EurekAlert! - National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 17-Jun-2013

Molecular Psychiatry
Rare genomic mutations found in 10 families with early-onset, familial Alzheimer's disease
Massachusetts General Hospital researchers have discovered a type of mutation known as copy-number variants -- deletions, duplications, or rearrangements of human genomic DNA -- in affected members of 10 families with early-onset Alzheimer's. These are the first new early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease gene mutations to be reported since 1995.

Cure Alzheimer's Fund, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 11-Jun-2013
NIH awards UCI $10 million to study early-life origins of adolescent mental disorders
With $10 million in new federal funding, UC Irvine researchers will study how maternal signals and care before and after birth may increase an infant's vulnerability to adolescent cognitive and emotional problems, such as risky behaviors, addiction and depression.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 9-Jun-2013

Science
Mice give new clues to origins of OCD
Columbia Psychiatry researchers have identified what they think may be a mechanism underlying the development of compulsive behaviors. The finding suggests possible approaches to treating or preventing certain characteristics of OCD.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Scholars Program, Irving Institute for Clinical and Translation Research

Public Release: 6-Jun-2013

Science
MIT study sheds light on what causes compulsive behavior, could improve OCD treatments
By activating a brain circuit that controls compulsive behavior, MIT neuroscientists have shown that they can block a compulsive behavior in mice -- a result that could help researchers develop new treatments for diseases such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette's syndrome.

Simons Initiative on Autism and the Brain, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NIH/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative

Public Release: 5-Jun-2013

Science Translational Medicine
Fear learning studies point to a potential new treatment for PTSD
An opioid receptor agonist can reduce PTSD-like symptoms in an animal model. Additional data from humans strengthen the case for opioid receptors' involvement in regulating fear learning.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

Public Release: 4-Jun-2013

Journal of Traumatic Stress
CWRU researchers find half of those diagnosed with PTSD also suffer from depression
About one of every two people diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder also suffer symptoms of depression, according to new research by Case Western Reserve University's Department of Psychological Sciences.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 4-Jun-2013

American Journal of Psychiatry
Altered neural circuitry may lead to anorexia and bulimia
A landmark study, with first author Tyson Oberndorfer, M.D., and led by Walter H. Kaye, M.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, suggests that the altered function of neural circuitry contributes to restricted eating in anorexia and overeating in bulimia. The research may offer a pathway to new and more effective treatments for these serious eating disorders.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Price Foundation

Public Release: 4-Jun-2013

Journal of Visualized Experiments
Fear: A justified response or faulty wiring?
On June 3, 2013, a new article studying amygdala activity in human beings will be published as part of JoVE Behavior, a new section of the video journal that focuses on the behavioral sciences. The technique, developed by Dr. Fred Helmstetter and his research group at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, studies how the brain responds to anticipated painful stimuli, in this case an electric shock, in volunteer test subjects.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 28-May-2013

Translational Psychiatry
Family studies suggest rare genetic mutations team up to cause schizophrenia
Using a novel method of analyzing genetic variations in families, researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that individually harmless genetic variations affecting related biochemical processes may team up to increase the risk of schizophrenia. They say their findings, reported May 28 in Translational Psychiatry, bring some clarity to the murky relationship between genetics and schizophrenia, and may lead to a genetic test that can predict which medications will be effective for individual patients.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute

Public Release: 21-May-2013

Molecular Psychiatry
Genetic predictors of postpartum depression uncovered by Hopkins researchers
Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered specific chemical alterations in two genes that, when present during pregnancy, reliably predict whether a woman will develop postpartum depression.

Solomon & Rebecca Baker Foundation, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 21-May-2013

PLOS Medicine
Integrating mental health care into HIV care
The integration of mental health interventions into HIV prevention and treatment platforms can reduce the opportunity costs of care and improve treatment outcomes, argues a new Policy Forum article published in this week's PLOS Medicine.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 20-May-2013

Pediatrics
First long-term study reveals link between childhood ADHD and obesity
A new study conducted by researchers at the Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center found men diagnosed as children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder were twice as likely to be obese in a 33-year follow-up study compared to men who were not diagnosed with the condition. The study appears in the May 20 online edition of Pediatrics.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse, European Commission

Public Release: 13-May-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Circadian clock gene rhythms in brain altered in depression, UC Irvine Health study finds
UC Irvine Health researchers have helped discover that genes controlling circadian clock rhythms are profoundly altered in the brains of people with severe depression. These clock genes regulate 24-hour circadian rhythms affecting hormonal, body temperature, sleep and behavioral patterns.

Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Disorders Research Fund, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 13-May-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Out of sync with the world: Body clocks of depressed people are altered at cell level
Every cell in our bodies runs on a 24-hour clock, tuned to the night-day, light-dark cycles that have ruled us since the dawn of humanity. But new research shows that the clock may be broken in the brains of people with depression -- even at the level of the gene activity inside their brain cells.

Neuropsychiatric Disorders Research Fund, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, Office of Naval Research

Public Release: 9-May-2013

Psychological Science
Social connections drive the 'upward spiral' of positive emotions and health
People who experience warmer, more upbeat emotions may have better physical health because they make more social connections, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 7-May-2013

Brain Stimulation
Nerve stimulation for severe depression changes brain function
For nearly a decade, doctors have used implanted electronic stimulators to treat severe depression in people who don't respond to standard antidepressant treatments. Now, preliminary brain scan studies conducted by School of Medicine researchers are revealing that vagus nerve stimulation brings about changes in brain metabolism weeks or even months before patients begin to feel better.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, Sidney R. Baer, Jr. Foundation

Public Release: 6-May-2013

Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting
Nearly 20 percent of suicidal youths have guns in their home
Nearly one in five children and teens found to be at risk for suicide report that there are guns in their homes, and 15 percent of those at risk for suicide with guns in the home know how to access both the guns and the bullets, according to a study to be presented Monday, May 6, at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Washington, DC.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 2-May-2013

Cell Stem Cell
Turning human stem cells into brain cells sheds light on neural development
Medical researchers have manipulated human stem cells into producing types of brain cells known to play important roles in neurodevelopmental disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia and autism. The new model cell system allows neuroscientists to investigate normal brain development, as well as to identify specific disruptions in biological signals that may contribute to neuropsychiatric diseases.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 1-May-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
PTSD research: Distinct gene activity patterns from childhood abuse
A study of adult civilians with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) has shown that individuals with a history of childhood abuse have distinct, profound changes in gene activity patterns, compared to adults with PTSD but without a history of child abuse.

Max-Planck Society, Behrens-Weise Foundation, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Burroughs Wellcome Fund

Public Release: 30-Apr-2013

Stem Cells and Development
Identification of stem cells raises possibility of new therapies
Many diseases -- obesity, type 2 diabetes, muscular dystrophy -- are associated with fat accumulation in muscle. In essence, fat replacement causes the muscles to weaken and degenerate. Scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have discovered the biological mechanism involved in this process, which could point the way to potential therapies.

NIH/National Institute on Aging, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 25-Apr-2013

European Journal of Neuroscience
Forced exercise may still protect against anxiety and stress, says CU-Boulder study
Being forced to exercise may still help reduce anxiety and depression just as exercising voluntarily does, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Public Release: 25-Apr-2013

Cell
Potential diabetes breakthrough
Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers have discovered a new hormone that holds promise for a dramatically more effective treatment of type 2 diabetes, a metabolic illness afflicting an estimated 26 million Americans. The researchers believe the hormone might also have a role in treating type 1, or juvenile, diabetes.

National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 22-Apr-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Gone, but not forgotten
An international team of neuroscientists has described for the first time, in exhaustive detail, the underlying neurobiology of an amnesiac who suffered from profound memory loss after damage to key portions of his brain.

Medical Research Service, Department of Veterans Affairs, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Nuclear Energy Institute

Public Release: 17-Apr-2013

Nature
Going places: Rat brain 'GPS' maps routes to rewards
Studying rats' ability to navigate familiar territory, Johns Hopkins scientists found that the hippocampus uses remembered spatial information to imagine routes the rats then follow. Their discovery has implications for understanding why hippocampal damage disrupts specific types of memory and learning in people with Alzheimer's disease and age-related cognitive decline. And because these mental trajectories guide the rats' behavior, the research model may be useful in future studies on higher-level tasks, such as decision-making.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation

Public Release: 16-Apr-2013

eLife
Experiment shows why some stress is good for you
Chronic stress is known to cause major health problems, yet acute stress can be good for you. A new study by UC Berkeley professor Daniela Kaufer shows why. Stress generates new nerve cells in the brain that, two weeks later, help you learn better. Thus, unlike chronic stress, acute stress primes the brain for improved cognitive and mental performance.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, US Department of Defense