stupidly discharging energy until they drown in a sea of their own extruded salts. Every year, millions of victims of stroke or brain trauma suffer permanent brain damage because of this mad rush to oblivion that begins once a part of the brain is deprived of blood. http://www.physorg.com/news151342666.html Biology Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:37:46 EST news151342666 Is schizophrenia a disorder of glutamate hyperactivity or hypoactivity? While the predominant hypothesis for many years was that schizophrenia was a glutamate deficit disorder, there is growing evidence of glutamate hyperactivity as well. The study by Karlsson et al., appearing in the November 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry, reinforces this point with new data about the impact of deleting the gene for the glutamate transporter EAAT1. EAAT1, implicated in schizophrenia, plays a critical role in inactivating glutamate by removing it from the synaptic and extracellular spaces. http://www.physorg.com/news144326615.html Medicine & Health Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:43:35 EST news144326615