An Integrated Psychoacoustic And High-field FMRI Study Of Auditory Temporal Processsing Dysfunction In Schiophrenia.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$306,000.00
Summary
This research seeks to improve our understanding of the causes of brain dysfunction in schizophrenia. This chronic and debilitating psychiatric disorder is usually accompanied by dramatic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, paranoia and disordered patterns of thinking. Based on our interpretation of evidence from a number of fields of schizophrenia research we suspect that the brain dysfunction in schizophrenia may not in the brain areas responsible for those dramatic symptoms but occurs ....This research seeks to improve our understanding of the causes of brain dysfunction in schizophrenia. This chronic and debilitating psychiatric disorder is usually accompanied by dramatic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, paranoia and disordered patterns of thinking. Based on our interpretation of evidence from a number of fields of schizophrenia research we suspect that the brain dysfunction in schizophrenia may not in the brain areas responsible for those dramatic symptoms but occurs initially in the very basic sensory regions of the brain. These regions can be thought of as providing the building blocks of our perceptions, that ultimately allow us to see, hear, smell and feel. Our previous research shows that people with schizophrenia have a very specific problem in the way that they perceive sounds. Using measures of brain activity, people with schizophrenia show consistent evidence that their brains do not process some of the timing information contained in sound. This is not the same as saying that people with schizophrenia are deaf, the deficits we see are much more subtle. It's a bit like the chaos theory analogy of a butterfly fluttering in Brazil and causing a typhoon in China. We think that very small alterations in brain activity in the initial stages of sensory processing can cascade through successively more complex stages of the brain, eventually creating the psychotic storm that becomes evident as the primary symptoms of schizophrenia. The brain regions we are interested in are located down at the base of the brain, in the brainstem, and it is only recently that the technology and methods of analysis we need to look at this activity have been developed. In this research we will be using functional magnetic resonance imaging and sophisticated hearing tests to examine whether these brain regions show the alterations we expect. If so, this will mean that the brain dysfunction in schizophrenia is quite different to what is currently believed.Read moreRead less
QUARTZ: Quality Of Life After Radiotherapy And-or Steriods
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$63,000.00
Summary
Lung cancer is the commonest cause of cancer related death worldwide. In this group, one in four people will be diagnosed with brain metastases during their illness. This makes brain metastases a major health resource issue. For this group, the diagnosis of brain metastases is often associated with survival of less than 3 months. It is therefore important that this short survival period, which is often compromised by the effects of the disease, is not compromised further with the use of potentia ....Lung cancer is the commonest cause of cancer related death worldwide. In this group, one in four people will be diagnosed with brain metastases during their illness. This makes brain metastases a major health resource issue. For this group, the diagnosis of brain metastases is often associated with survival of less than 3 months. It is therefore important that this short survival period, which is often compromised by the effects of the disease, is not compromised further with the use of potentially toxic treatment. Whole Brain Radiotherapy (WBRT) is often used to treat these people. There is no current evidence to confirm that WBRT improves their quality of life. Most people with brain metastases routinely receive steroid medicine either as sole treatment or in addition to WBRT. Despite their potential side effects, steroids can control the symptoms of brain metastases and improve a person's quality of life. It is possible that the addition of WBRT adds nothing to steroids used alone or that only subgroups of these people benefit from WBRT. If these subgroups could be identified, treatment could be better tailored to the individual and minimise unnecessary hospital visits for these terminally ill patients. This could also potentially benefit the oncology community by translating into reduced radiotherapy waiting times. This is a unique, international collaborative study which aims to enroll 1000 people over a 3 year period from the UK, Australia and Canada .The main research question in this study is: Do the overall disadvantages of WBRT for lung cancer sufferers outweigh the advantages? It will be comparing the overall combination of quality and duration of survival in a) people receiving steroids and optimal palliative care alone to b) people receiving steroids, optimal palliative care and WBRT. The secondary research aims are to compare the two treatment groups in terms of symptoms experienced by the person and treatment side effects.Read moreRead less
In Vivo Analysis Of The Molecular And Neural Mechanism That Underly An Association Of MiRNAs With Mental Disorders
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$593,778.00
Summary
Genetic studies on autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression suggest that these disorders affect the formation and maintenance of connections between neurons. A group of brain-specific microRNAs, which are regulatory molecules, are predicted to regulate connectivity. Levels of these molecules are found to be abnormal in brains of patients with schizophrenia. This proposal aims to elucidate the function of these microRNAs in the number of neuronal connections, and early motor b ....Genetic studies on autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression suggest that these disorders affect the formation and maintenance of connections between neurons. A group of brain-specific microRNAs, which are regulatory molecules, are predicted to regulate connectivity. Levels of these molecules are found to be abnormal in brains of patients with schizophrenia. This proposal aims to elucidate the function of these microRNAs in the number of neuronal connections, and early motor behavior in transgenic zebrafish.Read moreRead less
Neurodevelopmental Role Of Susceptibility Genes For Autism Spectrum Disorders: From Genes To Behaviour
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$482,968.00
Summary
Autism is a developmental neuropsychiatric syndrome characterised by impairments in three principal domains: social interaction, language and behavioural inflexibility. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of neurodevelopmental syndromes with the common feature of dysfunctional reciprocal social interaction. In this project we will investigate the role of genes that increase the risk of ASD in the development of behaviours using an animal model. This work will lead to a better unders ....Autism is a developmental neuropsychiatric syndrome characterised by impairments in three principal domains: social interaction, language and behavioural inflexibility. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of neurodevelopmental syndromes with the common feature of dysfunctional reciprocal social interaction. In this project we will investigate the role of genes that increase the risk of ASD in the development of behaviours using an animal model. This work will lead to a better understanding of the genetic basis of ASD.Read moreRead less
Mood and anxiety disorders represent a tremendous cause of disability and morbidity. This research will use cutting-edge brain imaging technologies to understand why these disorders typically emerge in young people and whether brain imaging can reliably predict the effectiveness of different treatments for individual patients.
Dissecting Brain Network Ageing Using Whole Brain Imaging
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$692,964.00
Summary
In this proposal, we will make the first attempt to map the whole brain activity change during ageing using a series of state-of-the-art techniques. We will also identify genetic and pharmacological interventions that improve brain network function during ageing. Outcomes from this research will provide an unprecedented understanding of functional ageing within the brain and identify therapeutic interventions to prevent this process.
Development of normal brain function requires information transfer and integration from outside and within the brain. Normal brain wiring is guided by genetic and environmental cues, whose relative contributions remain controversial. This project investigates the physiological and behavioural consequences of abnormal brain wiring, and the potential for controlled environments and targeted interventions to overcome the deficits. Relevance includes neurotrauma as well as mental illnesses.
This study investigates how much an individual's genes and environment account for the wide variation in brain structure and function. Using brain imaging we examine in what way the connectivity of the brain of identical and non-identical twins is the same or different from that of their co-twin, and carry out analysis of their DNA to identify some of the genes involved. This will provide fundamental information on genetic mechanisms influencing variation in brain structure and function.
Prof Alan Connelly is an internationally recognised neuroimaging researcher specialising in MRI. His major areas of research are in the development of new methods to acquire and process MR images of both structural and functional aspects of the brain, and the application of these novel methods to clinical neuroscience problems. His work has had a major impact in the field of epilepsy, where techniques that he pioneered have been widely adopted in specialist epilepsy centres worldwide.