Stimulation of the mammalian reproductive system by olfactory pathways. This project answers fundamental questions about mammalian reproductive biology but, because we work with the sheep model, our findings can be applied to two of Australia's biggest export industries, wool and sheepmeat. Understanding the reproductive responses of our production animals to exteroceptive factors such as socio-sexual signals, photoperiod and nutrition is an important first step towards refining the management ....Stimulation of the mammalian reproductive system by olfactory pathways. This project answers fundamental questions about mammalian reproductive biology but, because we work with the sheep model, our findings can be applied to two of Australia's biggest export industries, wool and sheepmeat. Understanding the reproductive responses of our production animals to exteroceptive factors such as socio-sexual signals, photoperiod and nutrition is an important first step towards refining the management of breeding programs. It has been argued that this approach will also minimise, and perhaps even remove the need for, exogenous hormones and drugs for controlling the reproductive process.Read moreRead less
Polarization vision: insights from biological systems for imaging solutions. This project aims to discover how invertebrate and vertebrate model species see linearly polarised light by constructing a novel instrument to determine limits to sensitivities, as well as animals' ability to distinguish small differences in degree and angle of linear polarisation. The project aims to predict how this might be affected as environments change. A clear understanding of biological solutions to polarisation ....Polarization vision: insights from biological systems for imaging solutions. This project aims to discover how invertebrate and vertebrate model species see linearly polarised light by constructing a novel instrument to determine limits to sensitivities, as well as animals' ability to distinguish small differences in degree and angle of linear polarisation. The project aims to predict how this might be affected as environments change. A clear understanding of biological solutions to polarisation perception can inform the design and development of novel bio-inspired imaging sensors that will be particularly suited to small, autonomous robots.Read moreRead less
Brain Regulation of Reproduction: Challenging the ‘KNDy’ Hypothesis. The brain switches reproduction on and off by changing the frequency of pulses of gonadotrophin releasing hormone. The processes that produce the pulses have been a puzzle for decades but, recently, brain cells that produce three peptides (kisspeptin, neurokinin B, dynorphin), known as ‘KNDy cells’, have been heralded as the ‘missing link’, or even the ‘pulse generator’. Using sheep, this project will challenge the KNDy hypothe ....Brain Regulation of Reproduction: Challenging the ‘KNDy’ Hypothesis. The brain switches reproduction on and off by changing the frequency of pulses of gonadotrophin releasing hormone. The processes that produce the pulses have been a puzzle for decades but, recently, brain cells that produce three peptides (kisspeptin, neurokinin B, dynorphin), known as ‘KNDy cells’, have been heralded as the ‘missing link’, or even the ‘pulse generator’. Using sheep, this project will challenge the KNDy hypothesis with pheromones and with acute increases in nutrition, two factors that rapidly increase the frequency of gonadotrophin releasing hormone pulses. The outcomes of this research are directly relevant to the optimisation of reproductive management in farm animals, wildlife and humans.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101660
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
The secret of bee navigation: magnetic field sensitive cells in the honeybee Apis mellifera. Honeybees are known to use the Earth's geomagnetic field to orient themselves and carry out their vital role as crop pollinators and honey producers. Locating and characterising the cells responsible for this magnetic sense is of great significance to neuroscience and will provide important new insights into animal behaviour and ecology.
Bio-inspired camouflage to prevent shark attacks on surfers. Bio-inspired camouflage to prevent shark attacks on surfers. This project aims to develop a new shark deterrent technology to protect surfers and paddlers. Shark attacks are physically and emotionally devastating for the victims, and make the community disproportionately afraid. Surfers are at most risk of attack, but current surfboard-mounted deterrents are ineffective and not widely used. This project will build on the recent discove ....Bio-inspired camouflage to prevent shark attacks on surfers. Bio-inspired camouflage to prevent shark attacks on surfers. This project aims to develop a new shark deterrent technology to protect surfers and paddlers. Shark attacks are physically and emotionally devastating for the victims, and make the community disproportionately afraid. Surfers are at most risk of attack, but current surfboard-mounted deterrents are ineffective and not widely used. This project will build on the recent discovery that white sharks do not attack counter-illuminated (light emitting) seal-shaped decoys, and use new information about shark vision to understand why this ‘camouflage’ is so successful. This will also help to protect threatened shark species by reducing reliance on culling programs to keep people safe in the water.Read moreRead less
RoboCrab: An integrative approach to the natural ecology of decision making. The project aims to analyse and model the sophisticated and context-dependent escape behaviour of fiddler crabs under both natural conditions and in controlled laboratory settings. A crucial problem for biology is to understand how animals can make adaptive decisions in natural, complex sensory environments; such understanding also has direct application to robotics. The project plans to examine the effects of eye stabi ....RoboCrab: An integrative approach to the natural ecology of decision making. The project aims to analyse and model the sophisticated and context-dependent escape behaviour of fiddler crabs under both natural conditions and in controlled laboratory settings. A crucial problem for biology is to understand how animals can make adaptive decisions in natural, complex sensory environments; such understanding also has direct application to robotics. The project plans to examine the effects of eye stabilisation and oscillation, record from key neural stages using naturalistic stimuli to derive precise algorithms, and integrate and test the results on a robot model – RoboCrab. This may provide new insight into the integration of low-level sensory input with behavioural decision making circuits and the evolution of escape behaviours.Read moreRead less
The entrainment of circadian rhythms in marsupial mammals: behavioural and sub-cellular investigation of non-rod, non-cone ocular photoreceptors. Our investigation will provide a contribution to understanding the role that photoreceptors play in the mechanisms that control circadian rhythms and will ultimately lead to a better understanding of the basic physiology of sleep and circadian cycles, their contribution to learning and memory and their impact on waking performance. Targeted drug develo ....The entrainment of circadian rhythms in marsupial mammals: behavioural and sub-cellular investigation of non-rod, non-cone ocular photoreceptors. Our investigation will provide a contribution to understanding the role that photoreceptors play in the mechanisms that control circadian rhythms and will ultimately lead to a better understanding of the basic physiology of sleep and circadian cycles, their contribution to learning and memory and their impact on waking performance. Targeted drug development and the design of lighting systems effective in regulating circadian rhythms will improve the quality of life and competitiveness of the many citizens who endure abnormal sleep/wakefulness schedules.Read moreRead less
Going wild: Neural processing in freely moving animals. This project aims to use new techniques in wireless neural recording to reveal how small neural networks process visual information to make fast, accurate decisions. The project is designed to generate new knowledge about biological solutions to contextual information processing and how tiny, simple biological neural systems control critical animal behaviours such as predator avoidance. Expected outcomes will be new biological insights with ....Going wild: Neural processing in freely moving animals. This project aims to use new techniques in wireless neural recording to reveal how small neural networks process visual information to make fast, accurate decisions. The project is designed to generate new knowledge about biological solutions to contextual information processing and how tiny, simple biological neural systems control critical animal behaviours such as predator avoidance. Expected outcomes will be new biological insights with which to develop novel bio-inspired decision-making processing systems as required in small, autonomous robots. The anticipated benefits of this project will be advances in fundamental neuroscience and animal behaviour and is expected to provide significant value to a fast-developing industrial sector.Read moreRead less
Neuro-ecology: information processing under natural conditions. Not enough is known about how sensory information is processed through the brain under natural environmental conditions. This project will shed light on how information processing changes with context and will help explain why even those animals with the smallest brains are much more versatile and robust than our most advanced robots.
Quantitative measures of brain evolution in early vertebrates. Why and how do brains become bigger? Using new quantitative methods of assessing the number of neurons with respect to both brain and body size, the project will trace the ways in which the brain (and its component parts) has evolved in a range of early vertebrates. The results will enable us to trace the evolution of cognitive abilities in animals.