INVESTIGATING PROPRIOCEPTION AND SENSORIMOTOR CONTROL IN HUMANS DEVOID OF FUNCTIONAL MUSCLE SPINDLES
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$335,983.00
Summary
Specific genetic mutations can lead to widespread changes in the body. Here we are looking at congenital Hereditary and Sensory Autonomic Neuropathy type III (HSAN III). Affected individuals have difficulty walking, which progressively worsens over time. This series of experiments aims to increase our understanding of the underlying neurophysiological disturbances in HSAN III.
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.
The Effects Of Tonic Muscle Pain On The Sympathetic And Somatic Motor Systems In Human Subjects
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$462,948.00
Summary
The main objective of this proposal is to reveal the effects of nociceptive reflexes in humans, and thus identify their functional and clinical implications. By performing invasive recordings from the nerves that control blood vessels and muscles in healthy volunteers subjected to long-lasting (~1 hour) experimental pain, this work will increase our understanding of the adaptive changes that pain induces and improve treatments to prevent pain from becoming chronic.
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.