Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100401
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$393,903.00
Summary
Deconstructing the brain circuits of reward-seeking. This project aims to deconstruct the brain circuits that shape reward-seeking behaviour in different environments. The anticipated significance of this project is to provide mechanistic insights into why we choose to seek rewards in safe, but not dangerous environments. Expected outcomes include answering fundamental questions about how the environment shapes our behaviour by identifying projection cell subtypes important for reward-seeking, c ....Deconstructing the brain circuits of reward-seeking. This project aims to deconstruct the brain circuits that shape reward-seeking behaviour in different environments. The anticipated significance of this project is to provide mechanistic insights into why we choose to seek rewards in safe, but not dangerous environments. Expected outcomes include answering fundamental questions about how the environment shapes our behaviour by identifying projection cell subtypes important for reward-seeking, characterising their neuronal activity and precisely defining their molecular phenotype. The benefits of this project are expected to provide a new knowledge base for understanding decision-making in a constantly changing world.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100950
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$459,051.00
Summary
Identifying hypothalamic circuits that integrate stress and metabolism. This project aims to investigate how the brain integrates threat during hunger. Using cutting-edge technology to manipulate and record neural activity this project will elucidate the brain circuits that integrate threat and appetite to minimize stress exposure during foraging. This will expand our knowledge on how the brain perceives and responds to hunger and may provide relevant information for a large number of basic biol ....Identifying hypothalamic circuits that integrate stress and metabolism. This project aims to investigate how the brain integrates threat during hunger. Using cutting-edge technology to manipulate and record neural activity this project will elucidate the brain circuits that integrate threat and appetite to minimize stress exposure during foraging. This will expand our knowledge on how the brain perceives and responds to hunger and may provide relevant information for a large number of basic biological processes controlling the brain. Expected outcomes of this project will contribute to a better understanding of the circuitry controlling more complex decisions from food selection through to social interactions. This should provide significant benefits for Australia’s competitiveness within neuroscience research.Read moreRead less
The impact of circadian and sleep factors on neurodevelopment. This project aims to longitudinally examine the contributions of multiple circadian and sleep factors on the development of the teen brain. Adolescence is associated with a change in the internal body clock, leading to later bed and wake times and loss of sleep. It is also a time when the teenage brain is rapidly maturing to support learning. Despite the known importance of sleep in adolescence we know little about how the circadian ....The impact of circadian and sleep factors on neurodevelopment. This project aims to longitudinally examine the contributions of multiple circadian and sleep factors on the development of the teen brain. Adolescence is associated with a change in the internal body clock, leading to later bed and wake times and loss of sleep. It is also a time when the teenage brain is rapidly maturing to support learning. Despite the known importance of sleep in adolescence we know little about how the circadian clock and sleep impacts the developing brain. Our project expects to advance understanding of the importance of sleep and circadian timing for healthy brain and cognitive development. This knowledge will inform policy and prevention/intervention programs to benefit individuals, parents and the community.Read moreRead less
Impact of cognitive task demands on the accumulation/dissipation of fatigue. Fatigue-related errors and accidents that occur at work cost the Australian economy $5.8 billion every year. Regulators and employers use mathematical models in special software to assess the fatigue risk associated with work schedules based on prior wake, time of day and recent sleep. Incredibly though, these models assume that the demands of your job have no influence on your level of fatigue, i.e., they do not differ ....Impact of cognitive task demands on the accumulation/dissipation of fatigue. Fatigue-related errors and accidents that occur at work cost the Australian economy $5.8 billion every year. Regulators and employers use mathematical models in special software to assess the fatigue risk associated with work schedules based on prior wake, time of day and recent sleep. Incredibly though, these models assume that the demands of your job have no influence on your level of fatigue, i.e., they do not differentiate between sitting quietly at work – and controlling air traffic, performing surgery or driving a truck. This project will improve the models by assessing how mental task demands affect fatigue. Models that are better able to predict fatigue will improve the health, safety and productivity of the Australian workforce.Read moreRead less
Charting the human brain connectome over the lifespan. This project aims to develop neuroimaging reference charts for the human connectome and track the vast individual variability in brain connectivity across the life course. Connectomes will be mapped using tractography and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging data for 40,000 individuals, establishing the largest connectome biobank to date. Expected outcomes include an innovative lifespan brain charting platform, new paradigms to model individ ....Charting the human brain connectome over the lifespan. This project aims to develop neuroimaging reference charts for the human connectome and track the vast individual variability in brain connectivity across the life course. Connectomes will be mapped using tractography and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging data for 40,000 individuals, establishing the largest connectome biobank to date. Expected outcomes include an innovative lifespan brain charting platform, new paradigms to model individual brain variability and knowledge of how cognition, lifestyle and environment shape brain ageing. Brain charting will usher in a new era of precision connectomics, paving the way towards neuroscience-based personalisation of pathways in education, employment and wellbeing. Read moreRead less
Thinking about possibilities: Towards a unified cognitive framework. Thoughts about possibilities are fundamental to what makes us human. We routinely imagine what might happen in the future and reflect on how the past could have turned out differently. This psychology project aims to establish the circumstances in which children and non-human primates think about alternative possibilities, and to explain how they do it. The project expects to provide new knowledge of cognitive development and e ....Thinking about possibilities: Towards a unified cognitive framework. Thoughts about possibilities are fundamental to what makes us human. We routinely imagine what might happen in the future and reflect on how the past could have turned out differently. This psychology project aims to establish the circumstances in which children and non-human primates think about alternative possibilities, and to explain how they do it. The project expects to provide new knowledge of cognitive development and evolution, and to distinguish between simple and complex processes for thinking about possibilities. Expected benefits include progress towards a unified cognitive framework that may ultimately be leveraged to help people better reason about possibilities and bring them to fruition.Read moreRead less