Using eye movements to study how past experiences shape expectations. We intend to examine how the brain decides where to look next with our eyes, a decision made approximately three times every second. Understanding how the normal brain makes decisions will in turn help us to understand what happens when things go wrong in diseases like dementia and Parkinson's disease, with the hope of better - and earlier - diagnosis, and improved monitoring of treatment. In addition, our research will establ ....Using eye movements to study how past experiences shape expectations. We intend to examine how the brain decides where to look next with our eyes, a decision made approximately three times every second. Understanding how the normal brain makes decisions will in turn help us to understand what happens when things go wrong in diseases like dementia and Parkinson's disease, with the hope of better - and earlier - diagnosis, and improved monitoring of treatment. In addition, our research will establish an important research link with The University of Cambridge, and allow Australia to be competitive with laboratories in North America and Europe that are currently studying how the brain makes decisions about where to look.Read moreRead less
Epigenetic mechanisms regulating sex differences in fear-related learning and memory. Anxiety disorders represent an enormous burden on society and are associated with premature aging and infertility in men and women. Evidence also indicates that parental anxiety affects child development. Given that fear-related learning has an important influence on emotional health which, in turn, affects lifestyle and the aging process, an understanding of the neural mechanisms mediating sex differences in ....Epigenetic mechanisms regulating sex differences in fear-related learning and memory. Anxiety disorders represent an enormous burden on society and are associated with premature aging and infertility in men and women. Evidence also indicates that parental anxiety affects child development. Given that fear-related learning has an important influence on emotional health which, in turn, affects lifestyle and the aging process, an understanding of the neural mechanisms mediating sex differences in fear learning will enhance our ability to develop better therapeutic approaches for treating anxiety and preventing relapse, potentially through a gender-specific approach. The studies outlined in this proposal will have implications for promoting and maintaining good health.Read moreRead less
Cognitive and neural causes of language impairment in autism. Autism affects around 1 in 200 of the Australian population. The social costs of autism are huge, both for people with the disorder and for their relatives and carers. The cost to the Australian economy is estimated at $5-7 billion each year. The proposed research will lead to better understanding of the causes of autism, from brain structure and functioning through to cognitive mechanisms and symptoms. This will in turn inform geneti ....Cognitive and neural causes of language impairment in autism. Autism affects around 1 in 200 of the Australian population. The social costs of autism are huge, both for people with the disorder and for their relatives and carers. The cost to the Australian economy is estimated at $5-7 billion each year. The proposed research will lead to better understanding of the causes of autism, from brain structure and functioning through to cognitive mechanisms and symptoms. This will in turn inform genetic research. The comparison of autism and specific language impairment (SLI) will help determine whether remediation strategies for SLI are likely to be applicable to autism. The project will establish Macquarie University as Australia's first centre for neuro-cognitive autism research.Read moreRead less
The Functional Significance of Motor Laterality. Just as humans are left- or right-handed, dogs are left-and right-pawed and, most importantly, left-pawed individuals tend towards innate fearfulness. Using dogs as a model, this project will explore lateralisation in general.
Guide dogs and police dogs are required to work only on one side of their handlers. This convention is likely to affect the work of individual dogs. This project will examine the extent to which pawedness predicts success ....The Functional Significance of Motor Laterality. Just as humans are left- or right-handed, dogs are left-and right-pawed and, most importantly, left-pawed individuals tend towards innate fearfulness. Using dogs as a model, this project will explore lateralisation in general.
Guide dogs and police dogs are required to work only on one side of their handlers. This convention is likely to affect the work of individual dogs. This project will examine the extent to which pawedness predicts success in working dog training. It has the potential to reduce wastage that comes from recruitment of unsuitable dogs and will also improve our understanding of family pets.
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Thinking Systems: Navigating Through Real and Conceptual Spaces. The project will provide fundamental insights into physical and conceptual spaces and develop applications in robotics and information systems. The project brings together national and international researchers to study how humans and other animals navigate: how trajectories through space are used to build maps, the neural bases of these mapping processes and how to use maps to achieve goals. The project will develop a new generati ....Thinking Systems: Navigating Through Real and Conceptual Spaces. The project will provide fundamental insights into physical and conceptual spaces and develop applications in robotics and information systems. The project brings together national and international researchers to study how humans and other animals navigate: how trajectories through space are used to build maps, the neural bases of these mapping processes and how to use maps to achieve goals. The project will develop a new generation of robots that can learn about the physical spaces they work in, and create concept-mapping systems that can map and navigate information spaces. Also, it will provide new insights into the mechanisms regulating human cognition and mental dysfunctions.Read moreRead less
The basis of conscious thought. The science and philosophy of consciousness has made much progress in recent years, and the study of conscious thought is the next frontier. The project will place Australian research on the leading edge of this area. An international network of researchers will analyse both the neurobiological basis and the subjective experience of conscious thought, yielding a unified account of conscious thinking from the first-person and third-person perspectives. The resultin ....The basis of conscious thought. The science and philosophy of consciousness has made much progress in recent years, and the study of conscious thought is the next frontier. The project will place Australian research on the leading edge of this area. An international network of researchers will analyse both the neurobiological basis and the subjective experience of conscious thought, yielding a unified account of conscious thinking from the first-person and third-person perspectives. The resulting account will illuminate the nature of human thinking and reasoning, and will be applied to the detection of consciousness in post-coma patients.Read moreRead less
Characterisation of monoaminergic transmission in Central Amygdala. This project will identify the distribution and function of dopamine, serotonin and noradrenalin receptors on the various cell types and their inputs, in the medial, lateral and capsular divisions of Central Amygdala (CeA). We will test for tonic endogenous activation of monoaminergic receptors and synaptic release from electrically stimulated fibers terminating in CeA. Using paired recordings and calcium imaging, we will invest ....Characterisation of monoaminergic transmission in Central Amygdala. This project will identify the distribution and function of dopamine, serotonin and noradrenalin receptors on the various cell types and their inputs, in the medial, lateral and capsular divisions of Central Amygdala (CeA). We will test for tonic endogenous activation of monoaminergic receptors and synaptic release from electrically stimulated fibers terminating in CeA. Using paired recordings and calcium imaging, we will investigate intracellular mechanisms underlying monoamine receptor mediated effects. These findings when correlated with published behavioural studies will provide greater understanding of the role of the divisions of CeA and the inputs they receive, in the function of the amygdala.Read moreRead less
Dissociating facial processing pathways for static and dynamic information. Abnormalities in social cognition are increasingly recognised as representing core features of a number of psychiatric disorders including autism, Aspberger's syndrome, and schizophrenia, however, the brain mechanisms underlying such abilities in the healthy brain are still not well understood. The current proposal aims to use Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to explore the role of specific brain regions in subserving a ....Dissociating facial processing pathways for static and dynamic information. Abnormalities in social cognition are increasingly recognised as representing core features of a number of psychiatric disorders including autism, Aspberger's syndrome, and schizophrenia, however, the brain mechanisms underlying such abilities in the healthy brain are still not well understood. The current proposal aims to use Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to explore the role of specific brain regions in subserving an important aspect of social functioning; the processing of facial information. As such, the study will significantly enhance our understanding of the neural mechanisms of such processes in healthy brains, thus also informing our understanding of the pathological mechanisms associated with these psychiatric conditions.Read moreRead less
Understanding how the primate brain processes visual information. Being able to see is a crucial aspect of our daily lives, which happens so effortlessly that it tends to be taken for granted. In comparison with other animals and artificial systems, the primate visual cortex is unsurpassed in its capacity to interpret complex and dynamic environments, in a manner that is fast and computationally robust. Discovering how this happens in terms of interactions between cells in the brain can help us ....Understanding how the primate brain processes visual information. Being able to see is a crucial aspect of our daily lives, which happens so effortlessly that it tends to be taken for granted. In comparison with other animals and artificial systems, the primate visual cortex is unsurpassed in its capacity to interpret complex and dynamic environments, in a manner that is fast and computationally robust. Discovering how this happens in terms of interactions between cells in the brain can help us design more efficient artificial systems capable of vision. This in turn can have profound implications for the creation of new technologies such as artificial eyes, autonomous robots, and intelligent sensors, and may also result in future benefits for medical science.Read moreRead less
The role of context in the acquisition, extinction and reinstatement of fear. Behavioural studies have identified a role for context in the development, extinction and reactivation of fear memories. Although there has been significant progress in delineating the neural pathways for fear conditioning, less is known about the substrates that represent the context of conditioning. This project studies the neural substrates of the processes by which context controls the acquisition, extinction and r ....The role of context in the acquisition, extinction and reinstatement of fear. Behavioural studies have identified a role for context in the development, extinction and reactivation of fear memories. Although there has been significant progress in delineating the neural pathways for fear conditioning, less is known about the substrates that represent the context of conditioning. This project studies the neural substrates of the processes by which context controls the acquisition, extinction and reactivation of fear memories. Specifically, it examines the role of information flow between the dorsal subiculum and the accumbens nucleus in the processes by which rats learn about environmental context and the control exerted by such contexts on fear memories.Read moreRead less