Kamilla Miskowiak receives two grants

Many people with bipolar disorder experience persistent memory and concentration difficulties. The cognitive difficulties impair their ability to work and increase the risk of relapse.

‘We don't yet have effective treatments for these difficulties. Our knowledge of the neurobiological basis and the development of cognitive disorders over time is limited,’ explains Kamilla Miskowiak, professor and head of the NEAD research centre at the Department of Psychology and Psychiatric Centre Copenhagen.

Studies that follow people with bipolar disorder and their first-degree relatives over a number of years are crucial. The PREDICT-10 project, based at Psychiatric Centre Copenhagen, is part of the largest prospective study of bipolar disorder to date.

‘Since 2015, we have followed 420 people with newly diagnosed bipolar disorder, 140 of their first-degree relatives and 220 healthy controls,’ explains Kamilla Miskowiak, who can now expand the studies with DKK 2.3 million in funding from Independent Research Fund Denmark.

In line with the psychiatry plan

PREDICT-10 aims to identify a measurable marker (consisting of blood, hair and urine biomarkers as well as smartphone, brain scan and neuropsychological test data) that can be used to predict cognitive and brain changes over time.

‘By identifying a measurable marker, we hope to be able to develop early preventive interventions targeting people with bipolar disorder and those at increased risk of developing mental illness or relapse,’ says Kamilla Miskowiak and elaborates:

‘This will help optimise patient care and reduce the burden on healthcare systems - which is in line with the objectives of the Danish 10-year plan for psychiatry and mental health.’

Enzymes come into play

In another project supported by Independent Research Fund Denmark, Kamilla Miskowiak will explore the cognitive disorders that impair the quality of life and level of functioning of people with neuropsychiatric disorders.

‘Cognitive impairment is caused by problems with the brain's ability to adapt and change, the brain's so-called plasticity. So far, however, attempts to improve this plasticity have not been very successful,’ explains Kamilla Miskowiak.

In the research project called ‘Epigenetic priming to enhance Cognitive Training across Mice and Humans with Neuropsychiatric Disorders - EPIC’, Kamilla Miskowiak will investigate enzymes called histone deacetylases (HDAC). They play a role in neuropsychiatric disorders and weaken genes that are important for brain plasticity.

Combining treatment methods

HDAC inhibitors can improve patients' brain plasticity and memory – but only when active learning is involved.

‘We want to investigate whether HDAC inhibitors together with cognitive training can provide long-term improvements in cognition and brain plasticity in both humans and mice,’ says Kamilla Miskowiak.

She will test this by giving patients with affective disorders in remission and mice the HDAC inhibitor sodium butyrate together with cognitive training for three weeks.

The EPIC project, also administered by Psychiatric Centre Copenhagen, is supported with DKK 4.4 million from the Independent Research Fund Denmark.