Brain Dynamics Centre

At any one time 1.25 million Australians will be experiencing some form of brain disorder or mental health issue.

The goal of the Brain Dynamics Centre (BDC) research is to shed light on the workings of the human brain, and the cause and treatment of brain-related disorders.

The Brain Dynamics Centre is a world leader in using an integrative approach to imaging the brain. We combine information from behaviour, brain imaging and genetics to identify markers of mental illness and treatment evaluation. We have developed a number of new ways to analyse and model patterns of brain dysfunction and response to treatment.

This work is supported by a multidisciplinary team of researchers and clinicians. The Brain Dynamics Centre also oversees an international network of researchers which is part of the first fully standardized database of behavioral, brain and genetic information.

The clinical disorders studied in by the centre include:

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Conduct disorder
• Schizophrenia and first episode psychosis
• Bipolar disorder
• Major Depression
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety disorders
• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Epilepsy
• Alzheimer’s Disorder.

Professor Lea Williams is Director of the Brain Dynamics Centre (BDC), and Professor of Psychological Medicine at the University of Sydney and Westmead Millennium Institute.

Recent Breakthroughs

The following breakthroughs have been made:

• first evidence that the interaction of early life stress and genotype can disrupt brain function in a way that increases risk for depression and anxiety.
• first evidence that performance on objective tests of cognition (assessing memory attention and emotional intelligence) predict real-world outcomes from the first episode of schizophrenia, whereas symptoms do not predict these outcomes.
• established the first profile of objective brain and behaviour markers that identify ADHD with up to 90% sensitivity.
• dDevelopment of the first model of the human brain derived from real physiological information.
• iIdentification of brain systems for subconscious processing of fear, which are over-active in anxiety disorders like PTSD.

More Information

For more information please visit The Brain Dynamics Centre website.