Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Genes, Cognition And Brain Activity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$428,602.00
Summary
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common psychiatric disorder of childhood that is marked by age-inappropriate levels of inattention and-or hyperactivity-impulsivity. The disorder appears genetic with a number of different genes likely contributing risk for ADHD. I will use a multi-modal (genetic, cognitive, neurochemical, physiological) approach to increase our understanding of the biological mechanisms leading from gene to disorder in ADHD.
Selective Attention And The Processing Of Observed Actions.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$343,812.00
Summary
Our ability to understand the hand and face gestures of others is a crucial part of social interaction. Deficits in the ability to perceive others' actions are associated with clinical disorders such as autism and apraxia. We will examine how specific regions of the brain operate to process and recognise actions that we observe. This is a crucial first-step toward understanding and redefining clinical disorders such as apraxia that involve deficits in the perception of actions and gestures.
The Genetics Of Cognitive Deficits In Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$675,512.00
Summary
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common psychiatric disorder of childhood that is marked by age-inappropriate levels of inattention and-or hyperactivity-impulsivity. The disorder appears genetic with a number of different genes likely contributing risk for ADHD. This project takes an innovative approach by asking whether there are different genetic profiles associated with children with ADHD who do or do not have neurocognitive deficits.
Imaging The Brain Connectome In Typical And Atypical Development
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$318,768.00
Summary
My project will investigate how connections in the brain change during the transition from childhood to adolescence. Advanced neuroimaging techniques will be used to understand how different parts of the brain are connected to one another, and how this changes over time. I will examine typically developing children, as well as those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in order to understand how neuropsychiatric disorders affect brain development.
A Study Addressing Motor, Cognitive And Attentional Deficits In Presymptomatic Gene Carriers For Huntington's Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$180,330.00
Summary
Since the discovery of the Huntington's disease (HD) gene mutation there has been much controversy in the literature relating to whether there are any preclinical deficits in individuals who are gene positive for HD but who have not yet been clinically diagnosed with the disease. Our aim is to examine, over a three year period, the cognitive, attentional and motor performance of presymptomatic gene-positive, and negative, individuals on a wide variety of computerized experimental procedures, whi ....Since the discovery of the Huntington's disease (HD) gene mutation there has been much controversy in the literature relating to whether there are any preclinical deficits in individuals who are gene positive for HD but who have not yet been clinically diagnosed with the disease. Our aim is to examine, over a three year period, the cognitive, attentional and motor performance of presymptomatic gene-positive, and negative, individuals on a wide variety of computerized experimental procedures, which we have previously shown to be sensitive to deficits in individuals who have already been diagnosed with HD. If progressive behavioural changes in gene-positive individuals can be reliably documented to occur before the clinical symptoms of HD are evident, this would be of profound significance as it would allow a set of criteria to be established to assist in early detection of clinical onset of symptoms, and possibly permit use of newly-emerging therapies.Read moreRead less
Imaging Genetics Of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$321,767.00
Summary
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common psychiatric disorder of childhood that is marked by age-inappropriate levels of inattention and-or hyperactivity-impulsivity. The disorder appears genetic with a number of different genes likely contributing risk for ADHD. This project takes an innovative approach by asking how risk genes for ADHD influence the brain activity of children with ADHD when they pay attention
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorde(ADHD) is the most prevalent mental disorder of childhood affecting around 7.5% of Australian school age children. The disorder is strongly genetic and causes significant impairments in academic functioning, family and peer relations with sufferers at increased risk for drug abuse. Identification and characterisation of rare mutations will enhance our knowledge of the neurobiology and advance the search for next generation drug treatments for the disorder.
Thalamocortical Neural Circuits In Higher Order Cognitive And Sensory Processing
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$370,860.00
Summary
Schizophrenia, depression and dementia are devastating disorders with problems in thinking and sensory perception, but the neural circuits causing these symptoms are not known. I will use new optical and genetic tools in mice to identify the cortical and subcortical circuits required for complex touchscreen tasks, the same tasks to assess patients. Identification of neural circuits that underlie clinical symptoms will increase our understanding of these disorders and improve treatments.
An Event Related Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Study Of Cognitive Deficits In Huntington's Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$257,550.00
Summary
Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive disorder clinically characterized by the onset of involuntary jerky movements, impaired voluntary movements, cognitive-attentional deterioration, and psychiatric symptoms. It is a consequence of progressive and selective brain degeneration. Over the last decade our research unit has made significant progress in describing the cognitive deficits in HD; however, we still don't know much about the parts of the brain that underlie these deficits. The aim of ....Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive disorder clinically characterized by the onset of involuntary jerky movements, impaired voluntary movements, cognitive-attentional deterioration, and psychiatric symptoms. It is a consequence of progressive and selective brain degeneration. Over the last decade our research unit has made significant progress in describing the cognitive deficits in HD; however, we still don't know much about the parts of the brain that underlie these deficits. The aim of this project is to use event related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to correlate structural and functional changes in the brain via the use of various cognitive behavioural measures. In this way we can elucidate what brain areas are responsible for various cognitive functions. In addition, we intend to ascertain how different brain areas decrement in function over time and to determine whether there is a relationship between rate of disease progression, age at onset and certain genetic characteristics. Understanding how the brain functions and how the disease progresses over time will be essential, from the point of view of patient management, when new drug treatments eventually permit prevention of the development, or slows further progress, of the disorder.Read moreRead less
Functional Interactions Between Primate Cortical Areas In Tasks Involving Attention And Short-term Memory
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$267,280.00
Summary
To navigate and operate in the cluttered and dynamic sensory world around us, our brains need to be able to attend to specific objects or features in the environment, identify them and also know where they exist at any one instant of time, prior to performing the appropriate action. The attention, memory, decision and motor components involved in this process possibly involve a variety of cortical areas and neuronal operations. The special primate preparation we have developed permits us to eluc ....To navigate and operate in the cluttered and dynamic sensory world around us, our brains need to be able to attend to specific objects or features in the environment, identify them and also know where they exist at any one instant of time, prior to performing the appropriate action. The attention, memory, decision and motor components involved in this process possibly involve a variety of cortical areas and neuronal operations. The special primate preparation we have developed permits us to elucidate at a neuronal level many of these brain mechanisms. By recording neuronal activities in two different cortical areas simultaneously as the monkey performs a memory task that he has been trained on, we will test the following ideas: (1) A cortical region in the dorsal, parietal stream directs spatial attention by gating other visual areas to process only a selected region of the visual world (2) A region in the ventral, temporal stream directs attention to specific features in the visual world by gating earlier cortical areas (3) The parietal cortical areas that mediate intention for action hold the relevant information in working memory till it is forwarded to the more anterior premotor areas. These experiments have the potential to reveal the basic neuronal scheme that underpins functions such as attention, visual recognition and memory, which are impaired in many neurological disorders.Read moreRead less