The Role Of The Prefrontal Cortex In Working Memory For Visual Motion
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$359,796.00
Summary
As objects of interest may not always be in one's view, it is important to store information about their spatial locations for future reference. For example, you could reach for a beverage without taking your eyes from this application. While this may be effortless, such tasks are fundamentally complex, requiring spatial information to be coded, stored in memory and retrieved at appropriate times. This proposal examines how interactions between different brain areas allow this to happen.
How well people perform in everyday situations is often determined by memory function. When required to perform under stress memory performance is often affected. The effect of a psychological stress test on memory function in healthy volunteers and the ability of a dietary supplement, tyrosine, to prevent the effects will be studied. The data may suggest that depletion amino acids is responsible for the decrements in performance that are evident after an acute stressor.
Cognitive And Psychosocial Functioning In Patients With Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsies
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$123,143.00
Summary
Children born extremely preterm are at risk of struggling at school and falling behind normal educational milestones, and having emotional problems such as anxiety. This study aims to see whether anxiety affects these children’s ability to learn and use new information. It will also determine whether an intervention targeting these thinking skills is less useful in children with higher levels of anxiety.
Characterising And Modulating Corticostriatal Connectivity In Schizophrenia.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$316,449.00
Summary
Schizophrenia is a devastating mental illness that affects approximately 0.5-1% of the population. Many of the symptoms of schizophrenia, such as problems with memory and motivation, remain untreatable. This project will explore the brain processes that underlie memory deficits in people with schizophrenia and investigate the use of non-invasive brain stimulation to improve these impairments. The results from this study will hopefully lead to new treatments for people with schizophrenia.
Preventing Academic Difficulties In Preterm Children: An Adaptive Working Memory Training Intervention.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$711,566.00
Summary
Preterm children exhibit high rates of learning disability which has considerable social and economic consequences. It is proposed that these learning difficulties are related to reduced working memory capacity. This randomised controlled trial will investigate the ability of an established working memory training program to improve academic functioning and prevent learning disability in children born extremely preterm. Neuroimaging will be performed to study functional neuroplasticity associate ....Preterm children exhibit high rates of learning disability which has considerable social and economic consequences. It is proposed that these learning difficulties are related to reduced working memory capacity. This randomised controlled trial will investigate the ability of an established working memory training program to improve academic functioning and prevent learning disability in children born extremely preterm. Neuroimaging will be performed to study functional neuroplasticity associated with improved working memory capacity.Read moreRead less
Preventing Early Academic Problems By Improving Working Memory: Translational Randomised Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$831,085.00
Summary
Learning difficulties are common and can cause school failure and poor self-esteem. They are associated with specific problems with temporarily remembering and using information (‘working memory’). Research suggests that improving working memory might improve academic achievement. We will study this intervention in a large group of primary school children who have poor working memory. If successful, the intervention will provide a way to improve the learning skills of these high-risk children.
Impaired Decision-Making And The Role Of Dopamine In Modulating Executive Function In Parkinson’s Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$390,468.00
Summary
Patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) often experience significant impairments in their ability to make decisions, even in the earliest stages of the disease. This project will use a combination of psychophysics, pharmacotherapy and functional neuroimaging to examine the decision-making impairments that occur in PD, and how they are modulated by dopamine. We anticipate our findings will lead to improvements in the diagnosis and management of the syndromes of executive dysfunction seen in PD.