Melatonin For Initial Insomnia In Stimulant-treated Pediatric ADHD
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$590,373.00
Summary
Does melatonin work for children with ADHD and initial insomnia? We will study children with ADHD and initial insomnia using N-of-1 trials. This is a trial in a single person, which allows them the opportunity to learn if melatonin is effective for them.We will compare the usual clinical trials (RCTs, which do not give individual results) with combined results from all the 270 patients who have done N-of-1 trials. Data from the first part of each person’s n-of-1 trial will form the RCT.
A process model of visual working memory. This project aims to develop a process model of encoding of items into memory. Working memory is central to almost all cognitive functions, but little is known about short-term memory for visual information. Progress in this area is slow because of a focus on models that do not specify the processes underlying memory, and no model explains the processes that would limit the number of items the memory can hold to four. A process model is expected to addre ....A process model of visual working memory. This project aims to develop a process model of encoding of items into memory. Working memory is central to almost all cognitive functions, but little is known about short-term memory for visual information. Progress in this area is slow because of a focus on models that do not specify the processes underlying memory, and no model explains the processes that would limit the number of items the memory can hold to four. A process model is expected to address fundamental issues in visual working memory.Read moreRead less
Preconception Predictors Of Health, Behaviour And Emotional Adjustment At Seven Years
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,170,830.00
Summary
An understanding of the importance of a healthy start to life has underpinned major health policies including Australia’s National Agenda for Early Childhood. The capacity of parents to provide that healthy start has received little study. The present project investigates the extent to which parental lifestyle, social and emotional adjustment prior to conception predictor emotional problems, disruptive behaviour and health in their children at seven years.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100433
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,058.00
Summary
Cortical layer specific functional imaging of the human brain. This project aims to record layer specific cortical activity in humans by leveraging ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging. It expects to yield robust techniques for the general analysis of neuroimaging-based, layer-specific measurements. This project will progress the fields of cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging as well as bring the field of neuroimaging closer to that of neurophysiology and thus facilitate collaboration ....Cortical layer specific functional imaging of the human brain. This project aims to record layer specific cortical activity in humans by leveraging ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging. It expects to yield robust techniques for the general analysis of neuroimaging-based, layer-specific measurements. This project will progress the fields of cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging as well as bring the field of neuroimaging closer to that of neurophysiology and thus facilitate collaboration among researchers.Read moreRead less
Determining principles for successful episode retrieval of repeated events. This project aims to develop the first-ever set of explanatory principles for how people successfully retain and retrieve individual episode memories from repeated experiences (e.g., one occurrence of a routine social encounter or job-related activity). By deepening our understanding of how memory works, this new knowledge is expected to lay the foundation for interview guidance and ongoing research aimed at enhancing th ....Determining principles for successful episode retrieval of repeated events. This project aims to develop the first-ever set of explanatory principles for how people successfully retain and retrieve individual episode memories from repeated experiences (e.g., one occurrence of a routine social encounter or job-related activity). By deepening our understanding of how memory works, this new knowledge is expected to lay the foundation for interview guidance and ongoing research aimed at enhancing the proficiency of investigations into matters that rely on detailed and accurate accounts of specific episodes. This includes workplace or traffic accident investigations, infectious disease contact tracing, as well as prosecution of repeated sexual offences.Read moreRead less
Imagining and realising the future: limits and potentials in older adulthood. Older adults often forget to carry out important intentions such as turning off appliances, and this research will investigate the role of forward thinking in these memory failures. By testing the effectiveness of new strategies to assist memory for intentions, the research has important implications for maintaining independence in old age.
A Scalable Theory of Behavior Composition for Practical Engineering Models of Human Performance. Minimizing human error and maximizing human performance is a major design goal in safety critical systems. The development of methods for affordable human performance modeling has widespread applicability for evaluating user-system interfaces. The compositional method explored here has been shown to make accurate predictions reduce model development time by an order of magnitude. Large safety critica ....A Scalable Theory of Behavior Composition for Practical Engineering Models of Human Performance. Minimizing human error and maximizing human performance is a major design goal in safety critical systems. The development of methods for affordable human performance modeling has widespread applicability for evaluating user-system interfaces. The compositional method explored here has been shown to make accurate predictions reduce model development time by an order of magnitude. Large safety critical applications, such as military or air traffic control systems, would benefit greatly. The proposed work tests whether the compositional methods will scale to more complex domains. The work will be coordinated with Australian industry, academia, and government research efforts.Read moreRead less
Cortical regulation of attentional capture. The proposed experiments examine how brain mechanisms interact to determine whether a stimulus will capture our attention, distracting us from the task at hand. The experiments test competing theories of attentional control and have implications for clinical populations (for example, stroke) that have difficulty avoiding distraction.
Can the Relational Account predict search in multiple-element displays? . This project provides evidence of a novel mechanism that guides visual attention. Our results confirm the existence of a mechanism that can rapidly and automatically assess the dominant feature(s) in a visual scene and radically change how attention is tuned to a target object. Moreover, this attention-guiding target template can change systematically as observers search through different items in visual search, possibly d ....Can the Relational Account predict search in multiple-element displays? . This project provides evidence of a novel mechanism that guides visual attention. Our results confirm the existence of a mechanism that can rapidly and automatically assess the dominant feature(s) in a visual scene and radically change how attention is tuned to a target object. Moreover, this attention-guiding target template can change systematically as observers search through different items in visual search, possibly due to a re-shaping and narrowing of the target template. These are both ground-breaking discoveries that have not been described before. Work on this project promises to lead to important theoretical breakthroughs, resolve current discrepancies in the literature and advance methods of Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience.Read moreRead less
Using Converging Methodologies to Understand Episodic and Semantic Memory. The use of four converging methodologies and a new objective measure of implicit/explicit memory will produce a more fundamental understanding of the relationship between pre-existing and episodic memories. The results will be relevant to the current debate over repressed and false memories. The research will also provide more stringent tests of techniques and methods that are having a large impact in applied research ....Using Converging Methodologies to Understand Episodic and Semantic Memory. The use of four converging methodologies and a new objective measure of implicit/explicit memory will produce a more fundamental understanding of the relationship between pre-existing and episodic memories. The results will be relevant to the current debate over repressed and false memories. The research will also provide more stringent tests of techniques and methods that are having a large impact in applied research on aging, drug states etc.Read moreRead less