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 One hundred years ago, Kikunae Ikeda discovered the flavour-giving properties of glutamate, a non essential amino acid traditionally used to enhance the taste of many fermented or ripe foods, such as ripe tomatoes or cheese. New research now reveals that the tongue has a receptor that is exclusively activated by glutamate. http://www.physorg.com/news174301682.html Medicine & Health Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:17:25 EST news174301682 Chaos brews in the brains of newborns: the nerve cells are still bound only loosely to each other. Under the leadership of Academy Research Fellow Sari Lauri, a team of researchers at the University of Helsinki has been studying for years how a neural network capable of processing information effectively is created out of chaos. The team has now found a new kind of mechanism that adjusts the functional development of nerve cell contacts. The results were published in early September as the leading article of the esteemed Journal of Neuroscience. http://www.physorg.com/news173440358.html Medicine & Health Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:10:01 EST news173440358 (PhysOrg.com) -- Every movement and every thought requires the passing of specific information between networks of nerve cells. To improve a skill or to learn something new entails more efficient or a greater number of cell contacts. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried could now show, together with an international team of researchers, that certain cells in the brain, the astrocytes, actively influence this information exchange. http://www.physorg.com/news171547807.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:10:53 EST news171547807 Experiencing chronic stress day after day can produce wear and tear on the body physically and mentally, and can have a detrimental effect on learning and emotion. However, acute stress -- a short stressful incident -- may enhance learning and memory. http://www.physorg.com/news167568123.html Medicine & Health Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:42:27 EST news167568123 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 Portal hypertension is responsible for severe and often lethal complications of cirrhosis. Another important syndrome is hepatic encephalopathy as a consequence of acute and chronic liver failure, which is characterized by a wide spectrum of neuropsychiatric abnormalities. A study group from Argentina analyzed the participation in these syndromes of glutamine synthetase and glutamate uptake in the hippocampus and frontal cortex, by using the prehepatic PH rat model. http://www.physorg.com/news165489160.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:50:01 EST news165489160 Scientists have uncovered a novel mechanism linking soluble amyloid -- protein with the synaptic injury and memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The research, published by Cell Press in the June 25 issue of the journal Neuron, provides critical new insight into disease pathogenesis and reveals signaling molecules that may serve as potential additional therapeutic targets for AD. http://www.physorg.com/news165066096.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:43:18 EST news165066096 (PhysOrg.com) -- UCSF researchers have identified a correlation between higher levels of glutamate, which occurs naturally in the brain as a byproduct of metabolism, and greater disease burden in multiple sclerosis patients. The study is the first to measure glutamate toxicity in the brain over time and suggests an improved method for tracking the disease and predicting its course. http://www.physorg.com/news160274855.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:48:08 EST news160274855 New research is unraveling the complex brain mechanisms associated with disabling migraine headaches. The study, published by Cell Press in the March 12th issue of the journal Neuron, reveals that perturbation of the delicate balance between excitation and inhibition may make the brain more vulnerable to migraine attacks. http://www.physorg.com/news156007151.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:20:00 EST news156007151 (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 (PhysOrg.com) -- In 1913 Theodore Roosevelt added cartographer to his resume when he and his crew ventured up an unspeakably dangerous and uncharted tributary named the River of Doubt. Now, on a charting expedition of their own, Rockefeller University scientists have completed a journey that has also defied expectation. In work to be published in the January 9 issue of Cell, the team reports the discovery of a new family of receptors in the fly nose, a finding that not only fills in a missing piece in the organizational logic of the insect olfactory system but also unearths one of the most ancient mechanisms that organisms have evolved to smell. http://www.physorg.com/news150640317.html Biology Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:31:57 EST news150640317 Rice University researchers have found a potential clue to the roots of epilepsy, autism, schizophrenia and other neurological disorders. http://www.physorg.com/news148049638.html Medicine & Health Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:53:58 EST news148049638 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 A potentially blinding neurological disorder, often confused with multiple sclerosis (MS), has now become a little less mysterious. A new study by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, may have uncovered the cause of Devic's disease. Their new study, which will appear online on October 6th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, could result in new treatment options for this devastating disease. http://www.physorg.com/news142517222.html Medicine & Health Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:07:02 EST news142517222