By: Gary Boas
“Anxiety disorders and depression are widespread among adolescents in the U.S., affecting as many as one in four 13 to 18 year olds. Determining the best course of treatment can be difficult, though, as we still don’t fully understand the biology of the disorders.
A newly funded study could offer new insights into the underlying biology, and thus help to improve the ways in which we approach anxiety and depression.
The Human Connectome Project (HCP)—a multi-institutional collaboration including the MGH Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging and others—has demonstrated since its launch five years ago an extraordinary ability to map the neural pathways in the human brain. Now, researchers at the Martinos Center and the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT are, for the first time, applying techniques developed by the HCP to a specific disease population.”