Chronic pain and functional impairment following traumatic injury: an investigation into the impact of compensation status and experience. This project will enhance understanding of the impact of the psychosocial factors and the compensation process on recovery from traumatic injury. The project will generate new resources (screening and referral guidelines; educational materials) to improve decision making consistency, client experience, and recovery from road trauma.
Understanding how the primate brain processes visual information. Being able to see is a crucial aspect of our daily lives, which happens so effortlessly that it tends to be taken for granted. In comparison with other animals and artificial systems, the primate visual cortex is unsurpassed in its capacity to interpret complex and dynamic environments, in a manner that is fast and computationally robust. Discovering how this happens in terms of interactions between cells in the brain can help us ....Understanding how the primate brain processes visual information. Being able to see is a crucial aspect of our daily lives, which happens so effortlessly that it tends to be taken for granted. In comparison with other animals and artificial systems, the primate visual cortex is unsurpassed in its capacity to interpret complex and dynamic environments, in a manner that is fast and computationally robust. Discovering how this happens in terms of interactions between cells in the brain can help us design more efficient artificial systems capable of vision. This in turn can have profound implications for the creation of new technologies such as artificial eyes, autonomous robots, and intelligent sensors, and may also result in future benefits for medical science.Read moreRead less
Central Representation of Electroacoustic Stimuli. Cochlear implantation, initially only provided to profoundly deaf individuals, is now routine in people with substantial residual hearing. Although stimulation via a cochlear implant and hearing aid in the same ear has been shown to improve speech understanding, particularly in noise, and to increase the aesthetic quality of sound, almost nothing is known about the physiological mechanisms underlying these benefits. The broad aim of our project ....Central Representation of Electroacoustic Stimuli. Cochlear implantation, initially only provided to profoundly deaf individuals, is now routine in people with substantial residual hearing. Although stimulation via a cochlear implant and hearing aid in the same ear has been shown to improve speech understanding, particularly in noise, and to increase the aesthetic quality of sound, almost nothing is known about the physiological mechanisms underlying these benefits. The broad aim of our project is to address this deficiency by measuring the patterns of neural activity evoked by speech sounds across the tonotopic axis in the inferior colliculus and auditory cortex and assess the extent to which the pattern of neural activity allows discrimination between the different speech sounds.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100439
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Neural mechanisms of blindsight: a combined physiological and behavioural study. The cellular circuits of the cerebral cortex hold the key to the biological bases of perception, decision making, memory and consciousness. This project will study the physiological mechanisms underlying our ability to decide what we are seeing, based either on consciously perceived images or subconscious processing of visual information.
Organisation of the cerebral cortex- what, if anything, is a cortical area? Currently, much effort is being directed towards elucidating the roles of different regions of the cerebral cortex. "Maps" of cortical areas have become essential points of reference, exerting a powerful influence on the way we think about the brain. However, is it really appropriate to model the cortex as a mosaic of well-defined areas? This project will challenge the assumptions underlying current brain mapping efforts ....Organisation of the cerebral cortex- what, if anything, is a cortical area? Currently, much effort is being directed towards elucidating the roles of different regions of the cerebral cortex. "Maps" of cortical areas have become essential points of reference, exerting a powerful influence on the way we think about the brain. However, is it really appropriate to model the cortex as a mosaic of well-defined areas? This project will challenge the assumptions underlying current brain mapping efforts. Its main benefits will be the refinement of strategies for brain mapping, including potential for better
application/interpretation of available medical technology, and unique insights on the mechanisms of development and evolution of the nervous system.
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Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120102883
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Understanding the function of a visual pathway to the limbic cortex. This project will study an area located deep in the brain, about which very little is known. Based on recent studies, it is suspected that this area is important for visual perception. By understanding the patterns of electrical activity of cells in this region, the project aims to decipher its contribution to cognition and emotion.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101505
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,220.00
Summary
Visual computation in the primate brain: circuits for motion processing. This project will investigate the neural mechanism that mediates motion detection, a fundamental visual function. Although computational theories have been developed to explain how neurons can detect moving objects and patterns, it has been very difficult to investigate how (or if) the models are implemented in the visual cortex. This project will examine controversial aspects of current theories. Using innovative methods, ....Visual computation in the primate brain: circuits for motion processing. This project will investigate the neural mechanism that mediates motion detection, a fundamental visual function. Although computational theories have been developed to explain how neurons can detect moving objects and patterns, it has been very difficult to investigate how (or if) the models are implemented in the visual cortex. This project will examine controversial aspects of current theories. Using innovative methods, the project will characterise neurons connected in a motion detection circuit for the first time, as well as study how they function after a critical component in the circuit is shut off. The research will lead to a better understanding of how visual experience is created by the brain and will have implications in computer vision and bionics.Read moreRead less
Neuronal origin of functional maps on the mammalian visual cortex. This project aims to study how the brain processes images. Basic features of objects in the visual scene seem to be coded on the visual cortex in an orderly way. By recording neurones’ electrical activity in a mammalian brain, this project aims to study how such organisation is determined at the neuronal level, namely how the individual nerves and synapses that form the brain and process the signals are organised to form the over ....Neuronal origin of functional maps on the mammalian visual cortex. This project aims to study how the brain processes images. Basic features of objects in the visual scene seem to be coded on the visual cortex in an orderly way. By recording neurones’ electrical activity in a mammalian brain, this project aims to study how such organisation is determined at the neuronal level, namely how the individual nerves and synapses that form the brain and process the signals are organised to form the overall functional architecture visible at a macroscopic level. This understanding could realise the basis of normal visual perception in robotic vision and brain-machine interfaces.Read moreRead less
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.
The mechanism for defocus-driven ocular growth. 30 per cent of the Australian young adult population (with much higher percentages in Asia) suffer from myopia, and while we know the retina senses defocus, we do not know how. The knowledge gained through this project will help the development of pharmaceuticals to control myopia and of developmental practices that minimise the chances of children becoming myopic.