Understanding biological pathways underlying social behaviour in humans. This project aims to show for the first time how oxytocin interacts with neural social and reward pathways to guide social behaviour. Oxytocin is a natural neuropeptide and hormone that has a critical role in the regulation of social behaviour across mammalian species. In animals, direct evidence demonstrates how endogenous and exogenous oxytocin interacts with social and reward neural pathways to alter social behaviour, in ....Understanding biological pathways underlying social behaviour in humans. This project aims to show for the first time how oxytocin interacts with neural social and reward pathways to guide social behaviour. Oxytocin is a natural neuropeptide and hormone that has a critical role in the regulation of social behaviour across mammalian species. In animals, direct evidence demonstrates how endogenous and exogenous oxytocin interacts with social and reward neural pathways to alter social behaviour, including social recognition, relationship formation, and long-term bonds. The project intends to use radio-labelling techniques in combination with positron emission tomography to track oxytocin and show what regions of the brain oxytocin impacts to then influence social cognition and behaviour in humans.Read moreRead less
Attention vs Perception: When is selection optimal, when relational? This project aims to investigate an important, newly discovered dissociation between early visual selection and perceptual decision-making. Contrary to current theories, attentional and perceptual processes are tuned to different stimulus attributes described in the relational vs. optimal account, which implies that current theories of attention do not describe early attention but later, decisional processes. This project will ....Attention vs Perception: When is selection optimal, when relational? This project aims to investigate an important, newly discovered dissociation between early visual selection and perceptual decision-making. Contrary to current theories, attentional and perceptual processes are tuned to different stimulus attributes described in the relational vs. optimal account, which implies that current theories of attention do not describe early attention but later, decisional processes. This project will provide an accurate description of these processes, which promises important theoretical breakthroughs. Work on this project will also significantly advance methods to detect and describe early attentional processes, by identifying error-prone methods of Psychophysics and Neuroscience studies, and proposing remedies.Read moreRead less
Fundamental neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning creative thought. The project aims to understand the neural and cognitive bases of creative thought by using a novel approach and recent framework that has emerged from the study of semantic cognition and executive control functions. Creative thought is fundamental to human advances throughout history and it is the foundation to all arts and sciences. Expected outcomes are a framework that can explain the source of knowledge and the evaluative ....Fundamental neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning creative thought. The project aims to understand the neural and cognitive bases of creative thought by using a novel approach and recent framework that has emerged from the study of semantic cognition and executive control functions. Creative thought is fundamental to human advances throughout history and it is the foundation to all arts and sciences. Expected outcomes are a framework that can explain the source of knowledge and the evaluative mechanisms needed to generate new and useful ideas. Significant benefits will be to advance our understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms of creative thought, which can enhance Australia’s scientific capability through training and collaboration and broader society by enhancing capacity for innovative thinking. Read moreRead less
Investigating differences in decision-making ability in older adults. This project aims to investigate how healthy ageing impacts decision making and its associated neural circuits using computation modelling and neurogenetic methods. Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive ability, allowing us to choose the best course of action. This project will investigate the relationship between genes and decision-making performance across the adult lifespan. Expected outcomes include a deeper understan ....Investigating differences in decision-making ability in older adults. This project aims to investigate how healthy ageing impacts decision making and its associated neural circuits using computation modelling and neurogenetic methods. Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive ability, allowing us to choose the best course of action. This project will investigate the relationship between genes and decision-making performance across the adult lifespan. Expected outcomes include a deeper understanding of how decision-making evolves in healthy ageing, and a tool based on genetic scores and computational modelling to predict an individual's trajectory of cognitive function. This could help identify individuals who are at risk for cognitive decline, which could then inform better interventions.Read moreRead less
How the brain produces speech: Neuronal oscillations to neuromodulation. Speech is crucial for facilitating human communication through language, yet there is a lack of clarity about where, when and what type of activity occurs in the brain during key stages of production. This project will use intracranial recordings to characterise neuronal oscillations in combination with direct electrical stimulation, functional neuroimaging and non-invasive brain stimulation to establish critical areas and ....How the brain produces speech: Neuronal oscillations to neuromodulation. Speech is crucial for facilitating human communication through language, yet there is a lack of clarity about where, when and what type of activity occurs in the brain during key stages of production. This project will use intracranial recordings to characterise neuronal oscillations in combination with direct electrical stimulation, functional neuroimaging and non-invasive brain stimulation to establish critical areas and their timecourses with millisecond resolution. The outcome will be a better theoretical account of the brain mechanisms involved in spoken production. The benefit of this new theoretical account will be a better basis for prevention of post-surgical language impairment and neuromodulatory treatments after brain injury.Read moreRead less
A more sound approach to the neurobiology of language. How does the brain attain spoken language? Current neurobiological models assume either implicitly or explicitly that there is no relationship between a word's sound and its meaning. Yet considerable evidence shows this strong assumption about the arbitrariness of language is invalid. This project will use a combination of behavioural, neuroimaging and computational studies to characterise how the brain processes statistical regularities in ....A more sound approach to the neurobiology of language. How does the brain attain spoken language? Current neurobiological models assume either implicitly or explicitly that there is no relationship between a word's sound and its meaning. Yet considerable evidence shows this strong assumption about the arbitrariness of language is invalid. This project will use a combination of behavioural, neuroimaging and computational studies to characterise how the brain processes statistical regularities in sound-to-meaning correspondences as probabilistic cues to attain spoken language. The outcome will be a better neural account of language comprehension and production. The benefit of this new account will be a stronger basis for assessment and treatment of developmental and acquired language impairments.Read moreRead less
Placental nutrient transport shows how complex traits evolve. This project aims to use amino acid transport in the vertebrate placenta as a model to demonstrate how genes are recruited and modified to produce a major organ. Using an innovative combination of a new technology, selected reaction monitoring, and transcriptomic and molecular approaches, plus carefully selected Australian species pairs, this project will study the evolution of a complex trait (placental amino acid transport). The pr ....Placental nutrient transport shows how complex traits evolve. This project aims to use amino acid transport in the vertebrate placenta as a model to demonstrate how genes are recruited and modified to produce a major organ. Using an innovative combination of a new technology, selected reaction monitoring, and transcriptomic and molecular approaches, plus carefully selected Australian species pairs, this project will study the evolution of a complex trait (placental amino acid transport). The project will provide fundamental advances in our knowledge of the nutrient transport during pregnancy that is required to produce a healthy baby.Read moreRead less
Precision ecology: the modern era of designed experiments in plant ecology. This project aims to develop the field of precision ecology, forging a new era of designed experiments where sampling is informed by research questions and what is known about the ecological process being studied. Through the development of novel statistical methods, new experiments globally will be designed to answer important ecological questions including what influence abiotic and biotic factors have on plant commun ....Precision ecology: the modern era of designed experiments in plant ecology. This project aims to develop the field of precision ecology, forging a new era of designed experiments where sampling is informed by research questions and what is known about the ecological process being studied. Through the development of novel statistical methods, new experiments globally will be designed to answer important ecological questions including what influence abiotic and biotic factors have on plant communities over time and different spatial scales. Expected outcomes include new methods and tools that will modernise how future experiments will be conducted in plant ecology. This will provide significant transdisciplinary benefits including new statistical methods that target scientific discovery in ecological studies.Read moreRead less
Combining biomechanics and movement ecology of kangaroos and relatives. Kangaroos and their relatives are unique in their body form, hopping gait and by the fact that increased speed does not come at an increased energetic cost. This project aims to build 3D musculoskeletal models to understand how muscles and tendons interact, enabling greater distances to be travelled using less energy. Further, it will use animal tracking devices and machine-learning tools to quantify movements in the wild. T ....Combining biomechanics and movement ecology of kangaroos and relatives. Kangaroos and their relatives are unique in their body form, hopping gait and by the fact that increased speed does not come at an increased energetic cost. This project aims to build 3D musculoskeletal models to understand how muscles and tendons interact, enabling greater distances to be travelled using less energy. Further, it will use animal tracking devices and machine-learning tools to quantify movements in the wild. This framework will provide novel insights into how energetics, morphology, and habitat have shaped the evolution of this unique group. This may open doors to a range of future ecological, physiological, and conservation studies and provide biological inspiration for energetically efficient robotic and assistive devices.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100585
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$400,000.00
Summary
Does foot shape even matter? Rethinking the function of the human foot. Human feet are unique in shape and structure, having evolved to allow upright locomotion. Despite their importance, we don’t understand how foot shape and structure facilitates upright locomotion.This DECRA aims to explore the relationship between foot morphology and foot function. I will close a large knowledge gap by applying novel experimental and shape modelling approaches to provide unprecedented insights into human foo ....Does foot shape even matter? Rethinking the function of the human foot. Human feet are unique in shape and structure, having evolved to allow upright locomotion. Despite their importance, we don’t understand how foot shape and structure facilitates upright locomotion.This DECRA aims to explore the relationship between foot morphology and foot function. I will close a large knowledge gap by applying novel experimental and shape modelling approaches to provide unprecedented insights into human foot function. The primary expected outcome is a detailed understanding of how foot shape and structure influences our ability to walk and run. This research will create a paradigm shift in how we think about feet in the context of human evolution, human athletic performance and athletic footwear design.Read moreRead less