Mood and Sleep Disorders Research Program

Overview

This program supports research on the etiology, core features, longitudinal course, and assessment of mood and sleep. It also supports studies focusing on the elucidation of risk factors for the onset or recurrence of psychopathology. Intervention development studies grounded in findings from psychopathology are supported as the next step in the translation of basic research to effective treatments.

Areas of Emphasis

• Identifying phenotypes and endophenotypes as new targets for assessment and therapeutics, that are emerging from integrative genetics, pathophysiology, and psychopathology research.
• Conducting translational research on emotion and affect dysregulation to find new strategies for treating disorders of mood and sleep.
• Identifying ways in which genetic and environmental factors interact to raise or lower risk for mental disorders.
• Developing new preventive and treatment interventions targeted to specific cognitive, emotional, or interpersonal components of the psychopathology of disorder.
• Using modern psychometric and statistical theories to advance fundamental conceptualizations of nosology and consequent approaches toward more focused assessment and treatment of the many dimensions and subtypes that constitute complex psychiatric disorders.

Contact

Peter R. Muehrer, Ph.D.
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 7113, MSC 9625
301-443-4708, pmuehrer@mail.nih.gov