MRFF funding for psychedelic psychotherapy in treatment-resistant depression

Psilocybin is a naturally derived psychedelic that can

potentially assist people with treatment-resistant depression.
Image: ACS

The Medical Research Future Fund Clinical Trials Activity Initiative has awarded $2.7M for Innovative Therapies for Mental Illness to a Monash University-led team, to evaluate the efficacy of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in treatment-resistant depression.   

The calculus of death shows the COVID lock-down is clearly worth the cost

The Conversation article by Dr Neil Bailey, Adjunct Research Fellow, MAPrc

The calculus of death shows the COVID lock-down is clearly worth the cost.

Conversation article by Dr Neil Bailey

Will the number of lives saved as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions be outweighed by the deaths from an economic recession?

This is a vital question to answer for governments responding to the current global tragedy.

Without numbers, there’s no obvious way of working out whether the economic impacts of the lock-down could be more harmful than the virus.
Read full article

Putting mindfulness to the test

Theta connectivity averaged across
conditions. Image: Neil Bailey

by Anne Crawford

Mindfulness meditation with its images of people sitting cross-legged and closed-eyed was once thought of as being almost mystical, but scientific studies are revealing very tangible benefits to those practising it and observable changes in the brain.

The practice has been shown to be effective for preventing the relapse of depression and for other mental illnesses such as anxiety, for relieving stress and helping with chronic pain. People who use it show improved attention.

But the cause of these changes is unclear and under-researched. Now, a Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc) study is set to look for the mechanism that leads to the practice’s positive effects.

Media mention: Dr Neil Bailey in 7 June ABC Catalyst, "The Science of Meditation"

ABC Catalyst 7 June 2016 featuring Dr Neil Bailey, MAPrc.  "The Science of Meditation – can it really change you?"  Read full story: www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4477405.htm

Schizophrenia and working memory

Researchers at MAPrc have published a pair of research papers providing crucial proof-of-principle for a new treatment for cognitive impairment in schizophrenia.  Cognitive impairment is a core symptom of schizophrenia, occurring in greater than 80% of patients, and results in considerable functional disability. Despite the prevalence and significant burden associated with these symptoms, treatment options are few and of limited effectiveness.

Participants sought: Do mindfulness meditators show different attention related brain activity compared to healthy controls?

Not you? Healthy non-meditators sought for study.

Do mindfulness meditators show different attention related brain activity compared to healthy controls?

Volunteers aged between 18 and 65 are sought for a research study being conducted at the Alfred Hospital. This is a study comparing brain activity in people who have meditation experience with healthy controls. It involves the measurement of brain activity using electroencephalogram (EEG), which is a non-invasive way to record brain's electrical activity.

We require both volunteers who have experience with meditation, and volunteers who have no experience with meditation. At the moment, we are particularly recruiting healthy non-meditators. You will undergo a brief interview and participate in a number of tasks assessing brain function.
Testing will occur at the Alfred Hospital over one sessions, lasting about 3 hours. Participants will be reimbursed $30 for the session.

If you are interested and think you may be able to participate, please contact:

• Dr Neil Bailey ph 9076 8691
• Ms Gabby Freedman email gabrielle.freedman@monash.edu

For more about MAPrc research, see www.maprc.org.au/.

Vote for Mindfulness video to help win a "Thinkable award" for Neil Bailey's research

Vote for Neil's "Thinkable Award" video

Dr Neil Bailey, Monash Alfred Psychiatry research centre, describes how mindfulness changes our brain to prevent mental illness.

Vote on Neil's video for the 2015 Thinkable Award: http://thinkable.org/submission/2037 to help fund the research. If Neil's video gets the most number of votes he'll win $5000!

Mindfulness: a mental health technique which should be taught early and often

Dr Neil Bailey's 'Thinkable Open
Innovation Award' video entry.

Dr Neil Bailey, based at the Monash Alfred Psychiatry research centre, researches how techniques of mindfulness (or meditation) change our brain to prevent or ameliorate mental illness. Recent research has shown that the brain's grey matter is diminished in psychiatric disorders, and conserved or even augmented with mindfulness practice. Neil describes in this video the particular aspect his research is investigating.

• Vote for Neil's video for the Thinkable Award. The winner is awarded $5000: http://thinkable.org/submission/2037
• Monash is offering mindfulness practice courses to staff: Link