Neural Changes Associated With Symptom Improvement In Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Following Exposure Treatment
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$223,855.00
Summary
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic disorder with enormous psychological, social and economic consequences that affects approximately 10-15% of Australians. Recent international research is focused on identifying mechanisms underlying effective treatments of PTSD, in an attempt to understand both the processes that maintain PTSD, and to help target more precise interventions to prevent chronic PTSD, a disabling condition that creates an enormous economic burden on health and compen ....Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic disorder with enormous psychological, social and economic consequences that affects approximately 10-15% of Australians. Recent international research is focused on identifying mechanisms underlying effective treatments of PTSD, in an attempt to understand both the processes that maintain PTSD, and to help target more precise interventions to prevent chronic PTSD, a disabling condition that creates an enormous economic burden on health and compensation systems. This project will be the first study to identify the neural mechanisms underlying effective exposure-based treatment of PTSD. Exposure-based treatments are the current treatments of choice for PTSD, with several studies showing them to be highly effective in treating PTSD. Yet, the mechanisms and agents of change underlying this effective treatment remain unknown. Exploring the neural networks associated with effective treatment and symptom change will help identify and elucidate the mechanisms underlying exposure treatment. This has critical clinical implications, enabling insight into biological mechanisms underlying PTSD, more precise identification of populations that are less responsive to standard exposure-based treatments, and eventually will lead to better targeted and more effective treatment of chronic PTSD.Read moreRead less
Identifying A Modifiable Risk Factor For PTSD: Insomnia-related Disruption Of Trauma Recovery Mechanisms
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,072,993.00
Summary
About 4.6 million Australians will experience PTSD during their life. Having insomnia before or immediately after trauma exposure makes it 2.5-3 times more likely someone will develop PTSD, but no one knows why. This project will, for the first time, propose and test a reason why insomnia increases the risk of PTSD. If successful, we will identify one of the few risk factors that can actually be modified in order to reduce the likelihood of developing PTSD after a trauma.
Modelling Post-traumatic Stress Disorder In Rats: Hypervigilance And Spread Of Fear
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$353,248.00
Summary
Post-traumatic stress disorder is characterized by hypervigilance and spread of fear across a network of trauma related memories. The consequences of hypervigilance for information processing, and the mechanisms involved in the spread of fear, are unknown. This project uses animal models to identify these consequences and mechanisms, and their substrates in the brain. It examines how a network of trauma related memories can be erased, and thus, how core symptoms of the disorder may be treated.
Light, Sound And Touch Influence The Autonomic Nervous System Via A Non-canonical Pathway
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$329,666.00
Summary
We examine a recently discovered brain circuit through which visual and acoustic stimuli can interact with the neural systems that control breathing, blood pressure and heart rate. The outcomes of this project will characterise a pathway by which the external environment can interrupt the normal activity of systems vital for health and wellbeing independent of cognition.
Fostering Responsive Mental Health Systems In The Syrian Refugee Crisis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$499,989.00
Summary
The current refugee crisis across Europe and the Middle East effects both individual refugees’ psychological well-being, as they face extreme stressors in their flight from their home country. In response to this crisis, this project aims to provide a framework for scaling-up the delivery and uptake of effective community-based mental health strategies to address the specific needs of refugees with mental health problems in ways that are affordable and can be delivered to millions of refugees.
Network Biomarkers Of Traumatic Stress Resilience And Sensitivity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$647,344.00
Summary
Psychosocial stress is a major risk factor for several of the most debilitating mental illnesses including major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder. By understanding the genomic basis of resilience and adverse response to traumatic stress in humans, we may predict and prevent psychopathology. This international collaborative research will use blood from soldiers exposed to extreme combat experience to identify biomarkers of stress and resilience.