Enhancing Hypnotic Responding with Oxytocin. Although hypnosis has been studied for over a 100 years, little is understood about the neuroscience of hypnosis. This project represents the first investigation of the neural mechanisms underpinning hypnosis. At an applied level, this project has the potential to markedly increase the capacity for Australians to benefit from medical and psychological hypnosis. Hypnosis has been shown to assist in many medical and psychological conditions, and by d ....Enhancing Hypnotic Responding with Oxytocin. Although hypnosis has been studied for over a 100 years, little is understood about the neuroscience of hypnosis. This project represents the first investigation of the neural mechanisms underpinning hypnosis. At an applied level, this project has the potential to markedly increase the capacity for Australians to benefit from medical and psychological hypnosis. Hypnosis has been shown to assist in many medical and psychological conditions, and by developing the means to increase hypnotic responding, this project can directly enhance the physical and psychological health of Australians.Read moreRead less
Neurobiological bases for depression and anxiety: Towards an integrative model of emotion disorders. This study has five areas of national benefit. National research priority: This study will provide a basis for better understanding the underlying neural processes which distinguish these disorders and for developing more targeted treatments. Advancing the field: It will have significant implications for current theoretical models of emotion by integrating existing models and extending them. Inte ....Neurobiological bases for depression and anxiety: Towards an integrative model of emotion disorders. This study has five areas of national benefit. National research priority: This study will provide a basis for better understanding the underlying neural processes which distinguish these disorders and for developing more targeted treatments. Advancing the field: It will have significant implications for current theoretical models of emotion by integrating existing models and extending them. Intellectual leadership: It will promote Australian research in international affective neuroscience. Collaboration: It will draw upon a multidisciplinary approach consistent with the National Research priorities to foster collaborations. Training: It will provide students the opportunity to learn both specific knowledge and important generic skills.Read moreRead less
Human learning of likes and dislikes: A test of the dual process account and an investigation of its neural substrates. Dual process accounts of human affective learning hold that affective learning, the learning of likes and dislikes, and relational learning, the learning of predictive relationships, reflect separate learning mechanisms. Affective learning, for instance, is said not to extinguish, a claim that has far reaching consequences for the design of behaviourally based treatments of a ....Human learning of likes and dislikes: A test of the dual process account and an investigation of its neural substrates. Dual process accounts of human affective learning hold that affective learning, the learning of likes and dislikes, and relational learning, the learning of predictive relationships, reflect separate learning mechanisms. Affective learning, for instance, is said not to extinguish, a claim that has far reaching consequences for the design of behaviourally based treatments of anxiety. The project will test this and other predictions of dual process accounts. Moreover, it will extent the experimental analysis of affective learning to the acquisition of likes and identify the cortical bases for aversive, appetitive, and relational learning using event related functional magnetic resonance imaging.Read moreRead less
Assessment of circadian and light interactions in adolescent sleepiness. This project aims to examine the relative contributions of multiple biological clock and sleep factors that may be linked to cognitive function and sleepiness in adolescents. Over 70 per cent of adolescents in Australia experience insufficient sleep. Cross-sectional studies have shown that insufficient sleep and mistimed sleep lead to reduced cognitive function. The project intends to identify specific sleep and circadian m ....Assessment of circadian and light interactions in adolescent sleepiness. This project aims to examine the relative contributions of multiple biological clock and sleep factors that may be linked to cognitive function and sleepiness in adolescents. Over 70 per cent of adolescents in Australia experience insufficient sleep. Cross-sectional studies have shown that insufficient sleep and mistimed sleep lead to reduced cognitive function. The project intends to identify specific sleep and circadian markers that are linked to academic performance, and generate innovative algorithms that predict these associations. The project will provide new knowledge to drive prevention and early intervention programs that use sleep-wake and light exposure information to improve sleep quality.Read moreRead less
Assessment of Executive Function in Children and Adults. This project aims to develop tests for executive function that are better grounded in the theory of cognitive processes, have sound measurement properties, and are more efficient, than existing measures. Executive functions entail planning, self-evaluation and adaptation to novel situations. Executive function deficits are found in children and adults who have suffered injury to the frontal regions of the brain, in some ageing adults, and ....Assessment of Executive Function in Children and Adults. This project aims to develop tests for executive function that are better grounded in the theory of cognitive processes, have sound measurement properties, and are more efficient, than existing measures. Executive functions entail planning, self-evaluation and adaptation to novel situations. Executive function deficits are found in children and adults who have suffered injury to the frontal regions of the brain, in some ageing adults, and in certain clinical groups such as autistics. Ability to cope with complexity is a factor in executive functioning, and this will be assessed utilising a new approach to analysis of cognitive complexity.Read moreRead less