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

Effect of Physicochemical Properties of Ophthalmic Formulations on Ocular Bioavailability Program
In this capacity, the Food and Drug Administration has recently established the Effect of Physicochemical Properties of Ophthalmic Formulations on Ocular Bioavailability Program in an attempt to study the effects of various physicochemical properties of ophthalmic suspensions and emulsions on ocular bioavailability.

---

Modeling Social Behavior Grant Program
The National Institutes of Health has collaborated with the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in order to establish the Modeling Social Behavior Grant Program wherein they intend to seek applications for the development and evaluation of innovative theories, as well as computational, mathematical, and engineering approaches that could better our understanding of a human being's social behavior.

---

American Schools and Hospitals Abroad Program
Much of the international aid provided by the United States government goes to support education and healthcare efforts around the world. Many of these programs are design to encourage the spread of American values to other countries.

---

International Research Collaboration on Drug Abuse and Addiction
The National Institutes of Health, in collaboration with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), has recently established the International Research Collaboration on Drug Abuse and Addiction Program wherein they seek to solicit collaborative research applications regarding addiction and drug use, through the utilization of special opportunities and resources that exist outside the United States of America.

---