Where the open questions are

Structural and cultural determinants of mental health outcomes and treatment access across populations.

Gaps identified:

5

Papers analyzed:

302

NIH grants:

3,581

Research on generalized anxiety, panic, phobias, and social anxiety, including exposure-based treatment mechanisms.

Gaps identified:

4

Papers analyzed:

19,538

NIH grants:

5,141

Psychosis research including prodromal detection, cognitive remediation, and antipsychotic mechanisms.

Gaps identified:

4

Papers analyzed:

17,462

NIH grants:

938

Attention and impulse-control disorders across childhood and adulthood, including behavioral and pharmacological intervention research.

Gaps identified:

3

Papers analyzed:

10,988

NIH grants:

1,405

How brain structure and function develop across childhood and adolescence and relate to behavior.

Gaps identified:

3

Papers analyzed:

801

NIH grants:

903

Research on anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating disorder, and body image disturbance.

Gaps identified:

3

Papers analyzed:

10,808

NIH grants:

1,427

Sleep architecture, circadian biology, and the bidirectional link between sleep and mental health.

Gaps identified:

3

Papers analyzed:

42,970

NIH grants:

906

Suicide risk detection, ideation-to-action theories, and crisis intervention research.

Gaps identified:

3

Papers analyzed:

24,679

NIH grants:

1,435

Concussion and TBI research including recovery trajectories, chronic effects, and rehabilitation.

Gaps identified:

3

Papers analyzed:

17,160

NIH grants:

3,489

Substance use disorder research spanning reward circuitry, craving, relapse, and treatment access.

Gaps identified:

2

Papers analyzed:

55,595

NIH grants:

3,414

Autism research including early detection, social communication, sensory processing, and adult outcomes.

Gaps identified:

2

Papers analyzed:

24,067

NIH grants:

5,075

How cognition changes with age, including reserve, compensation, and interventions to preserve function.

Gaps identified:

2

Papers analyzed:

3,938

NIH grants:

9,032

Mood disorder research spanning etiology, treatment mechanisms, and prevention of major depression.

Gaps identified:

2

Papers analyzed:

24,193

NIH grants:

14,290

How emotions are generated and regulated, spanning amygdala-prefrontal circuits and clinical applications.

Gaps identified:

2

Papers analyzed:

164,246

NIH grants:

73

Attention, workload, vigilance, and human interaction with automation and complex systems.

Gaps identified:

2

Papers analyzed:

21,944

NIH grants:

2,365

Neural mechanisms of encoding, consolidation, and retrieval, including hippocampal and cortical circuits.

Gaps identified:

2

Papers analyzed:

87,515

NIH grants:

5,893

Synaptic and structural plasticity, recovery after injury, and stimulation-based interventions.

Gaps identified:

2

Papers analyzed:

8,610

NIH grants:

158

Post-traumatic stress research including fear extinction, memory reconsolidation, and trauma-focused therapies.

Gaps identified:

2

Papers analyzed:

16,758

NIH grants:

2,778

Neural bases of social cognition including empathy, mentalizing, and social reward.

Gaps identified:

2

Papers analyzed:

3,768

NIH grants:

1,666

Neurodegenerative disease research covering amyloid, tau, neuroinflammation, and early biomarkers.

Gaps identified:

1

Papers analyzed:

73,329

NIH grants:

17,935

Developmental science examining cognitive, emotional, and social growth across childhood and adolescence.

Gaps identified:

1

Papers analyzed:

13,373

NIH grants:

5,071

Value-based choice, reinforcement learning, and reward circuitry across health and psychopathology.

Gaps identified:

1

Papers analyzed:

53,797

NIH grants:

729

Structural and functional brain imaging methods and their application to cognition and disease.

Gaps identified:

1

Papers analyzed:

40,932

NIH grants:

8,488