THE EFFECT OF STRESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT ON DISEASE PROGRESSION IN MESIAL TEMPORAL LOBE EPILEPSY
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$578,201.00
Summary
Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, the most common form of drug-resistant epilepsy in adults, is a progressive neurodegenerative condition for which there is currently no effective disease modifying treatment. This proposal will explore whether co-morbid stress accelerates disease progression in MTLE, and whether targeting stress pathways by medical and environmental manipulations can mitigate against this.
Increased Vulnerability To Stress During Opiate Dependence: Molecular, Anatomical, And Behavioural Correlates
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$272,640.00
Summary
Heroin addiction is a major health and societal problem in Australia. It is consistently associated with an adverse impact upon individual users, their families, and communities. It is a chronically relapsing condition for which few, if any effective prevention and treatment strategies exist. Moreover, why an individual initiates and maintains heroin taking remains unclear. Stress and negative emotions have a strong impact on heroin use. Stress may drive some individuals to start using heroin, s ....Heroin addiction is a major health and societal problem in Australia. It is consistently associated with an adverse impact upon individual users, their families, and communities. It is a chronically relapsing condition for which few, if any effective prevention and treatment strategies exist. Moreover, why an individual initiates and maintains heroin taking remains unclear. Stress and negative emotions have a strong impact on heroin use. Stress may drive some individuals to start using heroin, stress increases the pleasurable effects of heroin and stress increases the aversive effects of heroin withdrawal. These effects will encourage addiction and discourage addicts from seeking treatment. Stress can also cause an otherwise drug-free individual to relapse to heroin addiction despite having been drug-free for some time. In this project we will study why stress has such a large impact on heroin addicts and heroin addiction. We will test the hypothesis that heroin use actually produces profound alterations in the neural network in the brain which controls responses to stress. This project uses a simple animal model of heroin addiction whereby rats are injected with morphine to study the regulation of several genes which are important in responding to stress. We will also study how this exposure and changes in gene expression alter neurobiological, cardiovascular, and behavioural responses to stress. This project will identify parts of the brain that are altered during heroin addiction, and will also identify why heroin addicts are more vulnerable to stress than the general population. Therefore, this project will help us to identify targets for therapeutic intervention (both psychological and pharmacological) and possibly disrupt the addictive cycle.Read moreRead less
BRAIN-MEND: Biological Resource Analysis To Identify New Mechanisms And Phenotypes In Neurodegenerative Diseases
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$861,866.00
Summary
Current classification of neurodegenerative diseases (ND) based on clinical phenotypes does not take into account underlying disease heterogeneity, or overlapping disease mechanisms, thus hindering therapy development. Segregation and re-classification of ND phenotypes is urgently needed. BRAIN-MEND will reclassify existing phenotypic classifications using using pathway and network analyses within and across complex NDs.
Frontotemporal Dementia And Motor Neurodegenerative Syndromes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$11,583,107.00
Summary
Frontotemporal degeneration of the brain is a leading cause of morbidity. It is a pathologically heterogeneous group of rapidly-progressive disorders with behavioural, language and motor deficits. This research program brings together international leaders in clinical, pathological and biological research of these syndromes, aiming to fast track new knowledge and innovations to develop the necessary tools and therapies to effectively diagnose, manage and treat these disorders.
The Mechanism Of HSV-1 Transport In Sensory Axons And Its Unique Assembly At The Axon Terminus
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$670,284.00
Summary
Herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 cause common diseases such as genital herpes and, occasionally, neonatal deaths and encephalitis and predisposes to HIV infection. New antiviral strategies are required for resistant viruses for control. These aims will be facilitated by understanding how HSV is transported down nerves and across into skin. In this study, we will define how a key viral protein plays a major role in assembly of the virus at the tip of the nerve before it enters skin.
Frontotemporal Dementia And Motor Neurodegenerative Syndromes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$17,069,580.00
Summary
Frontotemporal degeneration of the brain is a leading cause of morbidity due to a pathologically heterogeneous, rapidly-progressive group of disorders with behavioural, language and motor deficits. Our internationally recognized team will continue to develop the necessary tools and therapies to effectively diagnose, manage and treat these disorders. Our focus in this program is to understand the unusual genetics underpinning these disorders, and to fast track any potential treatments.