HIV-positive children older than 1 year who were treated after showing moderate HIV-related symptoms did not experience greater cognitive or behavior problems compared to peers treated when signs of their infection were still mild, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

In March 2012, nearly 90 researchers, national partner organizations, and Outreach Partners from every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico met in Denver, Colorado for the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Outreach Partnership Program Annual Meeting. The Outreach Partnership Program is a nationwide initiative of NIMH’s Office of Constituency Relations and Public Liaison, and is designed to increase the public’s access to science-based mental health information through partnerships with national and state nonprofit mental health organizations.

A study featured in the journal Cell Reports has revealed the discovery of a protein that is essential to maintain behavioral flexibility. It enables people to modify their behavior to adjust to similar, yet not identical previous experiences. The findings may provide a better understanding of autism and schizophrenia, diseases that are characterized by impaired behavioral flexibility...

In the developing world the prevalence of maternal mental disorders is significantly high and until recently there was no routine screening or treatment of maternal mental disorders in primary care settings in South Africa. Now, South African researchers reveal that a new approach to screen pregnant women for these disorders shows promise. The study is published in PLoS Medicine...

Bisexuality, often stigmatized, typically has been lumped with homosexuality in previous public health research. But when Indiana University scientists recently focused on the health issues and behaviors specific to behaviorally bisexual men and women, they found tremendous variety, and that commonly used labels, such as heterosexual and homosexual, can sometimes do more harm than good...

Connectome: How the Brain’s Wiring Makes Us Who We Are [More]

In the fall of 2009 a group of biology students at Tufts University sat down together and ate some dirt. They ground up small clay tablets and swallowed the powder to find out, firsthand, what clay tastes like. This unusual taste test was part of a Darwinian medicine class taught by one of us (Starks). The students were studying the evolution of geophagia--the practice of eating dirt, especially claylike soils, which is something animals and people have been doing for millennia.

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The RDoC project is an experimental approach to classification of mental disorders that will serve as a framework for ongoing research.

The purpose of this initiative is to encourage researchers to use the data in the National Database for Autism Research (NDAR) to reproduce and extend published data, validate hypotheses generated during experiments performed on small samples, and generate new findings and hypotheses.

Summary for the February 2012 meeting of the Alliance for Research Progress.