Iowa researchers take a multidisciplinary approach to understanding bipolar disorder—and shine light on a complex mental health condition that’s still not widely understood.

Q&A with Ted Abel and Lane Strathearn, leaders for one of only 15 federally funded intellectual and developmental disabilities research centers in the country.

Inspired by her work in the lab, neuroscientist Kathleen Sluka creates artwork that graces the cover of scientific journals.

Few projects exemplify the University of Iowa’s emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration better than Receptive Field, a new interactive sculpture by School of Art and Art History Associate Professor Daniel Miller. The project was commissioned by the Iowa Neuroscience Institute. Miller’s work integrates robotics, media, and electronics, often exploring systems and ecologies of the natural world. These attributes led INI Associate Director for Education and Outreach and CLAS Associate Dean for Research Joshua Weiner to reach out to Miller for a new artwork.

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Héctor Sánchez Meléndez made up his mind to study the brain and go to medical school. But as a neuroscience major at the University of Iowa, he has discovered a passion for research. Now, he wants to establish a lab back home.

A new study that used genetic data from nearly 43,000 autistic individuals and their families has identified 60 autism spectrum-associated genes with exome-wide significance, including five new genes not previously implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders. University of Iowa scientists led by Jake Michaelson, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry in the UI Carver College of Medicine, contributed to the new study, which was published recently in Nature Genetics.

Aaron Boes, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and director of the division of pediatric neurology, has been awarded the Roy J. Carver Professorship in Neuroscience in the Iowa Neuroscience Institute. The recognition honors his outstanding academic achievements and contributions to the Carver College of Medicine and Iowa Neuroscience Institute.

Two students in the University of Iowa Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience have been awarded Kwak-Ferguson Fellowships from the Iowa Neuroscience Institute. Samantha Pierson and Marco Pipoly, fourth- and fifth-year students, respectively, were awarded $5,000 each for their work in the area of neurodegenerative diseases.

University of Iowa researchers have confirmed in a new study that a specific region in the brain is critical to governing the mind’s communication with the body’s motor control system. The findings could yield advances in treatment for Parkinson’s disease, as declining motor coordination is a central symptom of the disorder.