Science News
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- Pilot Study Will Test New Treatment to Reduce Self-Harm in Borderline Personality Disorder
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October 9, 2008
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Science Update
NIMH recently funded Kim Gratz, Ph.D., University of Mississippi Medical Center, and colleagues to continue to test a new group therapy to help women with borderline personality disorder reduce self-harm behaviors and to improve functioning. - Viral Genetic Underpinnings of HIV-associated Dementia Explored
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October 9, 2008
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Science Update
A new study identifies differences between genetic variants of HIV that are associated with HIV-associated dementia (HAD). - Emotion-Regulating Circuit Weakened in Borderline Personality Disorder
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October 2, 2008
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Science Update
Differences in the working tissue of the brain, called grey matter, have been linked to impaired functioning of an emotion-regulating circuit in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). People with BPD had excess grey matter in a fear hub deep in the brain, which over-activated when they viewed scary faces. By contrast, the hub’s regulator near the front of the brain was deficient in grey matter and underactive, effectively taking the brakes off a runaway fear response, suggest researchers supported in part by NIMH. - Millisecond Brain Signals Predict Response to Fast-Acting Antidepressant
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October 2, 2008
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Press Release
Images of the brain’s fastest signals reveal an electromagnetic marker that predicts a patient’s response to a fast-acting antidepressant, researchers have discovered. - New Study to Evaluate Ways to Control Metabolic Side Effects of Antipsychotics
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October 1, 2008
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Science Update
A new NIMH-funded grant will examine ways to control the metabolic side effects associated with the use of the newer atypical antipsychotic medications in children with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. - Study Examines the Prevalence and Impact of Gastrointestinal Problems in Children with Autism
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September 24, 2008
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Science Update
A new study examines the characteristics of children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) who also have gastrointestinal problems. - New Grants Will Further Understanding of the Biology, Genetics and Treatment of Eating Disorders
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September 23, 2008
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Science Update
Eating disorders, which include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder, are complex and often life-threatening illnesses. - Gene Variants Force Mental Trade-offs: Efficiency vs. Resiliency
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September 15, 2008
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Science Update
Mice genetically engineered to have an over active version of a human gene, like their human counterparts, gain in emotional mettle under stress, but at a cost of less efficient thinking, NIMH scientists have discovered. Such talents seesawed in mice engineered to have either too much or not enough the val version of the COMT gene, the most common of two that humans inherit. The new study in mice confirms and helps to explain the trade-offs seen in earlier studies in humans, which have suggested that the val version slightly biases the brain’s workings toward increased risk for schizophrenia. - Newer Antipsychotics No Better Than Older Drug in Treating Child and Adolescent Schizophrenia
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September 15, 2008
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Press Release
Two newer atypical antipsychotic medications were no more effective than an older conventional antipsychotic in treating child and adolescent schizophrenia and may lead to more metabolic side effects. - Why “My Get Up and Go Has Got Up and Went”
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September 15, 2008
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Science Update
If, as the song laments, our “get up and go” fades as we get older, it may stem from aging-related changes in a brain reward circuit. Compared to young participants, older participants showed less activity in brain motivation hubs while they viewed a slot machine-like video game and received money in a NIMH brain imaging study.
