Visualisation of functionally activated circuitry in the brain

Funding Activity

Website
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/145661

Funding Status
Closed

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Funded Activity Summary

We are seeking to develop a method to precisely determine which parts of the brain are involved in the carrying out of different brain functions. The main advantage of our new method will be that we will be able to directly visualise the circuitry involved in a specified brain function. The brain is like a vast computer, with literally billions of connections between different parts, and it is these connections which are used to form functional circuits, which ultimately result in the brain control of bodily function. Up until now, there has been no direct way of being able to directly visualise which of those billions of connections are involved in the formation of a circuit for any particular brain function. We plan to use a genetic approach to help to visualise functionally activated brain circuits. We know that some genes are turned on in the nerve cells which are activated during a brain function. We will use this knowledge to generate a new line of genetically engineered mice. In these mice, the genes which are turned on during brain activation will in turn be used to turn on special markers which will light up the activated circuits. This will be of great signficance in our understanding of brain function. It should also help us to understand what happens to these circuits in different diseases of the brain, such as following stroke, in senility, and Alzheimer's disease.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2001

End Date: 01-01-2003

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $347,036.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Medical infection agents (incl. prions)

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

blood pressure regulation | brain regulation of homeostasis | cardiovascular disease | functional brain circuits | general brain dysfunction | genetic approach to visualise neuronal projections | learning and memory | regulation of food intake, obesity and anorexia | transgenic mice

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