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.
Neuronal Activity And Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$367,561.00
Summary
How does brain activity relate to perception and behaviour? How does functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain, which measures changes in blood oxygen, relate to the activity of single cells? I will address these questions, comparing electrical measurements of single cells and functional images, and advance our understanding of the brain in health and disease.
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.
Neural Circuits For Residual Vision After Damage To Striate Cortex
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$662,220.00
Summary
Brain cells have the ability to rearrange their connections to create alternate pathways, which compensate for loss of function following brain damage. To understand why some people become blind after damage to the visual cortex, and some don't, we will determine how neural connections change following lesions in different stages of life. The project will provide important information that may allow future development of treatments for blindness due to stroke or traumatic brain injury.
Humans, like all animals, receive similar, although not identical, visual input via the eyes. This information is combined in the brain to form a single view of the outside world. In this proposal we aim to understand how single neurons in the brain process the combined information received from both eyes. This work will increase our understanding of the underlying cellular mechanisms responsible for sight, and determine what changes occur when visual input is impaired through blindness.
The Combined Use Of Transplantation And Gene Therapy Techniques To Promote Regeneration After Neurotrauma
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$521,026.00
Summary
Trauma in the adult mammalian central nervous system causes long-lasting functional deficits. The resulting physical and financial burdens to the individual, to his or her family, and to the community at large, are immense. When fibre tracts are damaged there is disruption of circuits and there may be death of associated nerve cells. Interventions are therefore necessary to promote repair and to try to restore function. Highly modified, non-harmful viruses can be used as vectors to introduce gen ....Trauma in the adult mammalian central nervous system causes long-lasting functional deficits. The resulting physical and financial burdens to the individual, to his or her family, and to the community at large, are immense. When fibre tracts are damaged there is disruption of circuits and there may be death of associated nerve cells. Interventions are therefore necessary to promote repair and to try to restore function. Highly modified, non-harmful viruses can be used as vectors to introduce genes into cells, a method that allows targeted supply of molecules to the injured brain. Gene and cell therapy may eventually be of clinical benefit to injured patients. In a range of different experiments we will combine two different gene therapy approaches, various pharmacological agents and novel transplantation strategies in attempts to enhance the survival of affected nerve cells and promote the regrowth of damaged nerve fibres across injury sites in the injured adult rat visual system. Long-term vector-mediated expression of growth factors in neurons and in grafts may 'trap' regenerating axons, potentially reducing their outgrowth into distal, denervated target areas. It is therefore important to determine if temporal regulation of growth-promoting genes has additional beneficial effects on the ability of regenerating neurons to recognise and selectively regrow axons into appropriate CNS targets. An additional series of studies will thus be undertaken. We will test a new generation of regulatory vectors in which it is possible to switch the virally encoded genes on or off and thus control the level and timing of gene expression over a therapeutic range. We will then determine if the use of these regulatory viral vectors results in more consistent and robust growth of nerve fibres with better reconnections, in the longer term leading to better recovery of function.Read moreRead less
Visuomotor Integration In The Medial Parietal Cortical Areas
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$665,163.00
Summary
This project will find out how the electrical activity of brain cells is used to direct the arms to a specific position in the space around a person's body. By understanding the code used by brain cells to perform this control of the arms, we will be able to "read" the brain activity directly, and use it to allow control of artificial arms by people who have been paralysed or had amputations.
Developmental Plasticity In The Nonhuman Primate Visual Cortex
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$464,417.00
Summary
A phenomenon that has puzzled many for a number of years is why damage to the visual brain during infancy has far less of an impact on visual capacity than the same lesion suffered later in life. This project hopes to uncover this mystery and see how brain 'wiring' is altered to compensate.
Dopamine-2 Receptor Antibody In Movement And Psychiatric Disorders
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$415,783.00
Summary
Autoimmune movement and psychiatric disorders are a common cause of neurological disability young adults and adolescents. We have identified a subgroup of patients whose disease is associated with an autoimmune reaction. Our study will identify the earliest immune responses against the brain in children with autoimmune movement and psychiatric disorders. Identifying these early immune responses will allow early and directed treatments to prevent disability and death in the future.
Promoting Recovery After Neurotrauma: Basic Science, Clinical Trials And Community Engagement
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$356,269.00
Summary
To promote recovery after neurotrauma by controlling the spread of damage and by maximising function in surviving circuits. The work involves animal models & nanotechnology as well as clinical rehabilitation trials in humans with spinal cord injury.