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- Scientists Switch Neurons On and Off Using Light
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April 5, 2007
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Science Update
Researchers have invented a genetically-engineered way to turn the electrical impulses of brain cells on and off with pulses of blue and yellow light — in synch with the split-second pace of real time neuronal activity.
- Adolescent Brains Show Lower Activity in Areas That Control Risky Choices
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March 15, 2007
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Science Update
A new NIMH study could help explain why adolescents are so prone to make risky choices. When contemplating risky decisions, they show less activity in regions of the brain that regulate processes involved in decision-making, compared with adults.
- Tiny, Spontaneous Gene Mutations May Boost Autism Risk
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March 15, 2007
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Press Release
Tiny gene mutations, each individually rare, pose more risk for autism
than had been previously thought, suggests a study funded in part by the National
Institute of Mental Health, a component of the National Institutes of Health.
- Virtual-Reality Video Game Helps Link Depression to Specific Brain Area
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March 1, 2007
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Science Update
Scientists are using a virtual-reality, three-dimensional video game that challenges spatial memory as a new tool for assessing the link between depression and the hippocampus, the brain’s memory hub.
- Largest-Ever Search for Autism Genes Reveals New Clues
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February 18, 2007
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Press Release
The largest search for autism genes to date, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has implicated components of the brain’s glutamate chemical messenger system and a previously overlooked site on chromosome 11.
- Common Gene Version Optimizes Thinking — but With a Possible Downside
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February 9, 2007
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Press Release
Most people inherit a version of a gene that optimizes their brain’s thinking circuitry, yet also appears to increase risk for schizophrenia, a severe mental illness marked by impaired thinking, scientists at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have discovered.
- Autism Research Efforts Highlighted in Biological Psychiatry Special Issue
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February 6, 2007
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Science Update
The February 15, 2007 special issue of Biological Psychiatry is dedicated to recent advances in autism research, including many studies funded by the Institute.
- Brain’s Reward Circuit Activity Ebbs and Flows with a Woman’s Hormonal Cycle
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February 2, 2007
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Press Release
Fluctuations in sex hormone levels during women’s menstrual cycles affect the responsiveness of their brains’ reward circuitry, an imaging study at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has revealed.
- New Tests May Help Researchers Detect Genetic Basis For Autism
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January 30, 2007
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Science Update
Researchers have developed a set of behavioral tests in mice that mimic the core features of autism and may prove useful in detecting a genetic basis for the deficits in social interactions and rigid thinking seen in the disorder.
- Clues to Making and Breaking Memories Included in List of Year’s Top Science
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January 30, 2007
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Science Update
NIMH-funded researchers were cited in Science Magazine’s December 2006 “Breakthrough of the Year” special issue.
