Plasticity Of Sensorimotor Representations In Adult Primate Cortex
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$554,656.00
Summary
Cells in some regions of the brain, collectively known as the sensorimotor cortex, control our capacity to purposefully move the arms and hands. Damage to these regions in adults causes severe deficits. However, rehabilitative training can restore some control over the muscles. To understand how the brain circuits change to compensate for injury, and what effect rehabilitation may have on these changes, I will study cellular alterations in the movement control pathways in the cerebral cortex.
Neural Mechanisms Associated With Recovery Of Function Following Motor Cortical Lesions
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$196,415.00
Summary
Damage to movement control areas in the brain early in life (e.g. cerebral palsy) or in adulthood (e.g. stroke, tumours) results in motor weakness and loss of skill; over a period of many months there is gradual recovery of function. The neural mechanisms that are associated with functional reorganization of the brain and motor recovery are not well understood. This project plans to use animal experiments to identify the location of regions in the brain that undergo neural reorganization and com ....Damage to movement control areas in the brain early in life (e.g. cerebral palsy) or in adulthood (e.g. stroke, tumours) results in motor weakness and loss of skill; over a period of many months there is gradual recovery of function. The neural mechanisms that are associated with functional reorganization of the brain and motor recovery are not well understood. This project plans to use animal experiments to identify the location of regions in the brain that undergo neural reorganization and compensate for lost function. Following brain lesions detailed mapping of the motor areas of the brain and a careful study of movement disabilities will be performed. The study will attempt to identify changes in motor maps that indicate neural reorganization and relate these changes to motor recovery. The results of this study will be used in future projects to test training programs, drugs and neural prosthesis on neural reorganization and recovery of function. Eventually the information may be used to direct pharmacological and physiotherapeutic interventions, and motor rehabilitation programs for optimal recovery of function.Read moreRead less
Therapeutic Targeting Of The Hedgehog Signaling Pathway In Premalignant Lesions Of The Breast.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$115,980.00
Summary
Breast screening has been successful in reducing deaths from breast cancer. Unfortunately it also detects increasing numbers of precancerous changes. Treatment of these changes is often aggressive, using surgery and radiotherapy. However we are unable to predict exactly which of the changes we need to treat. We aim to better understand the changes involved in this progression and try to block them using new drugs.
What Factors Affect Lesion Distribution In Multiple Sclerosis And Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$56,797.00
Summary
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common neurological disease which affects about 10,000 people in Australia. In MS, a persons own immune system starts to attack specific parts of their brain and spinal cord, causing lesions that prevent nerve impulses from passing from the brain to other parts of the body. The symptoms that people with MS develop can vary from one person to another, depending on where in the brain or spinal cord the lesions occur. Some parts of the brain and spinal cord seem to be m ....Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common neurological disease which affects about 10,000 people in Australia. In MS, a persons own immune system starts to attack specific parts of their brain and spinal cord, causing lesions that prevent nerve impulses from passing from the brain to other parts of the body. The symptoms that people with MS develop can vary from one person to another, depending on where in the brain or spinal cord the lesions occur. Some parts of the brain and spinal cord seem to be much more susceptible to this attack than others, and the question that this study will address is why do lesions occur where they do in MS? Some preliminary results strongly suggest that there is a link between carrying particular genes that control immune responses, having immune cells that can attack one particular protein in the nervous system called PLP, and developing lesions in parts of the brain that control balance. This will be investigated further, and we will also look for other links between immune cells that can attack other proteins and development of lesions in particular areas. If such links can be identified, they would be very important for improved diagnosis of MS and it would enable more specific treatments for MS to be developed. We will also use experimental models of MS to investigate the exact components within the nervous system and within the immune system that play a role in directing the attack to particular sites.Read moreRead less
Representation Of Spatial Coordinate Systems Within Posterior Parietal Cortex And Hippocampus
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$43,759.00
Summary
To accurately reach for an object or walk from one room to another, our brains need to be able to locate objects around us and detect obstacles in our path. Our amazing ability to make an accurate eye movement directly towards an object such as a cup of tea and move our hand smoothly and directly to the cup is something we all take for granted. However, this ability requires enormous computational complexity which our brains have evolved to handle with ease. We plan to determine the parts of the ....To accurately reach for an object or walk from one room to another, our brains need to be able to locate objects around us and detect obstacles in our path. Our amazing ability to make an accurate eye movement directly towards an object such as a cup of tea and move our hand smoothly and directly to the cup is something we all take for granted. However, this ability requires enormous computational complexity which our brains have evolved to handle with ease. We plan to determine the parts of the brain that perform these computations by using a relatively new technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI. This is a non-invasive technique that requires a person to lie in an MRI scanner and perform simple eye movement tasks while the scanner takes images of the brain. With this technology we are able to determine which regions of the brain are most active during the performance of each task, thereby giving us an insight into how the brain works. An area of the brain called the parietal lobe is thought to be involved in the localization of objects, such as reaching for a cup of tea. We will study this area using fMRI to determine how a map of space is represented within the parietal lobe. This region of the brain communicates with another region, the hippocampus which is thought to be involved in navigation, such as walking about the house or driving in the city. Functional MRI will be used to study the hippocampus of our subjects while they perform simple navigational tasks through a maze which is simulated on a computer screen. This will reveal the role hippocampus plays in navigation and the relationship between the parietal lobe and hippocampus. We hope that the greater understanding of hippocampus that will arise from this study will enable us to devise a robust method for imaging hippocampal function with fMRI. We expect that these techniques will aid in the diagnosis of hippocampal abnormalities in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.Read moreRead less