The Relationship Between Cannabis Use And Symptoms And Relapse In Psychosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$169,604.00
Summary
Cannabis is increasingly widely used and abused by young people. Use in young people with schizophrenia is even more extensive. There is some suggestion that this drug use is a result of their illness, ie to reduce unpleasant symptoms or feelings. Equally the drug may contribute to their psychosis. This study aims to assess the degree to which psychosis may be caused by cannabis use in vulnerable young people.
The Role Of Pharmacotherapy In Prevention Of Relapse In Alcohol Dependence
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$422,310.00
Summary
The physical, psychological and social consequences of alcohol abuse remain a critical health problem. Every year in Australia, excessive consumption is responsible for 3,000-6,000 deaths and costs the community $6 billion. Approximately 15% of Australians abuse alcohol and 5% of men and 3% of women are alcohol dependent (addicted to alcohol). Young men are particularly affected, with 10% of all men aged 18-35 dependent on alcohol. Better treatment for alcohol dependence is urgently needed. Less ....The physical, psychological and social consequences of alcohol abuse remain a critical health problem. Every year in Australia, excessive consumption is responsible for 3,000-6,000 deaths and costs the community $6 billion. Approximately 15% of Australians abuse alcohol and 5% of men and 3% of women are alcohol dependent (addicted to alcohol). Young men are particularly affected, with 10% of all men aged 18-35 dependent on alcohol. Better treatment for alcohol dependence is urgently needed. Less severe forms of alcohol abuse frequently respond to brief screening and intervention programs. Treatment of alcohol dependence remains unsatisfactory. Most treatments lead to abstinence in only 1-3, and approximately 50% of these will relapse within 3 months of completing treatment. Two drugs (naltrexone and acamprosate) appear to interfere with the effects of alcohol on the brain that promote addiction. There is evidence that both drugs are beneficial in the treatment of alcohol dependence and both are now available in Australia. At present, no data have been reported comparing the effectiveness of these two drugs. The proposed project will compare naltrexone and acamprosate in a large carefully performed study. The study will help determine which subjects are likely to benefit from one or other of these agents. Compliance is a major problem with many medications, but is a particular problem with medications for substance abuse. The second aim of this study is to test a novel intervention to increase compliance with medications for alcohol dependent subjects. This intervention comprises 'compliance therapy', which resembles a short training course, a medication alarm, and an assertive reminder program for scheduled medical appointments. The present study will be the first to apply this type of therapy to subjects with alcohol dependence.Read moreRead less
Emerging Mental Disorders In Young People: Using Clinical Staging For Prediction, Prevention And Early Intervention
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,598,601.00
Summary
Mental disorders are a major cause of disability in Australia, especially for young people. We have developed a clinical staging model covering the earliest symptoms through persistent disorder to chronic disability. We are investigating neurobiological, personal and social factors which increase the risk of progression through these stages, and novel treatment strategies which may prevent or delay onset and relapse, reduce the impact of illness, and promote recovery. Major public health benefit ....Mental disorders are a major cause of disability in Australia, especially for young people. We have developed a clinical staging model covering the earliest symptoms through persistent disorder to chronic disability. We are investigating neurobiological, personal and social factors which increase the risk of progression through these stages, and novel treatment strategies which may prevent or delay onset and relapse, reduce the impact of illness, and promote recovery. Major public health benefits and better understanding of the onset and progression of illness will result.Read moreRead less
Evaluation Of Cognitive-behaviour Therapy For Alcohol And Other Drug Problems Among People With A Psychotic Illness
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$217,465.00
Summary
Abuse of alcohol and other drugs among people with a major psychiatric illness is a serious public health problem and cost-effective treatments need to be developed and assessed. The aim of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of a counselling intervention. 180 individuals with a psychotic illness and concurrent alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems will be randomly assigned to counselling or usual treatment and followed up for a period of 12 months. The indicators of interest include: ....Abuse of alcohol and other drugs among people with a major psychiatric illness is a serious public health problem and cost-effective treatments need to be developed and assessed. The aim of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of a counselling intervention. 180 individuals with a psychotic illness and concurrent alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems will be randomly assigned to counselling or usual treatment and followed up for a period of 12 months. The indicators of interest include: current drug use; psychiatric symptoms; self-harm; social functioning; and use of health services. Findings from the proposed study will assist in the selection of particular treatment strategies and will aid the overall development of services for people with both major mental illness and substance abuse.Read moreRead less
Attentional Effects On Prepulse Inhibition Of The Acoustic Startle Reflex In Patients With Schizophrenia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$278,625.00
Summary
People suffering from schizophrenia exhibit differences from healthy people in the startle reflex, which is a blink of the eyes when a sudden loud sound occurs. Normally, this reflex is reduced in size when a quiet sound occurs a few milliseconds before the startling sound, but this prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex or PPI does not occur to the same degree in people with schizophrenia. The underlying causes of this reduction in PPI in patients with schizophrenia is not known. The most co ....People suffering from schizophrenia exhibit differences from healthy people in the startle reflex, which is a blink of the eyes when a sudden loud sound occurs. Normally, this reflex is reduced in size when a quiet sound occurs a few milliseconds before the startling sound, but this prepulse inhibition of the startle reflex or PPI does not occur to the same degree in people with schizophrenia. The underlying causes of this reduction in PPI in patients with schizophrenia is not known. The most commonly accepted theory is that it reflects a deficit in a basic sensorimotor gating function which could underlie a variety of attentional abnormalities observed in schizophrenia. However, our data indicate that patients exhibit more PPI when they ignore the prepulse stimuli. We wish to test the hypothesis that alterations in PPI in schizophrenic patients are secondary to abnormalities in attention. This is significant because the theory can point to a specific cognitive deficit associated with schizophrenia. We have also found that patients treated with some kinds of antipsychotic medications (the newer atypical antipsychotic medications) do not show reductions in PPI, but patients treated with older types of antipsychotic drug do show reductions in PPI. We intend to investigate the effects of different types of antipsychotics on attentional modulation of PPI. This is significant because it may indicate that patients with a specific kind of cognitive impairment may show improvement with a specific type of medicine. Our data suggests that chronic cannabis use may associated with differences in the startle reflex and in PPI. Understanding how such cannabis use alters PPI may provide insights into why so many people with schizophrenia regularly abuse cannabis.Read moreRead less
Models of adolescent drug use and its consequences. Recent concerns surround the impact of drug abuse - particularly binge drinking, inhalant abuse and cannabis use - on the mental health of adolescents. Early drug use is associated with mental health problems although the mechanisms involved are not well characterised. The present proposal aims to use animal models to characterise substance abuse that occurs during the adolescent period and to investigate its effects on brain and behaviour. Inc ....Models of adolescent drug use and its consequences. Recent concerns surround the impact of drug abuse - particularly binge drinking, inhalant abuse and cannabis use - on the mental health of adolescents. Early drug use is associated with mental health problems although the mechanisms involved are not well characterised. The present proposal aims to use animal models to characterise substance abuse that occurs during the adolescent period and to investigate its effects on brain and behaviour. Increasing our knowledge of the causes and consequences of adolescent drug abuse will improve Australia's ability to confront this problem and to develop early interventions and treatments that minimise associated harms.Read moreRead less
ADHD And Comorbidity: Implications For Clinical Practice And Molecular Genetics
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$284,878.00
Summary
ADHD is emerging as the most common, controversial childhood behavioural problem. Previously we have shown that much of the confusion may lie in the fact that ADHD is inherited as a continuum throughout the entire population, only some people having such a strong genetic potential that they warrant the label ADHD. The threshold to achieve this label is partly a community one, leading to the argument over who should be labelled and treated. This grant goes further in examining the possibility tha ....ADHD is emerging as the most common, controversial childhood behavioural problem. Previously we have shown that much of the confusion may lie in the fact that ADHD is inherited as a continuum throughout the entire population, only some people having such a strong genetic potential that they warrant the label ADHD. The threshold to achieve this label is partly a community one, leading to the argument over who should be labelled and treated. This grant goes further in examining the possibility that there is more than one type of ADHD. Some ADHD children have other behavioural problems such as conduct disorder or learning problems. Some have problems throughout their lives while others grow out of it. In Australia we are unique in having developed the most extensive twin databases world-wide and have already studied aspects of ADHD both in the children and their parents. In this grant we shall explore whether there are distinct genetic types of ADHD, characterised not just by their ADHD symptoms but also by the other behavioural problems they experience and by what happens as they grow-up. Such information is invaluable in developing a treatment program dealing with all aspects of the ADHD and also addresses the question of what will happen as they get older. No other study internationally has such extensive data to address these key questions., vital both to clinicians and families. Given the significant genetic component to ADHD, the next possibility is to find the genes involved in the different types. Knowing what these genes do may help in the development of medications more targeted to specific patterns of problems. Recently genes have been identified which may be involved in specific types of ADHD, as well as genes involved in associated problems such as reading disability and substance abuse. This study offers the potential to clearly identify the role of these genes and so assist in improved diagnosis and treatment interventions.Read moreRead less
A Comparative Structural And Functional Cerebral MRI Study Of First Episode Schizophrenia And Long-term Cannabis Use.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$373,125.00
Summary
Cannabis is used for its subjective effects that include euphoria, depersonalisation, somnolence, and altered perceptions of temporal contingency.It is a controlled substance yet one quarter of Australian adolescents and seven percent of adults use cannabis regularly. Chronic use of cannibis can impair frontal brain functioning, affecting the capacities for attention, working memory and concentration.These neurocognitive deficits bear striking similarities to those associated with the negative s ....Cannabis is used for its subjective effects that include euphoria, depersonalisation, somnolence, and altered perceptions of temporal contingency.It is a controlled substance yet one quarter of Australian adolescents and seven percent of adults use cannabis regularly. Chronic use of cannibis can impair frontal brain functioning, affecting the capacities for attention, working memory and concentration.These neurocognitive deficits bear striking similarities to those associated with the negative symptom cluster of schizophrenia,which is related to frontal brain dysfunction. The proposed study will be the first of it's kind to apply sophisticated neuroimaging techniques to investigate how long-term adolescent cannabis use effects the structure and function of the brain and to make comparative analyses with the brain changes associated with first episode schizophrenia. We predict that structural brain abnormalities that are consistent in localisation, if not in degree, will be detected in long-term cannabis using and first episode schizophreniaparticipants and that there will be even more profound abnormalities in the first episode schizophrenia cannabis users. We will use the Tower of London (TOL) task to activate certain areas associated with executive functioning (for instance attention, memory, and strategic planning). Here, we expect lower intensity activation of the prefrontal cortex during TOL performance both in the cannabis and first episode schizophrenia groups and that the activation will be lowest of all for the cannabis using first episode schizophrenia group. The methodology to be applied in this study offers a unique opportunity to enhance our understanding of the structural and functional markers of first episode schizophrenia and cannabis use in the neural substrate.Read moreRead less