Brain
Clinical research trials are at the heart of all medical advances. Researchers enroll women, men, and children in clinical trials to test new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. Studies often enroll people with a specific disorder but some also accept people without health problems to provide baseline information on overall health.
To learn the basics about clinical trials, check out NIMH’s Clinical Research Trials and You: Questions and Answers brochure or visit the NIH Clinical Trials and You website.
People participate in clinical trials for various reasons. Healthy volunteers say they participate to help others and contribute to moving science forward. Participants with an illness or disease also participate to help others, possibly receive the newest treatment, and receive additional care and attention from the clinical trial staff.
Clinical trials offer hope for many people and an opportunity to help researchers find better treatments for others in the future.
NIMH, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), supports research studies through its Intramural Division on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. These studies enroll eligible participants from across the U.S. You can also learn more about studies conducted at the NIH using the following links:
Please subscribe and select Intramural Updates to receive periodic updates on mental health research, including news, resources, educational events, and clinical research studies conducted at the NIH Clinical Center.
NIMH funds many research studies through grants to researchers around the country. Find ongoing studies that are currently recruiting participants:
Terms related to generative AI that you might find useful.
Harold Robert Meyer and The ADD Resource Center 04/22/2025 Executive Summary Decision fatigue affects everyone, but for…
The small difference between psychotropics and placebos in clinical trials has significant implications for patients,…
When you have ADHD, self-sabotage isn't merely a bad habit—it's often an unconscious protection mechanism…
People with ADHD can struggle with people-pleasing tendencies that go beyond typical politeness.
Harold Robert Meyer and The ADD Resource Center 04/20/2025 Revolutionary ADHD Treatment Challenges Conventional Wisdom: New Research…