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

Nutrition Obesity Research Centers Grant Program
In an attempt to support this mission, the National Institutes of Health has formed a partnership with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to establish the Nutrition Obesity Research Centers Grant Program wherein both agencies intend to solicit grant applications that wish to establish core centers which will be an essential part of an integrated program of nutrition and obesity research.

---

Zambia Economic Resilience Program for Improved Food Security
The Zambia Economic Resilience Program for Improved Food Security is designed to implement innovative techniques and approaches that would hopefully enable the community's most vulnerable and poor rural families to improve food security by strengthening their economic resilience.

---

Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Training for States on Winnable Battles
The purpose of the Training for States on Winnable Battles program is to enable the CDC to offer training, educational materials, and technical assistance to legislative executives and administrative branches of states.

---

Health Care Fraud Program Expansion and Senior Medical Patrol Capacity Building Grants
In line with this mission, the Administration on Aging has recently established the Health Care Fraud Program Expansion and Senior Medical Patrol Capacity Building Grants in an attempt to boost the capacity of the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) program to reach more Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, their families and caregivers, while focusing on fraud prevention and identification.

---