Central Nervous Pathways For The Sympathetic Control Of Immune Function
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$300,741.00
Summary
The nervous system regulates immune system function by a special set of nerves that are part of the sympathetic nervous system. This project aims to work out which brain pathways control them.
Control Of Sympathetic Nerves That Talk To The Immune System
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$385,958.00
Summary
The two complex systems of the body, the immune system and the nervous system, communicate with each other. This proposal studies one of the major pathways from brain to immune system - sympathetic immuno-efferent nerves. In stroke, these pathways cause profound immunosuppression, causing susceptibility to infection. Their poorly understood central and peripheral pathways will be defined and mapped by this study.
This project aims to discover the nervous pathways and mechanisms in the brain that control body temperature. We hope to identify the nerve cells in the brain that detect increases in the core temperature of the body and determine the nervous pathways that project from them to increase blood flow to the skin when we become hot. This research may lead to a better understanding of heat exhaustion which is especially dangerous to the elderly.
FUNCTIONAL IDENTIFICATION OF CORTICAL AND SUBCORTICAL SITES RESPONSIBLE FOR NEUROGENIC HYPERTENSION IN HUMANS
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$514,644.00
Summary
Blood pressure is normally maintained at a relatively constant level through reflexes involving the brainstem, but we have recently shown that higher areas of the brain are also involved in the regulation of blood pressure in humans. Here, we will use the novel methodologies we have developed to study functional and structural changes in the brain in patients with essential and renovascular hypertension.
BRAIN IMAGING OF CARDIOVASCULAR CONTROL DURING MUSCLE PAIN
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$370,983.00
Summary
One in every five people in Australia suffers chronic pain and a third of these have severe pain associated with severe disability. The incapacitating effects of long-lasting pain are not just psychological, but affect many systems, including the cardiovascular system. We are interested in why pain causes blood pressure to increase in some people but not in others: patients with post-surgical chronic pain have nearly twice the prevalence of clinical hypertension than patients without pain.
Role Of The Medial Amygdala In Developing Neurogenic Hypertension
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$302,123.00
Summary
We aim to investigate the underlying mechanisms and pathways that regulate the activity of neurons located in the medial amgydala during stress that contribute long term to the development of hypertension. This study is highly relevant to people who inappropriately respond to typical daily stressors and we aim to provide direction for developing specific therapies to interrupt the adverse cardiovascular consequences of chronic stress.
FUNCTIONAL IMAGING OF THE BRAINSTEM AND CORTICAL SITES OF BLOOD PRESSURE CONTROL IN HUMAN SUBJECTS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$398,498.00
Summary
Disturbances in cardiovascular control underpin many diseases yet little is known about how the brain controls the heart and blood vessels. This project uses brain imaging (fMRI) and concurrent nerve recording in awake human subjects to increase our understanding of how normal blood pressure is maintained and how different disease states influence this control.