News and Multimedia Featuring DNBBS
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Researchers Fully Map Neural Connections of the Fruit Fly Brain• Press ReleaseA scientific team supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) unveiled the first complete map of the neural connections of the common fruit fly brain.
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Scientists Map Networks Regulating Gene Function in the Human Brain• Press ReleaseAn NIMH-funded research consortium has produced the largest and most advanced multidimensional maps of gene regulation networks in the brains of people with and without mental disorders.
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Understanding the Underpinnings of Sensory Hypersensitivity in SCN2A-Associated Autism• Research HighlightIn this NIMH-supported study, researchers investigated the neural underpinnings of sensory hypersensitivity in SCN2A-associated autism.
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Gene-Based Therapy Restores Cellular Development and Function in Brain Cells From People With Timothy Syndrome• Press ReleaseIn a proof-of-concept study, researchers demonstrated the effectiveness of a potential new therapy for Timothy syndrome, an often life-threatening and rare genetic disorder that affects a wide range of bodily systems, leading to severe cardiac, neurological, and psychiatric symptoms as well as physical differences such as webbed fingers and toes.
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Researchers Expand Understanding of Genetic Mechanisms Underlying Fragile X Syndrome• Research HighlightAn NIMH-supported study of the 3D genome revealed widespread silencing of genes with important roles in brain function in fragile X syndrome and related disorders.
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Scientists Unveil Complete Cell Map of a Whole Mammalian Brain• Press ReleaseFor the first time ever, an international team of researchers has created a complete cell atlas of a whole mammalian brain.
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Researchers Solve the Puzzle of a Brain Receptor’s Activation• Research HighlightResearchers in a NIMH-supported study identified a new receptor for glycine that helps enhance communication between nerve cells in the brain and offers a potential new target for treating mental disorders.
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Newly Discovered Brain Connection Affects Reward Behavior in Mice• Research HighlightNIMH-funded research sheds light on how negative early life experiences may impact how we act in response to rewards, which is often disrupted in people with mental illnesses.
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Researchers Unlock Genetic Mutations Contributing to Disorders in the Brain• Research HighlightResearchers identified novel genes with mosaic mutations contributing to treatment-resistant pediatric epilepsy and pointing to specific disrupted pathways in cortical development.
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Rare Genetic Variation in 10 Genes Substantially Raise the Risk for Schizophrenia• Research HighlightIn one of the largest genetic studies of its kind researchers funded by the National Institute of Mental Health identified variations in 10 genes that significantly raise the risk for schizophrenia—information that could help identify new treatment targets.
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Researchers Develop Method to Study Brain Connectivity, Functionality• Press ReleaseScientists have developed a research method that allows for a much more detailed examination of the brain processes involved in some neurological and mental disorders.
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NIH BRAIN Initiative Launches Projects to Develop Cell Atlases and Molecular Tools for Cell Access• Institute UpdateThe National Institutes of Health has launched two transformative projects supported by the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative: The BRAIN Initiative® Cell Atlas Network and the Armamentarium for Precision Brain Cell Access.
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Computational Methods Identify Psychosis Symptoms in Spoken Language• Research HighlightResearchers used computational methods to automatically detect abnormalities in spoken language that could be used to predict symptoms of psychotic disorders including schizophrenia.
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Tool Uses Light to Inhibit Neural Activity in Mice• Research HighlightResearchers supported by NIH have developed a way to genetically insert a type of light receptor into neurons. The new technique enables the researchers to suppress the neuron’s activity using pulses of light.
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Autism and Congenital Heart Disease Share Underlying Molecular Network• Research HighlightA recent study of gene networks may hold some promising clues about shared mechanisms underlying autism spectrum disorder and congenital heart disease, two physiologically distinct disorders that often co-occur.
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NIH, FDA and 15 Private Organizations Join Forces to Increase Effective Gene Therapies for Rare Diseases• Press ReleaseThe newly launched Bespoke Gene Therapy Consortium (BGTC), part of the NIH Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) program, aims to optimize and streamline the gene therapy development process to help fill the unmet medical needs of people with rare diseases.
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NIH BRAIN Initiative Unveils Detailed Atlas of the Mammalian Primary Motor Cortex• Press Release
The NIH Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN) has unveiled an atlas of cell types and an anatomical neuronal wiring diagram for the mammalian primary motor cortex, derived from detailed studies of mice, monkeys, and humans.
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Genomic Data From More Than 41,000 People Shed New Light on Bipolar Disorder• Research HighlightIn the largest genome-wide association study of bipolar disorder to date, researchers found about twice as many genetic locations associated with bipolar disorder as reported in previous studies. These and other findings help improve our understanding of the biological origins of bipolar disorder.
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New Experiences Enhance Learning by Resetting Key Brain Circuit• Press ReleaseA study of spatial learning in mice shows that exposure to new experiences dampens established representations in the brain’s hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, allowing the mice to learn new navigation strategies.
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NIH-funded Study Sheds Light on Abnormal Neural Function in Rare Genetic Disorder• Press ReleaseA genetic study has identified neuronal abnormalities in the electrical activity of cortical cells derived from people with a rare genetic disorder called 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.
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Genetic Variations Highlight the Importance of Metabolic Processes in Anorexia• Research HighlightThe need to identify effective targets for intervention in anorexia nervosa is pressing, as patient outcomes are often poor. An NIMH-funded genome-wide association study suggests that metabolic processes may play an important role in the disorder, offering a promising new avenue for investigation.
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Reading the Brain’s Map: Coordinated Brain Activation Supports Spatial Learning and Decision-Making• Press ReleaseNIH-supported study finds that spatial “replay” in neurons may help rats learn how to navigate toward goals.
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Schizophrenia Risk Gene Linked to Cognitive Deficits in Mice• Press ReleaseMice with an impaired version of one the few genes definitively linked to schizophrenia showed abnormalities in working memory, mimicking those commonly seen in schizophrenia patients.
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Gene Regulators Work Together for Oversized Impact on Schizophrenia Risk• Press ReleaseGene expression regulators work together to raise an individual’s risk of developing schizophrenia. Schizophrenia-like gene expression changes modeled in human neurons matched changes found in patients’ brains.
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NIH BRAIN Initiative Tool May Transform How Scientists Study Brain Structure and Function• Press ReleaseResearchers have developed a high-tech support system that can keep a large mammalian brain from rapidly decomposing in the hours after death, enabling study of certain molecular and cellular functions.
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Ketamine Reverses Neural Changes Underlying Depression-Related Behaviors in Mice• Press ReleaseResearchers have identified ketamine-induced brain-related changes that are responsible for maintaining the remission of behaviors related to depression in mice — findings that may help researchers develop interventions that promote lasting remission of depression in humans.
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Mega Docking Library Poised to Speed Drug Discovery• Press ReleaseResearchers have launched an ultra-large virtual docking library expected to grow to more than 1 billion molecules by next year. It will expand by 1000-fold the number of such “make-on-demand” compounds readily available to scientists for chemical biology and drug discovery.
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Puerto Rico’s “Fear Lab” Mentors Neuroscience Rigor amid Diversity• Press ReleaseA lineage of young neuroscientists from diverse backgrounds trace their scientific roots to a “fear lab” in Puerto Rico that the National Institutes of Health has been supporting for two decades.
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New Findings Reveal Surprising Role of the Cerebellum in Reward and Social Behaviors• Press ReleaseA new study in rodents has demonstrated, for the first time, that the brain’s cerebellum plays a role in controlling reward and social preference behavior—findings that shed light on the brain circuits critical to the affective and social dysfunction seen across multiple psychiatric disorders.
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Diversity Training Programs Nurture Research Career• Science UpdateA trainee tells her story of how NIMH/NIH training programs for members of underrepresented groups have nurtured her scientific career.
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NIH BRAIN Initiative Debuts Cell Census of Mouse Motor Cortex – for Starters• Press ReleaseNIH BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN) has debuted its first data release, which focuses on motor cortex. In a related development, researchers have discovered cellular secrets of key social behaviors – mating, parenting, and aggression – in mouse hypothalamus.
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Molecular Secrets Revealed: Antipsychotic Docked in its Receptor• Press ReleaseScientists have deciphered the molecular structure of a widely-prescribed antipsychotic docked in its key human brain receptor. The discovery may hold clues to designing better treatments for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses.
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Memory Gene Goes Viral• Press ReleaseA gene crucial for learning can send its genetic material from one neuron to another by employing a strategy commonly used by viruses.
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NIH BRAIN Initiative Launches Cell Census• Press ReleaseThe NIH today launched a major effort to discover and catalog the brain’s “parts list.”
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NIH BRAIN Initiative Builds on Early Advances• Press ReleaseNIH has announced funding for 110 new awards totaling $169 million for the BRAIN Initiative.
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NIH Completes Atlas of Human DNA Differences that Influence Gene Expression• Science UpdateNIH researchers have completed an atlas documenting how DNA influence human gene expression.
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Depression’s “Transcriptional Signatures” Differ in Men vs. Women• Science UpdateBrain gene expression associated with depression differed markedly between men and women. Such divergent “transcriptional signatures” may signal divergent underlying illness processes requiring sex-specific treatments.
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Scientists Give Star Treatment to Lesser-Known Cells Crucial for Brain Development• Press ReleaseStar-shaped support brain cells, astrocytes, growing in 3-D “organoids” in a dish develop similarly as those in human brain tissue.
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Patient-Derived Support Cells Stunt Mouse Brain Development• Science UpdateSupport cells generated from patients with childhood onset schizophrenia stunted neural circuit development when grafted into developing mouse brains.
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NIH Names Winners of “Follow that Cell” Phase 2 Competition• Press ReleaseTwo biological engineering researchers are winners in Phase 2 of NIH’s Follow that Cell Challenge. The winners will share $400,000 in prizes awarded for development of new tools and methods for predicting the behavior and function of a single cell in complex tissue over time – and how that reflects the health of the tissue.
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Brain Circuit Tweak Wins Her Affection (if she’s a vole)• Science UpdateFor the first time, neuroscientists have boosted a female rodent’s partnering with a male by stimulating connectivity of a brain reward circuit. Understanding the circuitry of such affiliative behaviors may lead to improved treatments for social impairment in severe mental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder.
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Brain “Relay” Also Key to Holding Thoughts in Mind• Press ReleaseLong overlooked as a mere “relay,” an egg-like structure in the middle of the brain also turns out to play a pivotal role in tuning-up thinking circuity. A trio of studies in mice are revealing that the thalamus sustains the ability to distinguish categories and hold thoughts in mind. It might even become a target for interventions for psychiatric disorders marked by working memory problems, such as schizophrenia.
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Human Forebrain Circuits Under Construction – in a Dish• Press ReleaseNeuroscientists have created a 3D window into the human brain’s budding executive hub assembling itself during a critical period in prenatal development.
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Human Forebrain Circuits Wiring-up - in a Dish• VideoNeuroscientists have created a 3D window into the human brain’s budding executive hub assembling itself during a critical period in prenatal development.
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Sleep May Trim Neural Connections to Restore Learning Ability• Science UpdateSleep may be the price we pay for the ability to learn. It streamlines neural connections for optimal efficiency.
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Revealed: LSD Docked in its Human Brain Target• Science UpdateScientists have discovered the molecular structure of LSD in its human brain receptor.
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NIMH Training Grant Recipient Wins Research Prize• Science UpdateNIMH training grant recipient Neir Eshel was named the 2016 Grand Prize winner of the Science & SciLifeLab Prize for Young Scientists for research related to the cellular basis of learning.
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Powered-Up Probe ID’s Schizophrenia Genes That Stunt Brain Development• Science UpdateScientists have pinpointed several schizophrenia-related gene variants that alter expression of other genes in illness-implicated circuitry of the human brain.
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Circuitry for Fearful Feelings, Behavior Untangled in Anxiety Disorders• Science UpdateUntangling the brain circuitry of fearful feelings from that underlying defensive behaviors is key to improving treatments for anxiety disorders, argue two leading experts.
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Designer Agent Blocks Pain in Mice Without Morphine’s Side Effects• Science UpdateScientists have synthesized a molecule with a unique profile of highly specific pain-relieving properties and demonstrated its efficacy in mice.
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How “Quickly Forgotten” Early Life Experiences Mature the Brain• Science UpdateBrain memory circuitry’s keen sensitivity to experience during an early critical period enables long-term memory ability to develop through practice.
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Tapping Crowd-Sourced Data Unearths a Trove of Depression Genes• Press ReleaseScientists have discovered 15 genome sites – the first ever – linked to depression in people of European ancestry. But – in a twist – the researchers didn’t have to sequence anyone’s genes! Instead, they analyzed data already shared by people who had purchased their own genetic profiles via an online service and elected to participate in its research option.
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Ketamine Lifts Depression via a Byproduct of its Metabolism• Press ReleaseA chemical byproduct, or metabolite, created as the body breaks down likely holds the secret to its rapid antidepressant action .
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Circuit for Experience-Informed Decision-Making ID’d in Rats• Press ReleaseScientists have discovered secrets of how the brain recalls experiences of being in a particular location in making informed choices.
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Schizophrenia’s Strongest Known Genetic Risk Deconstructed• Press ReleaseVersions of a gene linked to schizophrenia may trigger runaway pruning of the teenage brain’s still-maturing communications infrastructure.The gene switched on more in people with the suspect versions, who faced a higher risk of developing the disorder.
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Blog, Video Spotlight NIMH Neuroscience Trainee• Science UpdateA recent NIH Director’s Blog and Lab TV video feature a young neuroscientist whose discoveries as a graduate student – about a key maternal behavior – were supported, in part, by a NIMH training grant.
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Our Brain’s Secrets to Success?• Press ReleaseWe owe our success -- both as a species and as individuals – to uniquely human brain wiring that is just now beginning to be understood, thanks to the BRAIN Initiative and the Human Connectome Project.
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A Patient’s Budding Cortex -- in a Dish?• Press ReleaseScientists have perfected mini cultured 3-D structures that grow and function much like the outer mantle – the key working tissue, or cortex – of the brain of the person from whom they were derived.
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GTEx Findings Reveal New Insights into how DNA Differences Influence Gene Activity, Disease Susceptibility• Press ReleaseData resource begins to reveal how genetic variability influences key tissues in health and disease.
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Brain Circuitry for Positive vs Negative Memories Discovered in Mice• Press ReleaseNeuroscientists have discovered brain circuitry for encoding positive and negative learned associations in mice.
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NIH Announces Follow that Cell Challenge Finalists• Press ReleaseNIH has selected 5 prize winners and 11 finalists in Phase 1 of its Follow that Cell Challenge, which aims to develop new ways to predict the behavior and function of a single cell in complex tissue over time.
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Disorders Share Risk Gene Pathways for Immune, Epigenetic Regulation• Science UpdateRisk genes for different mental disorders work through same pathways
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Brain Recalls Old Memories via New Pathways• Press ReleaseBrain retrieval circuitry shifts as fear memory ages
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Largest Autism Gene Dragnet Fingers 33 Prime Suspects• Science UpdateMany patients with psychosis develop health risks associated with premature death early in the course of their mental illness, researchers have found.
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NIH Announces First Wave of Funding for BRAIN Initiative Research• Science UpdateCalling it “the beginning of an ambitious journey”, the National Institutes of Health announced its first wave of grants in support of the BRAIN Initiative.
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Magnetic Stimulation Boosts Human Memory, Network Connectivity• Science UpdateScientists have improved memory for associations between faces and words by electromagnetically stimulating neural connections in a brain network.
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Suspect Gene Corrupts Neural Connections• Press ReleaseResearchers have shown in patients’ cells how a rare mutation in a suspect gene disrupts the expression of dozens of other genes underlying neural connections.
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Follow that Cell• Press Release
The National Institutes of Health is challenging science innovators to compete for prizes totaling up to $500,000, by developing new ways to track the health status of a single cell in complex tissue over time.
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Schizophrenia’s Genetic “Skyline” Rising• Press ReleaseThe largest genomic dragnet of any psychiatric disorder to date has unmasked 108 chromosomal sites harboring inherited variations in the genetic code linked to schizophrenia, 83 of which had not been previously reported.
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Common Gene Variants Account for Most Genetic Risk for Autism• Press ReleaseMost of the genetic risk for autism comes from versions of genes that are common in the population rather than from rare variants or spontaneous glitches.