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.

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Effects of Adolescent Binge Drinking on Brain Development
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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

Child Health Research Career Development Award Program
In accordance with this mission, the National Institute of Health has collaborated with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in an attempt to establish the Child Health Research Career Development Award Program.

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Behavioral Interventions to Address Multiple Chronic Health Conditions in Primary Care Program
The National Institutes of Health has recently established the Behavioral Interventions to Address Multiple Chronic Health Conditions in Primary Care Program wherein it intends to utilize common conceptual models in creating independent interventions that will contribute to the modification of health behaviors and the improvement of health outcomes in patients diagnosed with co-morbid chronic diseases and health conditions.

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Basic Research on HIV Persistence Program
In keeping with this mission, the National Institutes of Health has recently constituted the establishment of the Basic Research on HIV Persistence Program in an attempt to increase our understanding of the persistence of HIV-1 infections in patients under highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART).

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The Collaborative Islet Transplantation Registry Program
The National Institutes of Health has formed a partnership with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) in order to establish the The Collaborative Islet Transplantation Registry Program wherein both agencies seek to invite applications that intend to continue initiatives started through the Collaborative Islet Transplantation Registry (CITR).

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