Science News about Basic Research

Much Touted “Depression Risk Gene” May Not Add to Risk After All

Press Release • June 16, 2009

Stressful life events are strongly associated with a person’s risk for major depression, but a certain gene variation long thought to increase risk in conjunction with stressful life events actually may have no effect, according to researchers funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study, published in the June 17, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, challenges a widely accepted approach to studying risk factors for depression.

Key Molecule in Inflammation-Related Depression Confirmed

Science Update • March 20, 2009

Scientists have confirmed the role of an immune-activated enzyme in causing inflammation-related depression-like symptoms in mice.

New Silvio O. Conte Centers Address Brain Development, Disorders

Science Update • March 18, 2009

With a mandate to use innovative, multidisciplinary research approaches to address important mental health questions, four newly funded centers have begun investigations of schizophrenia, brain development, and adolescent mood disorders.

Brain Awareness Week Teaches Kids How Their Brains Work

Press Release • March 17, 2009

The 10th annual Brain Awareness Week (BAW), a science and health education fair held in various locations across the United States, teaches fifth through eighth grade students about the brain. In Washington, D.C., it will take place March 16-20, 2009, at the National Museum of Health and Medicine at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Several institutes from the National Institutes of Health will provide interactive exhibits and lectures focusing on brain health and neuroscience on March 18th and 19th.

Brain Scanning Gives Clues to How Genes Shape Behavior, Disease Risk

Science Update • February 27, 2009

In an experiment in which people viewed changing images of slot machines, inherited differences in brain chemistry predicted the magnitude of responses in the brain to the prospect and receipt of reward.

Research Shows How Chronic Stress May be Linked to Physical and Mental Ailments

Science Update • February 03, 2009

While scientists have long known that the levels of certain hormones rise in response to chronic stress, an NIMH study is the first to describe a potential fundamental mechanism for this process.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

NIMH Funds Nine Innovative Projects to Pursue Major Challenges

Science Update • September 03, 2008

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has awarded nine exceptionally innovative research projects that hold promise for broad and deep impact on medical science.

Gene Associated with Social Behavior in Animals Has Similar Effects in Human Males

Science Update • September 02, 2008

A gene variant related to the hormone vasopressin appears to be associated with how human males bond with their partners or wives, according to an NIMH-funded study.

NIH Funds Nine Centers to Speed Application of Powerful New Research Approach

Press Release • September 02, 2008

The funding of a network of nine centers across the country that will use high tech screening methods to identify small molecules for use as probes to investigate the diverse functions of cells was announced today by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

A Night’s Sleep Gives Emotional Memories Their Staying Power

Science Update • August 14, 2008

For the first time, researchers have found that following a night's sleep, emotional components of scenes are remembered at the expense of neutral components.

New Grant Supports Stem Cell-Derived Model of Autism-Related Illness

Science Update • June 26, 2008

For the first time, researchers are developing a test tube model of Rett syndrome, a debilitating autism-like illness, in neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells.

Mice Expressing Human Genes Bred to Help Unravel Mental Disorders

Science Update • June 26, 2008

New mouse strains engineered to express human genes related to mental disorders are being developed under a recently-launched grant program from NIMH’s Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science.

Potential New Target Found for Developing Medications to Treat Bipolar Disorder

Science Update • June 20, 2008

Medications that target the protein BAG1, which regulates a process that can trigger symptoms in people who have bipolar disorder, may offer a new way of treating the disease, according to NIMH scientists.

The Maturing Brain Parallels its Evolution

Science Update • June 05, 2008

Evolutionarily older areas of the human brain that mature earliest follow a simple, straight-line growth pattern.

One Gene Overrides Another to Prevent Brain Changes that Foster Depression

Science Update • March 12, 2008

For what appears to be the first time in humans, scientists have detected an interaction between genes that may help prevent brain changes that increase vulnerability to depression.

Genetic Tags Reveal Secrets of Memories’ Staying Power in Mice

Press Release • February 21, 2008

A better understanding of how memory works is emerging from a newfound ability to link a learning experience in a mouse to consequent changes in the inner workings of its neurons. Researchers, supported in part by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), have developed a way to pinpoint the specific cellular components that sustain a specific memory in genetically-engineered mice.

Scans Reveal Faulty Brain Wiring Caused by Missing Genes

Science Update • February 20, 2008

An NIMH study using an emerging imaging technology has discovered faulty wiring in the brains of people with Williams Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects some aspects of thinking.

Tomorrow’s Antidepressants: Skip the Serotonin Boost?

Science Update • February 14, 2008

New research adds to evidence of potentially better molecular targets in the brain to treat depression and other mental disorders, according to NIMH-funded scientists.

IQ Boost From Breast Milk Linked to Gene-Environment Interaction

Science Update • December 17, 2007

A new study shows that the intellectual boost associated with breast milk is only attained if a child has inherited one of two versions of a specific gene.

Schizophrenia-Related Gene Linked to Imbalance in Dopamine Pathways

Science Update • December 17, 2007

Forms of a gene known to increase risk for schizophrenia may create an imbalance in brain pathways for dopamine, suggests a recent study by NIMH scientists.

Depression’s Flip Side Shares its Circuitry

Science Update • November 14, 2007

Humans tend to be overly optimistic about the future, sometimes underestimating risks and making unrealistic plans, notes NIMH grantee Elizabeth Phelps, Ph.D., New York University.

Researchers Suggest Updating Criteria for HIV-associated Neurocognitive Disorders

Science Update • November 08, 2007

After 10 years since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), the criteria for classifying HIV-related neurocognitive disorders may need to be revised and updated, according to a working group designated by NIMH and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study the issue. The study was published October 30, 2007, in the journal Neurology.

Memory-sustaining Enzyme May Help Treat PTSD, Cognitive Decline

Science Update • November 02, 2007

Chemically blocking an enzyme in a specific area in the brain’s cortex, or outer mantle, erased a long-term memory of an aversive event that rats had learned, a study funded in part by NIMH has found.