Science News from 2008

Consortium Moves Quickly to Study Resilience Following Hurricane Ike

Science Update • December 31, 2008

A consortium of research programs funded by NIMH to conduct post-disaster mental health research mobilized this year following hurricane Ike to study the factors that influence resilience after disasters.

NIMH Staff Honored for Work on Behalf of Returning Veterans

Science Update • December 31, 2008

Several NIMH staff members will be awarded the 2008 Hubert H. Humphrey Award for Service to America for their work in addressing the mental health needs of returning veterans.

Three NIMH Grantees Receive White House Award

Science Update • December 30, 2008

Three NIMH grantees were among the 67 recipients of Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE) for 2007:

NIMH Grants Focus on Innovative Autism Research

Science Update • December 30, 2008

Autism is a complex brain disorder involving communication and social difficulties as well as repetitive behavior or limited interests.

Study Probes Environment-Triggered Genetic Changes in Schizophrenia

Science Update • December 24, 2008

The first study of its kind to pinpoint environment-triggered genetic changes in schizophrenia has been launched with $9.8 million in funding from NIMH. The five-site study seeks telltale marks in the genome that hold clues to how nurture interacts with nature to produce the illness.

Intervention Helps Reduce Risky Sexual Behavior Among Homeless HIV-positive Adults

Science Update • December 16, 2008

An NIMH-funded program already shown to reduce risky sexual and substance abuse behavior among HIV-infected adults also appears to be effective in improving the lives of HIV-infected homeless or near-homeless adults, according to a new report.

Not All Antipsychotics Created Equal: Analysis Reveals Important Differences

Science Update • December 09, 2008

An analysis of studies on antipsychotics reveals multiple differences among the newer, second-generation antipsychotics as well as the older medications, and suggests the current classification system blurs important differences, rendering it unhelpful.

Caffeine No Substitute for a Nap to Enhance Memory

Science Update • December 08, 2008

Hoping to improve your tennis serve? It's probably better to catch a few winks than load up on java after a lesson, results of a NIMH-supported study suggest.

Depression Relapse Less Likely Among Teens Who Receive CBT After Medication Therapy

Science Update • December 05, 2008

Adolescents with major depression who received cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) after responding to an antidepressant were less likely to experience a relapse or recurrence of symptoms compared to teens who did not receive CBT, according to a small, NIMH-funded pilot study published in the December 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Anxious and Depressed Teens and Adults: Same Version of Mood Gene, Different Brain Reactions

Science Update • December 02, 2008

An NIMH study using brain imaging shows that some anxious and depressed adolescents react differently from adult patients when looking at frightening faces.

Long-term Academic Effects of Child’s ADHD May Extend to Siblings

Science Update • December 02, 2008

The long-term academic problems that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often experience may affect their siblings as well, according to an analysis partially funded by NIMH and published in the Journal of Health Economics.

Learning Disability Reversed in Mice

Science Update • November 25, 2008

Just as traffic signals enable safe traversing of the roadways, so too does the brain's machinery for learning and memory rely on its own stop-and-go signals.

NIMH, U.S. Army Sign MOA to Conduct Groundbreaking Suicide Research

Science Update • November 12, 2008

NIMH and the U.S. Army have entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to conduct research that will help the Army reduce the rate of suicides.

Genomic Dragnet Finds Clues to Likely Suspects in Alzheimer’s

Science Update • November 06, 2008

In the first study of its kind, researchers have pinpointed four genes likely associated with risk for the most common, late-onset form of Alzheimer’s disease, including a very strong candidate on chromosome 14.

Cells May Provide Target for New Anxiety Medications

Science Update • November 06, 2008

A specific population of brain cells could provide a target for developing new medications aimed at helping people learn to mute the fears underlying anxiety disorders, according to NIMH-supported scientists.

Anxious and Healthy Adolescents Respond Differently to an Anxiety-provoking Situation

Science Update • November 05, 2008

Brain scans show heightened activity among anxious adolescents exposed to an anxiety-provoking situation when compared with normal controls, according to an NIMH study published in the November 2008 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Genes That Turn On Together Hold Secrets of Brain’s Molecular Instructions

Science Update • November 05, 2008

For the first time, scientists have mapped groups of genes that turn on together in the human brain, revealing a kind of Rosetta Stone of its molecular organization.

Brain’s Response to Scary Faces Imaged Faster Than You Can Say “Boo!”

Science Update • October 31, 2008

Scientists have captured the split-second workings of the brain’s fear circuitry in people viewing frightful faces.

New Grant Aims to Reduce Rate of College Suicide by Helping Students Better Adjust

Science Update • October 31, 2008

A new grant funded by NIMH will test an intervention designed to prevent or reduce suicide among college students.

Study Identifies Three Effective Treatments for Childhood Anxiety Disorders

Press Release • October 30, 2008

Treatment that combines a certain type of psychotherapy with an antidepressant medication is most likely to help children with anxiety disorders, but each of the treatments alone is also effective.

Brain's Wiring Stunted, Lopsided in Childhood Onset Schizophrenia

Science Update • October 30, 2008

Growth of the brain's long distance connections, called white matter, is stunted and lopsided in children who develop psychosis before puberty, NIMH researchers have discovered.

Task Force Finds Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Effective for Children and Adolescents Exposed to Trauma

Science Update • October 29, 2008

Individual and group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) were the only interventions found effective in an evaluation of seven commonly-used approaches to reduce the psychological harm to youth who experience trauma.

Symptoms Persist as Bipolar Children Grow Up

Science Update • October 27, 2008

Bipolar disorder (BD) identified in childhood often persisted into adulthood in the first large follow-up study of its kind.

Lack of Eye Contact May Predict Level of Social Disability in Two-Year Olds with Autism

Science Update • October 23, 2008

By age 2, children with autism show unusual patterns of eye contact compared with typically developing children.

Social Phobia Patients Have Heightened Reactions to Negative Comments

Science Update • October 22, 2008

In a study using functional brain imaging, NIMH scientists found that when people with generalized social phobia were presented with a variety of verbal comments about themselves and others ("you are ugly," or "he's a genius," for example) they had heightened brain responses only to negative comments about themselves.

Certain Antipsychotic Medications May Increase Risk for Heart Disease

Science Update • October 16, 2008

Certain atypical antipsychotic medications may raise the risk for heart disease in people with schizophrenia, according to an analysis of data from the NIMH-funded Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) study.

Viral Genetic Underpinnings of HIV-associated Dementia Explored

Science Update • October 09, 2008

A new study identifies differences between genetic variants of HIV that are associated with HIV-associated dementia (HAD).

Pilot Study Will Test New Treatment to Reduce Self-Harm in Borderline Personality Disorder

Science Update • October 09, 2008

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.

Millisecond Brain Signals Predict Response to Fast-Acting Antidepressant

Press Release • October 02, 2008

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.

Emotion-Regulating Circuit Weakened in Borderline Personality Disorder

Science Update • October 02, 2008

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).