Pedunculopontine Nucleus Stimulation For Gait Freezing And Postural Instability In Parkinson’s Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$223,118.00
Summary
Over 64,000 Australians have Parkinson’s disease. Most patients with Parkinson’s disease ultimately develop gait ‘freezing’ and poor balance, which impair quality of life and cause falls. Unfortunately, gait freezing and poor balance often don’t improve with conventional treatments. We are therefore developing a new treatment for these symptoms, which involves implanting a pacemaker into a very deep brain region called the “Pedunculopontine Nucleus’.
Sensorimotor Control Of Foot Function: Adapting The Mechanical Function Of The Foot To Optimise Balance And Gait Performance
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$314,644.00
Summary
Walking and running places immense load on our feet, with 20% of adults suffering from foot pain. Recent research has highlighted the important role of the muscles within the foot in facilitating our ability to withstand excessive load and maintain balance. But it remains unknown how the nervous system controls this function. This research will explore how the brain and spinal cord control these muscles, providing a comprehensive understanding of the role of the foot in balance and gait.
Identifying And Preventing Inflammation-induced Brain Injury In Preterm Infants
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$338,652.00
Summary
Exposure to infection/inflammation around the time of birth is one of the most common factors associated with long-term disability. There is no effective treatment. My studies will use world-class techniques for measuring brain structure and function to improve our understanding of how infection/inflammation impacts on development of the preterm brain and determine whether blocking key inflammatory pathways in the brain will help restore normal brain growth and development in preterm infants.
The fundamental problem with pain is that it cannot be seen. We can see injury, but pain and injury are quite often not related. Brain imaging has demonstrated consistent patterns of activity when we feel pain, and long-term changes that happen in chronic, i.e. persistent, painful disorders. This project will use the best technology available to investigate the basics of how our brains perceive pain, and to shed light on some of the brain mechanisms that underpin chronic pain.
Spatial Coding In The Primate Cortex During Eye Movements.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$428,720.00
Summary
Every time we move our eyes, objects in the world change their positions on the retina, yet to us, their positions remain perceptually unchanged. This project seeks to understand how neurons in the primate brain combine visual input with signals about eye position to construct this stable representation of external space. The findings will help us understand and-or rehabilitate a host of nervous system dysfunctions, including schizophrenia, stroke, and paraplegia.
Unravelling The Neural Bases Of The Diverse Capability Of The Grasping Hand
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$387,804.00
Summary
This project aims to unravel how the brain guides the hand to interact with objects in diverse ways, a topic that is poorly understood. We will use fMRI to find active brain areas during object grasps, & then use non-invasive brain stimulation to briefly “shut off” some of these areas, & then identify changes in grasping & previously active brain areas. Insight from this project on the neural bases of diverse hand-object interactions will speed up important work aimed at improving hand function.
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Treatment Of Auditory Hallucinations In Psychotic Disorders: A Clinical And Neurobiological Investigation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$314,644.00
Summary
This research will investigate a novel treatment, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment, for auditory hallucinations of psychosis (e.g. schizophrenia). This work is novel as it will utilise an innovative and sophisticated method to optimise treatment at the individual level. Additionally, by identifying features of patients that predict response to treatment, this research will make major contributions to personalised treatment selection guidelines.
Electrophysiological And Neuroimaging Evaluation Of C9ORF72 Related Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$224,786.00
Summary
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Motor Neuron Disease) is a rapid and fatal neurological condition. To date there is no consensus on where the disease process may start. We will study healthy carriers who carry the most common ALS gene mutation and follow them over a four year period and track the associated changes. We will be using specialized neurophysiological tests to evaluate these patients and we hope to localize where the initiating problem with ALS patients may start.