Posts by Former NIMH Director Thomas Insel from 2012

Dr. Insel highlights key recent findings in research on autism spectrum disorders.

Dr. Insel describes his top picks in research advances for 2012.

NIMH’s director talks about the need for research that explores the frontiers of science and funding efforts to encourage innovative research.

Dr. Insel introduces an innovative approach that one group is taking to speed up the dissemination of research results into clinical practice.

In looking back at ten years as NIMH director, Dr. Insel talks about the importance of rigorous science as the source of new, sometimes surprising, knowledge and ultimately, more effective means of prevention and treatment for mental illness.

Some barriers to progress are simply linguistic. In mental health, we are stymied by our language. For example, terms like “depression” or “schizophrenia” or “autism” have achieved a reality that far outstrips their scientific value. Each refers to a cluster of symptoms, similar to “fever” or “headache.” Yet the field has imbued these “fictive categories” with biological meaning, which has precluded the development of biomarkers that might confer validity. Is PTSD – or autism – a “disorder” or an injury? We need a broad conversation to help us understand how our language may be holding us back, limiting not only our impact but our imagination.

If genes comprise only 2 percent of our DNA, what is the function of the remaining 98 percent?  A massive ENCODE project has revealed that nearly 80 percent of our genome is read out, or transcribed – much of it devoted to regulating the turning on and off of genes.  Yet, there are also vast stretches of non-coding RNAs, some unique to humans, especially regions that appear active for specifying brain development.  Differences associated with autism and mental disorders are in these areas previously considered “junk.” The new map pinpoints sites where proteins called transcription factors alter the timing and amounts of gene expression – mechanisms that are likely at the heart of mental disorders, whether they are mainly due to environmental stressors or genetic factors.

Dr. Insel provides context for a new National Strategy for Suicide Prevention

Numerous provocative advances in neuroscience were reported during the summer of 2012.

Dr. Insel describes a new behavioral treatment for a neurologically based disorder that has traditionally been difficult to treat. 

Dr. Insel discusses recent efforts made by the NFL and other employers to help prevent suicides, and the importance of suicide prevention research.

NIMH research on HIV/AIDS will be well represented at the XIX International AIDS Conference, being held in the United States for the first time since 1990.

Dr. Insel discusses the crisis of medication development for mental disorders.

Serving Those Who Served

Dr. Insel discusses the dynamics of data sharing in research.

Presentations at a recent meeting in San Diego showed how new technologies are being used to change the culture of science, empowering patients, and fueling innovative research approaches.

While fewer medical students are choosing psychiatry in the U.K., in the U.S. psychiatry is attracting increasing numbers of elite MD-PhD students who want to do research. These young scientists are committed to developing a new scientific basis for clinical care.

Dr. Insel discusses how new research may help tie together seemingly disparate findings in genetic vs environmental risk factors in autism spectrum disorders.

Dr. Insel discusses new functional connectomes and developments in human brain imaging.

Dr. Insel discusses the CDC's latest report on autism prevalence.

Dr. Insel discusses the connection between mental disorders and infection in light of pediatric neuropsychiatric disorders PANS and PANDAS.

Dr. Insel discusses the state of science and math education in the U.S., scientific literacy, and Brain Awareness Week.

The RDoC project is an experimental approach to classification of mental disorders that will serve as a framework for ongoing research.

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week starts February 26. Dr. Insel discusses some surprising facts about these disorders, which are among the most fatal.

Dr. Insel discusses the emergence of “big data” and how open sharing of data could impact mental health research.

Dr. Insel talks about how basic research can lead to potential treatments.

Dr. Insel responds to discussion from the National Advisory Mental Health Council concerning the need to balance research funding for basic science and mental health services.

NIMH’s “government bureaucrats” are really dedicated public servants devoted to good patient care, improved  treatments, and scientific discovery.

Dr. Insel discusses opportunities for treatment development.