Research & Discoveries chronicles examples of curiosity-driven research advances that are creating promise for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Basic research advances scientific knowledge and medical innovation by expanding understanding of the structure and function of molecules, genes, cells, systems, and complex behaviors. Clinical researchers exploit these findings and identify new applications that lead to medical treatments.

Basic research is largely funded by national agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation in the United States. Continued investment in basic research is essential to ensuring discoveries that will inspire scientific pursuit and medical progress for future generations.

Featured Topics

• Fear and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - New basic science and clinical research on the biological basis of fear suggests promising new therapeutic avenues.
  
  
• Toxins and Venom - Curiosity about toxins and venom has yielded unexpected results — novel research tools and drug targets. 
  
  
• Vision and Gene Therapy - The discovery of a vitamin's crucial role in vision helped pave the way for gene therapy advances.
  
  
• Brain Plasticity and Alzheimer's Disease - Future research could allow scientists to capture the adult brain’s capacity to adapt, thus preventing or reversing Alzheimer’s disease.
  
  
• Light Molecules - Research on algae sparks new ways to study the brain and potentially treat disease.