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Ground-Breaking Discoveries Made
With the Help of NARSAD Grants
(Great Neck, NY -
) — With increased financial support, NARSAD’s expanding network of scientists are making breakthroughs more and more frequently. Here are a few of the many discoveries made by NARSAD grant recipients since 2000, in various areas of research on serious mental illness.
Depression
- Ian Cook, M.D., of UCLA, a recipient of two NARSAD Young Investigator Awards, has found that a simple one-hour brain scan (EEG) may actually help doctors predict which patients will be helped by specific antidepressants, saving patients valuable weeks when attempting to determine a medication’s effectiveness.
- Richard Davidson, Ph.D., of University of Wisconsin, Madison (NARSAD Distinguished Investigator, 1995, 2003), used fMRI for the first time to see in real time what changes occur in the brain over the course of antidepressant treatment. This may help physicians predict which patients will be the best candidates for antidepressants.
- Mark George, M.D., of Medical University of South Carolina and recipient of NARSAD Young and Independent Investigator awards, published the first article on transcranial magnetic stimulation (also called TMS or rTMS), a non-invasive technique using powerful magnets that shows great promise in treating medication-resistant depression.
- Ian Gotlib, Ph.D., of Stanford University (NARSAD Distinguished Investigator 2003), found that young adults who experience an episode of major depression in adolescence are more vulnerable to a relapse in adulthood.
- Francis Lee, M.D., Ph.D., of Weill Cornell Medical College (NARSAD Young Investigator 2005), along with several other NARSAD supported researchers, has reported work which could lead to the first diagnostic test to guide the treatment of depression. By sampling a patient’s DNA and confirming if a variant of the gene coding for a particular protein (BDNF) is present, Dr. Lee has shown that it is unlikely the patient will respond to treatment with SSRIs, the most commonly used class of drugs that includes Prozac, Celexa, Paxil and Zoloft.
- Helen Mayberg, M.D., of Emory University School of Medicine, identified a “depression trait marker” that could explain why people who recover from a major depression are at risk of another episode. With Mario Liotti, M.D., Ph.D., Dr. Mayberg was awarded the Arnold Z. Pfeffer Prize for this work. Dr. Mayberg, a recipient of all three levels of NARSAD grants and a NARSAD Scientific Council member, is renowned for her groundbreaking application of surgery called deep brain stimulation (DBS) -- typically utilized in Parkinson's Disease -- as a remedy for treatment-resistant depression.
Schizophrenia
- Three NARSAD researchers (David Allison, David Henderson, and Donald Goff) participated in research demonstrating that people with schizophrenia and treated with the antipsychotic medications clozapine or olanzapine may be at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
- Deanna Barch, Ph.D., of Washington University (NARSAD Young Investigator 1995, 2000 and Independent Investigator 2006), found that people with schizophrenia can be assisted in remembering things just as well as normal controls, provided they are given proper cues and memory aids. The project suggests that cognitive rehabilitation programs can be effective, and that the memory problems associated with schizophrenia can be reduced.
- Alan Brown, M.D., of Columbia University (NARSAD Independent Investigator 2000, 2004, found an association between maternal exposure to a parasitic illness called toxoplasmosis and increased risk for developing schizophrenia. Evidence indicates that the increased risk may not stem from exposure to infectious disease, but from a mechanism secondary to infection, such as inflammation.
- Ralph Hoffman, M.D., of Yale University ( NARSAD Independent Investigator 2003), is utilizing transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to treat auditory hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia; Delwyn Miller, Pharm.D., M.D., of University of Iowa (NARSAD Independent Invetigator 2003), is studying whether a combined treatment of rTMS and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy will better manage such hallucinations than either treatment alone.
- Eric Kandel, M.D., of Columbia University, and Paul Greengard, Ph.D., of Rockefeller University, both of whom serve on NARSAD’s Scientific Council and have received NARSAD grants, were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2000 along with Dr. Arvid Carlsson, M.D., a NARSAD 1994 Lieber Prize winner, for their discoveries about signal transduction in the nervous system. This work provided an unprecedented molecular window onto the functioning brain and has led to improved treatments for Parkinson’s Disease, schizophrenia, and depression, and holds promise for the improvement of memory in various types of dementia.
- Jayashri Kulkarni, MBBS, MPM, Ph.D., of Monash University (NARSAD Independent Investigator 2000), dramatically reduced hallucinations and delusions in men with severe schizophrenia by giving them estrogen. She also used estrogen patches to successfully lessen psychosis in women with active acute schizophrenia.
- Philip Seeman, M.D., Ph.D., of University of Toronto, a NARSAD Distinguished Investigator in 1988, 1995 and 2000, discovered that a supersensitivity to the neurotransmitter dopamine, characteristic of schizophrenia, can be caused by mutations in a wide variety of genes, rather than just two or three, offering a new direction for schizophrenia research.
- Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, M.D. (NARSAD Young Investigator 2000) and Karen Berman, M.D. (NARSAD Independent Investigator 2000) used functional brain imaging to show a linkage between two key, but until now unconnected, brain abnormalities in schizophrenia. Together with other evidence, this work suggests that excess dopamine activity quelled by antipsychotic drugs may be driven by a defect in the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s executive control center.
- Arturas Petronis, M.D., Ph.D., of University of Toronto (NARSAD Independent Investigator 2003) has shown how an identical twin may develop a disorder, such as schizophrenia, that the other twin does not develop.
- Steven Siegel, M.D., Ph.D., of University of Pennsylvania (NARSAD Independent Investigator 1999), developed an implantable device that delivers anti-psychotic medication for a period of five months. Continuing work indicates that such devices may work for up to a full year. Given the propensity for psychotic patients to stop medication, and therefore relapse, such treatments are especially promising to ensure their continued well being.
Genetic Links Between Bipolar Disorder & Schizophrenia
- Recently, Wade Berrettini, M.D., Ph.D., of University of Pennsylvania, a two-time NARSAD Distinguished Investigator, identified two genetic regions that appear to increase a person’s susceptibility to both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. This suggests that in some cases, these disorders may actually share genetic origins.
- Eiji Hattori, M.D. of University of Chicago (NARSAD 2005 Young Investigator) and Elliot Gershon, M.D. of University of Chicago (NARSAD 2006 Distinguished Investigator), traced susceptibility for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder to two overlapping genes found on the long arm of chromosome 13. This is the first study to implicate this gene complex and the second to tie any gene to the development of bipolar disorder. Their previous study found that the same gene complex increases risk for schizophrenia.
- James Potash, M.D., M.P.H. of Johns Hopkins University (NARSAD 2000 Young Investigator), studied a gene for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and found a strong genetic linkage to specific regions on chromosomes 13 and 22. These overlap genes may contribute to brain abnormalities shared by bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and could help explain why the same anti-psychotic medications are effective treatments for both diseases.
- Hugh Gurling, M.D., M.Phil., of University College London (NARSAD 2005 Distinguished Investigator), identified a novel gene, known as Slynar, and located on chromosome 12, linked to both depression and bipolar disorder. It is only the third gene implicated in bipolar disorder. The discovery may lead to new treatments for both disorders, and the development of preventive strategies.
Autism
- Researchers at Vanderbilt University, supported in part by NARSAD, identified a common gene variant that more than doubles the risk of autism. The genetic variant, associated with the MET gene, is common in children with autism and appears more frequently in families that have more than one affected child.
- Richard Davidson, Ph.D., of University of Wisconsin, a NARSAD Distinguished Investigator in 1995 and 2003, and Kim Dalton, Ph.D., a 2005 Young Investigator, have shown that autistic adolescent males with severe social impairment have a smaller than average amygdala (a brain region associated with fear) and that their non-autistic siblings shared this difference, and similarly interpreted others' facial expressions. These separate findings represent the first measurable evidence of social impairment related to brain structure and brain function in autism, and support the idea that autism is likely the most severe expression of a broad spectrum of genetically-influenced characteristics.
Diagnosis of Childhood Mental Illness
- Larry Davidson, Ph.D., of Yale University (NARSAD Independent Investigator 2001), developed a school-based screening, education and intervention program for youth identified as at-risk for serious mental illness. Created in response to the Connecticut Governor’s Commission on Mental Health, the program is designed to help educate teenagers in the general population who may currently have, or may develop, psychiatric problems.
Links Between Stress & Aging
- Elissa Epel (NARSAD 2002 Young Investigator) has investigated biological changes brought on by stress. She and a co-investigator found that people caring for ill relatives, or experiencing other similarly stressful events like divorce, actually appear to age more rapidly, at the level genetic material in the body’s cells. This is the first study to link psychological stress to biological aging.
Anorexia Nervosa
- Adelaide Robb, M.D., of Children’s National Medical Center/George Washington University (NARSAD 2001 Young Investigator) found that a new medication, Levothyroxine (a thyroid hormone), was effective in treating the acute phase of anorexia nervosa.
Links Between Attention-Deficit & Bipolar Disorders
- NARSAD researcher Ellen Herbener, Ph.D., of the University of Chicago, Illinois, is utilizing advanced imaging to explore the high co-occurrence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Childhood-Onset Bipolar Disorder (BPD).
- Melissa DelBello, M.D., of University of Cincinnati (NARSAD Young Investigator, 2001, 2004, Independent Investigator 2006), is also exploring the relationship between the ADHD and BPD with advanced imaging techniques, in an effort to identify subtypes of BPD and develop effective identification and treatment methods.
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