Great Neck - —The power of scientific research to improve the lives of people living with mental illness and to change perceptions about psychiatric disease was the subject of an important article in The New York Times on Sunday, April 2, 2006.

Called “A Depression Switch,” the piece by David Dobbs highlighted the ongoing work of several NARSAD-supported scientists, particularly Dr. Helen Mayberg, professor of psychology and neurology at Emory University, and her research about a potentially new therapy to help severely depressed people who have not responded to other treatments.

The novel approach, called deep brain stimulation or DBS, involves implanting electrodes near the center of the brain in a region called Area 25 and submitting it to low voltage to moderate its activity. Dr. Mayberg has found the region to be involved in modulating mood and depressive symptoms. (For more information about DBS, go to http://www.narsad.org/news/press/pr2006-03-20.html)

How DBS, which is still under investigation, significantly helped the lives of people who underwent this procedure was detailed movingly in the article. The New York Times web site reveals that since “A Depression Switch” was published on Sunday it has been one of the publication’s most emailed articles, indicating its message has touched many people.

The Magazine section feature also pointed out that Dr. Mayberg’s approach to targeting a brain network or circuit, such as Area 25, represents a new way of thinking about depression. Older approaches have focused on the pervasive action of brain chemicals.

Supporting innovative research to change the lives of people with mental illness has been the mission of NARSAD: The Mental Health Research Association for the past 20 years. NARSAD is the largest donor-supported organization in the world devoted to funding scientific research on brain and behavior disorders.

Dr. Mayberg first received support for her depression research from NARSAD as a Young Investigator in 1991. She won an Independent Investigator grant in 1995 and still draws on funding from a 2002 Distinguished Investigator award, which focuses on DBS. She currently is a member of NARSAD’s Scientific Council, which advises the organization about other promising research to support.

Other NARSAD-affiliated scientists cited in The New York Times article were Dr. Wayne Drevets, Chief, Section on Mood & Anxiety Disorders at the National Institute of Mental Health and a NARSAD1996 Young Investigator, 1999 Independent Investigator and Scientific Council member; and Dr. Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, an NIMH researcher and a 2000 Young Investigator.

Since 1987, NARSAD has given $194 million to the world’s leading scientists to unravel the complexities of schizophrenia, depression and many other psychiatric diseases. By understanding the causes and course of these conditions, scientists are now finding new diagnostics and treatments for these illnesses.