The Effects Of The Western Diet On Cognition In Rats
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$689,326.00
Summary
An unhealthy diet can affect how we think. This project will identify mechanisms by which a western diet impairs cognition, and test ways of intervening to reduce the impact of diet on the brain. We will examine changes in inflammation, and markers of nerve growth in a critical brain region, the hippocampus, in response to different periods of diet. We will also test if the diet and our interventions affect the gut biota.
Mnemonic Segregation: Understanding The Neural Circuitry Of Parkinson’s Disease Dementia.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,768.00
Summary
To investigate neural circuitry allowing distinct memories to co-exist while minimising interference. Dementia involves a breakdown of this system, where memories are no longer segregated or tagged by environmental features. I also aim to find behavioural techniques which allow memories formed in therapy to generalise to patients’ home environments. By understanding the process of segregating memories we can develop interventions where this fails and manipulate it to improve clinical practice.