A Course Of Oxytocin Nasal Spray To Improve Social Communication In Young People With Autism
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$293,735.00
Summary
Autism is characterised by impairments in social behaviour and communication, and is a cause of major lifelong disability. A novel intervention, Oxytocin, enhances social communication in autism and non-clinical populations. This project will determine whether Oxytocin, taken twice daily over 8 weeks, improves social interaction skills in everyday life for young people with autism. This project represents a crucial step in developing a novel and effective new treatment for Autism.
The Effects Of Oxytocin Nasal Spray On Mechanisms Of Social-communication In Young People With Autism
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$191,400.00
Summary
Autism is charcterised by deficits in social behaviour and communication, and is a cause of major lifelong disability. A novel intervention, Oxytocin, enhances social communication in non-clinical populations. This project will determine whether OT improves social communication deficits characteristic of autism. This project is a critical first step towards treating a core deficit of autism.
Improving The Communication Of People With Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Clinical Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$448,293.00
Summary
Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of disability in young Australians, and is particularly prevalent in young men. The condition disturbs thinking and problem solving. Ultimately, these problems manifest in impaired verbal communication. Communication problems following traumatic brain injury can make critical relationships-such as father, husband, and employee-impossible to sustain. Those affected are socially inappropriate and uncomfortable to be around, which causes a lifetime of los ....Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of disability in young Australians, and is particularly prevalent in young men. The condition disturbs thinking and problem solving. Ultimately, these problems manifest in impaired verbal communication. Communication problems following traumatic brain injury can make critical relationships-such as father, husband, and employee-impossible to sustain. Those affected are socially inappropriate and uncomfortable to be around, which causes a lifetime of lost friendships, unemployability, and social isolation. Minimisation of these lifelong effects is of the utmost importance to the health of those affected, and is critical to reducing the economic burden of the condition. Two approaches have been shown to improve the communication of those with traumatic brain injury. Training in social skills is helpful, as is training partners to deal with difficult communication behaviours. However, to date, no research has concurrently studied these two approaches to rehabilitation. Consequently, it is unknown whether best results are achieved with either one of the two methods, or both. The present project uses a clinical trials approach in an innovative evaluation of three methods of treating those with traumatic brain injury compared with a control group. The trial involves the conceptual advances of including cost effectiveness of treatment as an outcome measure, and inclusion of advanced methods to measure the intricacies of verbal communication. The multidisciplinary team of Chief Investigators has international track records in the requisite disciplines for the study of traumatic brain injury and its rehabilitation.Read moreRead less
Improving Outcomes For People With Cancer: Consultation Skills Training With Oncologists
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$499,070.00
Summary
Each year approximately 30,000 Australians die from cancer and 65,000 new cancers are diagnosed. Despite much research for a cure for cancer, the incidence and mortality from cancer has not changed. New treatments now cause people with cancer to live longer with the disease, so we now need to focus on efforts to optimise the quality of life of these people. Although the emotional burden on patients and families is recognized, there is a sense that this is an inevitable by-product of the disease ....Each year approximately 30,000 Australians die from cancer and 65,000 new cancers are diagnosed. Despite much research for a cure for cancer, the incidence and mortality from cancer has not changed. New treatments now cause people with cancer to live longer with the disease, so we now need to focus on efforts to optimise the quality of life of these people. Although the emotional burden on patients and families is recognized, there is a sense that this is an inevitable by-product of the disease and its management in existing clinical systems. However, this does not need to be the case. There is now ample evidence that the way that doctors interact with their patients can effect the accuracy of diagnosis and prognosis, as well as patients' satisfaction, adherence with treatment instructions and quality of life after being diagnosed with cancer. Both patient advocate groups and clinicians have called for further training for doctors to effectively manage psychosocial aspects of cancer care, however, despite this support, there have been few opportunities for such training in Australia. We have developed an innovative consultation-skills program for oncologists. So that the effectiveness of the project can be evaluated, it will be implemented as a randomised controlled trial with oncologists from major Australian cancer clinics being randomly allocated to an intervention or control group. The training program will be delivered by videoconferencing, to overcome many of the barriers that have impeded busy clinicians from participating in previous training programs. This is the first international study to use videoconferencing between remote locations for this type of consultation skills training. A variety of measures will be used to evaluate the impact of the training, including patients' quality of life, anxiety, depression and perceived needs, and oncologists' burn-out.Read moreRead less
The Role Of Learning In The Development, Maintenance, And Treatment Of Paediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$189,604.00
Summary
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in children is a severely debilitating mental health problem affecting between 0.5 and 1% of the population at any point in time. Children with OCD frequently experience high functional impairment as a result of their symptoms, including deteriorating school performance and poor peer relationships. Family life is often disrupted, causing significant distress and hardship to parents and siblings. However, little research attention has been paid to how families ....Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in children is a severely debilitating mental health problem affecting between 0.5 and 1% of the population at any point in time. Children with OCD frequently experience high functional impairment as a result of their symptoms, including deteriorating school performance and poor peer relationships. Family life is often disrupted, causing significant distress and hardship to parents and siblings. However, little research attention has been paid to how families affect and are affected by this disabling condition. This research examines the role of learning in the development, maintenance and treatment of OCD. Specifically, the study aims to: 1. explore the way in which children with OCD process threatening information 2. investigate the influence of parents on children's processing of OCD-relevant information 3. develop and implement the world's first randomised control trial of cognitive-behavioural plus parent training (CBT + PT) for childhood OCD 4. evaluate parent-assisted treatment in comparison to a standard cognitive-behavioural treatment (CBT) and a placebo control 5. examine the long-term maintenance of each type of treatment The outcomes of this project will be: 1. an improved understanding of OCD in children, and their families 2. an increased knowledge of the relationship between parenting processes and OCD symptomatology 3. the development and dissemination of an evidence-based treatment for childhood OCDRead moreRead less
Autism and its milder forms affect approximately 6 per 1,000 children. The biological basis of the disorder is unknown, so considerable research is being invested in identifying cognitive processes that are atypical in children with autism because this may help identify key areas of the brain affected by the disorder. This research has established that children with autism often outperform their typically developing peers on tasks that require detailed analysis of visual information. In contrast ....Autism and its milder forms affect approximately 6 per 1,000 children. The biological basis of the disorder is unknown, so considerable research is being invested in identifying cognitive processes that are atypical in children with autism because this may help identify key areas of the brain affected by the disorder. This research has established that children with autism often outperform their typically developing peers on tasks that require detailed analysis of visual information. In contrast, visual tasks that require integrating information often reveal impaired performance in children with autism. Human vision is achieved through two pathways in the brain - a dorsal pathway most responsive to changing (e.g. moving or flickering) stimuli and a ventral pathway most responsive to enduring stimulus features (e.g. colour, pattern). Increasingly complex visual processing is achieved at higher levels in each pathway through integrating information from lower levels. One objective of our work is to identify which levels of processing in each of the dorsal and ventral pathways show atypical functioning (either enhanced or impaired) in autism. We will do this using tasks designed to establish thresholds for different perceptual judgements, such as identifying patterns in a field of dots. Children with autism will be compared to typically developing children and also to children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). This will enable us to establish whether the same profile of strengths and weaknesses in perception and cognition are observed in autism and SLI, or whether they can be distinguished on this basis. The significance of the work is that it will advance considerably the understanding of atypical visual processing in autism and SLI. Also, by identifying perceptual and cognitive differences in children with autism, we may be able to develop tests to identify infants affected by the disorder and commence remediation at an early age.Read moreRead less
The Impact Of Oxytocin On Social Cognition And Behaviour In Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$261,117.00
Summary
Deficits in social functioning are one of the core features of Autism Spectrum Disorders and evidence suggests that the Oxytocin (OT) system may be dysregulated in these individuals. This proposal tests the effects of synthetic OT in a sample of youth with ASD on measures of social cognition and behaviour. This research may lead to more efficient and effective treatments for ASD and may enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying Autism and related disorders.
Communication Of Genetic Information In Families: A Randomised Controlled Trial Of A Genetic Counselling Intervention.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$359,728.00
Summary
The amount of genetic testing information available to Australians has exploded as a result of the human genome project. Our multi-disciplinary team will investigate the most acceptable and feasible way for important genetic information to be transmitted in families. This study will be a world first trial of a genetic counselling intervention which aims to help patients and health professionals communicate life-changing information in families where there is a serious genetic condition.
A Telehealth Adaptation Of A Treatment For Chronic Stuttering
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$389,400.00
Summary
Stuttering can have devastating effects on psychological development, social adjustment, and the realisation of educational and vocational potential. Best practice treatments for chronic stuttering in adulthood and late adolescence stop or reduce stuttering with a systematic process of speech restructuring. However, speech restructuring treatment for chronic stuttering is specialised and resource intensive. Probably half of Australians with chronic stuttering cannot access such specialised treat ....Stuttering can have devastating effects on psychological development, social adjustment, and the realisation of educational and vocational potential. Best practice treatments for chronic stuttering in adulthood and late adolescence stop or reduce stuttering with a systematic process of speech restructuring. However, speech restructuring treatment for chronic stuttering is specialised and resource intensive. Probably half of Australians with chronic stuttering cannot access such specialised treatment services because of distance and lifestyle factors, and because clinicians do not have the resources to provide the treatment. These problems present a research challenge. The present project aims to meet this challenge by developing an innovative treatment model for adults who stutter based on telehealth. This treatment model will make the treatment accessible to all rural and urban dwelling patients with chronic stuttering, and will make the treatment deliverable by every clinician. The research will have significant impact for many end users.Read moreRead less