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
Learning Robotic Navigation and Interaction from Object-based Semantic Maps. Our project aims to develop new learning algorithms that enable robots to perform high-complexity tasks that are currently impossible. Compared to existing methods that rely on low-level sensor data, we aim to achieve this by learning from a high-level graph representation of the environment that captures semantics, affordances, and geometry. The outcome would be robots capable of using human instructions to efficiently ....Learning Robotic Navigation and Interaction from Object-based Semantic Maps. Our project aims to develop new learning algorithms that enable robots to perform high-complexity tasks that are currently impossible. Compared to existing methods that rely on low-level sensor data, we aim to achieve this by learning from a high-level graph representation of the environment that captures semantics, affordances, and geometry. The outcome would be robots capable of using human instructions to efficiently learn complex interaction and navigation behaviours that transfer to unseen environments. Our research should benefit new applications in domains of economic and societal importance that are currently too complex, unsafe, and uncertain for robot assistants, such as aged care, advanced manufacturing and domestic robotics.Read moreRead less
Square Eyes or All Lies? Understanding Children's Exposure to Screens. This project will examine Australian parents’ number one concern about their children’s health and behaviour – their interactions with electronic screens. Current screen time guidelines are based on low-quality evidence and lack the nuance required to address this complex issue. This project will use innovative technology to resolve these weaknesses. Wearable cameras will measure what children are doing on screens, and where, ....Square Eyes or All Lies? Understanding Children's Exposure to Screens. This project will examine Australian parents’ number one concern about their children’s health and behaviour – their interactions with electronic screens. Current screen time guidelines are based on low-quality evidence and lack the nuance required to address this complex issue. This project will use innovative technology to resolve these weaknesses. Wearable cameras will measure what children are doing on screens, and where, when, and how long they are doing it. The project will also investigate how screen time impacts children’s development and how it is influenced by their environment. This evidence will benefit children by improving screen time guidelines, and help parents understand the impact of screen time on children’s development.
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The virtual human knee. This project aims to investigate the Virtual Human Knee (VHK) which provides a baseline knowledge about knee mechanics in healthy individuals and a tool for studying knee mechanics in silico. The new knowledge can be used for identifying individuals most at risk for injury, developing solutions for preventing injury and for assessing knee reconstruction and implantation methods. As such, VHK will mitigate the burden of knee injury to Australia and worldwide by progressing ....The virtual human knee. This project aims to investigate the Virtual Human Knee (VHK) which provides a baseline knowledge about knee mechanics in healthy individuals and a tool for studying knee mechanics in silico. The new knowledge can be used for identifying individuals most at risk for injury, developing solutions for preventing injury and for assessing knee reconstruction and implantation methods. As such, VHK will mitigate the burden of knee injury to Australia and worldwide by progressing disciplines including anatomy, bio-mechanics, sport science, rehabilitation, surgery and medical devices.Read moreRead less
Automated analysis of multi-modal medical data using deep belief networks. This project will develop an improved breast cancer computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system that incorporates mammography, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. This system will be based on recently developed deep learning techniques, which have the capacity to process multi-modal data in a unified and optimal manner. The advantage of this technique is that it is able to automatically learn both the relevant features t ....Automated analysis of multi-modal medical data using deep belief networks. This project will develop an improved breast cancer computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system that incorporates mammography, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. This system will be based on recently developed deep learning techniques, which have the capacity to process multi-modal data in a unified and optimal manner. The advantage of this technique is that it is able to automatically learn both the relevant features to analyse in each modality and the hidden relationships between them. The use of deep belief networks has produced promising results in several fields, such as speech recognition, and so this project believes that our approach has the potential to improve both the sensitivity and specificity of breast cancer detection.Read moreRead less
Deep reinforcement learning for discovering and visualising biomarkers. This project aims to develop novel methods for discovering and visualising optimal bio-markers from chest computed tomography images based on extensions of recently developed deep reinforcement learning techniques. The extensions proposed in this project will advance medical image analysis by allowing an efficient analysis of large dimensionality inputs in their original high resolution. In addition, this project will be the ....Deep reinforcement learning for discovering and visualising biomarkers. This project aims to develop novel methods for discovering and visualising optimal bio-markers from chest computed tomography images based on extensions of recently developed deep reinforcement learning techniques. The extensions proposed in this project will advance medical image analysis by allowing an efficient analysis of large dimensionality inputs in their original high resolution. In addition, this project will be the first approach capable of discovering previously unknown biomarkers associated with important clinical outcomes. The project will validate the approach on a real-world case study data set concerning the prediction of five-year survival of chronic disease.Read moreRead less
Skin penetration of nanoparticles promoted by particle design, formulation and application method. This project seeks to better define the determinants of nanoparticle skin penetration and subsequent disposition in the body. The data would be used to guide minimal skin penetration of 'undesirable' nanoparticles and the properties required of 'safe' nanoparticles to enable effective human skin delivery in cosmetic and dermatological products.
How does timing affect mammalian brain development and evolution? This project aims to generate fundamental knowledge on the origin of diversity in mammalian brain circuits by studying development of marsupials and rodents. The expected outcome is to elucidate how differences in the timing, rate and sequence of development of gene expression, cell differentiation and circuit formation can relate to the origin of key evolutionary innovations in the mammalian brain. The significance of understandi ....How does timing affect mammalian brain development and evolution? This project aims to generate fundamental knowledge on the origin of diversity in mammalian brain circuits by studying development of marsupials and rodents. The expected outcome is to elucidate how differences in the timing, rate and sequence of development of gene expression, cell differentiation and circuit formation can relate to the origin of key evolutionary innovations in the mammalian brain. The significance of understanding the dynamics of developmental systems that shape complex brain traits includes establishing new developmental paradigms in evolutionary theory, generating new tools to investigate and manipulate brain gene expression in vivo, and the potential discovery of the causes of neurodevelopmental dysfunction.Read moreRead less
Single and dual process models of recognition memory: Reconciliation of behavioural, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging data. Advanced brain scanning technologies are increasingly used to study human memory. As well as being important for our basic understanding of memory, they also tell us how memory is affected by normal development, ageing, disease, and injury. Unfortunately, because these technologies are so new, a gap has opened up between our psychological understanding of memory and t ....Single and dual process models of recognition memory: Reconciliation of behavioural, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging data. Advanced brain scanning technologies are increasingly used to study human memory. As well as being important for our basic understanding of memory, they also tell us how memory is affected by normal development, ageing, disease, and injury. Unfortunately, because these technologies are so new, a gap has opened up between our psychological understanding of memory and the physiological events measured by the scanning technologies. This has created a problem for how we should interpret the results that are found. The present project aims to close this gap by applying new research methodologies and theoretical insights based on our previous research.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