Stress And HPA Axis Function In First-episode Psychosis: Relationship With Clinical Features And Dynamic Brain Changes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$182,378.00
Summary
This research examines the role of stress in the progression of psychotic disorders- a group of severe mental illnesses that include schizophrenia. We will investigate whether patients with psychosis who have an abnormal response to stress experience more severe and distressing symptoms as well as brain volume changes during the initial phase of illness. The results of this research could have important implications for the development of more effective treatments for these disorders.
THE EFFECT OF STRESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT ON DISEASE PROGRESSION IN MESIAL TEMPORAL LOBE EPILEPSY
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$578,201.00
Summary
Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, the most common form of drug-resistant epilepsy in adults, is a progressive neurodegenerative condition for which there is currently no effective disease modifying treatment. This proposal will explore whether co-morbid stress accelerates disease progression in MTLE, and whether targeting stress pathways by medical and environmental manipulations can mitigate against this.
Investigating The Involvement Of Human Derived Astrocytes And Motor Neurons In The Pathology Of Motor Neuron Disease.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$287,321.00
Summary
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease, which results in the death of nerves that innervate muscle, known as motor neurons. Recent studies using mouse ALS models showed that certain cells that normally support motor neurons may be directly contributing to their death in ALS. We propose to derive ALS-diseased human cells and investigate how these cells may react in ‘normal’ tissue. These studies are clinically relevant in understanding ALS pathological processes.
Neuroendocrine Responses To Psychological Stress: Unmasking The Protective Role Of The Prefrontal Cortex.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$346,153.00
Summary
This project seeks to build up a picture of one of the mechanisms that the brain uses to protect our bodies from the potentially harmful effects of psychological stress. When we are subjected to psychological stress one of the consequences is the release of a hormone, corticosterone, into the blood-stream. This can be beneficial in the short-term as it helps our body redistribute its pattern of energy utilization in a way that helps in coping with an unexpected challenge. However, excessive secr ....This project seeks to build up a picture of one of the mechanisms that the brain uses to protect our bodies from the potentially harmful effects of psychological stress. When we are subjected to psychological stress one of the consequences is the release of a hormone, corticosterone, into the blood-stream. This can be beneficial in the short-term as it helps our body redistribute its pattern of energy utilization in a way that helps in coping with an unexpected challenge. However, excessive secretion of corticosterone due to excessive exposure to psychological stress can damage your health. For example, it can make you more susceptible to infection and also accelerate the rate at which your brain ages. The brain possesses certain mechanisms which try to limit the release of corticosterone when you are subjected to psychological stress. Unfortunately these mechanisms are not quite up to doing the necessary job under the conditions in which we live today, i.e. a very high level of psychological stress is a common feature of modern life. Nevertheless we believe that if we can properly understand these protective mechanisms in the brain, it may be possible to develop drugs which can boost their efficiency. In the long term this could greatly reduce ill-health in our society.Read moreRead less