EurekAlert! - National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 18-Mar-2013

Journal of Neuroscience
Astrocyte signaling sheds light on stroke research
New research published in The Journal of Neuroscience suggests that modifying signals sent by astrocytes, our star-shaped brain cells, may help to limit the spread of damage after an ischemic brain stroke. The study in mice, by neuroscientists at Tufts University School of Medicine, determined that astrocytes play a critical role in the spread of damage following stroke.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Public Release: 14-Mar-2013

eGEMs
Study: Dynamic new software improves care of aging brain
Innovative medical records software developed by geriatricians and informaticians from the Regenstrief Institute and the Indiana University Center for Aging Research will provide more personalized health care for older adult patients, a population at significant risk for mental health decline and disorders.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Public Release: 14-Mar-2013

JAMA Psychiatry
Surprising rate of women depressed after baby
A surprisingly high number of women have postpartum depression, reports a new, large-scale study of 10,000 women. A high rate of women had considered harming themselves. The study's screening likely saved several lives. Most postpartum women with depression are not identified or treated even though they are at a higher risk for psychiatric disorders. It's a major public health problem because a woman's mental health affects her child's physical and emotional development.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 7-Mar-2013

71st Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society
Vets' PTSD affects mental and physical health of partners
A new study of veterans with PTSD and their partners looks at intimate relationship conflict and finds greater physiological and anger responses for the male veterans as well as their female partners. Researchers conclude that the findings may have important implications for treatment and services for returning veterans and their families.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 7-Mar-2013
NIH awards nearly $2 million to 3 NYC institutions for chronic fatigue syndrome research
Weill Cornell Medical College has been awarded more than $1.9 million by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health to lead an innovative research study using advanced neuroimaging and clinical evaluations of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 6-Mar-2013

JAMA Psychiatry
Folate and vitamin B12 reduce disabling schizophrenia symptoms in some patients
Adding the dietary supplements folate and vitamin B12 to treatment with antipsychotic medication improved a core symptom component of schizophrenia in a study of more than 100 patients. The study focused on negative symptoms of schizophrenia -- which include apathy, social withdrawal, and a lack of emotional expressiveness. While the level of improvement across all participants was modest, results were more significant in individuals carrying specific variants in genes involved with folate metabolism.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 5-Mar-2013

20th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections
Community-based HIV-prevention efforts can boost testing, help reduce new infections
In Africa and Thailand, communities that worked together on HIV-prevention efforts saw not only a rise in HIV screening but a drop in new infections.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, and others

Public Release: 5-Mar-2013

Nature Neuroscience
Novel storage mechanism allows command, control of memory
The molecular key to converting short term memories into long term memories is mTORC2, according to researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in an article that appeared online in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Searle Foundation, Whitehall Foundation, Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 5-Mar-2013

Journal of Neuroscience
Kirk, Spock together: Putting emotion, logic into computational words
In a large neuroimaging study, 127 volunteers played a take-it-or-leave-it game that shows cold reasoning and hot feelings may be more intimately connected than previously thought.

Wellcome Trust, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse, Kane Family Foundation

Public Release: 4-Mar-2013

20th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections
Daily HIV prevention approaches didn't work for African women in the VOICE study
A major HIV prevention trial found daily use of a product was not the right approach for young, unmarried African women. Of three products tested in VOICE -- tenofovir gel, oral tenofovir and oral Truvada -- none was effective among the 5,029 women in the trial; most participants did not use them daily as recommended. Moreover, young, single women were least likely to use the products and most likely to acquire HIV.

NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, NIH/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Public Release: 4-Mar-2013

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Mom's placenta reflects her exposure to stress and impacts offsprings' brains, Penn Vet team finds
The mammalian placenta is more than just a filter through which nutrition and oxygen are passed from a mother to her unborn child. According to a new study by a research group from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, if a mother is exposed to stress during pregnancy, her placenta translates that experience to her fetus by altering levels of a protein that affects the developing brains of male and female offspring differently.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 27-Feb-2013

Journal of Proteome Research
Seeing through HIV's disguises
Studying HIV-1, the most common and infectious HIV subtype, Johns Hopkins scientists have identified 25 human proteins "stolen" by the virus that may be critical to its ability to infect new cells. The researchers believe these 25 proteins may be particularly important because they are found in HIV-1 viruses coming from two very different types of infected cells.

NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins University

Public Release: 27-Feb-2013

Current Biology
IU discovery on animal memory opens doors to research on memory impairment diseases
A study newly published in the journal Current Biology offers the first evidence of source memory in a nonhuman animal. The findings have "fascinating implications," said principal investigator Jonathon Crystal, both in evolutionary terms and for future research into the biological underpinnings of memory, as well as the treatment of diseases marked by memory failure such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's, or disorders such as schizophrenia, PTSD and depression.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 27-Feb-2013

BMC Medicine
'Network' analysis of the brain may explain features of autism
A look at how the brain processes information finds distinct pattern in autistic children. Using EEGs to track the brain's electrical cross-talk, Boston Children's researchers found structural difference in brain connections. Compared with neurotypical children, those with autism have multiple redundant connections between neighboring brain areas at expense of long-distance links. The study, using "network analysis" like with airlines or electrical grids, may help in understanding some classic autistic behaviors.

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

Public Release: 26-Feb-2013

Behaviour Research and Therapy
Persistent negative attitude can undo effectiveness of exposure therapy for phobias
Because confronting fear won't always make it go away, researchers suggest that people with phobias must alter memory-driven negative attitudes about feared objects or events to achieve a more lasting recovery from what scares them the most.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 25-Feb-2013
Cleveland Clinic researcher receives grant to fund autism research
The National Institute of Mental Health has awarded $1.97 million for innovative autism research to Bruce Trapp, Ph.D., Chairman of Neurosciences at Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute. The grant supports a promising new avenue for understanding the development of autism spectrum disorder with Trapp's research of astrocytes, the most abundant human brain cell.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 21-Feb-2013

Clinical Psychological Science
Why some soldiers develop PTSD while others don't
Pre-war vulnerability is just as important as combat-related trauma in predicting whether veterans' symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder will be long-lasting, according to new research published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Spunk Fund

Public Release: 20-Feb-2013

American Journal of Managed Care
Pitt study examines cost-effectiveness of medicare drug plans in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
A new study published online today in the American Journal of Managed Care found that in Medicare Part D, generic drug coverage was cost-saving compared to no coverage in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, while also improving health outcomes. Researchers note that policymakers and insurers should consider generic-only coverage, rather than no gap coverage, to both conserve health care resources and improve health.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Public Release: 20-Feb-2013

JAMA Psychiatry
Bullied children can suffer lasting psychological harm as adults
Bullied children grow into adults who are at increased risk of developing anxiety disorders, depression and suicidal thoughts, according to a study led by researchers at Duke Medicine.

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

Public Release: 19-Feb-2013

Journal of Neuroscience
Language protein differs in males, females
Male rat pups have more of a specific brain protein associated with language development than females, according to a study published Feb. 20 in The Journal of Neuroscience. The study also found sex differences in the brain protein in a small group of children. The findings may shed light on sex differences in communication in animals and language acquisition in people.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 12-Feb-2013

Nature Communications
Neuroprosthesis gives rats the ability to 'touch' infrared light
Researchers have given rats the ability to "touch" infrared light, normally invisible to them, by fitting them with an infrared detector wired to microscopic electrodes implanted in the part of the mammalian brain that processes tactile information. The achievement represents the first time a brain-machine interface has augmented a sense in adult animals, said Duke University neurobiologist Miguel Nicolelis, who led the research team.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Public Release: 11-Feb-2013

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Large study shows substance abuse rates higher in teenagers with ADHD
A new study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry revealed a significantly higher prevalence of substance abuse and cigarette use by adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) histories than in those without ADHD. Researchers also found that, contrary to previous findings, current medications for ADHD do not counter the risk for substance abuse or substance abuse disorder.

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

Public Release: 7-Feb-2013

Cell Stem Cell
Hopkins researchers uncover key to antidepressant response
Through a series of investigations in mice and humans, Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a protein that appears to be the target of both antidepressant drugs and electroconvulsive therapy. These therapies likely work to relieve depression by stimulating stem cells in the brain to grow and mature. The experiments raise the possibility of predicting individual people's response to depression therapy, and fine-tuning treatment accordingly.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and others

Public Release: 6-Feb-2013

Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Social media may prove useful in prevention of HIV, STDs, study shows
Facebook and other social networking technologies could serve as effective tools for preventing HIV infection among at-risk groups. Researchers found that African American and Latino men who have sex with men voluntarily used health-related Facebook groups, which were created by the study's investigators, to discuss such things as HIV knowledge, stigma and prevention and ultimately to request at-home HIV testing kits.

NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Services, University of California - Los Angeles AIDS Institute

Public Release: 5-Feb-2013

Biological Psychiatry
Yale researchers spot attention deficits in babies who later develop autism
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine are able to detect deficits in social attention in infants as young as six months of age who later develop Autism Spectrum Disorders. Published in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry, the results showed that these infants paid less attention to people and their activities than typically developing babies.

NIH/National Institute of Child Health and Development, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health