NIMH Meeting on Basic Behavioral Research

On April 23, Dr. Ed Wasserman, Professor of Psychology at the University of Iowa, and Dr. Elizabeth Hoffman, APA Science Government Relations staff, met with Dr. Kevin Quinn and Dr. Howard Kurtzman, both of the Behavioral Science and Integrative Neuroscience Research (BSINR) Branch at NIMH, to discuss the state of basic behavioral research at the Institute. As this readership knows by now, NIH funding for basic social and behavioral research is at an all-time low, and NIMH is reducing its support of this critical endeavor.

Although there has been significant reorganization and priority-shifting across NIH, the most dramatic changes seem to be at NIMH. Grant applications are rising NIH-wide and at NIMH, in particular, which is especially discouraging during wartime when budgets are tight. In a culture of rising applications and a diminishing budget, NIMH continues to make significant cuts in areas that have a long history of support. Scientists who study discrimination and stereotyping, for example, are finding that their work is no longer viewed as relevant to the NIMH mission. Along these lines, the group discussed the value of setting up more interagency programs between NIH and NSF, similar to the computational neuroscience program that the two agencies jointly run. The animal cognition community could stand to benefit from such a partnership, especially during these lean budget years.

Kurtzman emphasized the need for the scholarly community to step up its advocacy efforts. He noted that very few researchers attend the town-hall style meetings at conferences where he and other extramural staff address concerns about the current funding climate. We discussed improving communication and accessibility of information to assist with community advocacy work.

One idea that emerged during this discussion is to convene a panel of supportive scientists outside the "guild" (i.e., non-behavioral scientists) to defend behavioral research. Another idea is to encourage the National Academies to conduct a study on the history and current status of basic behavioral funding.

With regard to accessibility of information, Kurtzman and Quinn are open to suggestions for how to make the NIMH website easier to navigate. Quinn sits on a committee that reviews the grants section of the website and can take comments on its ease of use (or lack thereof) to the committee for potential action.

In a related discussion, the possibility of NIMH producing a biannual report highlighting NIMH-funded grants was talked about. The reporting could be either NIMH-wide or division-specific. This idea will be brought to the attention of the NIMH Office of Science Policy, Planning, and Communication. Right now, some of this information is available via the Council Director's Report, which is accessible from the Council section of the website.

We agreed that basic behavioral science has much to contribute to our understanding of normal and abnormal behavior, and that sustaining the support of NIMH and other Institutes for that undertaking is a necessary challenge.

APA continues to take its advocacy role seriously. The day after the NIMH visit, Wasserman and Science GRO's Karen Studwell met with Wasserman's Iowa Congressional delegation offices to request a 6.7 percent increase for NIH. They also educated staff about the contributions of animal behavior research to public health and about the importance of protecting peer-reviewed research.

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