Science News

Stress-Resilience/Susceptibility Traced to Neurons in Reward Circuit

Press Release • December 12, 2012

Researchers, for the first time, have instantly switched depression-like states on-and-off in mice by tweaking the firing pattern of neurons in the brain’s reward circuit.

Experimental Agent Briefly Eases Depression Rapidly in Test

Press Release • December 11, 2012

Ketamine-like agent lifts depression briefly in treatment-resistant patients, with few side effects.

Psychotropic Medications Are Prescribed Appropriately Among U.S. Teens, National Study Finds

Science Update • December 03, 2012

A national study suggests that psychotropic medications are, in general, being prescribed appropriately among U.S. teens.

Switching Off a Specific Brain Region Can Alter Ingrained Habits in Rats

Science Update • November 27, 2012

Old habits may die hard, but we might be able to turn them off by targeting a specific brain region. Such a discovery could help us find better ways of controlling addiction or certain mental disorders like obsessive compulsive disorder.

In-sync Brain Waves Hold Memory of Objects Just Seen

Press Release • November 01, 2012

The brain holds in mind what has just been seen by synchronizing brain waves in a working memory circuit, an animal study suggests. The more in-sync such electrical signals of neurons were in two key hubs of the circuit, the more those cells held the short-term memory of a just-seen object. The new findings may upturn prevailing theories about how working memory works.

NIH Common Fund Announces Awards for Single Cell Analysis

Press Release • October 15, 2012

NIH plans to invest more than $90 million over five years to accelerate the development and application of single cell analysis across a variety of fields. The goal is to understand what makes individual cells unique and to pave the way for medical treatments.

Gene Variants Implicated in Extreme Weight Gain Associated with Antipsychotics

Science Update • October 12, 2012

A small study suggests that people with certain genetic variants may be more susceptible to extreme weight gain if they take certain antipsychotic medications.

Many Teens Considering Suicide Do Not Receive Specialized Mental Health Care

Science Update • October 12, 2012

Many teens who are thinking about or who have attempted suicide often do not see a mental health professional.

Former NIMH Grantee Wins Nobel Prize for Chemistry

Science Update • October 10, 2012

Former NIMH grantee Brian K. Kobilka, MD, of Stanford University has won this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He shares the award with Robert J. Lefkowitz of Duke University for explaining the communication system that the human body uses to send messages to cells.

Genetic Switch Involved in Depression

Science Update • September 19, 2012

Researchers have discovered a gene regulator that is over-expressed in brains of both depressed patients and rats that show depression-like behaviors. Boosting expression of the regulator, Gata1, decreased expression of genes that code for the connections between neurons in rats’ thinking and feeling circuitry, as well as the number of such synapses.