National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Xin Jin, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, received the Peter and Patricia Gruber International Research Award from the Society for Neuroscience today during the society’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. The $25,000 prize is awarded annually to two young scientists whose research includes significant...

A new grant will help establish a core of post-graduate addiction medicine education programs in academic medical centers throughout the United States. The National Infrastructure for Translating Addiction Research into Clinical Practice grant, awarded last month to the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, will provide about $900,000 over a two-year period. The grant was awarded by...

Based on just two questions from a newly released guide, health care professionals could spot children and teenagers at risk for alcohol-related problems. Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth: A Practitioner’s Guide is now available from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. Developed in collaboration with the American Academy...

Physicians often fail to counsel their young adult patients about excessive alcohol use, according to a study led by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. NIAAA guidelines for low risk drinking call for men to drink no more than four drinks in a day and no more than 14 drinks...

College students who post references to getting drunk, blacking out, or other aspects of dangerous drinking on social networking sites are more likely to have clinically significant alcohol problems than students who do not post such references, according to a study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. Researchers...

Hospitalizations for alcohol and drug overdoses – alone or in combination – increased dramatically among 18- to 24-year-olds between 1999 and 2008, according to a study by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. Led by Aaron M. White, Ph.D. and Ralph W. Hingson, Sc.D., of NIAAA’s division of...

An online alcohol prevention course can help reduce harmful drinking among college freshmen, but the benefits in the fall don’t last through the spring, according to a study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. Led by Mallie J. Paschall, Ph.D., and colleagues at the Pacific Institute for Research...

Background: Scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) led by CAPT Joseph R. Hibbeln, M.D., teamed with researchers at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, Md., to analyze a sample of suicide deaths among U.S. military personnel on active duty between 2002 and 2008. The researchers compared levels of omega-3 fatty...

Researchers have long known that dopamine, a brain chemical that plays important roles in the control of normal movement, and in pleasure, reward and motivation, also plays a central role in substance abuse and addiction. In a new study conducted in animals, scientists found that a specific dopamine receptor, called D2, on dopamine-containing neurons controls an organism’s activity level and...

The effectiveness of an experimental treatment for alcoholism depends on the genetic makeup of individuals who receive it, according to a new study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. A report of the findings appears online in the American Journal of Psychiatry. “This study represents an important milestone...

A multinational research team led by scientists at the National Institutes of Health has found that a genetic variant of a brain receptor molecule may contribute to violently impulsive behavior when people who carry it are under the influence of alcohol. A report of the findings, which include human genetic analyses and gene knockout studies in animals, appears in the...

Highly visible cooperative projects, in which colleges and their surrounding communities target off-campus drinking settings, can reduce harmful alcohol use among college students, according to a report by researchers supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. “This innovative, important study is a valuable contribution to the search for solutions...

A molecular pathway within the brain's reward circuitry appears to contribute to alcohol abuse, according to laboratory mouse research supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The findings, published online today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also provide evidence that the pathway may be a...

An experimental compound appears to improve metabolic abnormalities associated with obesity, according to a preliminary study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. A report of the study, which was conducted with obese mice, appears online today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. “This is a promising early step toward a treatment for some of the serious health...

In humans, throwing a ball, typing on a keyboard, or engaging in most other physical activities involves the coordination of numerous discrete movements that are organized as action sequences. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health and the Gulbenkian Institute in Portugal have identified brain activity in mice that can signal the initiation and termination of newly learned action sequences...

Underage alcohol use is a pervasive and persistent problem in the United States and many other countries, with serious health and safety consequences, often resulting from binge drinking. Given the significant amount of alcohol advertising to which young people are exposed in virtually all types of media, scientists have sought to learn whether and how such advertising influences underage drinking...

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Statement by Kenneth R. Warren, Ph.D., Acting Director National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism National Institutes of Health Department of Health and Human Services Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: I am pleased to present the President’s Fiscal Year 2010 Budget request for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), of the National Institutes of Health...

A genetic variant of a receptor in the brain’s reward circuitry plays an important role in determining whether the neurotransmitter dopamine is released in the brain following alcohol intake, according to a study led by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. Dopamine is involved in transmitting the euphoria...

Scientists have identified new genes and pathways that influence an individual’s typical pattern of brain electrical activity, a trait that may serve as a useful surrogate marker for more genetically complex traits and diseases. One of the genes, for example, was found to be associated with alcoholism. A report of the findings by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol...