Organization Of Descending Auditory Projections From Inferior Colliculus To Cochlear Nucleus
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$473,121.00
Summary
Sensory information gains awareness by ascending brain pathways to reach consciousness. Descending projections, however, have grown in importance because of implications for feedback management of ascending signals. Studies of these pathways will provide insight into auditory processing with respect to selective volume control, calibration adjustments between the two ears, and the extraction of signals from background noise. The data could lead to new strategies for treating hearing disorders.
Studies Of The Effects Of Asymmetric Hearing Loss On The Brain
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$920,076.00
Summary
Hearing loss impairs the normal development and maintenance of auditory pathways. Irreversible pathologies persist when hearing is not restored in a timely manner. While cochlear implantation is the accepted treatment for profound sensorineural hearing loss, there is significant variability in outcomes. Some of this variability is linked to the degree of hearing asymmetry. Thus, we propose to study brain changes in the auditory system that accompany asymmetric hearing impairment.
Establishing The Physiological And Sleep Disruption Characteristics Of Wind Farm Versus Traffic Noise Disturbances In Sleep
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,357,652.00
Summary
Good sleep is essential for normal daytime functioning and health. Wind farm noise includes audible and unusually low frequency sound components, including infrasound, that could potentially disturb sleep through chronic sleep disruption and/or insomnia. This project will, for the first time, directly evaluate the sleep and physiological disturbance characteristics of wind farm noise compared to traffic noise reproduced in a specialised and carefully controlled laboratory environment.
Information Encoding By Temporal Structure Of Afferent Spike Trains
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$231,175.00
Summary
Our ability to sense, discriminate and interpret touch stimuli underpins some of the most crucial functions of the human hand that relate to object exploration and manipulation. The fundamental mechanism of how nerve impulses generated by tactile receptors are interpreted by the nervous system is not understood. Only by discovering the underlying neural encoding mechanisms can we appreciate the functional impairments in patients and learn to identify them before they become widespread and irreve ....Our ability to sense, discriminate and interpret touch stimuli underpins some of the most crucial functions of the human hand that relate to object exploration and manipulation. The fundamental mechanism of how nerve impulses generated by tactile receptors are interpreted by the nervous system is not understood. Only by discovering the underlying neural encoding mechanisms can we appreciate the functional impairments in patients and learn to identify them before they become widespread and irreversible.Read moreRead less
The Role Of Adipokines In Modulation Of Gastric Vagal Afferent Satiety Signals
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$624,535.00
Summary
When we feel full after a meal it is the result of a variety of different nerve signals from the gut in response to distension of the stomach and specific nutrients. These signals are disordered in obesity and may be influenced by factors released from fat stores in the body. The aim of this project is to determine how these factors interact with gastric nerve satiety signals and thus identify targets for the pharmacological treatment of obesity.
Discovery And Development Of Better Pain Treatments
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$9,613,850.00
Summary
Many forms of pain remain poorly treated, leading to significant quality of life and economic losses. This Program grant will discover and characterise new peptides from cone snails and spiders that modulate specific channels in nerves that are critical to the transmission of pain signals to the brain. Using advanced chemical and structural approaches, promising leads will be optimised for potency and stability and evaluated in disease and pathway-specific models of pain to establish their clini ....Many forms of pain remain poorly treated, leading to significant quality of life and economic losses. This Program grant will discover and characterise new peptides from cone snails and spiders that modulate specific channels in nerves that are critical to the transmission of pain signals to the brain. Using advanced chemical and structural approaches, promising leads will be optimised for potency and stability and evaluated in disease and pathway-specific models of pain to establish their clinical potential.Read moreRead less
The role of the immune system in pain is emerging from recent discoveries, and may hold the key to novel pain treatments. Most people experience brief gut infections from food or contagion without long-term consequences. Many others suffer symptoms for years afterwards - probably the best example of immune-based pain. Our project investigates how immune cells communicate with sensory nerves, and how these communications change from both angles after gut infection or inflammation.
Ion Channels Underlying Inflammatory And Post-inflammatory Visceral Mechanical Hypersensitivity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$453,439.00
Summary
Inflammation causes tissue damage that triggers ion channels within sensory nerve fibres to produce greater signals in response to mechanical events, causing acute pain. In chronic pain, although the inflamed tissue has healed, sensory nerve fibres fail to "reset" back to normal. Often chronic pain is more severe than acute pain. This project will identify which ion channels are responsible for signalling acute and chronic visceral pain, explaining why sensory nerve fibres fail to reset.