Mood & Psychosis Spectrum

Laboratory Head

A/Prof Tamsyn van Rheenen

Members

Lisa Furlong (PhD Candidate)

Elysha Ringin (PhD Candidate)

Georgia Caruana (PhD Candidate)

Reuben Dyer (PhD Candidate)

Allegra Micomonaco (Honours student)

Dr James Karantonis (Clinical Associate)

Rebecca Cooper (Research Assistant)

The Mood - Psychosis Spectrum Research Group aims to understand links between the brain, cognition and behaviour in bipolar disorder and related illnesses on the mood-psychosis spectrum. We focus on characterising neurocognitive and social cognitive functioning in these illnesses and ascertaining their mechanisms and moderators using behavioural, neuroimaging and neurobiological techniques.

@MPSG_research

ICoN-BD Study

ICoN-BD is short for 'Identifying Correlates of Neuropsychological functioning in Bipolar Disorder'. Using a combination of physical, neurological, clinical and cognitive assessments, this research project aims to get a better understanding of the reasons for the variability in thinking and emotional skills in people with bipolar disorder.

In doing so, this research will help us to better understand bipolar disorder itself, and to develop more effective and targeted intervention strategies for those that experience thinking skill and emotional difficulties

More Info

BDRR

The Bipolar Disorder Research Registry (BDRR) is a database of everyday Australians who wish to participate in research focusing on bipolar disorder and other related disorders. You do not have to have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder to be on the registry, just an interest in research.

Researchers rely on the generosity of others to give up their time to participate in a range of assessments, from simple surveys to brain scans. The greater the number of participants in a study, the more meaningful data becomes, and that's why the registry is so important.

Privacy and confidentiality are of the utmost importance, and so if you choose to provide us with your details, know that your information is secure. The registry cannot be accessed by the public. It is hoped that with the support of our local communities, we can start to start to tackle the big questions around mental illness, in particular, bipolar disorder.

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The COLLATE Project

The COvid-19 and you: mentaL heaLth in AusTralia now survEy (COLLATE) is an ongoing study that involves a series of anonymous online surveys of members of the general Australian public aged 18 years and above. Participants are able to complete as many or as few surveys as they would like, to enable the capture of several cross-sectional ‘snapshots’ of mental health and wellbeing at different timepoints of the pandemic, with the option to be followed longitudinally. Data was captured monthly in the first year of the pandemic (2020), moving to yearly thereafter. The next survey will open in April 2023.

Further information about the project can be found here: https://twitter.com/collateproject

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HAPPI Project

The Hypomanic Attitudes and Positive Predictions Inventory (HAPPI) is a questionnaire developed to measure extreme appraisal of internal states. Appraisal-focused research is particularly relevant for people who are vulnerable to mood swings (e.g. those with bipolar disorder) as extreme appraisals may lead to mood changes in this group. Currently, the HAPPI questionnaire has 61 questions (HAPPI-61) which limits its use in research and clinical practice. The aim of this study is to determine the factor structure of the HAPPI-61 and to subsequently reduce the number of items in the questionnaire. The validity of the shortened questionnaire will then be tested. This is a collaborative project between the University of Melbourne, The University of Michigan and Northumbria University. The Australian arm of data collection will commence shortly.

Trajectories of cognition in the ICONIC-BD consortium

This is a globally collaborative project that is focused on understanding the cognitive trajectory of bipolar disorder using data from the International Consortium Investigating Neurocognition in Bipolar Disorder (ICONIC-BD). Data will be analysed in two phases – i) at each contributing site according to a pre-specified analysis pipeline for replication purposes, and ii) at the University of Melbourne using harmonised individual-level data. If you have pre-existing cognitive data in people with bipolar disorder and are interesting in contributing to this project, please contact A/Professor Tamsyn Van Rheenen, tamsyn.van@unimelb.edu.au.

Key Publications

Van Rheenen TE, Cotton SM., Dandash O, Cooper RE, Ringin E, Daglas R, Allot K, Fornito A, Macneil C, Hasty M, Hallam K, Suo C, McGorry P, Yücel M, Pantelis C and Berk M. (2023) Evidence of increased cortical surface area but not altered cortical thickness in first episode mania. Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 110687

Ringin E., Dunstan DW., McIntyre, R, Berk M., Owen N, Rossell SL., Van Rheenen TE (2023) Interactive relationships of Type 2 diabetes and bipolar disorder with cognition: evidence of putative premature cognitive ageing in the UK Biobank Cohort. Neuropsychopharmacology, 48, 362-370

Karantonis J, Carruthers SP, Burdick, KE, Pantelis C, Green M, Rossell SL, Hughes M, Cropley V and Van Rheenen TE.(2023) Brain morphological characteristics of cognitive subgroups of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and bipolar disorder: a systematic review with narrative synthesis. Neuropsychology Review, 33 192-220

Ringin E., Meyer D., Neill E., Phillipou A., Tan EJ., Toh WL, Sumner PJ., Owen N., Hallgren M., Dunstand D., Rossell SL., Van Rheenen TE (2022). Psychological-health correlates of physical activity and sedentary behaviour during the COVID pandemic. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 100481

Van Rheenen TE, Miskowiak K., Karantonis J, Furlong L., Murray G., Rossell S.L. (2022). Understanding familial liability for emotion regulation difficulties in bipolar disorder. Psychological Medicine, 52, 2614-2621

Karantonis, J. A., S. P. Carruthers, S. L. Rossell, C. Pantelis, M. Hughes, C. Wannan, V. Cropley and T. E. Van Rheenen (2021). A Systematic Review of Cognition-Brain Morphology Relationships on the Schizophrenia-Bipolar Disorder Spectrum. Schizophrenia Bulletin 47(6): 1557-1600

Furlong L.S, Rossell S.L, Caruana, G.F, Cropley V.L, Hughes M, Van Rheenen T.E. (2021) The activity and connectivity of the facial emotion processing neural circuitry in bipolar disorder: a systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 279, 518-548

Van Rheenen TE, Lewandowski KE, Bauer I, Kapczinski F., Miskowiak K., Burdick, KE, Balanza-Martinez, V. (2020). Current understandings of the trajectory and emerging correlates of cognitive impairment in bipolar disorder: an overview of evidence. Bipolar Disorders, 22:13–27

Van Rheenen T.E., Cropley VL., Wells R., Bruggemann J., Swaminathan V, Sundram S, Weinberg W., Jacomb I, Lenroot R, Pereira AM, Zalesky A, Bousman C, Shannon Weickert C, Weickert TW, Pantelis P. (2020) Cognitive Reserve Attenuates Age-Related Cognitive Decline in the Context of Accelerated Brain Ageing in Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders. Psychological Medicine, 50, 1475-1489

Van Rheenen T.E., Lewandowski KE., Tan, E., Ospina, L., Ongur D, Malhotra A., Neill, E, Gurvich, E., Pantelis, C., Rossell SL., Burdick KE. (2017). Characterising cognitive heterogeneity on the schizophrenia – bipolar spectrum. Psychological Medicine, 47, 1848-1864