Objective
"Background: Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are severe mental illnesses which cause high rates of disability, social and economic costs. Although there is compelling evidence of a genetic contribution to psychosis and we know deficits in neuronal connectivity are a key factor, the pathophysiology and aetiology of the disease remain poorly understood. Aims: (i) To identify biomarkers of neural dys-connectivity characterising psychosis through neurophysiological and neuropsychological techniques. (ii) To apply such biomarkers in genetic association studies in order to understand the mechanisms by which variation at certain loci leads to the onset of the disease. Methods: Neurophysiology is a non-invasive and inexpensive technique with a superb temporal resolution that allows the study of perceptual and cognitive processes in vivo. My UCL supervisor and I have collected a large sample of families with psychosis cases including 300 patients, 220 unaffected relatives and 300 controls. Participants completed a battery of experiments including resting EEG, P300 wave, P50 gating, Mismatch Negativity and cognitive assessments. I will train in advanced analytics using Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM), which tests models of neural activity and its synchronisation deficits and is a new tool in psychiatry. Through DCM I will identify novel measures of brain dys-connectivity to use as phenotypes for genetic association. I will examine candidate genes, identified through association studies using Plink and Unphased software. I will train in gene ontology tools to perform pathway analyses using the extensive genome-wide genotyping that is already available on my sample. UCL, a centre of excellence in neuroscience, will host my research. Implications: Biomarkers of brain connectivity could be used towards the earlier detection and treatment of psychosis. Understanding the mechanisms of action of susceptibility genes is essential to develop safer and more effective new treatments."
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciences biological sciences neurobiology
- natural sciences computer and information sciences knowledge engineering ontology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology pathophysiology
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine psychiatry schizophrenia
- social sciences psychology cognitive psychology
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Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF
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Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
WC1E 6BT LONDON
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