Seizures appear unpredictable and greatly affect the quality of all aspects of life for patients with epilepsy and their carers. New advances in complex systems theory suggest that transitions from normal brain activity to seizures are preceded by measurable changes in the brain’s responses to stimuli, known as critical slowing. Measurement of critical slowing will enable prediction of seizures, providing a warning system, and possibly an opportunity to deliver preventative therapies.
Monitoring Cortical Excitability Using A Probing Stimulus For Epileptic Seizure Anticipation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$392,997.00
Summary
Millions of people with epilepsy suffer from seizures that cannot be controlled by medication. Life-threatening seizure may strike at any time, restricting patients from leaving their homes due the constant fear of a seizure. This research offers hope for people with epilepsy by developing a method of anticipating seizures. Successful outcomes will not only provide a warning of impending seizures, but also an opportunity for intervention, thereby preventing seizures.
Development Of A Diagnostic Test For Bipolar Disorder (BD)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$140,330.00
Summary
A unique test that monitors the rate of switching between the hemispheres of the brain in response to visual stimuli has been devised. A patent application covers an apparatus and test to measure the switching rate between the hemispheres and the way in which such measurements can be used as a means to diagnose bipolar disorder (BD). BD, also called manic depression, is a form of depression that currently affects over six million people worldwide with about three million in the USA alone. The co ....A unique test that monitors the rate of switching between the hemispheres of the brain in response to visual stimuli has been devised. A patent application covers an apparatus and test to measure the switching rate between the hemispheres and the way in which such measurements can be used as a means to diagnose bipolar disorder (BD). BD, also called manic depression, is a form of depression that currently affects over six million people worldwide with about three million in the USA alone. The condition has phases of mania and depression and periods of remittance. Full cycles of BD can occur as many as three times a year and for many patients, this is a lifelong condition. BD is effectively treated, once it is diagnosed. It is estimated that 20% of sufferers go undiagnosed and many more are misdiagnosed. The cost of mis- or non-diagnosis is measured by suicides, the financial burden on society with health care, loss of productivity etc, effects on family and associates, crime, etc. Diagnosis to date is achieved mainly by subjective means such as questionnaires. These instruments do not conclusively separate BD from other forms of depression and schizophrenia, for which treatment is quite different. Nor do they allow for factors such as substance abuse and other medical conditions that the patient may be suffering. BD is hereditary with the slow hemispheric switch rate being an indicator of the genetic trait. This phenomenon allows for an objective test for BD, even if an individual has not had an episode of BD. The slow switch allows relatively easy separation of a BD patient from those exhibiting symptoms that may have other causes.Read moreRead less
Epilepsy is a debilitating neurological disorder characterised by spontaneous seizures. For a third of epilepsy patients, drugs cannot prevent epileptic seizures from occurring without causing severe side effects. Therefore alternative treatments are needed. This work will develop epileptic seizure warning methods. This will alleviate the stress of randomly occurring seizures by giving patients the chance to move to safety before a seizure occurs, therefore enhancing their quality of life.
Understanding The Role Of Light Exposure In Individual Differences In The Circadian Response To Shift Work
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$803,672.00
Summary
This study will evaluate the effects of environmental light exposure on the response of the circadian pacemaker to night shift in a large sample of shift workers. It will refine a novel biomathematical model of the circadian pacemaker to improve predictions of circadian timing for individual shift workers. This prediction will inform personalised recommendations to enhance circadian adaptation to night shift and reduce the negative implications of circadian misalignment on health and safety.
New research with scanning techniques has confirmed older ideas about the complementary functions of the two hemispheres of the human brain. One major contrast between the two hemispheres concerns their cognitive and emotional styles. The left hemisphere plans and confidently smooths over discrepancies that do not fit the plan while the right hemisphere looks at all possibilities and cautiously highlights the discrepancies. This research project studies the switch between the two hemispheres tha ....New research with scanning techniques has confirmed older ideas about the complementary functions of the two hemispheres of the human brain. One major contrast between the two hemispheres concerns their cognitive and emotional styles. The left hemisphere plans and confidently smooths over discrepancies that do not fit the plan while the right hemisphere looks at all possibilities and cautiously highlights the discrepancies. This research project studies the switch between the two hemispheres that alternately activates these contrasting, but equally valid, viewpoints. The switch is studied directly by optical recording from animal brains. The switch can also be studied in humans using a recent discovery from our laboratory:- that the perceptual rivalries are mediated by a hemispheric switch mechanism. Perceptual rivalry is a phenomenon where continuous, but ambiguous, stimulation leads to a back-and-forth alternation of complementary percepts, a phenomenon that fascinated Salvador Dali and is featured in many of his paintings. The nature of the perceptual switch during rivalry has been debated for centuries. New experiments link perceptual rivalry to the switch of attention between the hemispheres. Using perceptual rivalry as an indirect way to monitor hemispheric switching in humans, we discovered a remarkable feature. The back-and-forth switching process of perceptual rivalry is significantly slower in subjects with bipolar disorder (manic depression), even when they are between episodes and their mood is normal. The timing of the switching process is very stable in an individual, and appears to be similar in identical twins. The speed of the switch mechanism may therefore be inherited. Altered neural rhythms may underly the predisposition, known to run in familes, from which bipolar disorder can be triggered. The aim of the project is to test these propositions about the basis of this common disorder, affecting 1-2% of the population..Read moreRead less
Reducing Global Mortality And Severity Of Disease In Newborn Infants Through Innovation And Holistic Interventions
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,060,520.00
Summary
Infants born prematurely often encounter problems affecting the growth, development and function of multiple body systems. This multi-organ disease usually results from infection, inflammation, and excessive or insufficient oxygen. Importantly, many premature infants are born in low-resource settings. This fellowship aims to reduce global mortality and multi-organ disease in preterm infants using simple, holistic and low-cost interventions that directly target the underlying causative factors.
Investigating New Molecular Mechanisms That Contribute To The Establishment Of Epigenetic Silencing
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,488,142.00
Summary
Epigenetic marks are changes made to the DNA which help genes to be switched off in some cells and switched on in others e.g. for elastin to be switched on in skin and off in blood. Epigenetic marks are critical to normal development. We are interested in the genes that are necessary to add epigenetic marks to the DNA and understanding how the many genes involved in this process co-operate at the molecular level to switch genes off.