NIMH Grantee Receives 2013 Nobel Prize

Congratulations to current NIMH grantee Thomas C. Südhof, M.D., at Stanford University School of Medicine, for winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on how the brain sends and receives chemical messages. Thomas C. Südhof, M.D. Thomas C. Südhof, M.D. Stanford University School of Medicine “We are extremely proud of Dr. Südhof,” said National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Director Thomas Insel, M.D. “NIMH has supported Dr. Südhof's ground-breaking research for more than two decades as part of our commitment to understanding the fundamental mechanisms of brain function." The human brain houses about 100 billion neurons—about half the number of stars in the Milky Way. Each of these neurons “converses” with, on average, thousands of other neurons, sending molecular messages in a matter of milliseconds, about the same timeframe as a camera flash. How these messages are sent in such a rapid and precise manner has long been a mystery to neuroscientists. When these messages go awry, mental disorders such as schizophrenia, autism, and depression may arise. Specifically, Dr. Südhof parsed the proteins that are used in a synapse—the gap between neurons where one neuron reaches out to talk to another via chemical messengers known as neurotransmitters. These specialized spaces are comprised of three components: the messenger or presynaptic neuron, the recipient or postsynaptic neuron, and the cleft or space between these two neurons. Dr. Südhof’s work identified key molecules involved in the rapid release of neurotransmitters from the terminals of presynaptic neurons and revealed how electrical signals in the form of calcium ions instruct a protein called synaptotagmin. Once calcium binds to synaptotagmin, the protein serves as a switch for neurotransmitter-carrying cellular shuttles called vesicles to fuse with the outer surface of the presynaptic neuron and release these chemical messengers into the synaptic cleft. Upon release, the neurotransmitters cross the synaptic cleft and bind to docking sites or receptors on the postsynaptic neuron, triggering an electrical signal to pulse through it. Südhof’s work revealed that synaptotagmins also act as universal calcium sensors in non-neuronal cells, functioning, for example, in the release of hormones such as insulin from pancreatic beta cells. Dr. Südhof shares the world’s most prestigious science award with James E. Rothman, Ph.D., at Yale University, and Randy W. Schekman, Ph.D., at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Rothman unraveled protein machinery that allows vesicles to fuse with their targets to permit transfer of cargo. Dr. Schekman discovered a set of genes that were required for vesicle traffic. The researchers will share a prize that totals roughly $1.2 million USD. Previously, Dr. Südhof and Richard H. Scheller, Ph.D., at Genentech, collected the 2013 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for their work. Known as “America’s Nobels,” the Lasker Awards often predict future Nobel Prize recipients. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has supported Dr. Südhof’s research over the past 22 years. In turn, Dr. Südhof has served on several study sections at the NIH Center for Scientific Review, in addition to the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Neuroscience study section at NIMH. Over the years, Dr. Südhof’s work on the neurotransmitter release machinery has been supported with research program grants as well as center grants from NIMH. He is also the recipient of an NIMH MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) award, which along with an additional NIMH grant and funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute helped support his Nobel work. MERIT awards provide up to 10 years of stable research support for highly productive outstanding investigators working on projects well aligned with the mission of NIMH Social Worker Continuing Education Dr. Südof also holds an NIH TR01 award for work to facilitate the creation of neurons from non-neuronal cells (skin fibroblasts of human patients). This work is anticipated to provide a novel way for scientists to study the biological effects of gene mutations associated with neuropsychiatric diseases

PBS Documentary “Brains on Trial”

A convenience store robbery goes horribly wrong: A teenager high on cocaine stands trial for attempted murder. Brains on Trial PBS documentaryUsing this fictional crime, a two-episode PBS program titled “Brains on Trial” explores the brains of the key courtroom players—defendant, witnesses, jurors, and judge. Is a witness lying or telling the truth? How can two people see the same event and yet remember it so differently? These and other questions are what neuroscience currently is being asked to do using brain scans. Join host Alan Alda as he visits and conducts brain scan experiments with neuroscientists, such as the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)’s Jay Giedd, M.D., in the quest to answer how brain research can influence and reform the criminal justice system. Dr. Giedd is chief of the Unit on Brain Imaging in the Child Psychiatry Branch at NIMH LCSW Continuing Education

Hunger Pains: Binge-eating disorder linked to lifelong impairments in 12-country study

Binge-eating disorder linked to lifelong impairments in 12-country study Binge-eating disorder, designated only months ago by the American Psychiatric Association as a diagnosis in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, is associated with substantial lifelong impairments comparable to those of bulimia nervosa, according to a World Health Organization study based on community epidemiological surveys conducted in 12 nations worldwide. The publication of the results online today in Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences is timed to coincide with the beginning of Weight Stigma Awareness Week (September 23-27). Although both binge-eating disorder and bulimia involve recurrent episodes of excessive food consumption with experienced loss of control, it had been generally assumed that bulimia carried a greater functional burden of illness owing to its more complex symptom profile. A defining symptom of bulimia, lacking in binge-eating disorder, is inappropriate compensatory behavior such as purging or laxative use to offset the weight gain associated with bingeing. However, compared to matched populations of people with no history of eating disorders, a lifetime history of binge-eating disorder or bulimia each predicted between two- and nearly four-fold increases in current days unable to work or carry out usual activities. Despite the significant challenges that people with these disorders face, both are generally undetected by medical professionals and therefore left untreated. "Binge-eating disorder has been largely ignored by health care providers, but it has a tremendous cost to the physical and psychological well-being of people with the disorder," said Ronald Kessler, McNeil Family Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School and senior author of the paper. "When all of the cases of the disorder are taken together, the elevated levels of depression, suicide and lost days at work represent substantial costs to society." The study found that binge-eating disorder and bulimia nervosa both typically arose during adolescence and were associated with a range of later-onset mental disorders (including depression and anxiety disorders) and physical disorders (such as musculoskeletal disorders and diabetes). Early-onset binge-eating disorder was associated with subsequent low rates of employment among men, low rates of marriage among women and high rates of work disability among both men and women. The researchers concluded that the adverse effects of binge-eating disorder and bulimia on subsequent functioning were largely the result of these later-onset comorbidities. This finding, the researchers said, raises the possibility that expanded efforts at early detection and treatment of eating disorders during the vulnerable school years might help prevent the onset of subsequent mental and physical disorders and impairments associated with these disorders. In independent commentaries published in the same journal, international experts on eating disorders Janet Treasure and Cynthia Bulik wrote that the evidence in the report argues strongly for proceeding with clinical effectiveness trials to evaluate the long-term effects on adult health and well-being of early detection and treatment of binge-eating disorder and bulimia among students. The study was based on community surveys in 12 countries. Researchers interviewed a total of 22,635 adult respondents. Binge-eating disorder was roughly twice as common as bulimia across the countries studied, which included the U.S., several countries in Latin America (Brazil, Colombia, Mexico), a number in Europe (Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Spain) and New Zealand Professional Counselor Continuing Education ### The analysis for this paper was carried out in conjunction with the World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative. These activities were supported by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH070884) and the Mental Health Burden Study (Contract number HHSN271200700030C) and by a number of government agencies in the other participating countries, as well as by foundations and industry sponsors. This study received supplemental support from Shire Pharmaceuticals. Complete funding information is presented in the published paper. ADDITIONAL CONTACT INFORMATION/ INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS Janet Treasure King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry Psychological Medicine, Section of Eating Disorders, UK Email: janet.treasure@kcl.ac.uk Cynthia M. Bulik Distinguished Professor of Eating Disorders Department of Psychiatry University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA Email: cbulik@med.unc.edu Harvard Medical School has more than 7,500 full-time faculty working in 11 academic departments located at the School's Boston campus or in one of 47 hospital-based clinical departments at 16 Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals and research institutes. Those affiliates include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Boston Children's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Hebrew Senior Life, Joslin Diabetes Center, Judge Baker Children's Center, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and VA Boston Healthcare System.

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Grantees To Receive 2013 Lasker Award

A current and a former National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) grantee recently collected the prestigious 2013 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for their meticulous mapping of the molecular mechanisms involved in neurotransmitter release, the process by which the brain sends and receives chemical messages. Richard H. Scheller, Ph.D. Richard H. Scheller, Ph.D Genentech Thomas C. Südhof, M.D., at Stanford University School of Medicine, and Richard H. Scheller, Ph.D., at Genentech, parsed the proteins that enable one neuron to speak to another. This communication occurs across the synapse, a gap that separates the two neurons. Collectively called the “SNARE complex,” these proteins include vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP/synaptobrevin), synaptogamin, syntaxin, and SNAP-25. The complex allows for the preparation and release of the neurotransmitters into the synapse. Defects in this process contribute to mental disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, epilepsy, and many other pathological conditions. Thomas C. Südhof, M.D. Thomas C. Südhof, M.D. Stanford University School of Medicine Dr. Südhof is a current NIMH grantee and has served on several study sections at the NIH Center for Scientific Review, in addition to the Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Neuroscience study section at NIMH. Dr. Scheller received research support from NIMH, and served on both the NIMH Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Neuroscience study section, and the National Advisory Mental Health Council. Both have received the NIMH MERIT Award. Known as “America’s Nobels” because many recipients go on to win the Nobel Prize, the Lasker Awards are among the most respected science prizes in the world. Congratulations, Drs. Südof and Scheller Aspira Continuing Education Online Courses

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Aspira Continuing Education offers online CE courses for Professional Counselors in most states. View our state board approved list to see if Aspira’s CE courses are approved in your state. All of Aspira’s CE courses are NBCC approved and are available for online CEUs for Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC), Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCC) and Mental Health Counselors (MHC). Check with your State Board’s Website for more information. View our Board Approvals and Accreditations page for provider numbers. California Legislature passed Senate Bill 788 establishing a new license category for Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (LPCC) to be regulated by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS). View the CA BBS Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors Information page. View Aspira’s CE courses to see the variety options you have to satisfy your CE requirements. Aspira Continuing Education is a board approved and accredited online CEU provider. Aspira is committed to excellence in the fields of Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Professional Counseling providing board approved CEUs online. We offer MFT continuing education, Social Worker continuing education and Professional Counselor continuing education. Our online CE courses are the best you'll find. We offer a broad range of CE course subjects that are board approved for many professions and states. The process is as simple as selecting an online CE course, completing and passing the online exam, and receiving/printing your certificate. Your certificate is available to view/print once payment has been processed. With Aspira, you can: Satisfy your CE requirements conveniently anywhere you have online access. View all CE course materials in PDF format for FREE. View and take any exam at any time for FREE. Take as much time as needed to complete the exam. Take the exam as many times necessary to receive a 70% passing score. Pay after you have passed your exam. Purchase a subscription for unlimited units that could reduce your cost per unit to under $4. (This will vary depending on the number of units used during the 12 month subscription period.) Print your certificate at any time after passing your exam and purchasing your units. Earn CE hours for passing exams based on books you may have already read. (These CEU courses require purchasing a book separately, if not already owned.) Listen to selected audio CE courses directly from your computer or MP3 player. Keep track of CEUs earned from other sources on your own personalized myCourses page.

The More Hemispheric Lateralization, the Better Thinking Performance

By examining activity of the living human brain at rest via fMRI, NIMH intramural scientists have discovered a secret to how it enhances thinking ability. It turns out that left brain regions are biased to talk more to each other, while right brain regions talk more evenly with both hemispheres. These biases are most pronounced in brain regions associated with the specialized functions of the two hemispheres – e.g., language and motor control on the left and visual/spatial attention on the right. Such lateralization is associated with enhanced cognition, say Drs. Stephen Gotts, Hang Joon Jo, Alex Martin, and colleagues of the NIMH Cognitive Neuropsychology Section, Laboratory of Brain and Cognition. The more such lateral specialization subjects showed at rest, the better they performed on verbal and spatial tasks later. For more information, see PNAS Blog: Brain Halves Interact Differently with Each Other CBT - How to Implement Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Two types of lateralization

Reference Two distinct forms of functional lateralization in the human brain. Gotts SJ, Jo HJ, Wallace GL, Saad ZS, Cox RW, Martin A. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Aug 19. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23959883

DSM-5 and RDoC: Shared Interests

Thomas R. Insel, M.D., Director, NIMH Jeffrey A. Lieberman, M.D., President-elect, APA NIMH and APA have a shared interest in ensuring that patients and health providers have the best available tools and information today to identify and treat mental health issues, while we continue to invest in improving and advancing mental disorder diagnostics for the future. Today, the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), along with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) represents the best information currently available for clinical diagnosis of mental disorders. Patients, families, and insurers can be confident that effective treatments are available and that the DSM is the key resource for delivering the best available care. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has not changed its position on DSM-5. As NIMH's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project website states, "The diagnostic categories represented in the DSM-IV and the International Classification of Diseases-10 (ICD-10, containing virtually identical disorder codes) remain the contemporary consensus standard for how mental disorders are diagnosed and treated." Yet, what may be realistically feasible today for practitioners is no longer sufficient for researchers. Looking forward, laying the groundwork for a future diagnostic system that more directly reflects modern brain science will require openness to rethinking traditional categories. It is increasingly evident that mental illness will be best understood as disorders of brain structure and function that implicate specific domains of cognition, emotion, and behavior. This is the focus of the NIMH’s Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project. RDoC is an attempt to create a new kind of taxonomy for mental disorders by bringing the power of modern research approaches in genetics, neuroscience, and behavioral science to the problem of mental illness ceus for social workers The evolution of diagnosis does not mean that mental disorders are any less real and serious than other illnesses. Indeed, the science of diagnosis has been evolving throughout medicine. For example, subtypes of cancers once defined by where they occurred in the body are now classified on the basis of their underlying genetic and molecular causes. All medical disciplines advance through research progress in characterizing diseases and disorders. DSM-5 and RDoC represent complementary, not competing, frameworks for this goal. DSM-5, which will be released May 18, reflects the scientific progress seen since the manual's last edition was published in 1994. RDoC is a new, comprehensive effort to redefine the research agenda for mental illness. As research findings begin to emerge from the RDoC effort, these findings may be incorporated into future DSM revisions and clinical practice guidelines. But this is a long-term undertaking. It will take years to fulfill the promise that this research effort represents for transforming the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. By continuing to work together, our two organizations are committed to improving outcomes for people with some of the most disabling disorders in all of medicine.