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A researcher looks at the screen of an imaging equipment. She sees a picture of a Western blot membrane.
The Mysterious Western Blot Message
Elissavet Chartampila meticulously crafted handwritten labels for her lab tools. Little did she know that some labels last forever.
The Mysterious Western Blot Message
The Mysterious Western Blot Message

Elissavet Chartampila meticulously crafted handwritten labels for her lab tools. Little did she know that some labels last forever.

Elissavet Chartampila meticulously crafted handwritten labels for her lab tools. Little did she know that some labels last forever.

sleep

A white brain with clock hands rests in the middle of two scenes of two different times of day, nighttime, indicated by stars on a blue background, is on the left and day, indicated by light blue clouds, on the right.
Sleep Rhythms Prompt Long-term Memories
Shelby Bradford, PhD | Dec 1, 2023 | 2 min read
A bridge between neurons triggers longer, deeper sleep and memory formation in fly larvae.
You Are When You Eat
Iris Kulbatski, PhD | Nov 20, 2023 | 3 min read
Intermittent fasting regulates biological time and improves disrupted sleep in an Alzheimer’s disease model.
Image of the fly brain (grey) highlighting the population of neurons (pink) to which the gut-secreted peptide CCHa1 signals
A Protein-Rich Diet Helps Mice and Flies Sleep More Soundly: Study
Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Mar 24, 2023 | 3 min read
The effect appears to be mediated by a gut-secreted peptide that signals to neurons in the brain that modulate the response to mechanical vibrations.
Cover of When Animals Dream: A colourful illustration of an octopus.<br><br>
Book Excerpt from When Animals Dream
David M. Peña-Guzmán | Aug 25, 2022 | 3 min read
In Chapter 1, “The Science of Animal Dreams,” author David M. Peña-Guzmán relays the history of researchers digging into the mental realities of nonhuman brains.
Cover of When Animals Dream: A colourful illustration of an octopus.<br><br>
Opinion: Animal Dreaming Should Give Us Ethical Pause
David M. Peña-Guzmán | Aug 15, 2022 | 4 min read
Research shows that humans aren’t the only animals whose imaginations run wild while they sleep.
Artistic representation of a brain depicted as a clock on a background with one half in dark blue with yellow stars and one half in light blue with clouds.
Which Neurons Go to Sleep First in Humans? fMRI Can Tell
Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Aug 9, 2022 | 3 min read
By linking blood flow patterns to bioelectric signals in the brains of sleeping volunteers, scientists are studying the order in which brain regions fall asleep and wake up.
Artist&rsquo;s rendition of metastatic cancer cells with yellow nuclei and green cell bodies extending into blue tendrils.
While the Body Rests, Breast Cancer Spreads More Aggressively
Alejandra Manjarrez, PhD | Jun 23, 2022 | 4 min read
More cancer cells are shed from primary tumors when individuals are asleep than when they’re awake, according to observations in mouse models and a small cohort of breast cancer patients.
Black and white photo of Rechtschaffen looking at the camera
Pioneering Sleep Researcher Allan Rechtschaffen Dies at 93
Lisa Winter | Dec 22, 2021 | 2 min read
Rechtschaffen sought to understand the evolutionary purpose of shut-eye.
illustration of a broken DNA strand
DNA Damage Makes Zebrafish Sleepy
Sophie Fessl, PhD | Nov 18, 2021 | 4 min read
Buildup of a DNA-repair protein in brain cells spurs shut-eye in the fish, a study finds, and similar results in mice suggest the mechanism is widespread in animals.
Power of thinking, abstract imagination, world, universe inside your mind, watercolor painting
The Link Between Wandering and Sleeping Minds
Annie Melchor | Oct 1, 2021 | 5 min read
Researchers discover that when the mind wanders or goes blank, some parts of the brain behave as they do during sleep.
J Allan Hobson smiling at camera, circa 2005
Groundbreaking Sleep Researcher J. Allan Hobson Dies at 88
Lisa Winter | Jul 29, 2021 | 2 min read
He famously contradicted Sigmund Freud’s views on the meaning of dreams.
sleep, lucid dreaming, dreaming, dreams, REM, communication, Morse code
Researchers Exchange Messages with Dreamers
Asher Jones | Feb 18, 2021 | 5 min read
Dreamers answered experimenters’ questions or solved simple math problems, showing that complex two-way communication between the dreaming and waking world is possible.
What’s in a Dream
The Scientist | Dec 1, 2020 | 1 min read
See Reading Frames coauthor Robert Stickgold discuss the relationship between sleeping, dreaming, and memory.
Book Excerpt from When Brains Dream
Robert Stickgold and Antonio Zadra | Dec 1, 2020 | 8 min read
Ferreting out the biological function of dreaming is a frontier in neuroscience.
Infographic: The Technology Scientists Use to Engineer Dreams
Catherine Offord | Dec 1, 2020 | 1 min read
Researchers are experimenting with a variety of tools, from brain stimulation to audiovisual equipment, to try to take control of the sleeping brain.
Contributors
The Scientist | Dec 1, 2020 | 4 min read
Meet some of the people featured in the December 2020 issue of The Scientist.
Opinion: The Biological Function of Dreams
Robert Stickgold and Antonio Zadra | Dec 1, 2020 | 3 min read
The scenarios that run through our sleeping brains may help us explore possible solutions to concerns from our waking lives.
Scientists Engineer Dreams to Understand the Sleeping Brain
Catherine Offord | Dec 1, 2020 | 10+ min read
Technologies such as noninvasive brain stimulation and virtual reality gaming offer insights into how dreams arise and what functions they might serve.
Astrocytes, Not Just Neurons, Play a Role in Sleep
Abby Olena, PhD | Sep 24, 2020 | 4 min read
In mice, the brain’s main glial cell type exhibits distinctive patterns of activity across the sleep-wake cycle and influences the response to sleep deprivation.
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