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and treatment of mental illnesses.

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Science News

Worried pregnant woman sitting at home with protective face mask, looking through the window and holding stomach.
Combined, High Maternal Stress and Prenatal COVID-19 Infection May Affect Attention Span in Infants

Prenatal COVID-19 infection increased the risk for impaired attention and delayed socioemotional and cognitive functioning among infants of mothers who experienced high psychosocial stress during their pregnancy.

Professional looking young woman standing in a conference room while smiling and holding a tablet, with a group of people working in the background.
RAISE-ing the Standard of Care for Schizophrenia: The Rapid Adoption of Coordinated Specialty Care in the United States

75th Anniversary

The Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode research initiative, launched by NIMH to test the effectiveness of coordinated specialty care to treat first-episode psychosis, has transformed the mental health landscape in the United States and helped thousands of people with schizophrenia achieve better outcomes.

A headshot of Dr. Patricia A. Areán.
Dr. Patricia A. Areán Named New Director of NIMH’s Division of Services and Intervention Research

Patricia A. Areán, Ph.D., has been selected as the new director of the National Institute of Mental Health’s (NIMH) Division of Services and Intervention Research (DSIR).

Headshot of Dr. Lisa Bowleg.
Dr. Lisa Bowleg Named James S. Jackson Memorial Award Winner

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has named applied Social Psychologist Lisa Bowleg, Ph.D., M.A., the 2023 James S. Jackson Memorial Award winner.

Swarm of human immunodeficiency virus.
Blocking HIV Enzyme Reduces Infectivity and Slows Viral Rebound

In this NIMH-funded study, researchers developed a compound that blocked an enzyme critical for forming HIV particles, which stopped the virus from correctly forming and becoming infectious.

Emergency department sign at a hospital
Youth Emergency Department Visits for Mental Health Increased During Pandemic

Hospital visits for urgent mental health care increased among children and teens in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an NIMH-supported study.

Model showing glycine (teal) docking on the receptor GPR158. The dotted lines show contacts glycine molecule forms with GPR158. Courtesy of the Martemyanov lab, The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology.
Researchers Solve the Puzzle of a Brain Receptor’s Activation

Researchers in a NIMH-supported study identified a new receptor for glycine that helps enhance communication between nerve cells in the brain and offers a potential new target for treating mental disorders.

A mother tightly hugging her young daughter.
Mothers' Difficult Childhoods Impact Their Children’s Mental Health

In this NIMH-funded study, researchers examined how trauma gets passed from one generation to the next.

Illustration of communication between neurons.
Newly Discovered Brain Connection Affects Reward Behavior in Mice

NIMH-funded research sheds light on how negative early life experiences may impact how we act in response to rewards, which is often disrupted in people with mental illnesses.

Concept of neurons communicating with an explosion of activity between two neurons.
Researchers Find Order in the Language of the Brain

New research supported by NIMH used mathematical approaches to explain how neurons in the brain communicate over time to support information processing.