Researcher Highlights
Brain, mind and the ties that bind

By focusing on the interplay between brain, behaviour and environment, Professor Frini Karayanidis' cognitive neuroscience research is helping to craft a clearer picture of how we efficiently and adaptively apply cognitive control processes across the lifespan.

The human mind is an astonishing device; ever-changing and ever-adapting to its environment. Professor Frini Karayanidis has dedicated more than 15 years to studying the mechanisms by which the brain understands and enables change.

"The brain is an evolving, highly interactive system that both affects how we interact with our environment and is affected by this environment," she explains.

"Contrary to common belief, our brain continues to develop throughout our lifespan. This development is implemented differently in the minds of the young and old, ill and healthy."

Frini's research is conducted in the Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory (FNL) in the School of Psychology, a joint facility with multiple labs at Callaghan, Ourimbah and the HMRI Imaging Centre. As director, Frini is keen to sing its praise.

"We have extensive state-of-the-art facilities to assess the structural and functional properties of the brain and evaluate behaviour in healthy and clinical populations."

'Age-ility Project'

Frini is engaged as both lead investigator and collaborating researcher in three major projects at the University of Newcastle.

The 'Age-ility Project' is an ARC-funded project that examines how individual variability in the neural systems that enable executive functions or cognitive control across the lifespan, impact on adaptive functioning at different stages of life. Executive functions refer to those processes that orchestrate complex behaviour into well-established and flexible routines.

"Often we conceptualise simple everyday behaviours, such as cooking a meal or driving to work as a simple, unitary routine," Frini says.

"In fact, they both involve a complex interplay between multiple sensory and motor processes that are orchestrated into a single, seamless process by the frontal lobes of the brain."

Frini notes that the complexity of these behaviour routines becomes evident in people who have executive function deficits because of damage to their frontal lobes. When the orchestrating role of the frontal lobes of the brain is disrupted, what used to be a simple, seamless process can become a number of poorly coordinated sub-processes.

"For instance in severe cases, the patient is so heavily distracted by irrelevant contextual cues that they may be unable to complete the sequence of simple steps involved in making a cup of tea," Frini reveals.

"As our 'frontal' brain is also involved in regulating our emotional responses, these patients often become frustrated when realising their disability, which further compounds their problem."

A primary aim of the 'Age-ility Project' is to examine how individual variability in the development of brain networks and executive functions can account for differences in propensity towards high-risk behaviours in young people.

"We are examining whether differences in the rate of development and efficiency of frontal brain centres that enable cognitive control, make some young people more vulnerable to engagement in high- risk behaviours without consideration of the consequences," Frini describes.

"Risk-taking forms an integral and adaptive part of the transition from childhood to adulthood."

As a 'perfectively natural' part of the developmental spectrum, Frini asserts such behaviours demonstrate age-appropriate development of executive functioning.

"Most young people will go through a period of engaging in risk-taking to a level where it enables them to extend themselves and develop new behavioural repertoires."

In fact, failure to safely flirt with and carefully assess and manage risks can lead to maladaptive behaviours later in life. Some risk behaviours can have adverse lifelong consequences for the young person and the people around them, and impose a significant burden on legal and health services.

"Our project aims to characterise those neural processes that tip the system over the edge, leading to unconsidered engagement in risk behaviours against the person's better judgement," the Deputy Head of the School of Psychology for Research and Research Training observes.

"This understanding is critical as it will inform future work into how to identify young people most at risk and intervene early to help prevent extreme behaviours."

"An obvious example is the alcohol culture among young people."

"Those young people who display age-appropriate development of executive functioning are able to manage the risks and engage with the culture consciously, knowing how and when they engage."

The first phase of this longitudinal study has so far collected data from more than 250 young people aged 15-35 years. It is one of few data sets internationally that combines detailed brain imaging, electrophysiological, experimental and neuropsychological data with detailed self-report and informant assessments (e.g., parents, partners and friends) of the young person's personality, quality of life and adaptive functioning in their environment.

Committed to being an open-data project, the first phase of the 'Age-ility Project' was published in the prestigious journal NeuroImage and the imaging data were placed on the open access NIH-funded Neuroimaging Informatics Tools and Resources Clearinghouse (NITRC) repository. Since January 2015, the dataset has been downloaded over 350 times by researchers internationally.

"These data have already led to new opportunities for national and international collaborations," Frini exclaims.

"In addition, open access means that these data can be downloaded by research students and early career researchers internationally who don't have funding to collect their own imaging data and can be used to develop new ideas and projects that will progress their career."

"We have started collecting phase two data, but are seeking funding to support the longitudinal part of the project which aims to retest people at 2-yearly intervals."

"By tracking the developmental trajectories of brain, mind and behaviour over the transition from adolescence to adulthood, we will have a unique insight into the antecedents of adaptive and maladaptive developmental pathways and this will inform approaches to prevention and intervention."

"Our participants are very committed to the project; we have an amazing retention rate of over 90%, exceeding our expectations. We owe it to them to find the funding to continue."

Executive functioning: at both ends of the lifespan

Frini is collaboratively involved in a number of other brain and mind research initiatives providing expertise on trajectories of change and executive functioning.

A lead investigator at the Centre for Research Excellence in Stroke Rehabilitation and Recovery, Frini is extending in her work on healthy ageing into the area of cognitive recovery from stroke. She contributes imaging, EEG and neuropsychological expertise to projects overseen by the Centre.

"Stroke can affect the efficiency of executive functions, and unless addressed as part of the rehabilitation process, these cognition issues can affect motor recovery and restoration of premorbid level of functioning," Frini observes.

"The same applies to healthy ageing – often emerging changes in executive functioning are at the root of many difficulties with living an independent and productive life."

"If we can identify the mechanisms that bring about these changes and intervene early, older adults will be able to maintain greater quality of life for longer."

At the other extreme of the age range, together with other researchers from the Neurodevelopmental Research Centre, Frini is examining maternal and health factors that contribute to healthy development of executive functions in babies as young as 6 weeks of age. This work forms part of a new collaboration with researchers investigating severe asthma.

As deputy Director of the UON Priority Research Centre and the HMRI Program for Brain and Mental Health, Frini is heavily focussed on bringing together researchers from the School of Psychology with clinical and applied researchers, in order to study the role of the brain/mind nexus on clinical outcomes and community wellbeing.

"Our research is very much supported by HMRI and the University."