Effect of infant hand observation training on the early development of hand reaching and grasping in healthy infants and those with early brain damage. The best way to learn a new motor skill is to look at people who can already do it. But is this also true for infants? And, can we help infants with motor problems by teaching them how to do it? This project aims to answer these questions by studying training based on the observation of parent's actions by infants with and without brain damage.
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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100319
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
Fast three-dimensional imaging of neural signal propagation using light-field microscopy. This project aims to use a light-field microscope to reveal the dynamics of sustained neural activity in the brain. The brain’s neurons are highly interconnected, so neural signals can be sustained in a repeating cycle. While this may underlie tasks such as working memory, its role in information processing is unclear. Understanding information processing is vital for finding treatments for neurodegenerativ ....Fast three-dimensional imaging of neural signal propagation using light-field microscopy. This project aims to use a light-field microscope to reveal the dynamics of sustained neural activity in the brain. The brain’s neurons are highly interconnected, so neural signals can be sustained in a repeating cycle. While this may underlie tasks such as working memory, its role in information processing is unclear. Understanding information processing is vital for finding treatments for neurodegenerative disorders. To characterise this large-scale aspect of neural computation, this project measures neural activity at high speed across large numbers of neurons. This is expected to provide evidence of the nature of sustained activity which may in the future lead to treatments for neurodegenerative disorders.Read moreRead less
Investigating the role of the innate immune complement system in the abnormal development of the central nervous system. Past research has discovered a surprising link between the immune system, dietary folate deficiency and the development of the embryonic brain. This project will investigate the immune system in the developing brain, in order to understand the causes of developmental defects such as neural tube defects, and the role dietary folate plays in this process.
Using toxins to understand the mechanisms of pain. Toxins have evolved in plants, animals and microbes as part of defensive and/or prey capture strategies, and have proven to be invaluable research tools as well as providing leads for potential new therapies. This project will use subtype-selective toxins to define the role of ion channels in pain, using novel pathway-specific and disease-specific animal models of pain. The findings from this project will provide significant insight into the ne ....Using toxins to understand the mechanisms of pain. Toxins have evolved in plants, animals and microbes as part of defensive and/or prey capture strategies, and have proven to be invaluable research tools as well as providing leads for potential new therapies. This project will use subtype-selective toxins to define the role of ion channels in pain, using novel pathway-specific and disease-specific animal models of pain. The findings from this project will provide significant insight into the neuropharmacology of pain, will lead to the identification of novel molecular targets with analgesic potential and is expected to provide novel treatment approaches for pain.Read moreRead less
The long-term consequences of toluene exposure on the maturing brain. Inhalant abuse is a significant problem especially among adolescent and indigenous communities. This project will provide insights into the long-term neurobiological consequences following inhalant exposure during adolescence when critical aspects of brain development are still occurring and how these may relate to altered behaviour in adulthood.
ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function. The Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function will address one of the greatest scientific challenges of the 21st century to understand how the brain works. We will investigate complex functions such as attention, prediction and decision-making, which require the coordination of information processing by many areas of the brain. This will require a highly collaborative approach involving neurobiologists, cognitive scientists, eng ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function. The Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function will address one of the greatest scientific challenges of the 21st century to understand how the brain works. We will investigate complex functions such as attention, prediction and decision-making, which require the coordination of information processing by many areas of the brain. This will require a highly collaborative approach involving neurobiologists, cognitive scientists, engineers and physicists, allowing us to translate our discoveries into novel technologies for the social and economic benefit of all Australians. We will also train a new generation of multidisciplinary researchers, and contribute our expertise to a range of public education and awareness programs.Read moreRead less