Mapping the connectome that controls blood pressure. The connections that an individual brain cell receives from other cells ultimately determines its behaviour. Using a revolutionary new technique, the project will create a map of the brain cells that control blood pressure.
Development of sympathetic nerve pathways. The mature nervous system contains many types of neurons connected in precise ways. Developing neurons must make many decisions about what type of neuron to become and what connections to make. This study looks at the mechanisms that guide the developing neurons in these important decisions.
Neural migration: Which cells advance and which stay behind? This project aims to examine the neural crest cells that colonise the developing gut and to identify why some cells advance while others stay behind to populate a region. Directed cell migration is essential for normal development, including for the nervous system. In most of the migratory cell populations that have been analysed to date, all of the cells migrate as a collective from one location to another. However, there are also mi ....Neural migration: Which cells advance and which stay behind? This project aims to examine the neural crest cells that colonise the developing gut and to identify why some cells advance while others stay behind to populate a region. Directed cell migration is essential for normal development, including for the nervous system. In most of the migratory cell populations that have been analysed to date, all of the cells migrate as a collective from one location to another. However, there are also migratory cell populations that must populate the areas through which they migrate, and thus some cells get left behind while others advance. The planned data are likely to be relevant to other cell populations that also populate the areas through which they migrate, including neural crest-derived melanocytes and Schwann cell precursors.Read moreRead less
The jugular vagal sensory connectome regulating visceral function. Internal body organs have a rich supply of sensory nerve fibres that serve important roles in monitoring the local environment for normal and abnormal sensory stimuli. These nerve fibres have different origins and wire into brain circuits that regulate widely diverse physiological responses. In this study we aim to study the neural circuits and responses mediated by a group of these sensory nerves which has not been investigated ....The jugular vagal sensory connectome regulating visceral function. Internal body organs have a rich supply of sensory nerve fibres that serve important roles in monitoring the local environment for normal and abnormal sensory stimuli. These nerve fibres have different origins and wire into brain circuits that regulate widely diverse physiological responses. In this study we aim to study the neural circuits and responses mediated by a group of these sensory nerves which has not been investigated appreciably in the past. We believe that these sensory neural circuits will reveal important new insights into how internal organs perform their diverse and essential functions to sustain life.Read moreRead less
Wiring the gut's nervous system: formation and maturation of synapses. This project aims to determine how nerve circuits controlling intestinal functions develop; specifically how communication between specific nerve cells is established once they appear in the embryonic gut. It will fill a major hole in existing knowledge of mechanisms regulating the development of normal digestive behaviours.
How the brain regulates blood pressure. This project will test whether a group of nerve cells in the rostral ventrolateral medulla generate sympathetic activity in blood vessels. The brain regulates blood pressure through several pathways, including nerves in the sympathetic nervous system that constrict blood vessels and increase the heart rate. Activity of these sympathetic nerves regulates blood pressure, but it is unknown which nerve cells in the brain cause this activity. This information i ....How the brain regulates blood pressure. This project will test whether a group of nerve cells in the rostral ventrolateral medulla generate sympathetic activity in blood vessels. The brain regulates blood pressure through several pathways, including nerves in the sympathetic nervous system that constrict blood vessels and increase the heart rate. Activity of these sympathetic nerves regulates blood pressure, but it is unknown which nerve cells in the brain cause this activity. This information is essential to understand how blood pressure is controlled under healthy conditions.Read moreRead less
Understanding multiday cycles underpinning human physiology. We recently discovered long-term rhythms modulating activities of our brains and hearts ranging in duration from 3-60 days. The cause of these longer, ‘multiday cycles’ remain unknown. This project aims to understand; causes of multiday cycles (measuring the nervous and autonomic nervous system), their effects (on cognition, sleep, and stress), and quantify the relationship between coupled cyclical systems. The research outcomes can pr ....Understanding multiday cycles underpinning human physiology. We recently discovered long-term rhythms modulating activities of our brains and hearts ranging in duration from 3-60 days. The cause of these longer, ‘multiday cycles’ remain unknown. This project aims to understand; causes of multiday cycles (measuring the nervous and autonomic nervous system), their effects (on cognition, sleep, and stress), and quantify the relationship between coupled cyclical systems. The research outcomes can provide fundamental new knowledge about cyclic dynamics governing human physiology, leading to improved rigour in life sciences research. Commercial outcomes include technology to optimise individual productivity, learning, health, and wellbeing based on physiological cycles, with diverse benefits to society.Read moreRead less
Functional tracing of brain circuitry by a novel approach. A genetically modified virus is taken up by axon terminals (the 'output' part of a nerve cell) and transported by the cell back to the cell body (its 'input' part). Once there, it makes a protein that makes the cell sensitive to blue light. This new tool may be instrumental in answering questions about nerve connections that cannot be answered in other ways.
Electrical activity in early enteric neuron development. Intestinal movements and secretion are critical to the good health and nutrition of both humans and animals. These functions are regulated by a large nervous system contained within the intestinal wall, the enteric nervous system. This project will identify how enteric nerve cells develop and how their behaviour influences the development of other enteric nerve cells. This is will provide an important base for more applied research aime ....Electrical activity in early enteric neuron development. Intestinal movements and secretion are critical to the good health and nutrition of both humans and animals. These functions are regulated by a large nervous system contained within the intestinal wall, the enteric nervous system. This project will identify how enteric nerve cells develop and how their behaviour influences the development of other enteric nerve cells. This is will provide an important base for more applied research aimed at developing treatments for diseases like chronic constipation and irritable bowel syndrome. It will also contribute to the growing knowledge about how epigenetic factors can modify genetically programmed development within the nervous system.Read moreRead less
Novel computational tools for the analysis of sympathetic nervous system activity. This project will investigate electrical signals from the heart, resulting in novel tools for the assessment of sympathetic nervous system activity. The findings will contribute to advancing Australia's international leading position in health technology and improve community health.