Growing up with Cancer: A mixed method examination of how cancer influences the transition from adolescence to adulthood. In the last decade, over 10,000 of Australia's adolescents and young adults were diagnosed with cancer. Over the last 30 years, improvements in survival for 15 - 30 year olds have been the lowest of all age groups.Despite this, few health care facilities have the specialised infrastructure needed for dedicated psychosocial support of adolescents.
In finding out from adolescen ....Growing up with Cancer: A mixed method examination of how cancer influences the transition from adolescence to adulthood. In the last decade, over 10,000 of Australia's adolescents and young adults were diagnosed with cancer. Over the last 30 years, improvements in survival for 15 - 30 year olds have been the lowest of all age groups.Despite this, few health care facilities have the specialised infrastructure needed for dedicated psychosocial support of adolescents.
In finding out from adolescents with cancer what is most important in their care, we aim to identify and develop a range of services dedicated not only to addressing some of their needs, but also to building upon aspects of the cancer experience thought by adolescents as having a positive impact on their lives.Read moreRead less
Glucose facilitation of cognitive function: Effects of effort, age and glucose control. Age-related decline in mental capacity contributes to the economic (estimated at over 2 trillion AUD by 2050), social and human costs of an increasingly older Australian population. The studies in this program aim to understand the role of poor control of blood glucose in age-related cognitive deficits. The role of individual differences in biological (hormonal responses) and psychological (stress and appetit ....Glucose facilitation of cognitive function: Effects of effort, age and glucose control. Age-related decline in mental capacity contributes to the economic (estimated at over 2 trillion AUD by 2050), social and human costs of an increasingly older Australian population. The studies in this program aim to understand the role of poor control of blood glucose in age-related cognitive deficits. The role of individual differences in biological (hormonal responses) and psychological (stress and appetite) factors will also be assessed. A better understanding of the nature of age-related cognitive decline as it relates to biological processes such as blood glucose control will help to develop tangible strategies to combat age-related cognitive decline and dementia (which has been described as Type 3 diabetes).Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354503
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
The Self and its Disorders: Humanistic, Psychiatric, and Neural Perspectives. Mental disorder fragments the self, distorts its development in adolescence, and obliterates it in old age. Because no one discipline can adequately understand the self and its pathologies, this Initiative aims to bring together researchers from the humanities and the sciences of the mind to investigate what mental disorder can reveal about the nature of the self, and what humanistic approaches to the self can contribu ....The Self and its Disorders: Humanistic, Psychiatric, and Neural Perspectives. Mental disorder fragments the self, distorts its development in adolescence, and obliterates it in old age. Because no one discipline can adequately understand the self and its pathologies, this Initiative aims to bring together researchers from the humanities and the sciences of the mind to investigate what mental disorder can reveal about the nature of the self, and what humanistic approaches to the self can contribute to its scientific study. A better understanding of diminished selfhood in mental disorder will lead to improvements in social policy and thereby to social and financial benefits for the community at large.Read moreRead less
SPECTRAL TILT: DO INFANTS KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR THEM? This project falls within the National Research Priorities, giving children 'a healthy start to life'. The research is important economically because it will lay the groundwork for the informed design of hearing aid frequency responses based on empirical research, and give infants the opportunity to be fitted with hearing aids amplified for infants, not adults as is the current unsatisfactory practice. Moreover, the cross fertilisation of meth ....SPECTRAL TILT: DO INFANTS KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR THEM? This project falls within the National Research Priorities, giving children 'a healthy start to life'. The research is important economically because it will lay the groundwork for the informed design of hearing aid frequency responses based on empirical research, and give infants the opportunity to be fitted with hearing aids amplified for infants, not adults as is the current unsatisfactory practice. Moreover, the cross fertilisation of methods and knowledge that the collaborators bring to this grant should provide outcomes that will help maintain attention on Australia as a site of cutting edge research into hearing impairment, hearing aid development and use.Read moreRead less
Cognitive, behavioural and educational outcomes of fetal antiepileptic drug exposure. The study falls within the National Research Priority of Promoting and Maintaining Good Health, in particular the Priority Goal - A Healthy Start to Life. The research will yield information crucial to our understanding of the effects of fetal AED exposure on cognitive and behavioural development in the significant number of affected Australian children born each year. It will enhance the nation's ability to de ....Cognitive, behavioural and educational outcomes of fetal antiepileptic drug exposure. The study falls within the National Research Priority of Promoting and Maintaining Good Health, in particular the Priority Goal - A Healthy Start to Life. The research will yield information crucial to our understanding of the effects of fetal AED exposure on cognitive and behavioural development in the significant number of affected Australian children born each year. It will enhance the nation's ability to develop strategies for prevention, surveillance and remediation of adverse outcomes in early childhood, thus supporting the Government's National Agenda for Early Childhood initiative. As a consequence educational assistance can be targeted for those children likely to experience difficulties. Read moreRead less
The role of preferred brain states in perceptual and cognitive processing: New insights into brain dynamics. New insights into brain dynamics will improve our understanding of both normal and atypical functioning. Extending previous work on normals will confirm how innovative Australian approaches can lead the research agenda in basic neuroscience, at the psychology-physiology interface. Testing in AD/HD and elderly populations will clarify dysfunctional brain mechanisms underlying AD/HD, and th ....The role of preferred brain states in perceptual and cognitive processing: New insights into brain dynamics. New insights into brain dynamics will improve our understanding of both normal and atypical functioning. Extending previous work on normals will confirm how innovative Australian approaches can lead the research agenda in basic neuroscience, at the psychology-physiology interface. Testing in AD/HD and elderly populations will clarify dysfunctional brain mechanisms underlying AD/HD, and the cognitive losses in elderly populations (exacerbated by dementia). These results may lead to better diagnosis, treatment, and community understanding of these groups. Also, publications on these target groups will demonstrate internationally the widespread utility of this approach, encouraging further novel applications of basic neuroscience in health.Read moreRead less
Biomarkers and objective assessment of cognitive and brain effects of fish oil dietary supplementation. There are potential widespread community benefits from knowing whether consuming fish oils will improve cognitive function. This is mainfest in children and even more so in those suffering attention deficits at a time when inattention and hyperacitvity is likely to permanently lower their overall career prospects.
Assessment and treatment software for developmental disabilities based on neuroscientific theories for information processing. Performance on tasks relating to fluency of reading, language and sensory motor integration is impaired to some degree in children with dyslexia, ADHD, autism, and intellectual disability (ID). Thus our aim is to develop and test, to the point of commercial release, software for assessment of visual and auditory performance relating to social, language and literacy diff ....Assessment and treatment software for developmental disabilities based on neuroscientific theories for information processing. Performance on tasks relating to fluency of reading, language and sensory motor integration is impaired to some degree in children with dyslexia, ADHD, autism, and intellectual disability (ID). Thus our aim is to develop and test, to the point of commercial release, software for assessment of visual and auditory performance relating to social, language and literacy difficulties for young children. Furthermore software which aims to train attention and improve speed of visual object recognition will be developed and if effective as a treatment to improve reading and social interactions in ID, will be released by Fildes Foundation as an easily accessible multi-media based home/school therapy.Read moreRead less
Age-related changes in brain activation: Indicators of deficiency, maturity, or compensation? It is well established that cognitive and motor performance decline with advancing age. With an aging population, it is of significant socioeconomic importance to facilitate healthy ageing. To promote functional independence in everyday life for as long as possible, a better understanding of brain changes associated with aging is essential. The project will use state-of-the-art neurophysiological techni ....Age-related changes in brain activation: Indicators of deficiency, maturity, or compensation? It is well established that cognitive and motor performance decline with advancing age. With an aging population, it is of significant socioeconomic importance to facilitate healthy ageing. To promote functional independence in everyday life for as long as possible, a better understanding of brain changes associated with aging is essential. The project will use state-of-the-art neurophysiological techniques to examine individual differences in the brain's response to cognitive aging and their association with task performance. Determination of why some individuals show resilience to aging will inform the development of intervention techniques to improve cognitive and motor functions in the aged.Read moreRead less
Using musical training to examine brain plasticity and cognitive skill development. Until recently, the brain was likened to a computer - hard-wired with minimal response to injury. Exciting new research is altering this view, showing that the brain can change in response to the environment. This study will use sophisticated brain scanning techniques with musicians who have rare, absolute pitch ability. This ability develops with exposure to early training during a critical time period. We will ....Using musical training to examine brain plasticity and cognitive skill development. Until recently, the brain was likened to a computer - hard-wired with minimal response to injury. Exciting new research is altering this view, showing that the brain can change in response to the environment. This study will use sophisticated brain scanning techniques with musicians who have rare, absolute pitch ability. This ability develops with exposure to early training during a critical time period. We will test the relationship between this exposure and changes in brain shape and function. The results will tell us about the interaction between genes and environment, and the way normal development can be enhanced by early experiences.Read moreRead less