Effects of Adolescent Binge Drinking on Brain Development

by: Michael Saunders

The National Institutes of Health, also referred to as NIH, is an agency that is operating under the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

The NIH is primarily responsible for ensuring all of the country's biomedical and health-related research studies. The attempts of the NIH are always geared towards the attainment of their mission, which is to "seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce the burdens of illness and disability."

In line with this mission, the National Institutes of Health, in close cooperation with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has established the Effects of Adolescent Binge Drinking on Brain Development Project.

The Effects of Adolescent Binge Drinking on Brain Development Project intends to determine the effects of adolescent binge drinking on the synaptic maturation and myelin formation in the a person's developing brain.

The NIH and NIAAA plans to achieve this by soliciting exploratory or developmental research grant proposals that would potentially help in identifying the long-term consequences of adolescent binge drinking in the maturation of brain structure and its functions.

In addition, the NIH and NIAAA will utilize this research studies on animal models in order to unravel the underlying effects of excessive alcohol consumption on genetic, molecular and cellular mechanisms.

The scope of the study will include, but is not necessarily limited to:

1) The anatomical or functional studies on cortical synapse pruning or refinement in models of adolescent binge drinking.

  (continued...)

Effects of Adolescent Binge Drinking on Brain Development
  Page 2

About The Author Michael Saunders is an editor of TopGovernmentGrants.com one the the most comprehensive Websites offering information on government grants and federal government programs. He also maintains Websites providing resources on environmental grants and grants for youth programs.

Additional Resources

category - Health Grants

Learning Disabilities Innovation Hubs Program
The National Institutes of Health has partnered with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to establish the Learning Disabilities Innovation Hubs Program where both agencies intend to solicit resource-related research project grant applications that concentrate on the etiology, manifestation, prevention, and remediation of writing, reading, or mathematics learning disabilities.

---

Exploratory/Developmental Grants Program for Basic Cancer Research in Cancer Health Disparities
The National Institutes of Health has recently formed a partnership with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in an effort to constitute the Exploratory/Developmental Grants Program for Basic Cancer Research in Cancer Health Disparities wherein both agencies intend to solicit grant application from various eligible researchers who are interested in conducing basic research studies regarding the biological causes and mechanisms of cancer health disparities.

---

Excellence in Hemoglobinopathies Research Award Program
The National Institutes of Health has formed a collaboration with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) in an effort to establish the Excellence in Hemoglobinopathies Research Award Program wherein both agencies have agreed to financially support the creation of studies that could potentially improve high-impact multi-disciplinary basic and translational research studies in the hemoglobinopathies.

---

Advanced Education Nursing Traineeship Program
In keeping with this mission, the Health Resources and Services Administration has recently constituted the Advanced Education Nursing Traineeship Program wherein it aims to increase the number of primary care providers through the provision of training programs to nurses who are pursuing advanced degrees primary care nurse practitioners (NP) or nurse-midwives.

---