NIHRDataInsights/HRCSData huggingface dataset:
Title: Dietary manipulation in man: food intake, food reward and food preference.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: Aim 1: To examine preference for, and rewarding properties, of dietary fat. Aim 2: To examine preference for, and rewarding properties of, sucrose. Aim 3: To determine whether preference for dietary sucrose and fat is mediated melanocortin signalling. Aim 4: To examine the brain activation response to manipulation of single/multiple diet macronutrients. 1. Increased dietary fat content in food will increase the preference for and rewarding properties of the food. Increasing fat content in food will be positively correlated with brain activation of areas involved in reward. 2. Increased sucrose content in food will increase the preference for and rewarding properties of the food. Rewarding properties and preference for food containing artificial sweetener in place of sucrose will be reduced compared to matched sucrose formed contents. Increasing sucrose content in food will be positively correlated with brain activation of areas involved in reward. 3. MC4R deficient subjects will display an increased preference for high-fat food (but not high sucrose food) in comparison to equally obese subjects matched for age.


Research activity codes: 1.2 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC PROCESSES
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Dissecting compulsivity.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: Most of us are familiar with the experience of repeating behaviours even when they may be bad for us. This tendency to repeat behaviours despite negative consequences is known as compulsivity. Severe forms are key features of addiction problems and obsessive compulsive disorder. They also contribute to binge drinking, binge eating and obesity, prominent public health problems What causes us to repeat such potentially damaging behaviours? There are several competing theories though these have only rarely been tested in people with addiction problems For instance, are the behaviors 'automatic' or 'habits' or are we driven to 'want' something? In this study I plan to investigate how well these theories describe addiction problems Alternatively, the repeated behaviours also might be an escape from something negative. How this might be associated with repetitive behaviors or be related to underlying brain chemistry such as dopamine is poorly understood. This study plans to address these questions by using novel methods such as cognitive tasks and brain imaging in patients with addictions. The study also measures the activity of dopamine cells in the human brain. The proposal hopefully will shed light on this important question of why we repeat such potentially harmful behaviours.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Mechanisms underlying optimistic biases in the human brain and their breakdown in disease.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: People tend to make overly positive predictions about the future, which are often inaccurate. For example, most people expect to live longer and be healthier than their peers, underestimate their likelihood of divorce, unemployment and cancer, and overestimate their future professional success. This pervasive error, known as the optimism bias , is observed in approximately 80% of the population. Interestingly, a less optimistic view of possible future events has been associated with Major Depre ssive Disorder (MDD). The cognitive and biological processes that generate unrealistic optimism in healthy individuals and its absence in MDD patients are unknown. Using a combination of research methods including brain imaging, behavioural, computational, pharmacological and neuropsychiatric approaches, I will characterise these mechanisms I will test the hypothesis that the brain codes for information that offers an opportunity to adopt optimistic expectations, but largely fails to code for p essimistic information a process that influences learning and decision making. I will further test the prediction that these mechanisms are altered in depression and that this alteration is mediated by function of the neurotransmitter serotonin. The results will help refine the treatment of depression and other mood and anxiety disorders.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS;1.2 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC PROCESSES
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Cognitive processing in states of consciousness and its transitions.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: This project aims to improve our knowledge of how we fall asleep, how we lose consciousness while being sedated, and how we regain awareness. In order to achieve this, we will measure brain activity while individuals are listening to, or responding with button presses to, a series of sounds or words while falling asleep or undergoing sedation. Such tasks will allow us to investigate the ways in which the mental abilities we employ while awake, such as paying attention and decision making, change as we fall into natural or induced states of unconsciousness, and how its recover when we get back to be fully conscious.


Research activity codes: 1.2 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC PROCESSES
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: The long-term course and outcomes in alcohol use disorders (AUD): A population-based cohort study in Goa, India.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: Despite the increasing burden of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) in men in India there is not much research on the natural history and impact of AUDs in India. Our study aims to describe the six year outcomes in AUDs, the rate of onset and causes of new episodes of AUD and the impact of AUD on the health and social life of adult men in India. We will be studying a group of 1899 men in Goa, India, who were recruited for a cross sectional survey called SAAHAS in 2006. In 2006, this group of men was m ade up of further three subgroups, namely hazardous alcohol drinkers, casual alcohol drinkers and abstainers. We will re assess these three groups in 2012 and determine how many from the hazardous drinkers group continue to be persistent hazardous drinkers, how many from the abstainers and casual drinkers are now hazardous drinkers, what factors predict these outcomes and finally, if there is any difference in outcomes like common mental disorder, physical health problems, work place problems et c between hazardous and non hazardous drinkers/abstainers. The results will help guide policy to develop appropriate services for people with AUDs in India and other developing countries.


Research activity codes: 2.4 SURVEILLANCE AND DISTRIBUTION
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Structural disorganisation in psychosis and its functional consequences.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: Imagine that on your way to work, you are told that the rail route you planned to use is closed. How would that affect your commute? Graph analysis is a mathematical tool which can be used to study the structure of networks and infer how their structure affects the dynamics within them. For example, in the rail line analogy, a structural change in the network (line closure) affects the dynamics within it (the passenger s commute). In this proposal I will use this approach to study how the networ ks in the brain are altered in people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and whether these conditions are different in this respect. I will use Diffusion Tensor Imaging scans to look at the brain s structural networks and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans from the same subjects to assess functional networks. By comparing these different kinds of information in the same patients, I will find out whether changes in the anatomical networks in the brain in these conditions are respon sible for observed changes in functional communication between brain areas.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS;2.1 BIOLOGICAL AND ENDOGENOUS FACTORS
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Access Denied: The Roles of Clinical Knowledge and Moral Discourse in Mediating Access to Psychological Therapies.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: How do psychologists decide who should get treatment and what sort of therapy this might involve? This is a complex and important question: an inability to access appropriate treatment is potentially damaging to patients, and challenging and concerning for clinical psychologists themselves. These professionals view the ethical dilemmas they face when they have to make treatment decisions as important and understudied. This project, developed through discussions with several UK psychologists and patient organisations, will shed new light on these issues. The research aims to understand this decision-making process through a number of interviews with practising clinical psychologists. Through these interviews, the project will examine the ways in which ethical concerns and clinical knowledge/experience both play a part in determining what professionals think and do, and, in turn, how the decisions made potentially create new dilemmas. I will also analyse policy documents and journal arti cles that help give a broader picture of clinical psychology today and its role in the provision of therapy for those with problems Last, I will speak with individuals and organisations that may have other opinions on these matters (e.g. GPs, patient groups) in order to come up with recommendations to help improve access to therapy.


Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: The Incidence, Course and Outcome of Psychosis in Socially and Culturally Diverse Settings: A Pilot Study.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: Psychoses are the most devastating forms of mental disorders. Even though the vast majority of people with these disorders live in low and middle income countries, what we know about them is mainly based on research done in rich countries. By studying psychoses in low and middle income countries, apart from generating evidence to inform mental health practice, we can also learn a great deal about causes and outcomes. However, conducting such research in these countries is challenging. For exampl e, many people who develop psychoses in these settings never receive treatment, making it difficult to identify representative samples. What we propose, then, as the basis for a future programme of work, is to conduct a series of pilot studies in three diverse settings in India, Nigeria and Trinidad to test our ability to identify representative samples of individuals with psychosis (and without, for comparison) and to follow these individuals over time to assess outcomes. In addition, we will identify and/or develop instruments to measure factors that may increase risk for psychosis, or delay recovery, that are equally meaningful in diverse settings. In doing this, we will create a platform for our own and other future research in similar settings.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS;2.5 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGIES (AETIOLOGY)
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: The dissemination of psychological treatments
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: Empirically-supported psychological treatments have been developed for a range of psychiatric disorders. If patients are to benefit from these treatments there is a need to develop effective and efficient means of training clinicians to deliver them. A programme of education research is proposed. The primary aim of this research is to evaluate the use of the internet to help clinicians acquire the knowledge and skills required to implement psychological treatments. Two uses of the intern et will be studied. The first (internet-enhanced training) involves trainees being provided with access to a specially designed clinically-rich website which provides extensive information on the psychological treatment together with multiple acted illustrations of its key procedures. Access to the website is followed by an enhanced form of case supervision that makes extensive reference to the website. The second form of training involves access to the website alone with no case supervision ( internet-only training ). This form of training has the potential to be highly disseminable. The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these two new forms of training will be compared with that of conventional training (a two-day training workshop followed by case supervision) in a randomised controlled education trial that will employ new measures of clinical competence.


Research activity codes: 6.6 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIOURAL
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: The Use of the Internet to Train Clinicians to Implement Psychological Treatments.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: It is well established that certain psychological treatments (i.e., forms of psychotherapy) are as effective, or more effective, than the leading drug treatments for a range of psychiatric disorders. Unfortunately, few clinicians have received training in how to deliver them. There is a need for effective and efficient means of training clinicians to implement these treatments. A programme of education research is proposed. The aim is to develop and test two new forms of training, both of which exploit the potential of the internet. In these forms of training the trainees will have access to a specially designed website which will provide detailed guidance about the treatment as well as multiple acted illustrations of its key procedures. In one of the forms of training access to the website will be supplemented with supervised clinical experience, whereas in the other there will be no case supervision. The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these two forms of training wil l be compared with that of conventional training (a two-day workshop followed by case supervision).


Research activity codes: 6.6 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIOURAL
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Is the medial temporal lobe functionality heterogeneous for familiarity and recollection.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: We will recruit 90 hypoxic patients complaining of memory problems, from whom 60 participants will be selected on the basis of recall and/or item recognition memory impairments with damage confined to the medial temporal lobes. MRI measures of regional brain volumes in key structures, fibre tract integrity (DTI) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) will be obtained. Patients will be grouped on the basis of whether their damage primarily involves the hippocampus, perirhinal cortex, parahippocampal corte x, or more widespread medial temporal lobe volume loss. Several procedures will be used for measuring recollection and familiarity memory for different kinds of information, including structural equation modelling, in these patients and healthy controls. We will explore recollection and familiarity both for rapidly learned post-morbid memories and for frequently rehearsed, pre-morbid memories. These studies will be complemented by functional MRI (fMRI) investigations. By combining detailed analy sis of memory performance and brain imaging data, we will elucidate the extent to which the hippocampus, perirhinal cortex and parahippocampal cortex have differing roles in the recollection and familiarity of premorbid and post-morbidly acquired memories involving different kinds of information. More specifically, we seek to resolve the long-standing dispute about the role of the hippocampus in familiarity and recollection.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Specific language impairment and comorbidity: development over the first three years of schooling.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: Children with specific language impairment have difficulties learning language despite adequate development and opportunity. The term specific language impairment implies that language is the only problem these children face. However, difficulties such as paying attention and making friends are common. It is difficult to know whether these additional difficulties arise from a common disorder, or whether they emerge as a result of experiencing language impairment. For instance, subtle atypicali ties in brain development may make both learning language and sustaining attention difficult. On the other hand, attention deficits may develop because children who don t understand what other people say may get bored and easily distracted. One way to differentiate these possibilities is to assess children starting school on tests of language and other behaviours, and then review their progress two years later. We will see a range of children at school entry rather than just those receiving spec ial help, because children receiving special help are more likely to have multiple difficulties. Our study will identify aspects of language impairment that are most likely to predict multiple behavioural and social difficulties. In the longer term, this will facilitate early identification and treatment for children at greatest risk of multiple difficulties.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Neurobiological determinants of treatment response in psychosis.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: Schizophrenia and related psychotic conditions are common, devastating conditions. They typically begin in early adulthood. Current treatments are limited: they control, rather than cure, the condition and work poorly for many patients. We do not know why some patients respond well, whilst others respond poorly to these treatments. As a result, attempts to make better drugs have not been successful so far. This highlights how important it is to understand what brain factors determine whether a p atient will respond to treatment. Research points to two key chemical messengers in the brain, dopamine and glutamate, as underlying the disorder. We aim to study these brain chemicals in the same patients for the first time, and see if differences in their levels explain why some patients respond poorly to treatment. This should give a logical framework to guide the development of better drugs, and identify the best treatments for individual patients.


Research activity codes: 6.1 PHARMACEUTICALS
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Agency, mental capacity and criminal responsibility in mental disorder.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: In law, judgments about whether person is in a position to make their own medical treatment decision (capacity), and judgments about whether a person should be held responsible for criminal acts (culpability), are both made on the basis of features of the person's mental states for example, features of their belief system (in delusion) or motivational system (in compulsion). However, there has been little scholarly attention paid to comparing the features taken into account in assessments of cap acity and culpability, particularly from a moral perspective and in the context of mental disorders. The project will address two questions: What differences are there between the features of agency taken into account in assessments of capacity and culpability in the context of mental disorder in English law? Are these differences justified? The resulting framework will clarify and critically examine the relationship between capacity and culpability. By bringing attention to this questio n, and producing a framework that makes recommendations for these areas of law, the project aims to have an impact on the way that features of mental disorder are taken into account in judgments regarding capacity and criminal responsibility.


Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: The neurocognitive mechanisms of novel treatments in mood disorders
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: The primary objective for this collaborative doctoral research project between UCL and the NIMH is to investigate the mechanisms underpinning responses to novel treatments in mood disorders (e.g. ketamine, scopolamine, sleep deprivation). Specifically, what are the neurocognitive changes following such treatments, and might we be able to predict who will best respond to treatment and stay well on the basis of neurocognitive markers?


Research activity codes: 6.1 PHARMACEUTICALS
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Complementary studies of learning and motivation in psychosis and pathological hyperphagia.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: The brain is able to predict the presence of reward (such as food) in its environment and to generate decisions and actions that maximise the likelihood of obtaining these. We believe that disturbances in the functions of particular brain regions concerned with these abilities, may account for certain mental and disorders. There is evidence too that these regions are involved in behaviours such as over-eating, which are also distressing, health-harming and difficult to control. I propose studies exploring brain responses to reward learning under two sets of conditions. The first, psychosis, found in major mental illnesses (notably, schizophrenia), is characterised by abnormal beliefs, experiences and behaviours. I predict that, in psychotic people, stimuli and events acquire undue motivational significance and associability, leading to insignificant things becoming important, grabbing attention and leading to bizarre, seemingly irrational beliefs and behaviours. Conversely, in patholog ical over-eating (caused by a known genetically-determined deficiency in a particular brain receptor), a central characteristic is that a genuine and important reward, food, achieves a motivational significance that over-rides even the strongest desires to resist. Here, in contrast to psychosis the disturbance reflects an enhanced significance of an appropriate reinforcer rather than a difficulty in distinguishing reinforcers from non-reinforcers.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS;2.1 BIOLOGICAL AND ENDOGENOUS FACTORS
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH
Title: Risk factors for violent crime and repeat offending in severe mental illness.
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: Interpersonal violence leads to over half a million deaths per year and a staggering burden of physical and psychological injury on victims and their families. Many psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, increase the risk of violence, and this project seeks to understand more clearly the causes of violent crime in those with mental illness. I intend to use high-quality information from a unique resource Swedish national registers to look at what factors increase and reduce the risk of violence in psychiatric patients. In Sweden, information on all hospitalizations, crimes, and socio-economic information are routinely collected and can be linked using anonymous identification numbers. Using this resource, I will look carefully at the medications that patients were taking at the time of their violent offences, what effect the closure of psychiatric hospitals in the 1970s and 1980s had on violent crime in patients, and what background factors increase the risk in patients in different settings and separately by diagnosis. The project intends to pull this information together to examine how clinicians can improve violence risk assessment, and therefore poentially lead to reduced crime, hospitalizations and stigma that current approaches may inadvertently lead to.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS;2.4 SURVEILLANCE AND DISTRIBUTION
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH