New findings support a controversial hypothesis about the biological role of sleep: Snoozing may be a way for the brain to clear clutter accumulated after a hard day of synapse forming and ...

Flies too need their sleep. In order to be able to react to dangers, however, they must not completely phase out the environment. Researchers at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have now ...

Researchers in a new study zoomed in on the function of sleep using a common fruit fly to find out how animals rest yet remain alert to danger, even when sleeping. Previously, study authors explained ...

Some fruit flies sacrifice sleep to avoid parasites like mites. Researchers discovered marked differences in gene expression related to metabolism in the hypervigilant flies. If you think ...

It's cold outside, you're sick and all you want to do is curl up under the covers until you feel better. In fact, the need for sleep can be so strong when we're sick that this may be all we can do.

There may be certain conditions under which animals can forgo sleep without serious consequences, even though scientists have considered it an activity that is absolutely indispensible, new research ...

How does a good night’s sleep re-energize the brain? At least in fruit flies, by burning damaged lipids. So claim scientists led by Amita Sehgal at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In ...

Dragana Rogulja is using fruit flies and mice to explore tantalizing questions about sleep. Her research delves into why sleep is necessary for survival, and how the sleeping brain disconnects from ...

University of Cincinnati researchers discovered that some fruit flies sacrifice sleep to avoid harmful parasites such as mites, but at the cost of energy and risk of starvation. Credit: Andrew Higley ...