Reinstating Emotion Perception After Brain Damage: An Experimental Approach
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$338,421.00
Summary
Many people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) cannot recognise emotions in others. This disrupts social behaviour leading to isolation and unemployment. In this project we determine whether: (1) selectively attending to a person's expression improves empathy and emotion recognition; (2) whether mimicking an expression improves recognition of the emotion and; (3) whether poor recognition of emotional tone of voice (prosody) and audiovisual displays is improved by focusing on voice or face alone.
Randomised Controlled Trial Investigation Of A Non-stimulant In Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$588,960.00
Summary
Atomoxetine (ATMX) is a viable non-stimulant alternative to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), however, clinicians require more objective information on its effectiveness. This is the first study to examine the effectiveness of ATMX using objective cognitive and emotion markers in ADHD. The outcomes from this project will be a significant step towards a 'personalised medicine' approach to ADHD, providing clinicians with increased options in the treatment of ADHD. ADHD is cons ....Atomoxetine (ATMX) is a viable non-stimulant alternative to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), however, clinicians require more objective information on its effectiveness. This is the first study to examine the effectiveness of ATMX using objective cognitive and emotion markers in ADHD. The outcomes from this project will be a significant step towards a 'personalised medicine' approach to ADHD, providing clinicians with increased options in the treatment of ADHD. ADHD is considered the most common neurodevelopmental or child psychiatric disorder. ADHD affects approximately 10% of children and adolescents, in other words, 'at least one in every classroom'. ADHD has a significant burden, including treatment costs, family stress, loss of productivity, increased risk of drug abuse and accidents. It is increasingly clear that new medications need to be evaluated to make ADHD treatment more effective and efficient. The vast majority of medicated ADHD individuals are treated with stimulants, which are controlled substances. A large number do not respond to stimulant treatment, and in others the potential for abuse remains. Some ADHD report negative feelings about taking stimulants and there is growing concern about increasing prescription rates. ATMX is a recently approved non-stimulant (therefore, non-controlled) to treat ADHD, with evidence of clinical effectiveness. Yet, the impact of ATMX on objective measures of a range of cognitive and emotional function has not been studied. Several lines of evidence indicate it is effective for these functions. ATMX has been shown to alleviate inhibitory capacity, while stimulants have not. Of the 30% of ADHD who do not respond to stimulants, the least responsive are those categorized as 'internalizing' types who show allied anxiety. Common disturbances may underlie abnormal inhibitory capacity and impaired emotional recognition in ADHD that is best treated with ATMX rather than stimulants.Read moreRead less
Predictors Of Response To Antidepressants: Utility Of Behavioural, Neuroimaging And Genetics Data
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$310,071.00
Summary
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is projected to cause the second greatest global burden of disease by 2020, highlighting the urgent need for valid predictors of effective treatment response. Currently, there are no accurate predictors of response to antidepressants in MDD, and successful treatment relies greatly on 'trial and error'. This process is demanding on health resources, and may be a factor in the high suicide rates in depressed patients. Previous research on treatment response has been ....Major depressive disorder (MDD) is projected to cause the second greatest global burden of disease by 2020, highlighting the urgent need for valid predictors of effective treatment response. Currently, there are no accurate predictors of response to antidepressants in MDD, and successful treatment relies greatly on 'trial and error'. This process is demanding on health resources, and may be a factor in the high suicide rates in depressed patients. Previous research on treatment response has been limited by recruitment of small, heterogeneous patient samples, lack of placebo control, and a failure to examine task related activity in brain imaging studies. Perhaps one of the more troubling aspects of research that aims to predict treatment response to antidepressant medications is the use of commonly used outcome measures such as the Hamilton Rating Depression Scale (HAM-D), which were developed long before current classification systems of depression came into use. The US Federal Drug Administration has recently identified what they call a translational gap such that behavioural and biological measures are the most robust for detection of disorders such as depression, yet these measures remain to be translated into clinical tools that can be used to evaluate treatment. The aim of the current study therefore is to determine whether genetic variability is related to treatment outcome as defined by a more objective outcome measure (facial expression perception) using a randomised controlled design. The study will also determine whether brain measures (fMRI, EEG) enhance the prediction of SSRI response to both clinical and behavioural measures, over and above the genetic contribution.Read moreRead less
Which Treatment Works? New Approaches To Treating Emotion Perception Deficits After Brain Injury
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$500,937.00
Summary
Many people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) cannot recognise emotions in others. This makes appropriate social behaviour impossible and leads to isolation and unemployment. In this project we compare training that minimises errors (errorless learning) versus training that provides strategies for recognising emotions while allowing errors to occur. Adults with severe TBI will be allocated to one of the two treatments, a social non-therapeutic group or to deferred treatment (waitlist control).
The Amygdala And Emotionally-mediated Sudden Cutaneous Vasoconstriction In Rats
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$461,788.00
Summary
Discovering how the brain organizes our emotional life is important for understanding mental illness. In rats, blood flow to the skin falls when the animal detects a possibly dangerous event. Rats go pale with fright , just as humans do. The falls in blood flow are inhibited by drugs used to treat people with schizophrenia. The grant investigates whether the amygdala is an important brain centre controlling the skin blood vessels, and whether anti-schizophrenia drugs act in the amygdala.
The human brain has many subdivisions (�areas�) that are dedicated to vision, but in many cases their functions remain unclear. This project will study an area located deep in the brain, about which very little is known, and which appears to be affected from early stages in conditions such as Alzheimer�s disease. By understanding the patterns of electrical activity of cells in this region, and their connections with other brain areas, we hope to decipher their contribution to sensory cognition.
Improving Speech Perception Outcomes In Deaf Adults And Children Using Cochlear Implants
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$160,604.00
Summary
This project aims to further improve on speech understanding by deaf adults and children using the cochlear implant. In particular, we aim to individually modify the speech coding scheme on the basis of the basic hearing skills of the subject. In this manner, more speech information should be available and the users will likely gain more benefit from their cochlear implants. The speech processing strategy of the multiple-electrode cochlear implant, manufactured by the Australian biomedical compa ....This project aims to further improve on speech understanding by deaf adults and children using the cochlear implant. In particular, we aim to individually modify the speech coding scheme on the basis of the basic hearing skills of the subject. In this manner, more speech information should be available and the users will likely gain more benefit from their cochlear implants. The speech processing strategy of the multiple-electrode cochlear implant, manufactured by the Australian biomedical company Cochlear Limited, codes acoustic frequency information on electrodes which are located in the cochlea. The assignment of frequencies to electrodes is consistent with the ordering of pitch in the cochlea. For optimum performance, all electrodes would need to be perceptually distinct from each other. Recent research with adults and children has shown that this is not the case for a number of subjects as adjacent electrodes sound the same. Thus important speech information may not be heard by these subjects. In this project, we will determine how well adults and children are able to hear differences between the electrodes, and then provide speech processing schemes which exclude those electrodes which sound the same as others in close proximity. The project will compare these modified strategies with the standard strategy currently used by the subjects over time, so that any differences in the way adults and children are able to improve on speech understanding will be determined. As far as can be determined, this project will be the first investigation to improve on speech understanding in children using the cochlear implant.Read moreRead less