Turn Out the Lights and Shut the Door

Knockin' on the door of general anesthetic mechanisms: but will U.S. researchers be shut out?

I n the last 3 years, we have witnessed exciting new developments in our understanding of anesthetic mechanisms. This editorial comments on the review by Sonner et al. (1) and describes recent key advances in the field. In a recent commentary I drew attention to the growing perception of the importance of ion channels, especially -aminobutyric acid (GABA)-A and N-methyl-daspartic acid (NMDA) re...

Signal Amplification: Let's Turn Down The Lights

G protein activation by membrane-bound receptors initiates a chain reaction that amplifies cellular responses to external signals. In retinal photoreceptors, amplification by the phototransduction cascade is regulated by quickly switching off the visual pigment that acts as the receptor for light.

Lights out.

The night the lights went out.

MIT, Harvard, and the surrounding areas lost power from 4:26 to 6:37 p.m. yesterday. The outage threw the Institute into darkness — classes were canceled, MBTA service was delayed, and police were dispatched to direct traffic. Emergency power remained on in dormitories and around campus. The problem is thought to be related to a transmission line in the area, said Michael Durand, NStar spokesma...

O12: Off the Couch and Out the Door: Improving Treatment Through a Refined Understanding of Psychotherapeutic Change

State-of-the-art psychotherapy for anxiety disorders represents some of the most efficacious treatments in the mental health literature. Nevertheless, these treatments are not panacea. Too many patients drop out of treatment, response rates leave room for improvement, and residual symptomatology is common. The quest to improve therapy for patients suffering from mental disorders necessitates on...