Science News
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- Gene Associated with Social Behavior in Animals Has Similar Effects in Human Males
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September 2, 2008
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Science Update
A gene variant related to the hormone vasopressin appears to be associated with how human males bond with their partners or wives, according to an NIMH-funded study. This is the first study to suggest that the wealth of information on vole pair-bonding may also apply to humans and may help to inform research on human disorders related to impaired social interactions and communication, such as autism. - Family-Focused Therapy Effective in Treating Depressive Episodes of Bipolar Youth
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September 1, 2008
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Science Update
Adolescents with bipolar disorder who received a nine-month course of family-focused therapy (FFT) recovered more quickly from depressive episodes and stayed free of depression for longer periods than a control group. - Serotonin Neurons Critical for Mouse Postpartum Maternal Behavior, Pup Survival
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August 29, 2008
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Science Update
Mood disorders, including postpartum depression, have long been treated with antidepressants that enhance the mood-regulating brain chemical messenger serotonin. Now, NIMH-supported researchers have demonstrated in mice – for the first time – that critical postpartum mothering behaviors and offspring survival also depend on proper functioning of serotonin-secreting neurons. - Childhood Bedwetting Occurred Twice as Often in Adults with Schizophrenia
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August 29, 2008
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Science Update
Childhood bedwetting occurred twice as often in adults with schizophrenia than in their unaffected brothers and sisters, according to a new study from researchers at NIMH. Their report appears in the September 2008 issue of the journal Brain. - New Research to Refine Approaches in Psychotherapy
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August 29, 2008
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Science Update
NIMH is funding eight new projects designed to evaluate, refine and improve psychotherapy-based treatments. - Antipsychotic Does Not Harm—and May Improve—Cognitive Skills in Children with Autism
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August 27, 2008
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Science Update
The atypical antipsychotic medication risperidone (Risperdal) does not negatively affect cognitive skills of children with autism, and may lead to improvements. - Largest Study of Its Kind Implicates Gene Abnormalities in Bipolar Disorder
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August 18, 2008
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Press Release
The largest genetic analysis of its kind to date for bipolar disorder has implicated machinery involved in the balance of sodium and calcium in brain cells. Researchers supported in part by the National Institute of Mental Health, part of the National Institutes of Health, found an association between the disorder and variation in two genes that make components of channels that manage the flow of the elements into and out of cells, including neurons. - A Night’s Sleep Gives Emotional Memories Their Staying Power
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August 14, 2008
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Science Update
For the first time, researchers have found that following a night’s sleep, emotional components of scenes are remembered at the expense of neutral components. In contrast, memories of both emotional and neutral components decayed equally following 12 hours of wakefulness. Sleep also promoted memory for generality over detail, says NIMH grantee Robert Stickgold, Ph.D., of Harvard University, who co-authored the recent study of memory consolidation. - Borderline Personality Disorder: Brain Differences Related to Disruptions in Cooperation in Relationships
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August 12, 2008
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Science Update
Different patterns of brain activity in people with borderline personality disorder were associated with disruptions in the ability to recognize social norms or modify behaviors that likely result in distrust and broken relationships, according to an NIMH-funded study published online in the August 8, 2008 issue of Science. - “Signatures” of Errant Gene Expression in Autism Eyed for Diagnostic Test
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August 1, 2008
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Science Update
Researchers have launched an effort to detect profiles of gene expression associated with autism that could some day form the basis of a diagnostic test for the disorder. The study, supported by a new grant from NIMH’s Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science, is searching for “signatures” in patterns of such expression in autism that could be clues to underlying abnormalities in the machinery that turns genes on and off in response to experience, as the brain is wired up during the first years of life.
