Science News
Find Press Releases and Science Updates by Topic
- NIH Funds New Program to Investigate Causes and Treatment of Autism
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October 30, 2007
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Science Update
The National Institutes of Health will intensify its efforts to find the causes of autism and identify new treatments for the disorder, through a new research program. The Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) program represents a consolidation of two existing programs, the Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment (STAART) and Collaborative Programs of Excellence in Autism (CPEA) programs into a single research effort. - Behavioral Intervention Normalizes Stress-related Hormone in High-Risk Kids
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October 24, 2007
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Science Update
A family-based behavioral intervention that helps prevent social and behavior problems in high-risk preschoolers also may help normalize their cortisol levels when they anticipate stressful situations, results of a new NIMH study suggest. - Stress: Brain Yields Clues About Why Some Succumb While Others Prevail
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October 18, 2007
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Press Release
Results of a new study may one day help scientists learn how to enhance a naturally occurring mechanism in the brain that promotes resilience to psychological stress. Researchers funded by NIMH found that, in a mouse model, the ability to adapt to stress is driven by a distinctly different molecular mechanism than is the tendency to be overwhelmed by stress. - National Survey Tracks Prevalence of Personality Disorders in U.S. Population
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October 18, 2007
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Science Update
NIMH-funded researchers recently reported that roughly nine percent of U.S. adults have a personality disorder as defined by the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-IV. Many people with personality disorders were also found to have co-occurring major mental disorders. - How Schizophrenia Develops: Major Clues Discovered
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October 17, 2007
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Press Release
Schizophrenia may occur, in part, because of a problem in an intermittent on/off switch for a gene involved in making a key chemical messenger in the brain, scientists have found in a study of human brain tissue. - New Social Neuroscience Grants to Help Unravel Autism, Anxiety Disorders
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October 10, 2007
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Science Update
How genes and the environment shape the brain circuitry underlying social behavior is among the questions being addressed by three newly NIMH-funded studies. - Bipolar Disorder Phenome Database May Aid Search for Related Genes
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October 2, 2007
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Science Update
Early findings from the recently launched Bipolar Disorder Phenome Database were published in the August 2007 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. - Depressed Adolescents Respond Best to Combination Treatment
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October 1, 2007
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Press Release
A combination of psychotherapy and antidepressant medication appears to be the most effective treatment for adolescents with major depressive disorder—more than medication alone or psychotherapy alone. - Mental Disorders Account for Large Percentage of Adult Role Disability
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October 1, 2007
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Science Update
An NIMH-funded study finds that more than half of U.S. adults have a mental or physical condition that prevents them from working or conducting their usual duties (e.g., role disability) for several days each year, and a large portion of those days can be attributed to mental disorders. - Scientists May Have Found Long-Pursued Binding Site for Antidepressants
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September 28, 2007
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Science Update
NIMH-funded scientists have a major new clue as to where the long-pursued binding site for commonly used antidepressants – potentially the site that triggers the medications’ effects – may be on brain cells. The finding could lead to better medications for depression, but also has important implications for other mental illnesses because it addresses a biological flaw that a number of them share.
