THE EFFECT OF STRESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT ON DISEASE PROGRESSION IN MESIAL TEMPORAL LOBE EPILEPSY
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$578,201.00
Summary
Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, the most common form of drug-resistant epilepsy in adults, is a progressive neurodegenerative condition for which there is currently no effective disease modifying treatment. This proposal will explore whether co-morbid stress accelerates disease progression in MTLE, and whether targeting stress pathways by medical and environmental manipulations can mitigate against this.
Establishing The Clinical Spectrum And Pathogenicity Of Antibodies Against Dopamine Receptors In Autoimmune Movement And Psychiatric Disorders
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$172,126.00
Summary
Dopamine plays a pivotal role in neurotransmission and the control of movement and behaviour. This project aims to define the clinical spectrum and pathogenicity of anti-dopamine receptor antibody mediated diseases. The identification of these antibodies in atypical presentations of common movement disorders would have widespread diagnostic and therapeutic implications, and suggests that selected patients might be amenable to targeted immunomodulatory therapy, thus improving their outcome.