Acute Optogenetic Silencing of Orexin/Hypocretin Neurons Induces Slow-Wave Sleep in Mice

By iAwake Technologies
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Orexin/hypocretin neurons have a crucial role in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness. To help determine how these neurons promote wakefulness, we generated transgenic mice in which orexin neurons expressed halorhodopsin (orexin/Halo mice), an orange light-activated neuronal silencer. Slice patch-clamp recordings of orexin neurons that expressed halorhodopsin demonstrated that orange light photic illumination immediately hyperpolarized membrane…

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How Do You Stop Tasting?

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New findings may lend insight into why some people are especially sensitive to bitter tastes. Scientists from the Monell Center and Givaudan Flavors have identified a protein inside of taste cells that acts to shorten bitter taste signals… Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232142.php

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{alpha}4{beta}2 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors on Dopaminergic Neurons Mediate Nicotine Reward and Anxiety Relief

By iAwake Technologies
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Nicotine is the primary psychoactive substance in tobacco, and it exerts its effects by interaction with various subtypes of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the brain. One of the major subtypes expressed in brain, the α4β2-nAChR, endogenously modulates neuronal excitability and thereby, modifies certain normal as well as nicotine-induced behaviors. Although α4-containing nAChRs are widely…

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How Nerve Cells Are Kept Up To Speed

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Scientists from the Freie Universität Berlin have identified mechanisms regulating chemical neurotransmission in the nervous system Scientists from the Freie Universität Berlin and the NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence, led by Volker Haucke in collaboration with colleagues from the Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) in Berlin, have unravelled a mechanism… Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232135.php

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Development Of Mouse With ‘Off Switch’ In Key Brain Cell Population May Aid Research Into SIDS, Depression

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NIH-funded scientists have developed a strain of mice with a built-in off switch that can selectively shut down the animals’ serotonin-producing cells, which make up a brain network controlling breathing, temperature regulation, and mood. The switch controls only the serotonin-producing cells, and does not affect any other cells in the animal’s brains or bodies… Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/231940.php

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Meditation and The Brain: A Video Series

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These videos are the first three in a series Eric Thompson is developing on Meditation and the Brain. This first video in the series looks at Dr. Daniel Siegel’s writing on meditation and the brain.  Meditation and the Brain, Part 2: A fun introduction to the scientific study of meditation and the brain that looks at…

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Differences in neurological activity in advanced meditators

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The following post was originally part of a presentation Eric Thompson gave on the Neuroscience of Meditation at the MindHive event at Naropa University in March, 2010. It is based on the research of Newberg and d’Aquili.   Stage 1 Attention Association Area (AAA) in the right hemisphere is activated Eventually spreads to AAA in…

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Welcome To the iAwake Technologies Blog

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Dear Profound Meditation Friends & Community, Welcome! This is an initial blog to which your iAwake Technologies Team intends to add to regularly, to inspire, inform and support the transformational journey that you have begun, by using the Profound Meditation Program on a daily basis. I find it very easy to speak about this, as…

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