NIMH Pages about Basic Research
- NIH Launches the Human Connectome Project to Unravel the Brain’s Connections
- July 16, 2009 • Press Release
The National Institutes of Health Blueprint for Neuroscience Research is launching a $30 million project that will use cutting-edge brain imaging technologies to map the circuitry of the healthy adult human brain. By systematically collecting brain imaging data from hundreds of subjects, the Human Connectome Project (HCP) will yield insight into how brain connections underlie brain function, and will open up new lines of inquiry for human neuroscience.
- Much Touted “Depression Risk Gene” May Not Add to Risk After All
- June 16, 2009 • Press Release
Stressful life events are strongly associated with a person’s risk for major depression, but a certain gene variation long thought to increase risk in conjunction with stressful life events actually may have no effect, according to researchers funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study, published in the June 17, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, challenges a widely accepted approach to studying risk factors for depression.
- Key Molecule in Inflammation-Related Depression Confirmed
- March 20, 2009 • Science Update
Scientists have confirmed the role of an immune-activated enzyme in causing inflammation-related depression-like symptoms in mice.
- New Silvio O. Conte Centers Address Brain Development, Disorders
- March 18, 2009 • Science Update
With a mandate to use innovative, multidisciplinary research approaches to address important mental health questions, four newly funded centers have begun investigations of schizophrenia, brain development, and adolescent mood disorders.
- Brain Awareness Week Teaches Kids How Their Brains Work
- March 17, 2009 • Press Release
The 10th annual Brain Awareness Week (BAW), a science and health education fair held in various locations across the United States, teaches fifth through eighth grade students about the brain. In Washington, D.C., it will take place March 16-20, 2009, at the National Museum of Health and Medicine at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Several institutes from the National Institutes of Health will provide interactive exhibits and lectures focusing on brain health and neuroscience on March 18th and 19th.
More Science News…
- NIMH Institutional Training Grant Program Directors Meeting
- March 02, 2009 – March 03, 2009
Bethesda, Maryland
T32 Program Directors and NIMH staff discussed the unique challenges and opportunities associated with training future NIMH investigators.
- New Perspectives in the Translational Neuroscience of Late Life Mental Disorders
- February 02, 2009 – February 03, 2009
Bethesda, Maryland
The goal of this workshop was to bring together basic and clinical researchers to identify key research questions relative to discovering the causes of mental disorders, and to chart mental illness trajectories to determine when, where and how to intervene.
- Mental Illness, Incarceration, and Community Re-entry: Telepsychiatry and Continuity of Mental Health Care
- October 29, 2008 – October 30, 2008
Austin, Texas
Participants discussed whether current knowledge and practices related to the continuity of mental health care in general and telepsychiatry specifically are effective, and how effective methods can be generalized to other domains of mental health care.
- Neuroimmunology, Brain Development, and Mental Disorders
- October 02, 2008 – October 03, 2008
Washington, DC
The purpose of this workshop was to discuss the role of neuroimmunologic factors in brain development and mental disorders.
- The 14th NIMH Biennial Research Conference on the Economics of Mental Health
- September 25, 2008 – September 26, 2008
Bethesda, Maryland
In September 2008, the NIMH Division of Services and Intervention Research sponsored the 14th NIMH Biennial Research Conference on the Economics of Mental Health. This year the program committee invited investigators to present original policy-relevant research that can contribute toward building a high performance mental health system.
More Meeting Summaries…
- Linda Brady of NIMH Receives New Roadmap Compass Award
- November 18, 2008
NIH Director Elias Zerhouni, MD, presented the first individual Roadmap Compass Award on October 24, 2008 to Linda Brady, Ph.D., director of the Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science at NIMH, for her leadership and coordination of the Molecular Libraries Working Group.
- National Advisory Mental Health Council Workgroup Issues Nine Recommendations to Strengthen Research Training
- November 10, 2008
A workgroup of the National Advisory Mental Health Council (NAMHC) makes nine specific recommendations to strengthen the institute’s program in research training in a new report entitled “Investing in the Future” released on November 1, 2008.
- Institute of Medicine of the National Academies Announces New Members
- October 20, 2008
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) on October 13, 2008 announced the names of 65 new members and five foreign associates in conjunction with its 38th annual meeting.
- 2008 NIH Director’s Pioneer and New Innovator Awards Include Research That Promises to Improve Understanding of Mental Health and Brain Disorders
- October 06, 2008
NIH Director Elias Zerhouni announced on September 22, 2008 the new recipients of the Pioneer Awards and New Innovator Awards. The awards are key components of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research and support exceptionally creative scientists who take highly innovative approaches to major challenges in biomedical research.
- Nakamura to Become Scientific Director for the Division of Intramural Research Programs
- August 05, 2008
Twenty two years after serving in the NIMH intramural program, Richard Nakamura, PhD, has accepted the appointment of Scientific Director for the Division of Intramural Research Programs. He will leave his position as Deputy Director for NIMH effective September 28, 2008 to assume this new post.
More Director’s Updates…
