Brain & Behavior Research Foundation

In important new research, researchers have added new kinds of knowledge to our understanding of how severe gene mutations that have the power to cause autism spectrum disorder (ASD) alter cell biology in the developing brain and perturb brain development. The study, co-led by BBRF Scientific Council member Matthew W.

Researchers have reported results of a large, randomized clinical trial that provides the most statistically powerful evidence to date of the advantages for young children if their mothers take supplements of choline, an essential nutrient, during pregnancy. Children of mothers who took choline supplements while pregnant had fewer social withdrawal problems and increased cognitive test performance through age 4 compared with children whose mothers received placebo pills.

In new research, a team led by BBRF grantees provides a vivid example of how the longstanding effort to identify risk genes for psychiatric illness can pay off in tangible ways, informing research on the biological underpinnings of disorders such as schizophrenia and psychosis that could help generate novel diagnostics and therapeutics.

This talk will highlight new findings from studies examining how personality disorder assessments, measures of cognitive functioning, and neuroimaging can characterize and predict suicidal ideation outcomes in high-risk psychiatric populations, including individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Dr. Traynor will also discuss emerging brain-based treatments for suicidal ideation that target functioning in major neural networks implicated in cognitive control and emotion regulation.

A team led by a BBRF grantee has reported another major advance in efforts to study how the human brain develops and how various dysfunctions and pathologies, especially those occurring before birth, give rise to major brain and behavior disorders ranging from autism and schizophrenia to epilepsy and cerebral palsy. Sergiu P.

Teachers, school counselors, and other educational professionals are on the front line of interacting with children with mental health issues and can often be among some of the first people to see that a child is struggling. For youth with developmental and behavioral challenges, school could be one of the greatest and most time-intensive levers of maturation, often more influential than psychotherapy or medical treatment.

An estimated 50% or more of parents with ADHD have a child with ADHD. The high heritability of the illness is of particular concern because some of its primary symptoms include impairments in executive functioning and emotional regulation—two factors that are likely to affect how parents respond to therapies designed to help them better manage their children, especially those who have ADHD.

The continuing search for more effective schizophrenia treatments is directly related to efforts by researchers to more precisely understand mechanisms underlying major symptoms such as psychosis and cognitive dysfunction, as well as patients’ varying response to antipsychotic medicines. (An estimated 30% of first-episode psychosis and recently diagnosed schizophrenia patients do not respond adequately to antipsychotics.) Research performed by a team led by 2017 BBRF Young Investigator Deepak K.

PTSD research has entered a remarkable new era. Using cutting-edge technologies that examine individual brain cells and the three-dimensional organization of DNA, researchers are uncovering how trauma reshapes the brain, revealing new biological targets that could lead to more effective and personalized treatments for people living with PTSD. Please use #BBRFWebinar when sharing or posting about our Meet the Scientist Webinars on social media. Sign up for other upcoming webinars.

New findings from the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) show that the prevalence of cannabis use disorder (CUD) among American adults, both male and female and across multiple age groups, has increased significantly in recent years, while the prevalence of alcohol use disorder (AUD) has remained stable and even declined a bit in some subgroups over the same period.