Research Areas Overview

NIMH researchers conduct research ranging from studies into mechanisms of normal brain function, conducted at the behavioral, systems, cellular, and molecular levels, to clinical investigations into the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental illness, throughout the lifespan. Areas of research with associated Principal Investigator (PI) or Core/Service Director (Dir) include:

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Anxiety Disorders

Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience (SDAN) (PI: Dr. Daniel Pine)

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology (LMCN) (PI: Dr. Susan Amara)

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Phenotyping Service (Dir: Dr. Audrey Thurm)
Section on Cognitive Neuropsychology (PI: Dr. Alex Martin)
Section on Social and Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience (PI: Tonya White)

Bipolar Disorder

Experimental Therapeutics & Pathophysiology Branch (ETPB) and Section on the Neurobiology and Treatment of Mood Disorders (PI: Dr. Carlos Zarate)
Genetic Epidemiology Research Branch (GEB-SDGE) (PI: Dr. Kathleen Merikangas)
Human Genetics Branch (PI: Dr. Francis McMahon)

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Section on Developmental Neurogenomics (PI: Dr. Armin Raznahan)
Emotion and Development Branch (E & D)
- Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience (SDAN) (PI: Dr. Daniel Pine)
- Section on Mood Dysregulation and Neuroscience (SMDN) (PI: Dr. Ellen Leibenluft)
- Neuroscience and Novel Therapeutics Unit (NNT) (Dir: Dr. Melissa Brotman)
Office of the Clinical Director (Dir: Dr. Maryland Pao)
Section on Integrative Neuroimaging (PI: Dr. Karen Berman)
Section on Social and Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience (PI: Tonya White)

Circuits and Behavior

Rodent Behavior Core (Dir: Dr. Yogita Chudasama)
Systems Neuroscience Imaging Resource (Dir: Dr. Ted Usdin)
Section on Behavioral Neuroscience (PI: Dr. Yogita Chudasama)
Section on Critical Brain Dynamics (PI: Dr. Dietmar Plenz)
Section on Neural Function (PI: Dr. Benjamin White)
Section on the Neural Circuits of Emotion and Motivation (PI: Dr. Mario Penzo)
Unit on Functional Neural Circuits (PI: Dr. Soohyun Lee)
Unit on Neural Computation and Behavior (PI: Dr. Mark Histed)

Cognitive Neuroscience

Laboratory of Brain and Cognition (LBC)
- Section on Cognitive Neuropsychology (PI: Dr. Alex Martin)
- Section on Learning and Plasticity (PI: Dr. Christopher Baker)
Laboratory of Neuropsychology (LN)
- Section on Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (SNLM) (PI: Dr. Betsy Murray)
- Section on Neural Coding and Computation (SNCC) (PI: Dr. Barry Richmond)
- Section on Cognitive Neurophysiology and Imaging (PI: Dr. David Leopold)
- Section on Learning and Decision Making (SLDM) (PI: Dr. Bruno Averbeck)
- Unit on Neurons, Circuits and Behavior (UNCB) (PI: Dr. Arash Afraz)
Section on Behavioral Neuroscience (PI: Dr. Yogita Chudasama)
Unit on Neural Computation and Behavior (PI: Dr. Mark Histed)

Computational Neuroscience

Unit on Computational Decision Neuroscience (PI: Dr. Silvia Lopez-Guzman)
Unit on the Neural Computations in Learning (PI: Dr. Angela Langdon)

Depression

Behavioral Endocrinology Branch (PI: Dr. Peter Schmidt)
Experimental Therapeutics & Pathophysiology Branch (ETPB) and Section on the Neurobiology and Treatment of Mood Disorders (PI: Dr. Carlos Zarate)
Genetic Epidemiology Research Branch (GEB-SDGE) (PI: Dr. Kathleen Merikangas)
Human Genetics Branch (PI: Dr. Francis McMahon)

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)

Neuroscience and Novel Therapeutics Unit (NNT) (Dir: Dr. Melissa Brotman)
Section on Mood Dysregulation and Neuroscience (SMDN) (PI: Dr. Ellen Leibenluft)

Epidemiology

Genetic Epidemiology Research Branch (GEB-SDGE) (PI: Dr. Kathleen Merikangas)

Experimental Therapeutics

Experimental Therapeutics & Pathophysiology Branch (ETPB) and Section on the Neurobiology and Treatment of Mood Disorders (PI: Dr. Carlos Zarate)

Functional Imaging

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Core Facility (FMRIF) (Dir: Dr. Peter Bandettini)
Laboratory of Brain and Cognition (LBC)
- Section on Cognitive Neuropsychology (PI: Dr. Alex Martin)
- Section on Learning and Plasticity (PI: Dr. Christopher Baker)
- Section on Functional Imaging Methods (PI: Dr. Peter Bandettini)
Magnetoencephalography Core (MEG) (Dir: Dr. Allison Nugent)
Neurophysiology Imaging Facility (Dir: Dr. David Leopold)
Scientific and Statistical Computing Core (Dir: Dr. Paul Taylor)
Section on Integrative Neuroimaging (PI: Dr. Karen Berman)

Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience