18. GOALS FOR FELLOWSHIP TRAINING AND CAREER Should I receive this fellowship, I would be freed from teaching responsiblities and would be able to focus my efforts on my proposed area of research. I hope to use this fellowship to further findings from research conducted as an undergraduate. Specifically, my research will focus on understanding the impact of depression in presymptomatic Huntington's disease. Additionally, I will learn to diagnose mood disorders in a neurological sample, and will better learn frontal-subcortical circuitry and functioning. I am fascinated by the complexity of the human brain, and wish to dedicate significant energy to understanding the mechanisms responsible for psychological symptoms following brain damage due to disease or injury. As a result, I hope to pursue a career dedicated to clinical neuropsychological research applied in a medical setting. _PONSOR 19. NAME AND DEGREE(S) Jane S. Paulsen, Ph.D. 20. POSITION/RANK Professor 21. RESEARCHINTERESTS/AREANSeuropsychology, Huntington's disease, and dementia RESEARCH PROPOSAL 22. DESCRIPTION (Do notexceed space provided) The proposed study will examine depression in presymptomatic Huntington's disease (HD). Presymptomatic individuals will be recruited through the NIH-funded PREDICT-HD study. This training proposal consists of Itwo distinct stages. During the first stage, data collected during the PREDICT-HD study will be analyzed. The relationship between reported depression symptom severity, approximate nearness to disease onset, verbal memory, working memory, and visuospatial ability will be assessed. Additional information will be collected during the second stage of this proposal: a subgroup of individuals participating in PREDICT-HD will be assessed for mood disorders using the SCID and will complete a measure of relationship distress. This study will assess the relationship between mood disorders, nearness to disease onset, relationship distress, working ,memory, and visuospatial ability. PHS 418-1 (Rev. 12/98) Form Page 2 BB CC Individual NRSA Application NAME (Last, first, middle initial) Table of Contents ========================================Section End===========================================
| Paulsen, Jane S; Nehl, Carissa; Hoth, Karin Ferneyhough et al. (2005) Depression and stages of Huntington's disease. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 17:496-502 |
| Paulsen, Jane S; Hoth, Karin Ferneyhough; Nehl, Carissa et al. (2005) Critical periods of suicide risk in Huntington's disease. Am J Psychiatry 162:725-31 |
