Neuronal Linking Of Attention, Perception And Action
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$586,469.00
Summary
We are able to perceive and interact with the environment around us primarily because a filter of attention selects just the objects or features of relevance in the world and helps to make appropriate motor responses. This project will study how attentional networks of the brain operate to link our perception and action. An understanding of this process is fundamental to revealing the underlying pathology in many neurological conditions where attention is impaired.
Neural Circuits For Active Vision In The Primate Cerebral Cortex
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$632,938.00
Summary
This project will try to understand how we use visual information to identify objects by their shape and motion, in natural situations in which the eyes are moving all the time. This will be accomplished by recording the electrical activity of brain cells while a trained animal is performing different types of tasks, such as tracking a moving object or exploring a scene with its eyes.
Thalamocortical Neural Circuits In Higher Order Cognitive And Sensory Processing
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$370,860.00
Summary
Schizophrenia, depression and dementia are devastating disorders with problems in thinking and sensory perception, but the neural circuits causing these symptoms are not known. I will use new optical and genetic tools in mice to identify the cortical and subcortical circuits required for complex touchscreen tasks, the same tasks to assess patients. Identification of neural circuits that underlie clinical symptoms will increase our understanding of these disorders and improve treatments.
Developing A Pathophysiological Model For Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Path To Biomarker Discovery
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$314,644.00
Summary
Despite the efficacy of stimulant medication in treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), we lack mechanistic accounts of the neuropathology of ADHD. A major barrier is the lack of human disease models representing clinical symptoms. The derivation of a novel, cell-based ADHD model proposed in this project will shed new light on the physiological bases of ADHD and be a rich resource for biomarker discovery