Neurological and mental disorders and diseases

Fogarty and the NIH invest in research to address a number of neurological and mental disorders and diseases. These conditions are an enormous burden in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which lack the financial and human resources to deal with them. Included are:

• Addiction
• Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
• Neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and learning disabilities
• Neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Seizure disorders

Fogarty and NIH also support research on how environmental exposures, childhood adversity, nutrition, injury and other factors impact brain development, and how the rehabilitation process for these diseases and disorders influences treatment and recovery.

Research at NIH on the full spectrum of brain disorders and diseases spans many of the 27 Institutes and Center. Fogarty's Global Brain Disorders Research program generates more trans-NIH support than any other Fogarty program.

Top News

• Around the world and back again: Global mental health efforts
  Blog post by NIMH Director Dr. Joshua A. Gordon, February 27, 2019
• Building neurology research capacity in Zambia: Q and A with Dr Omar Siddiqi
  Jan / Feb 2019  Global Health Matters
• Focus: NIH-supported research targets global suicide burden
  Nov / Dec 2018 Global Health Matters
• Research boosts mental health task-shifting, innovative approaches
• Frugal innovation fights India’s high suicide burden
• Global studies help bring down China’s suicide rate
• Focus: Tackling the growing, global burden of dementia
  Sep / Oct 2018 Global Health Matters
• Study in India sets stage for US tests of screening tool for cognitive impairment
• Fogarty grantees receive supplemental funding for training in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
• As dementia rises in Africa, urgent need for research
• Delay in HIV treatment associated with brain atrophy:
  Findings indicate the importance of early diagnosis and treatment
  NIMH/NIH news, June 13, 2018
• Low-cost mental health innovation enables access to care in Africa, US
  Mar / Apr 2018 Global Health Matters
• New biological research framework for Alzheimer's to spur discovery
  NIA/NIH news, April 10, 2018
• Fogarty Fellow with mental health expertise studied health of African migrants to China
  Jan / Feb 2018 Global Health Matters
• NIH updates Congress on global Alzheimer's disease epidemic
  Jan / Feb 2018 Global Health Matters
• NIEHS and Fogarty program support research to improve global brain health
  NIEHS/NIH Global Environmental Health newsletter, February 2018
• Grantee news: One-time hydrocephalus operation, alternative to shunting, brings good outcomes for babies
  Boston Children's Hospital Vector blog, December 21, 2017
• Energizing psychiatric research in Egypt, India
  Nov / Dec 2017 Global Health Matters
• Global Brain Disorders grantee news from The Lancet Global Health, September 2017:
• Comment: Cassava, konzo, and neurotoxicity
• Article: Cognitive and motor performance in Congolese children with konzo during 4 years of follow-up: a longitudinal analysis
• Related Fogarty newsletter article: Cassava root causes cognitive damage in Congolese villages
  Jan/Feb 2014 Global Health Matters
• Global Brain Disorders grantee news: CWRU and University Hospitals Physician-Researcher Martha Sajatovic receives international brain health grant
  Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine news, September 6, 2017
• Fogarty trainees study Colombian family for clues to prevent Alzheimer's
  May / Jun 2017 Global Health Matters
• Can Alzheimer's be prevented? An extended family in Colombia with a genetic mutation causing Alzheimer's may help scientists prevent the disease someday, featuring Dr. Francisco Lopera
  60 Minutes, July 9, 2017
• International study suggests Nodding syndrome caused by response to parasitic protein
  NINDS/NIH news, February 15, 2017
• Nodding syndrome may be an autoimmune reaction to the parasitic worm Onchocerca volvulus
  Science Translational Medicine, February 15, 2017
• Rare disease mystery: Nodding syndrome may be linked to parasitic worm
  Blog post by NIH Director Dr. Francis S. Collins, February 28, 2017
• Focus on the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
  Nov / Dec 2016 Global Health Matters
• Developing neurological research capacity in LMICs
• Chagas disease studies inform Zika research in Brazil
• NIH funds research network to reduce stroke in Africa
• World leaders and advocates unite in Washington, DC for one mission: Make mental health a global priority
  NIMH/NIH news, May 20, 2016
• GACD to fund mental health research
  Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases news, April 14, 2016
• Poverty may slightly increase childhood risk of neurological impairment, NIH study suggests
  NICHD/NIH news, December 16, 2015
• NIH-led effort details global brain disorders research agenda in Nature supplement
  Fogarty news, November 18, 2015
• Related publication: Brain disorders across the lifespan: Research to achieve nervous system health worldwide
  Nature supplement, November 19, 2015 (online)
• World Alzheimer Report 2015: The Global Impact of Dementia
  from Alzheimer's Disease International
• Scientists adopt new strategy to find Huntington's disease therapies
  Large, international NIH-supported study uses precision medicine to tackle neurological disorders
  NINDS/NIH news, August 7, 2015
• How to make an impact in global mental health
  Pamela Collins, director, NIMH Office for Research on Disparities and Global Mental Health at Duke Global Health Institute, with recorded webcast
  Duke Global Health Institute news, April 14, 2015
• Brain Disorders in the Developing World Program Evaluation
• Brain program catalyzes research, builds capacity
  Mar / Apr 2015 Global Health Matters
• Brain disorders research: a decade of progress
  Opinion by Fogarty Director Dr Roger I Glass
  Mar / Apr 2015 Global Health Matters
• NIH meeting advances Alzheimer's research agenda
  Mar / Apr 2015 Global Health Matters
• New NIMH strategic plan aims to focus, accelerate mental health research
  NIMH/NIH news, March 26, 2015
• Global mental health: The unconscionable gap between what we know and what we do
  Based on a keynote lecture presented at the February 2014 Fogarty NIH Brain Disorders 10th Anniversary symposium
  Science, September 10, 2014

Related Fogarty News and Information

• NIH celebrates a decade of brain disorders research
  Mar / Apr 2014 Global Health Matters
• Focus on Brain Disorders: Research Across the Lifespan
  Jan / Feb 2014 Global Health Matters
• Overview of Brain Disorders: Research Across the Lifespan
• Cassava root causes cognitive damage in Congolese villages
• Education may curb epilepsy linked to pig parasite in Burkina Faso
• Fogarty-supported researchers spur Alzheimer's research in Colombia
• Alzheimer's gene protects cognition in Brazilian slums
• Studies in Vietnam show early intervention is critical for disabled children
• Focus: Mental health must be integrated into care delivery
  Jul / Aug 2013 Global Health Matters
• US steps up efforts to protect world's children
  Jan / Feb 2013 Global Health Matters
• Exploring the Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health
  Q and A with Dr Pamela Collins of NIMH
  Mar / Apr 2012 Global Health Matters
• Focus on the global cost of addiction
  Mar / Apr 2011 Global Health Matters
• Overview: the global cost of addiction
• Meth takes a toll in South Africa
• Researching the roots of khat addiction in Yemen
• Brain drain: heroin use in Bulgaria
• US-Pakistan research collaborations improve health
  May / Jun 2010 Global Health Matters
• International collaboration improves screening and care for mentally retarded
  May / Jun 2010 Global Health Matters
• Traditional surma eye makeup poses lead risk
  May / Jun 2010 Global Health Matters
• Researchers find suicide and self-harm on the rise in Pakistan
  May / Jun 2010 Global Health Matters
• Researchers tackle fetal alcohol syndrome in Russia
  Mar / Apr 2010 Global Health Matters
• Improving mental health care in Indonesia
  Mar / Apr 2010 Global Health Matters
• Israeli findings on employment and mood and anxiety disorders
  Jan / Feb 2010 Global Health Matters
• Cognitive deficits linked to cerebral malaria in children
  May / Jun 2008 Global Health Matters

NIH News and Resources

Neuroscience and Neurological Disorders

• NIH Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative
• NIH-funded atlas details gene activity of the prenatal human brain, offers clues to psychiatric disorders
  NIH news, April 2, 2014
• President Obama's Proposal to Double Federal Funding for the BRAIN Initiative
  BRAIN Initiative blog post, March 11, 2014
• Neuroscience@NIH
• NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research
• NIH NeuroBioBank - A federated network of U.S. brain and tissue repositories
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) resources:
• NINDS Disorder Index
• NINDS Common Data Elements (CDE) Project - systematically collect, analyze and share data across the neurological research community
• NINDS Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience funding
• Neuroscience Research Support from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
• Neurological Diseases and Disorders and Climate Change from National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Global Environmental Health
• International Alzheimer's Disease Research Portfolio (IADRP) from the National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Mental Health

• Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health from NIMH
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Mental Health Information
• Grand Challenges in Mental Health article series following NIH workshop 
  PLOS Medicine, spring 2013:
• Integration in research, policy and practice
• Integrating maternal mental health into maternal and child health programs
• Integrating mental health care into the noncommunicable disease agenda
• Improving HIV treatment outcomes by integrating interventions for comorbid mental illness
• Integrating mental health services into priority health care platforms
• Mental Health and Stress-Related Disorders
  from NIEHS Global Environmental Health

Aging

• National Institute on Aging (NIA) on Global Aging

Addiction

• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) on Addiction Science
• NIDA International Program

Other US Government Resources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Mental Health information
• Department of Defense (DoD)
• DoD special report on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
• DoD, VA, Other Agencies Team to Study PTSD, TBI, American Forces Press Service, August 14, 2013
• Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Center for PTSD
• MentalHealth.gov
• National Science Foundation (NSF) Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS)
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
• United States Agency for International Development (USAID) U.S. Government Action Plan on Children in Adversity

Other Online Resources

• Global mental health series
  from The Lancet, October 17, 2011
• International Brain Research Organization (IBRO)
• Journal of Clinical Psychiatry e-learning - A collection of over 100 free certified educational activities designed for mental health professionals.
• Society for Neuroscience
• World Health Organization (WHO) mental health information
• Mental health and development: targeting people with mental health conditions as a vulnerable group
  WHO report, September 2010
• Preventing suicide: A global imperative
  WHO report, September 2014