News Article

New York, NY, Aug 31, 2010—Addressing one of the last frontiers of medicine, the University of Haifa's Institute for the Study of Affective Neuroscience (ISAN) focuses on basic and clinical research dealing with understanding the emotional brain, particularly the causes and treatment of affective and related disorders, i.e., disorders dealing with feelings, moods, and attitudes. With major funding from the Hope for Depression Research Foundation in New York, ISAN's research projects integrate two complementary aspects of human emotions and affects: objective, neurobiological approaches to the brain, and subjective, psychotherapeutical approaches to the mind, including the inner experience of the person suffering from depression and related disorders.

ISAN supports research projects based on theories about the psychobiological functioning of emotional command systems and on hypotheses about the structure and functions of the human mental apparatus, including subjective and emotional aspects of mental life. Working to increase cooperation and collaboration, ISAN also strives to share and disseminate knowledge, among scientists, laboratories and clinicians who study different aspects of affective disorders and related areas.

By funding collaborative research projects, creating scholarships for traveling students and scientists, and organizing research conferences, ISAN is able to work in partnership with academicians at institutions around the globe. This ISAN program parallels the goals of the Hope for Depression Research Foundation whose mission is to fund innovative depression research based on affective neuroscience, with the goal of finding answers to the origins, accurate diagnosis, new treatments, preventions and an ultimate cure for depression.