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Mood and anxiety disorders represent a tremendous cause of disability and morbidity. This research will use cutting-edge brain imaging technologies to understand why these disorders typically emerge in young people and whether brain imaging can reliably predict the effectiveness of different treatments for individual patients.
Personalised Brain Stimulation For Treatment Of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$666,128.00
Summary
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) affects more than 230,000 Australians, 25% of whom attempt suicide. This project will use a novel method to profile people with OCD based on patterns of brain activity and symptoms, and assess if such profiling can improve the efficacy of brain stimulation interventions for OCD. Results from this study will provide evidence supporting the use of personalised brain stimulation as a viable therapy for OCD.
Cognitive Control And Brain Connectivity Disturbances In Schizophrenia And Obsessive-compulsive: Clarifying Their Nature, Specificity, And Consequences
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$498,337.00
Summary
Deficits of behavioural control are chronic and debilitating features of both schizophrenia and OCD. As behavioural control depends on activity within many key regions of the brain, these deficits may result not only from dysfunction within one or more region, but also from abnormal interactions between them. By studying how the activity in one region depends on another, and comparing findings between disorders, a better understanding of brain function in schizophrenia and OCD can be established
An Integrated Psychoacoustic And High-field FMRI Study Of Auditory Temporal Processsing Dysfunction In Schiophrenia.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$306,000.00
Summary
This research seeks to improve our understanding of the causes of brain dysfunction in schizophrenia. This chronic and debilitating psychiatric disorder is usually accompanied by dramatic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, paranoia and disordered patterns of thinking. Based on our interpretation of evidence from a number of fields of schizophrenia research we suspect that the brain dysfunction in schizophrenia may not in the brain areas responsible for those dramatic symptoms but occurs ....This research seeks to improve our understanding of the causes of brain dysfunction in schizophrenia. This chronic and debilitating psychiatric disorder is usually accompanied by dramatic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, paranoia and disordered patterns of thinking. Based on our interpretation of evidence from a number of fields of schizophrenia research we suspect that the brain dysfunction in schizophrenia may not in the brain areas responsible for those dramatic symptoms but occurs initially in the very basic sensory regions of the brain. These regions can be thought of as providing the building blocks of our perceptions, that ultimately allow us to see, hear, smell and feel. Our previous research shows that people with schizophrenia have a very specific problem in the way that they perceive sounds. Using measures of brain activity, people with schizophrenia show consistent evidence that their brains do not process some of the timing information contained in sound. This is not the same as saying that people with schizophrenia are deaf, the deficits we see are much more subtle. It's a bit like the chaos theory analogy of a butterfly fluttering in Brazil and causing a typhoon in China. We think that very small alterations in brain activity in the initial stages of sensory processing can cascade through successively more complex stages of the brain, eventually creating the psychotic storm that becomes evident as the primary symptoms of schizophrenia. The brain regions we are interested in are located down at the base of the brain, in the brainstem, and it is only recently that the technology and methods of analysis we need to look at this activity have been developed. In this research we will be using functional magnetic resonance imaging and sophisticated hearing tests to examine whether these brain regions show the alterations we expect. If so, this will mean that the brain dysfunction in schizophrenia is quite different to what is currently believed.Read moreRead less
Neuroimaging In Mental Health: The Quest For Clinically Useful Biomarkers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$437,034.00
Summary
To ultimately improve treatment of mental illness, this research program aims to detect robust and reliable neuroimaging markers that are associated with affective disorders by pooling data from many samples across the world. Moreover, this research aims to develop alternative biological-based classifications of mental illness in young people, and evaluate their clinical value by examining their predictive value for treatment response and disease course.
Pubertal Timing, Brain Development And Mental Health In Adolescence
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$786,976.00
Summary
Early timing of puberty is known to be associated with future mental health problems. This study aims to investigate whether children who go through adrenarche (an earlier phase of maturation) early are at risk for poor mental health during adolescence, and whether abnormal brain development is responsible for linking early adrenarche and mental health outcomes. The results of this research will have implications for the early detection of children at risk for mental health problems.
A Brain-Based Measure Of Anxiety Sensitivity: Validation Of A Novel Intermediate Phenotype With Psychophysiologically-Informed Neuroimaging
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$271,930.00
Summary
Excessive anxiety is disabling, such that people who suffer from a clinical anxiety disorder are often crippled by overwhelming emotional and physical symptoms. We will use sophisticated brain imaging technology to understand how certain brain areas produce feelings of anxiety, including a common fear of arousal related bodily sensations. This work is expected to enhance our basic understanding of the brain basis of anxiety symptoms and may inform new treatment options with biological rationale.
Depressive And Bipolar Disorders: Causes, Presentation And Treatment Innovations
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$7,100,605.00
Summary
Depression and bipolar disorder are two of Australia’s leading causes of disease burden, with 3-4 million Australians affected during their lifetime. However, despite being such a serious health burden, there are major shortcomings to current understanding and management. This research program aims to further our knowledge of the causes and presentations of the mood disorders, and to improve and “tailor” treatment for the many Australians who suffer from these highly disabling illnesses.
Epigenetic Mechanisms Of Brain Dysfunction In Psychotic And Mood Disorders
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$617,836.00
Summary
This project investigates the role of epigenetic processes (i.e., functional changes to the genome affecting gene expression) in mediating the long-term effects of childhood trauma in schizophrenia and bipolar-I disorder. We specifically aim to distinguish the effects of trauma-related epigenetic effects on brain structure and function, and on the immune and stress-response systems, and the potential moderation of these effects by structural genetic variants associated with psychosis risk.