Utilising Functional Magnetic Imaging To Predict Pre-clinical Parkinson�s Disease In Patients With Idiopathic Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behaviour Disorder
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$83,712.00
Summary
In an ageing Australian population a rise in the number of people with neurodegenerative conditions, such as Parkinson's Disease (PD) is inevitable. The ability to accurately identify those people who are destined to develop such diseases, might offer a mechanism by which such progression could be aborted. This project will seek to identify a reliable method whereby cases of PD could be detected several years before they can currently be diagnosed.
The Retina As A Chemogenetic Target For The Treatment Of Depression
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,768.00
Summary
Treatments for depression are often poor because they lack selectivity. By inserting receptors that respond to an inert drug, Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs) can turn on-or-off very specific classes of cells, providing an exciting treatment direction for depression and other neuropsychiatric diseases. The long term goal of this project is to create a highly effective DREADD-based treatment for depression, which is activated by either eye drops or a pill.
Relaxin-3/RXFP3 Signalling And Regulation Of Affective Behaviour _ Studies In Normal/transgenic Mice
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$578,268.00
Summary
Mental illness is a significant social and economic burden worldwide and knowledge of the underlying causes and more effective therapies are required. Our research aims to use pre-clinical animal models to characterize a little studied brain neuronal network implicated in control of arousal and stress, which could lead to improved treatment of psychiatric disorders such as depression.