The Role Of Intense Physical Activity In Protecting The Ageing Brain
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$600,079.00
Summary
Previous research supports the notion that physical activity plays a role in maintaining brain health and preventing Alzheimer’s disease. Nevertheless, the type of activity (i.e. intensity of physical activity) that is of greatest benefit to the brain is yet to be established. This project aims to identify the most beneficial exercise intensity, in terms of brain health, measured utilising brain imaging technology.
The ability of humans to detect and be aware of errors in behaviour is a fundamental aspect of human cognition. As the saying goes: "To Err Is Human". This project seeks to understand how individual differences in our genetic makeup contribute to our ability to detect and be aware of errors in our behaviour. Understanding the biological systems underpinning error monitoring may assist in the treatment of many psychiatric disorders which are marked by poor awareness of behaviour.
Neural Mechanisms Of Language Facilitation In Aphasia Due To Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$523,192.00
Summary
This project will assess the underlying neural mechanisms by which neurostimulation improves impaired language functions after stroke (aphasia). This will be accomplished by using a novel combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging and simultaneous transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) administered to different brain regions. These studies will provide crucial information necessary to optimise future clinical trials that combine tDCS with language therapy.
An MRI Study Of Emotional Processing Deficits In Childhood
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$578,985.00
Summary
The ability to recognise and process emotions in other people is fundamental to healthy social interactions. Conduct disordered children with callous and unemotional traits have difficulty recognizing fearful expressions, possibly due to lack of attention to cues such as facial expressions that healthy people naturally attend to. This study will use neuroimaging to determine if brain activity changes to look more like typically developing children if their gaze is redirected to facial cues of em ....The ability to recognise and process emotions in other people is fundamental to healthy social interactions. Conduct disordered children with callous and unemotional traits have difficulty recognizing fearful expressions, possibly due to lack of attention to cues such as facial expressions that healthy people naturally attend to. This study will use neuroimaging to determine if brain activity changes to look more like typically developing children if their gaze is redirected to facial cues of emotion.Read moreRead less
THE AUTONOMIC, SOMATIC AND CENTRAL NEURAL RESPONSES TO DEEP AND SUPERFICIAL PAIN IN HUMAN SUBJECTS
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,750.00
Summary
Pain is a subjective experience, the intensity of which can be readily influenced by personal experience. Despite this, pain originating from a particular part of the body will usually be described by all individuals as having similar character. For example, pain arising from the skin is commonly described as being sharp or burning and is usually easy to localise, whereas pain arising from muscle is commonly dull, throbbing and diffuse. In addition to producing sensory changes, pain also evokes ....Pain is a subjective experience, the intensity of which can be readily influenced by personal experience. Despite this, pain originating from a particular part of the body will usually be described by all individuals as having similar character. For example, pain arising from the skin is commonly described as being sharp or burning and is usually easy to localise, whereas pain arising from muscle is commonly dull, throbbing and diffuse. In addition to producing sensory changes, pain also evokes changes in blood pressure, heart rate and motor activity (often in an attempt to remove the source of the pain). The proposed research aims to characterise the cardiovascular and motor patterns associated with pain originating in skin and in muscle and to examine the brain regions that produce these changes. More specifically, microelectrodes will be used to investigate changes in peripheral nerve activity during transient painful skin and muscle events in awake human subjects. In a separate investigation functional magnetic resonance imaging will be used to determine brain sites that are activated by skin or muscle pain.Read moreRead less
From Brain Maps To Mechanisms: Modeling The Pathophysiology Of Schizophrenia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$320,891.00
Summary
My Fellowship will develop a framework that integrates brain imaging data with mathematical models of the brain to help understand the mechanisms responsible for schizophrenia. By linking functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) measurements to models of their underlying causes, the work may lead to new treatments that target the specific dysfunction in individuals with this debilitating brain disorder.