Science News from 2013

Neuroscientists have generated over 250 genetically engineered mice lines that will help further our understanding of the human brain.

Join NIMH’s Jovier Evans, Ph.D., Chief of the Geriatric Translational Neuroscience Program, for a Twitter Chat on depression and older adults.

Despite facing lean financial times, NIH continues to generate the most bang for the buck regarding research. Tomorrow on C-SPAN Washington Journal, NIH Directors Drs. Collins, Insel, Fauci, Varmus, and Green will field questions from the public pertaining to sequestration and research as well as other topics.

The NIH NeuroBioBank provides researchers with one-stop access to post-mortem brains.

Earliest Marker for Autism Found in Infants

NIH experts Drs. Chris Sarampote and Valerie Maholmes discuss bullying prevention.

Miss the Twitter chat on the teen brain and Brain Awareness Week? Read the transcript.

Researchers have found a shortcut to rapidly convert induced human stem cells into healthy neurons for “disease-in-a-dish” discovery – and, ultimately, personalized medicine.

NIMH’s Daniel S. Pine, M.D., is one of three NIH scientists elected as members of the prestigious Institute of Medicine.

A form of behavioral therapy augmented antidepressant treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) better than an antipsychotic.

Thomas C. Südhof, M.D., along with James E. Rothman, Ph.D., and Randy W. Schekman, Ph.D., received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries delineating how a cell organizes its transport system.

Susan Murphy, Ph.D., a statistician from the University of Michigan and former NIMH grantee, is one of 24 recipients of the MacArthur “Genius” Award.

NIMH scientist Jay Giedd, M.D. discusses the teen brain with Science/AAAS in a Google+ Hangout.

NIMH’s Jay Giedd discusses brain scan research with Alan Alda in the two-episode PBS documentary “Brains on Trial.”

Two National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grantees recently collected the prestigious 2013 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for their meticulous mapping of the molecular mechanisms involved in neurotransmitter release, the process by which the brain send and receives chemical messengers.

To commemorate World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10, 2013, NIMH will host a twitter chat on the topic.

NIMH scientist Dr. Jane Pearson appeared on NPR’s Science Friday to discuss the latest findings in suicide prevention research.

Register for a webinar on September 9 featuring NIMH scientist Dr. Judith Rapoport, who will discuss brain development in childhood and adolescence and childhood-onset schizophrenia.

Scans of resting human brain activity reveal a secret to how it enhances our thinking prowess. It turns out that the left brain’s forte (e.g., language and fine motor skill) and the right brain’s (e.g., visual spatial attention) operate differently.

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President Obama announced the National Research Action Plan (NRAP)—a comprehensive approach to improve our understanding and treatment of mental health problems affecting veterans, service members, and their families.

The largest genome-wide study of its kind has determined how much five major mental illnesses are traceable to the same common inherited genetic variations.

Bruce Cuthbert, Ph.D., director, NIMH Division of Translational Research and Treatment Development, discusses the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative, which he coordinates.

On August 13, 2013, Carlos A. Zarate, M.D., from the National Institute of Mental Health will give a live presentation titled “Ketamine & Next Generation Therapies,” where he will discuss his research on novel medications for treatment-resistant depression and bipolar disorder at the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation.

Researchers have reverse-engineered the outlines of a disrupted prenatal gene network in schizophrenia, by tracing spontaneous mutations to where and when they likely cause damage in the brain.

On Tuesday, July 23, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) launched “OK2Talk,” a mental health awareness campaign to increase understanding and awareness about mental health in youth. The campaign includes television and radio ads in English and Spanish that feature teens and young adults opening up about their experiences with mental health.

With nearly 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion connections, the human brain remains one of the greatest mysteries in science and one of the greatest challenges in medicine. NIMH Director Thomas Insel recently went on The Charlie Rose Brain Series to discuss The BRAIN Initiative, which aims to create better tools to solve this mystery.

Improving care for depression in low-income communities -- places where such help is frequently unavailable or hard to find -- provides greater benefits to those in need when community groups such as churches and even barber shops help lead the planning process, according to a new study.

Learn about post-traumatic stress disorder by joining NIMH’s Farris Tuma for a Twitter chat.

Biases in standardized norms used to compare data on head size weakens evidence for early excess brain growth in autism, say NIMH intramural researchers.

NIH Funds Industry Collaborations to Identify New Uses for Existing Compounds

Pre-treatment scans of brain activity predicted whether depressed patients would best achieve remission with an antidepressant medication or psychotherapy, in a study that may help mental health treatment decision-making move beyond trial-and-error. The study sought to identify a biomarker that could predict which type of treatment a patient would benefit from based on the state of his or her brain.

Once considered a childhood rite of passage, bullying lingers well into adulthood. Bullies and victims alike are at risk for psychiatric problems such as anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and suicide when they become adults, reported a study partially funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) that was published in the April issue of JAMA Psychiatry.

See NIMH’s new website design.

A new report from the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services outlines progress made toward improving mental health services for members of the military, veterans, and their families.

NIMH teams up with Perry D. Hoffman from the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder for a chat about this topic.

NMDA or glutamate receptor modulators as antidepressants have come of age. Human clinical studies demonstrated that ketamine can ward off depressive symptoms within 2 hours of administration and last for several days. Yet serious side effects are attached to this drug, including excessive sleepiness, hallucinations, and substance abuse behavior.

Scientists have reversed behavioral and brain abnormalities in adult mice that resemble some features of schizophrenia, by restoring normal expression to the gene Neuregulin1, which makes a protein important for brain development.

NIMH and APA have a shared interest in ensuring that patients and health providers have the best available tools and information today to identify and treat mental health issues, while we continue to invest in improving and advancing mental disorder diagnostics for the future.

Pregnant mothers’ exposure to the flu has been linked to a nearly 4-fold increased risk for bipolar disorder in their adult child.

NIMH experts discuss childhood rapid-onset OCD during our next Twitter chat on May 8, 2013.

Looking for more information and the latest findings on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder? Join NIMH’s Ben Vitiello on Twitter for a chat about this topic.

Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have discovered a potential strategy for developing treatments to stem the disease process in Alzheimer’s disease, by blocking activity of a little-known regulator protein called CD33.

Scientists can now study the brain’s finer workings, while preserving its 3-D structure and integrity of its circuitry using a breakthrough method, called CLARITY, that substitutes a clear gel for fat that normally holds the brain’s working components in place, making its normally opaque and impenetrable tissue see-through and permeable.

The National Institutes of Health announced new funding for two Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE), bringing to eleven the number of ACE centers now being funded for up to five years.

A child’s risk for developing an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is not increased by receiving “too many vaccines too soon,” according to a new study published in The Journal of Pediatrics.

Losing weight is challenging for everyone. It can be particularly difficult for someone with a serious mental illness. An NIMH-funded clinical study proves that a modified diet and exercise program can work for people with serious mental illnesses. Participants lost 7 pounds more than controls—and continued to lose weight.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Health Resources and Services Administration released a report titled Changes in Prevalence of Parent-reported Autism Spectrum Disorder in School-aged U.S. Children: 2007 to 2011–2012.

Miss the Twitter chat on the teen brain and Brain Awareness Week? Read the transcript.

Why are rates of schizophrenia and autism higher in males? New evidence implicates an enzyme expressed in the placenta that helps protect the developing fetal brain from adverse effects of maternal stress early in pregnancy.

As part of the National Museum of Health and Medicine museum’s 14th annual Brain Awareness Week celebration, several hundred curious students from the Washington, D.C., area will have a chance to learn about what goes on inside the human brain, through a series of interactive exhibits led by scientists from eight institutes of the National Institutes of Health.

An international study supported by NIMH reported today that community efforts, in comparison to standard clinical testing and counseling, yielded greater testing and lower HIV incidence in high-risk individuals.

Five major mental disorders share some of the same genetic risk factors, the largest genome-wide study of its kind has found.

A newly identified brain circuit could lead to earlier detection of psychosis in patients with schizophrenia.

A recent NIMH-funded study identified small regions of the genome that are uniquely regulated in human neurons, but not in primate neurons. The findings provide insight into human intellectual function and risk for human diseases, including autism and Alzheimer’s disease.

Want to know how the latest findings in neuroscience research go from bench to bedside? NIMH and Science/AAAS partnered to produce an informative webinar on translating neurobiological research into treatments.

Excess attention to avoidance of threat – depending on the situation – can increase risk for PTSD, suggests a new study.

The American Medical Association feted Thomas Insel M.D., director of the National Institute of Mental Health, with its top government service award.

Long-term Course of ADHD Diagnosed in Preschool Years Can be Chronic and Severe

Some autism symptoms can be seen in 6-month-old infants, possibly leading to even earlier intervention for this disorder.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius discusses state of U.S. mental health care, commemorates JFK’s speech on the topic 50 years ago.

A boost of activity in visual cortex at the back of the brain, triggered by the processing of emotional information, predicted depressed patients’ responses to a rapid-acting antidepressant.

Brain imaging might soon predict which treatment options would work best for patients with social phobia.

Fifty years ago, President John F. Kennedy addressed Congress about the state of mental health—and changed the way Americans view mental health care.

Renowned neurobiologist Susan Amara recently joined NIMH as scientific director of its intramural research program.

An NIH-supported study has confirmed that some children who are accurately diagnosed in early childhood with autism lose the symptoms and the diagnosis as they grow older.

Time-crunched ER nurses and doctors can use four questions to screen youth at risk for attempting suicide.

Work by NIMH-supported scientists illustrates the variability of the genes and biology underlying illnesses like schizophrenia.