ARC Centre of Excellence - Vision Science. This Centre will generate important new knowledge of the performance, logic and stability of vision and visual behaviour. This knowledge will help reduce the burden of vision impairment in Australia, increasing productivity, promoting healthy ageing and reducing the community costs of visual impairment (ca. $9.85 billion in 2004). The knowledge produced will also make possible world-class innovations in robotics, leading to novel automated vision system ....ARC Centre of Excellence - Vision Science. This Centre will generate important new knowledge of the performance, logic and stability of vision and visual behaviour. This knowledge will help reduce the burden of vision impairment in Australia, increasing productivity, promoting healthy ageing and reducing the community costs of visual impairment (ca. $9.85 billion in 2004). The knowledge produced will also make possible world-class innovations in robotics, leading to novel automated vision systems with applications in industry and national security. Other knowledge will develop novel diagnostic technologies, for application in health delivery.Read moreRead less
Multimodal retinal imaging provides "insight" into cerebrovascular ageing. Multimodal retinal imaging provides "insight" into cerebrovascular ageing. This project aims to develop a multi-modal imaging technology platform to simultaneously measure amyloid beta and its neurovascular sequelae to identify novel early biomarkers of ageing in the eye and brain. The growing ageing population is an increasing socioeconomic burden. The central nervous system is particularly susceptible to ageing, which i ....Multimodal retinal imaging provides "insight" into cerebrovascular ageing. Multimodal retinal imaging provides "insight" into cerebrovascular ageing. This project aims to develop a multi-modal imaging technology platform to simultaneously measure amyloid beta and its neurovascular sequelae to identify novel early biomarkers of ageing in the eye and brain. The growing ageing population is an increasing socioeconomic burden. The central nervous system is particularly susceptible to ageing, which is difficult to measure at its onset. Critically, as the eye is an easily accessible extension of the cortex, retinal imaging may be a non-invasive surrogate to assess ageing changes in the brain. Anticipated outcomes are a sensitive detector of neural ageing, improved preventative measures, reducing the socioeconomic burden of ageing, and improved quality of life.Read moreRead less
Application of high resolution functional brain imaging to the topographic organisation of object perception. This project will translate recent technological advancements for imaging the cortical areas responsible for visual perception such as object recognition and reading. It will produce brain maps of unprecedented detail, closing gaps in our present knowledge.
Beyond Neuroinflammation: The Role of Microglia in Synaptic Plasticity. Microglia are the immune cells of the brain and are known to respond to infectious and non-infectious insults to the nervous system. This project aims to use the transparent and genetically amenable brain of the zebrafish, to explore new functions of microglia at the single cell level in the intact, behaving animal, through visualization of cellular components of the brain (neurons, glia, microglia, blood vessels, synapses), ....Beyond Neuroinflammation: The Role of Microglia in Synaptic Plasticity. Microglia are the immune cells of the brain and are known to respond to infectious and non-infectious insults to the nervous system. This project aims to use the transparent and genetically amenable brain of the zebrafish, to explore new functions of microglia at the single cell level in the intact, behaving animal, through visualization of cellular components of the brain (neurons, glia, microglia, blood vessels, synapses), and through the genetic manipulation of synaptic density, and real time observation of microglia in the process.Read moreRead less
Real-time friction sensing, feedback and control for dexterous prosthetic and robotic manipulation. Prosthetic and robotic hands demonstrate poor dexterity during object manipulation, often dropping objects. Humans rarely allow objects to slip because we can sense when an object is slippery and adjust our grip. Exceptionally little research has been directed at replicating this ability to sense friction. This project aims to enable artificial hands to estimate frictional properties while graspin ....Real-time friction sensing, feedback and control for dexterous prosthetic and robotic manipulation. Prosthetic and robotic hands demonstrate poor dexterity during object manipulation, often dropping objects. Humans rarely allow objects to slip because we can sense when an object is slippery and adjust our grip. Exceptionally little research has been directed at replicating this ability to sense friction. This project aims to enable artificial hands to estimate frictional properties while grasping an object. Non-invasive methods to feed back this frictional information to an amputee will also be investigated. Finally, the friction-sensing system will be used to improve robotic gripper control. The outcomes of this research will significantly advance the fields of prosthetics, telesurgery, and service and manufacturing robotics.Read moreRead less
Adaptation of respiratory chemoreception: role of inhibitory neuropeptides. The project aims to investigate how the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) is involved in respiratory adaptation to hypercapnia. Chemoreceptor neurons in the RTN are crucial for life however, the mechanisms that underlie their basal and stimulated activity, to control breathing, remain to be clarified. This project will investigate the role of galanin in RTN-mediated regulation of breathing. The project looks to determine inst ....Adaptation of respiratory chemoreception: role of inhibitory neuropeptides. The project aims to investigate how the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) is involved in respiratory adaptation to hypercapnia. Chemoreceptor neurons in the RTN are crucial for life however, the mechanisms that underlie their basal and stimulated activity, to control breathing, remain to be clarified. This project will investigate the role of galanin in RTN-mediated regulation of breathing. The project looks to determine instructive and multifunctional roles of peptidergic chemosensory neurons and their contribution to local inhibitory control of the respiratory network. New knowledge from the project may in the future assist translational research into respiratory disorders and lead to technological advances.Read moreRead less
Propagating Neural Waves: Combined Experimental and Modelling Study. The project is designed to measure propagating neural waves in visual areas of the brain to discover why and how they are created, how they interact with sensory inputs, and whether they can support brain plasticity and learning. Recent analysis of the brain’s electrical signals has showed that nerve cell activity is often organised into propagating waves, but how these waves are created, and what role they play in brain inform ....Propagating Neural Waves: Combined Experimental and Modelling Study. The project is designed to measure propagating neural waves in visual areas of the brain to discover why and how they are created, how they interact with sensory inputs, and whether they can support brain plasticity and learning. Recent analysis of the brain’s electrical signals has showed that nerve cell activity is often organised into propagating waves, but how these waves are created, and what role they play in brain information processing, remains unknown. The project plans to develop new methods for processing large-scale neural data, and to apply these methods to learn about propagating neural waves. These results may improve our understanding of how neural circuits function, eventually leading to clinical and technological advances.Read moreRead less
Biologically-inspired detection, pursuit and interception of moving objects by unmanned aircraft systems. Although it is well known that aggressive honeybees are very effective at detecting, pursuing and intercepting moving targets, this behaviour has never been studied quantitatively. This project will use high-speed video cinematography to investigate this behaviour, to develop visual algorithms for the detection of moving targets, and to create dynamical models of the mechanisms that control ....Biologically-inspired detection, pursuit and interception of moving objects by unmanned aircraft systems. Although it is well known that aggressive honeybees are very effective at detecting, pursuing and intercepting moving targets, this behaviour has never been studied quantitatively. This project will use high-speed video cinematography to investigate this behaviour, to develop visual algorithms for the detection of moving targets, and to create dynamical models of the mechanisms that control pursuit. The resulting algorithms will be incorporated into unmanned aerial vehicles for detecting, monitoring and tracking other objects in the sky, and their performance will be evaluated. The results will provide a better understanding of the biological basis of pursuit behaviour, as well as lead to novel technologies for aerial surveillance and safety.Read moreRead less
Evolution of sound localisation in vertebrates: head size, sound frequency and neural phase-locking. Hearing is our most important sense for interpersonal communication, yet we have a fragmentary understanding of the basic mechanisms involved in normal hearing. This project addresses the question of how sound location is represented in the brain through the processing of minute time difference with which sounds reach the two ears. The outcome will ultimately enable us to infer how the human brai ....Evolution of sound localisation in vertebrates: head size, sound frequency and neural phase-locking. Hearing is our most important sense for interpersonal communication, yet we have a fragmentary understanding of the basic mechanisms involved in normal hearing. This project addresses the question of how sound location is represented in the brain through the processing of minute time difference with which sounds reach the two ears. The outcome will ultimately enable us to infer how the human brain localises sound, with practical applications for improved virtual auditory realities and hearing aids.Read moreRead less
Visual processing in a unique modular system - how can a simple cognitive architecture be used to solve complex visual tasks? The proposed interdisciplinary study of the visual system of jumping spiders will provide novel insights into how a simple cognitive architecture can be used to solve complex visual tasks. This will be the first comprehensive study of motion sensitivity in a spider. The insights obtained will be important for the development of artificial intelligence systems. We will pro ....Visual processing in a unique modular system - how can a simple cognitive architecture be used to solve complex visual tasks? The proposed interdisciplinary study of the visual system of jumping spiders will provide novel insights into how a simple cognitive architecture can be used to solve complex visual tasks. This will be the first comprehensive study of motion sensitivity in a spider. The insights obtained will be important for the development of artificial intelligence systems. We will provide a stimulating environment to train a postdoctoral fellow with state-of-art skills ranging from single-cell neurophysiology through to using 3D animation for sophisticated behavioural assays. The proposed work is a hot topic and will attract considerable attention, raise the profile of Australian science, and support postgraduate students. Read moreRead less