Neural Basis of Psychopathology, Addictions and Sleep Disorders Study Section – NPAS
The Neural Basis of Psychopathology, Addictions, and Sleep Disorders (NPAS) study section reviews applications to study the etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis or treatment of major psychiatric disorders, drug and alcohol addictions, and sleep disorders, with a particular focus on neural mechanisms. NPAS generally reviews human, clinical translational research. Cellular-molecular studies using human tissue samples may be reviewed if they include a significant clinical component. The applications reviewed use many different methods ranging from neuroanatomical approaches to genetic and genomic methods, electrophysiology and neuropsychology with a special emphasis on neuroimaging (e.g., structural, functional, optical, and/or molecular). Animal studies will be considered if they are part of a translational project with human clinical research focused on NPAS relevant topics. Emphasis is on mechanistic studies.
The List of Reviewers lists all present, whether standing members or temporary, to provide the full scope of expertise present on that date. Lists are posted 30 days before the meeting and are tentative, pending any last minute changes.
Review Dates
Topics
- Psychiatric disorders, especially schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, suicidality, depression, bipolar, and mood disorders, post-concussive depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety disorders, post- traumatic stress disorders, eating disorders, and obesity, substances of abuse, neurobiological, behavioral and cognitive processes underlying drug-seeking behavior; neurobiological basis of individual differences in vulnerability and resiliency to drug abuse; comorbidity factors.
- Biomarkers to predict onset, predict, or track treatment outcome or disease course.
- Neurobehavioral basis of cognitive, emotional, and social deficits associated with psychopathology and addictive disorders, including but not limited to psychotic, mood, eating, anxiety, personality, substance use, behavioral addictions, and sleep disorders.
- Studies using the RDoC framework or other dimensional or hybrid approaches to investigate topics are within the domain of NPAS.
- Research using computational approaches, consortium generated datasets, or data integration across studies to create large scale datasets to address NPAS relevant topics.
- Longitudinal studies of etiology, course, and outcome relevant to the neural bases of psychopathology, addictions, and sleep.
- Treatments studies (e.g., pharmacological, neuromodulatory, and behavioral) targeting neural mechanisms of therapeutic change.
Shared Interests and Overlaps
There are multiple shared interests with Pathophysiological Basis of Mental Disorders and Addictions (PMDA). Applications that emphasize on clinical, imaging, behavioral and treatment outcomes in humans are reviewed in NPAS. Applications that emphasize use of in vitro approaches or primarily use of animal-based studies or human subject studies that focus mainly on molecular outcomes (genomic, epigenetic, proteomic, metabolomics) are reviewed in PMDA.
There are shared interests in the areas of neuropsychiatric and sleep disorders with Adult Lifespan Psychopathology (ALP), the Child Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities (CPDD) and the Mechanisms of Emotion, Stress and Health (MESH). Applications that emphasize more structural and mechanistic aspects and the etiology, neural mechanisms, diagnosis of neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment of sleep disorders in humans are reviewed in NPAS. Applications that emphasize emotional, and/or behavioral aspects of psychopathology are reviewed in ALP. Applications that emphasize behavioral phenotypes of child and adolescent psychopathology are reviewed in CPDD. Applications that emphasize the interactions of psychological stress and emotion states or involving sleep or circadian rhythms are reviewed in MESH.
There are shared interests in childhood mental disorders/developmental psychiatric disabilities (schizophrenia) with Developmental Brain Disorders (DBD). Applications that emphasize human studies in this area beyond early childhood aspects of mental disorders/developmental psychiatric disabilities are reviewed in NPAS. Applications that emphasize neurodevelopmental aspects or consequences of exposure during neurodevelopment are reviewed in DBD.
There are shared interests in human subject studies of behavioral neuropharmacology/behavioral toxicology particularly the effects of chronic exposure to alcohol with Neurotoxicology and Alcohol (NAL). Applications that emphasize etiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of alcoholism and are clinically-oriented are reviewed in NPAS. Applications that emphasize the use of animal models and humans with an emphasis on the negative consequences of alcohol exposure throughout development and in adulthood, rather than motivational aspects of alcohol addiction are reviewed in NAL.
There are shared interests in human subject studies related to neuromodulatory methods for treatment for neuropsychiatric disorders with Neuromodulation and Imaging of Neuronal Circuits (NINC). Applications that emphasize established methods in normal function and these disorders are reviewed in NPAS. Applications that emphasize the development of new invasive/implanted or non-invasive technologies to modulate neuronal circuits are reviewed in NINC.
There are shared interests in neurological, mental, and behavioral conditions and disorders with Neurological, Mental and Behavioral Health (NMBH). Applications that emphasize clinically applications addressing the pathophysiology or the underlying neurobiological or neuropsychiatric mechanisms of these conditions and disorders are reviewed in NPAS. Applications that emphasize these disorders from a large population health perspective, particularly those characterizing the effect of genetic, epigenetic, biological, and environmental factors on the risk, development, and progression of these brain-related conditions and disorders are reviewed in NMBH.
There are shared interests in the neurobiological and neuropsychological mechanisms of substance use and addiction with Addiction Risks and Mechanisms (ARM). Applications that emphasize the neurochemical, neuroendocrine, or biochemical mechanisms of psychopathology, including addiction, are reviewed in NPAS. Applications that emphasize primary outcomes that are behavioral or psychosocial are reviewed in ARM.
There are shared interests in sleep disorders and eating disorders with Cognitive Disorders & Brain Aging (CDBA). Applications that emphasize the etiology, neural mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment of sleep disorders in humans are reviewed in NPAS. Applications that emphasize cognitive disorders during aging in adults are reviewed in CDBA.
