Science News

A new study looking at interactions among sleep, energy, activity level, and mood suggests that instability in activity and sleep systems could lead to mood changes. The findings suggest new targets for depression treatment.

Two recent studies add to the evidence that team-based early intervention services are feasible in real-world health care settings and result in improved outcomes for patients.

NIMH-funded scientists have discovered a pattern in the way a brain circuit works that may help predict the onset of psychosis. High levels of chatter, or “hyperconnectivity,” in a circuit involving the cerebellum, thalamus, and cortex emerged as a potential “neural signature” in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study.

Findings from NIMH’s Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) project indicate that team-based coordinated specialty care (CSC) for first episode psychosis (FEP) results in more optimal prescribing of antipsychotics and fewer side effects when compared with typical community care.

A trainee tells her story of how NIMH/NIH training programs for members of underrepresented groups have nurtured her scientific career.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)’s 24th biennial Mental Health Services Research (MHSR 2018) conference held August 1-2, in Rockville, MD, brought together mental health researchers, trainees, consumers, advocates, and mental health care providers to learn about current research findings and discuss new research that might close the gap between what science shows is most effective and what services people actually receive in real-world settings.

During NIMH’s Facebook Live event held in recognition of Suicide Prevention Week, NIMH Director Dr. Joshua Gordon and Dr. Jane Pearson, chair of the Suicide Research Consortium in NIMH’s Division of Services and Intervention Research, discussed some of the most recent suicide prevention research findings from NIMH, warning signs, and prevention strategies.

In a new study, researchers have traced the brain pathways responsible for the effects of light on learning and mood. The findings revealed that these effects are brought about by two different and distinct pathways from the retina into the brain.

The National Institutes of Health announces funding of more than 200 new awards, totaling over $220 million, through the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, an exciting trans-agency effort to arm researchers with revolutionary tools to fundamentally understand the neural circuits that underlie the healthy and diseased brain.

On Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, at a press conference at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual Meeting, National Institutes of Health directors will discuss how NIH is marshalling resources, primarily through the HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) Initiative, to come up with short- and long-term solutions for countering the pain and opioid crisis.