Alertness

Chronic fatigue syndrome—a system under stress

Australian researchers have discovered for the first time that reduced heart rate variability – or changes in heart beat timing – best predicts cognitive disturbances, such as concentration difficulties commonly reported ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created Nov 15, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (10) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Is this peptide a key to happiness?

(Medical Xpress)—What makes us happy? Family? Money? Love? How about a peptide? The neurochemical changes underlying human emotions and social behavior are largely unknown. Now though, for the first time in humans, scientists ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Mar 07, 2013 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Gene distinguishes early birds from night owls and helps predict time of death

Many of the body's processes follow a natural daily rhythm or so-called circadian clock. There are certain times of the day when a person is most alert, when blood pressure is highest, and when the heart is most efficient. ...

Genetics created Nov 16, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (8) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

New study shows that even your fat cells need sleep

In a study that challenges the long-held notion that the primary function of sleep is to give rest to the brain, researchers have found that not getting enough shut-eye has a harmful impact on fat cells, reducing by 30 percent ...

Medical research created Oct 15, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Key mechanism for controlling body's inflammatory response discovered

Researchers at Queen Mary, University of London have discovered how a key molecule controls the body's inflammatory responses. The molecule, known as p110delta, fine-tunes inflammation to avoid excessive reactions that can ...

Immunology created Sep 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

The brakes of inflammation

In the last few decades, sci­en­tists have come to attribute an immuno­log­ical expla­na­tion to many can­cers. It is now thought that tumors rise up rou­tinely in the body but that a healthy immune ...

Immunology created Feb 27, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 2

How attention helps you remember

A new study from MIT neuroscientists sheds light on a neural circuit that makes us likelier to remember what we're seeing when our brains are in a more attentive state.

Neuroscience created Sep 27, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Why some stress is good for you? Acute stress primes the brain to do better on memory tasks two weeks later

(Medical Xpress)—Overworked and stressed out? Look on the bright side. Some stress is good for you.

Neuroscience created Apr 16, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study finds new benefit of coffee: It reduces pain

Scientists in Norway have more good news for coffee drinkers. Researchers have already found evidence that the drink - or the beans it's brewed from - can help with weight loss, reduce one's risk of developing ...

Health created Sep 07, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (6) | comments 3

Trickle-down anxiety: Study examines parental behaviors that create anxious children

Parents with social anxiety disorder are more likely than parents with other forms of anxiety to engage in behaviors that put their children at high risk for developing angst of their own, according to a small study of parent-child ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Nov 01, 2012 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (6) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Restless legs syndrome, insomnia and brain chemistry: A tangled mystery solved?

Johns Hopkins researchers believe they may have discovered an explanation for the sleepless nights associated with restless legs syndrome (RLS), a symptom that persists even when the disruptive, overwhelming nocturnal urge ...

Neuroscience created May 07, 2013 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (5) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Where does coffee stand in your health?

We are often asked whether coffee is good or bad for the health. The answer is both good and bad.

Health created Apr 13, 2013 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (6) | comments 0

Monitoring brain activity during study can help predict test performance

(Medical Xpress)—Research at Sandia National Laboratories has shown that it's possible to predict how well people will remember information by monitoring their brain activity while they study. 

Psychology & Psychiatry created Sep 10, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Researchers find that listening abilities depend on rhythms in the brain

(Medical Xpress)—Naturally, our brain activity waxes and wanes. When listening, this "oscillation" synchronizes to the sounds we are hearing. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute have found that this ...

Neuroscience created Nov 14, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Re-Timer ready to reset sleep

(Medical Xpress)—Today saw the launch of Re-Timer, a wearable green light device invented by Flinders University sleep researchers to reset the body's internal clock.

Psychology & Psychiatry created Nov 21, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 4 | with audio podcast


Alertness is the state of paying close and continuous attention, being watchful and prompt to meet danger or emergency, or being quick to perceive and act. It is related to psychology as well as to physiology. A lack of alertness is a symptom of a number of conditions, including narcolepsy, attention deficit disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, Addison's disease, or sleep deprivation. The word is formed from "alert", which comes from the Italian "all'erta" (on the watch, literally, on the height; 1618)

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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Having both migraines, depression may mean smaller brain

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Enzyme-activating antibodies revealed as marker for most severe form of rheumatoid arthritis

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