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Breathing Protocols to Enhance Heart Health and Mental Well-being for Improved Hauora
Breathing Protocols to Enhance Heart Health and Mental Well-being for Improved Hauora
Different ways of breathing can influence how we feel and how our body responds to stress. This study aims to investigate how three guided breathing techniques affect the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and how these physical changes relate to stress and symptoms of anxiety.
Contact our Recruitment email if you would like more information: recruitment.imageotago@otago.ac.nz
Validation of Portable Tools to Measure Carbon Dioxide in Exhaled Breath
Validation of Portable Tools to Measure Carbon Dioxide in Exhaled Breath
While breathwork practices have been used to reduce stress and anxiety for centuries across many cultures, the introduction of relevant physiological feedback into these techniques would allow for personalised breathwork based on individual metabolic needs. We are currently able to measure many aspects of breath and heart physiology, however, the laboratory-grade devices we commonly use are bulky and cannot be used outside of the lab. In this study, we are aiming to validate the accuracy of a new portable carbon dioxide (CO2) measuring device, a flowmeter measuring breathing flow dynamics, an oxygenation sensor measuring oxygen content in the blood, and a portable stethoscope device to measure key respiratory and cardiac signals.
Contact our Recruitment email if you would like more information: recruitment.imageotago@otago.ac.nz
Precision Functional Mapping of the Human Brain using Resting State fMRI – Novel Treatment Validation
Precision Functional Mapping of the Human Brain using Resting State fMRI – Novel Treatment Validation
Anxiety is among the most common mental health disorders in New Zealand. Unfortunately, many people do not respond well to standard anxiety treatment options. Currently, there is no reliable method of identifying those who will respond to treatment, from those who will not. Our research uses precision functional mapping, a specialised brain imaging technique that captures individual brain organisation. We aim to show that precision functional mapping can be used to accurately predict successful response to a novel anxiety treatment in participants with treatment-resistant anxiety disorders. Specifically, we will use fMRI to investigate individual brain organisation associated with anxiety improvement following treatment. In the future, this individual brain data could be used to inform precision medicine, enabling the creation of individually tailored treatment plans.
We’re looking for people with generalised and/or social anxiety who have not responded to conventional treatment. All participants will receive a single dose of the novel treatment, which has been found to reduce anxiety ratings in about 70%. We want to image your brain before and after dosing. If you are a responder we can offer you further doses over 12 weeks, to help sustain this effect.
Contact our Recruitment email if you would like more information: recruitment.imageotago@otago.ac.nz
Breathing Perception and its Relationship to Anxiety: Measuring the Effects of Antidepressants on Behaviour
Breathing Perception and its Relationship to Anxiety: Measuring the Effects of Antidepressants on Behaviour
One treatment that is known to typically improve anxiety symptoms is a type of drug called selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs, e.g. citalopram, sertraline). Therefore, the main goal of this study is to understand how this type of treatment changes our mood, as well as general perceptions of our body and the rest of the world. This information will help us understand how the treatment works, and how we can best use it in the future to help people cope with their anxiety.
We are currently recruiting individuals who are in the first seven days of SSRI use.
Contact our Recruitment email if you would like more information: recruitment.imageotago@otago.ac.nz
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