Background: Converging evidence demonstrates the important role of the neuropeptide hormone oxyto... more Background: Converging evidence demonstrates the important role of the neuropeptide hormone oxytocin (OT) in human behaviour and cognition. Intranasal OT administration has been shown to improve several aspects of social communication, such as the theory of mind performance and gaze to the eye region, and reduce anxiety and related negative cognitive appraisals. While this early research has demonstrated the potential for intranasal OT to treat psychiatric illnesses characterized by social impairments, the neurobiological mechanisms are not well known. Researchers have used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the neural correlates of OT response; however, results have been variable and moderating factors are poorly understood. The aim of this meta-analysis is to synthesize data examining the impact of intranasal OT administration on neural activity. Methods/design: Studies that report fMRI data after intranasal OT administration will be identified. PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar databases will be searched as well as the citation lists of retrieved articles. Eligible articles written in English from 2005 onwards will be included in the meta-analysis, and corresponding authors of these papers will be invited to contribute t-maps. Data will be collected from eligible studies for synthesis using Seed-based d Mapping (SDM) or Multi-Level Kernel Density Analysis (MKDA), depending on the number of usable t-maps received. Additionally, publication bias and risk of bias will be assessed. Discussion: This systematic review and meta-analysis will be the first pre-registered synthesis of data to identify the neural correlates of OT nasal spray response. The identification of brain regions underlying OT's observed effects will help guide future research and better identify treatment targets. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42016038781
ABSTRACT As Australia endeavors to sustain growth of its international education industry, there ... more ABSTRACT As Australia endeavors to sustain growth of its international education industry, there have been major concerns regarding the experience of international students. This review examines the international student experience in Australia, particularly issues surrounding study?work?life balance (SWLB), acculturation, health, and well-being. The current university initiatives of pastoral care services and peer mentoring are evaluated and noted to be underutilized by students. Consequently, an internationalized, university-wide peer-mentor-embedded classroom initiative is proposed. While attempting to overcome the main methodological issues identified, future research is invited to test whether such an initiative is effective in producing positive acculturation, SWLB, health and well-being outcomes for both international and local students. http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/Z6PadIjEfpBSiwNwe55D/full
Acute antidepressant administration modulates neural activity consistent with decreases in negati... more Acute antidepressant administration modulates neural activity consistent with decreases in negative emotion processing bias. However, studies are yet to examine whether treatment facilitates neural activity during reappraisal, an adaptive emotion regulation strategy associated with behavioral treatment response. Here we examine the impact of acute administration on reappraisal of negative stimuli using pharmaco-fMRI. Thirty-six healthy female participants completed two sessions of fMRI scanning, separated by a one-week washout period. A single dose of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, escitalopram (20mg) was administered to participants using a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover design. When participants were administered escitalopram (relative to a placebo) and asked to reappraise negative emotional stimuli, left amygdala activation was decreased and right inferior frontal gyrus (R IFG) activation was increased. Also observed was a greater negative lef...
The following paper presents the first known examination of the experiences of class tutors withi... more The following paper presents the first known examination of the experiences of class tutors within a peer-assisted learning program. Three female first-year class tutors, aged 25-28 years, provided insight into how they experienced a novel peer tutoring program embedded in their tutorials. Using grounded theory techniques, it was found that the following five themes underlie their experiences: role exploration, sharing responsibility, regulation of the peer tutored groups, harnessing the peer tutors' role, and community. Literature from the domain was examined post-hoc and was found to complement these themes. Additionally, it was found that class tutors were beneficiaries of the program. It was suggested that future research address the limitations of the present study and test a number of hypotheses within a novel theoretical framework. The hypotheses were constructed to include the key roles within embedded peer tutoring, and learning climate typologies and dimensions .
Background: Musical performance is a skilled activity performed under intense pressure, thus is o... more Background: Musical performance is a skilled activity performed under intense pressure, thus is often a profound source of anxiety. In other contexts, anxiety and its concomitant symptoms of sympathetic nervous system arousal have been successfully ameliorated with HRV biofeedback (HRV BF), a technique involving slow breathing which augments autonomic and emotional regulatory capacity. Objective: This randomised-controlled study explored the impact of a single 30-minute session of HRV BF on anxiety in response to a highly stressful music performance.
H. Kemp3 1Tilburg University, 2University College London, 3University of Sydney Descriptors: deve... more H. Kemp3 1Tilburg University, 2University College London, 3University of Sydney Descriptors: developmental origins of behaviour, health and disease, maternal lifetime history of mood and anxiety disorders, heart rate variability (HRV) The developmental origins of behavior, health and disease hypothesis proposes short-and long-term consequences of the developmental environment impact on phenotypic variations in behavior, health and disease. Short-term consequences, such as alterations in fetal or infant physiological systems, are seen as an adaptation to the environment, resulting from gene-environment interactions. These consequences may determine functioning of physiological systems, behavioral development, brain-behavior relationships and health or disease expressed later in human life. Some of these assumptions are being tested in our ongoing Prenatal Early Life Stress (PELS)-study. In 140 to 190 mother infant pairs, the association is examined between psychological (stress, depression and anxiety selfreport questionnaires and MINI psychiatric interview) and physiological (HRV, salivary cortisol) measures of maternal mental health/psychopathology in each trimester of pregnancy and infant cognitive, social-emotional and physiological (HRV, Event Related Brain potentials (ERP)) functioning at age 2 and 9 months. Preliminary findings indicate that women with a lifetime anxiety disorder display reduced HRV during the fi rst trimester of pregnancy relative to those without such a history. Critically, the offspring of these mothers also displayed reductions in HRV at 2 months of age. Implications of these fi ndings will be discussed.
Bipolar spectrum disorders (BSDs) are associated with great personal and socioeconomic burden, wi... more Bipolar spectrum disorders (BSDs) are associated with great personal and socioeconomic burden, with patients often facing a delay in detection, misdiagnosis when detected, and a trial-and-error approach to finding the most appropriate treatment. Therefore, improvement in the assessment and management of patients with BSDs is critical. Should valid physiological measures for BSDs be identified and implemented, significant clinical improvements are likely to be realized. This chapter reviews the physiological correlates of BSDs and treatment, and in doing so, examines the neuroimaging, electroencephalogram, and event-related potential, and peripheral physiological correlates that both characterize and differentiate BSDs and their response to treatment. Key correlates of BSDs involve underlying disturbances in prefrontal and limbic network neural activity, early neural processing, and within the autonomic nervous system. These changes appear to be mood-related and can be normalized wit...
Two reported genetic polymorphisms related to the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor... more Two reported genetic polymorphisms related to the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BNDF) and reuptake by the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) appear to contribute to depression in combination with stressful life events. The aim of the current study was to investigate the contribution of early life stress (ELS), BDNF (Val versus Met alleles) and 5-HTT polymorphisms (L versus S alleles) to melancholic (n = 65) and non-melancholic depression (n = 59). A mediation approach ((G × G) × E mediation model) was employed to confirm the indirect effects of ELS on the relationship between 5-HTTPLR × BDNF polymorphism combinations and depression subtype. A series of binary logistic regressions were then conducted to determine whether genotype, ELS, and their interaction were able to predict depression subtype. Key findings indicated that BDNF and 5-HTT polymorphisms in combination with ELS contributed to the development of non-melancholic depression. An interaction between BDNF and ELS increased the risk of non-melancholia by 3.327, whereas the interaction between 5-HTT and ELS increased risk by 2.406. The results support a role for genetic factors in the development of non-melancholia. The lack of findings in melancholia indicates that other mechanisms may underlie the subtype. Alternatively, null findings may reflect a Type II error associated with a small sample size. Future studies should consider further examination of differential gene-environment interactions for melancholia versus non-melancholia.
Background: Musical performance is a skilled activity performed under intense pressure, thus is o... more Background: Musical performance is a skilled activity performed under intense pressure, thus is often a profound source of anxiety. In other contexts, anxiety and its concomitant symptoms of sympathetic nervous system arousal have been successfully ameliorated with HRV biofeedback (HRV BF), a technique involving slow breathing which augments autonomic and emotional regulatory capacity. Objective: This randomised-controlled study explored the impact of a single 30-minute session of HRV BF on anxiety in response to a highly stressful music performance.
ABSTRACT As Australia endeavors to sustain growth of its international education industry, there ... more ABSTRACT As Australia endeavors to sustain growth of its international education industry, there have been major concerns regarding the experience of international students. This review examines the international student experience in Australia, particularly issues surrounding study?work?life balance (SWLB), acculturation, health, and well-being. The current university initiatives of pastoral care services and peer mentoring are evaluated and noted to be underutilized by students. Consequently, an internationalized, university-wide peer-mentor-embedded classroom initiative is proposed. While attempting to overcome the main methodological issues identified, future research is invited to test whether such an initiative is effective in producing positive acculturation, SWLB, health and well-being outcomes for both international and local students. http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/Z6PadIjEfpBSiwNwe55D/full
An epistatic interaction of 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met polymorphisms has been implicated in the s... more An epistatic interaction of 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met polymorphisms has been implicated in the structure of rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) and amygdala (AMY): key regions associated with emotion processing. However, a functional epistasis of 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met on overt emotion processing has yet to be determined. Twenty-eight healthy, Caucasian female participants provided saliva samples for genotyping and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during which an emotion processing protocol were presented. Confirming the validity of this protocol, we observed blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) activity consistent with fMRI meta-analyses on emotion processing. Region-of-interest analysis of the rACC and AMY revealed main effects of 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met, and an interaction of 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met. The effect of the BDNF Met66 allele was dependent on 5-HTTLPR alleles, such that participants with S and Met alleles had the greatest rACC and AM...
Acute neural effects of antidepressant medication on emotion processing biases may provide the fo... more Acute neural effects of antidepressant medication on emotion processing biases may provide the foundation on which clinical outcomes are based. Along with effects on positive and negative stimuli, acute effects on neutral stimuli may also relate to antidepressant efficacy, yet these effects are still to be investigated. The present study therefore examined the impact of a single dose of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor escitalopram (20 mg) on positive, negative and neutral stimuli using pharmaco-fMRI. Within a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover design, healthy women completed 2 sessions of treatment administration and fMRI scanning separated by a 1-week washout period. We enrolled 36 women in our study. When participants were administered escitalopram relative to placebo, left amygdala activity was increased and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) activity was decreased during presentation of positive pictures (potentiation of positive emotion processing...
Background: Converging evidence demonstrates the important role of the neuropeptide hormone oxyto... more Background: Converging evidence demonstrates the important role of the neuropeptide hormone oxytocin (OT) in human behaviour and cognition. Intranasal OT administration has been shown to improve several aspects of social communication, such as the theory of mind performance and gaze to the eye region, and reduce anxiety and related negative cognitive appraisals. While this early research has demonstrated the potential for intranasal OT to treat psychiatric illnesses characterized by social impairments, the neurobiological mechanisms are not well known. Researchers have used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the neural correlates of OT response; however, results have been variable and moderating factors are poorly understood. The aim of this meta-analysis is to synthesize data examining the impact of intranasal OT administration on neural activity. Methods/design: Studies that report fMRI data after intranasal OT administration will be identified. PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar databases will be searched as well as the citation lists of retrieved articles. Eligible articles written in English from 2005 onwards will be included in the meta-analysis, and corresponding authors of these papers will be invited to contribute t-maps. Data will be collected from eligible studies for synthesis using Seed-based d Mapping (SDM) or Multi-Level Kernel Density Analysis (MKDA), depending on the number of usable t-maps received. Additionally, publication bias and risk of bias will be assessed. Discussion: This systematic review and meta-analysis will be the first pre-registered synthesis of data to identify the neural correlates of OT nasal spray response. The identification of brain regions underlying OT's observed effects will help guide future research and better identify treatment targets. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42016038781
ABSTRACT As Australia endeavors to sustain growth of its international education industry, there ... more ABSTRACT As Australia endeavors to sustain growth of its international education industry, there have been major concerns regarding the experience of international students. This review examines the international student experience in Australia, particularly issues surrounding study?work?life balance (SWLB), acculturation, health, and well-being. The current university initiatives of pastoral care services and peer mentoring are evaluated and noted to be underutilized by students. Consequently, an internationalized, university-wide peer-mentor-embedded classroom initiative is proposed. While attempting to overcome the main methodological issues identified, future research is invited to test whether such an initiative is effective in producing positive acculturation, SWLB, health and well-being outcomes for both international and local students. http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/Z6PadIjEfpBSiwNwe55D/full
Acute antidepressant administration modulates neural activity consistent with decreases in negati... more Acute antidepressant administration modulates neural activity consistent with decreases in negative emotion processing bias. However, studies are yet to examine whether treatment facilitates neural activity during reappraisal, an adaptive emotion regulation strategy associated with behavioral treatment response. Here we examine the impact of acute administration on reappraisal of negative stimuli using pharmaco-fMRI. Thirty-six healthy female participants completed two sessions of fMRI scanning, separated by a one-week washout period. A single dose of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, escitalopram (20mg) was administered to participants using a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover design. When participants were administered escitalopram (relative to a placebo) and asked to reappraise negative emotional stimuli, left amygdala activation was decreased and right inferior frontal gyrus (R IFG) activation was increased. Also observed was a greater negative lef...
The following paper presents the first known examination of the experiences of class tutors withi... more The following paper presents the first known examination of the experiences of class tutors within a peer-assisted learning program. Three female first-year class tutors, aged 25-28 years, provided insight into how they experienced a novel peer tutoring program embedded in their tutorials. Using grounded theory techniques, it was found that the following five themes underlie their experiences: role exploration, sharing responsibility, regulation of the peer tutored groups, harnessing the peer tutors' role, and community. Literature from the domain was examined post-hoc and was found to complement these themes. Additionally, it was found that class tutors were beneficiaries of the program. It was suggested that future research address the limitations of the present study and test a number of hypotheses within a novel theoretical framework. The hypotheses were constructed to include the key roles within embedded peer tutoring, and learning climate typologies and dimensions .
Background: Musical performance is a skilled activity performed under intense pressure, thus is o... more Background: Musical performance is a skilled activity performed under intense pressure, thus is often a profound source of anxiety. In other contexts, anxiety and its concomitant symptoms of sympathetic nervous system arousal have been successfully ameliorated with HRV biofeedback (HRV BF), a technique involving slow breathing which augments autonomic and emotional regulatory capacity. Objective: This randomised-controlled study explored the impact of a single 30-minute session of HRV BF on anxiety in response to a highly stressful music performance.
H. Kemp3 1Tilburg University, 2University College London, 3University of Sydney Descriptors: deve... more H. Kemp3 1Tilburg University, 2University College London, 3University of Sydney Descriptors: developmental origins of behaviour, health and disease, maternal lifetime history of mood and anxiety disorders, heart rate variability (HRV) The developmental origins of behavior, health and disease hypothesis proposes short-and long-term consequences of the developmental environment impact on phenotypic variations in behavior, health and disease. Short-term consequences, such as alterations in fetal or infant physiological systems, are seen as an adaptation to the environment, resulting from gene-environment interactions. These consequences may determine functioning of physiological systems, behavioral development, brain-behavior relationships and health or disease expressed later in human life. Some of these assumptions are being tested in our ongoing Prenatal Early Life Stress (PELS)-study. In 140 to 190 mother infant pairs, the association is examined between psychological (stress, depression and anxiety selfreport questionnaires and MINI psychiatric interview) and physiological (HRV, salivary cortisol) measures of maternal mental health/psychopathology in each trimester of pregnancy and infant cognitive, social-emotional and physiological (HRV, Event Related Brain potentials (ERP)) functioning at age 2 and 9 months. Preliminary findings indicate that women with a lifetime anxiety disorder display reduced HRV during the fi rst trimester of pregnancy relative to those without such a history. Critically, the offspring of these mothers also displayed reductions in HRV at 2 months of age. Implications of these fi ndings will be discussed.
Bipolar spectrum disorders (BSDs) are associated with great personal and socioeconomic burden, wi... more Bipolar spectrum disorders (BSDs) are associated with great personal and socioeconomic burden, with patients often facing a delay in detection, misdiagnosis when detected, and a trial-and-error approach to finding the most appropriate treatment. Therefore, improvement in the assessment and management of patients with BSDs is critical. Should valid physiological measures for BSDs be identified and implemented, significant clinical improvements are likely to be realized. This chapter reviews the physiological correlates of BSDs and treatment, and in doing so, examines the neuroimaging, electroencephalogram, and event-related potential, and peripheral physiological correlates that both characterize and differentiate BSDs and their response to treatment. Key correlates of BSDs involve underlying disturbances in prefrontal and limbic network neural activity, early neural processing, and within the autonomic nervous system. These changes appear to be mood-related and can be normalized wit...
Two reported genetic polymorphisms related to the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor... more Two reported genetic polymorphisms related to the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BNDF) and reuptake by the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) appear to contribute to depression in combination with stressful life events. The aim of the current study was to investigate the contribution of early life stress (ELS), BDNF (Val versus Met alleles) and 5-HTT polymorphisms (L versus S alleles) to melancholic (n = 65) and non-melancholic depression (n = 59). A mediation approach ((G × G) × E mediation model) was employed to confirm the indirect effects of ELS on the relationship between 5-HTTPLR × BDNF polymorphism combinations and depression subtype. A series of binary logistic regressions were then conducted to determine whether genotype, ELS, and their interaction were able to predict depression subtype. Key findings indicated that BDNF and 5-HTT polymorphisms in combination with ELS contributed to the development of non-melancholic depression. An interaction between BDNF and ELS increased the risk of non-melancholia by 3.327, whereas the interaction between 5-HTT and ELS increased risk by 2.406. The results support a role for genetic factors in the development of non-melancholia. The lack of findings in melancholia indicates that other mechanisms may underlie the subtype. Alternatively, null findings may reflect a Type II error associated with a small sample size. Future studies should consider further examination of differential gene-environment interactions for melancholia versus non-melancholia.
Background: Musical performance is a skilled activity performed under intense pressure, thus is o... more Background: Musical performance is a skilled activity performed under intense pressure, thus is often a profound source of anxiety. In other contexts, anxiety and its concomitant symptoms of sympathetic nervous system arousal have been successfully ameliorated with HRV biofeedback (HRV BF), a technique involving slow breathing which augments autonomic and emotional regulatory capacity. Objective: This randomised-controlled study explored the impact of a single 30-minute session of HRV BF on anxiety in response to a highly stressful music performance.
ABSTRACT As Australia endeavors to sustain growth of its international education industry, there ... more ABSTRACT As Australia endeavors to sustain growth of its international education industry, there have been major concerns regarding the experience of international students. This review examines the international student experience in Australia, particularly issues surrounding study?work?life balance (SWLB), acculturation, health, and well-being. The current university initiatives of pastoral care services and peer mentoring are evaluated and noted to be underutilized by students. Consequently, an internationalized, university-wide peer-mentor-embedded classroom initiative is proposed. While attempting to overcome the main methodological issues identified, future research is invited to test whether such an initiative is effective in producing positive acculturation, SWLB, health and well-being outcomes for both international and local students. http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/Z6PadIjEfpBSiwNwe55D/full
An epistatic interaction of 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met polymorphisms has been implicated in the s... more An epistatic interaction of 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met polymorphisms has been implicated in the structure of rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) and amygdala (AMY): key regions associated with emotion processing. However, a functional epistasis of 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met on overt emotion processing has yet to be determined. Twenty-eight healthy, Caucasian female participants provided saliva samples for genotyping and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during which an emotion processing protocol were presented. Confirming the validity of this protocol, we observed blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) activity consistent with fMRI meta-analyses on emotion processing. Region-of-interest analysis of the rACC and AMY revealed main effects of 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met, and an interaction of 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met. The effect of the BDNF Met66 allele was dependent on 5-HTTLPR alleles, such that participants with S and Met alleles had the greatest rACC and AM...
Acute neural effects of antidepressant medication on emotion processing biases may provide the fo... more Acute neural effects of antidepressant medication on emotion processing biases may provide the foundation on which clinical outcomes are based. Along with effects on positive and negative stimuli, acute effects on neutral stimuli may also relate to antidepressant efficacy, yet these effects are still to be investigated. The present study therefore examined the impact of a single dose of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor escitalopram (20 mg) on positive, negative and neutral stimuli using pharmaco-fMRI. Within a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover design, healthy women completed 2 sessions of treatment administration and fMRI scanning separated by a 1-week washout period. We enrolled 36 women in our study. When participants were administered escitalopram relative to placebo, left amygdala activity was increased and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) activity was decreased during presentation of positive pictures (potentiation of positive emotion processing...
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Papers by Tim Outhred