Neuroscience

Scientists provide new insight into a molecular target of alcohol

Ethanol—the compound found in alcoholic beverages—interferes with the normal functioning of a long list of biological molecules, but how each of these interactions contributes to the behavioral effects of alcohol is not ...

Medical research

Worms reveal why melatonin promotes sleep

Melatonin is used as a dietary supplement to promote sleep and get over jet lag, but nobody really understands how it works in the brain. Now, researchers at UConn Health show that melatonin helps worms sleep, too, and they ...

Neuroscience

Mutation stops worms from getting drunk

Neuroscientists at The University of Texas at Austin have generated mutant worms that do not get intoxicated by alcohol, a result that could lead to new drugs to treat the symptoms of people going through alcohol withdrawal.

Medical research

New clues to the structural dynamics of BK channels

BK channels (large-conductance, Ca2+-dependent K+ channels) are essential for the regulation of important biological processes such as smooth muscle tone and neuronal excitability. New research shows that BK channel activation ...