The Role Of Afferent Input In The Development Of Focal Task Specific Dystonia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$213,000.00
Summary
The term dystonia is used to describe a condition that is characterised by abnormal muscle activation patterns. This leads to impaired control of voluntary movements. Depending upon which part of the body is affected, dystonia may be classified as generalised (affecting two or more body segments), hemi (involving one side), segmental (involving adjacent body parts or a segment), or focal (affecting one part of the body). Many of the focal dystonias are also task specific and the aim of this prop ....The term dystonia is used to describe a condition that is characterised by abnormal muscle activation patterns. This leads to impaired control of voluntary movements. Depending upon which part of the body is affected, dystonia may be classified as generalised (affecting two or more body segments), hemi (involving one side), segmental (involving adjacent body parts or a segment), or focal (affecting one part of the body). Many of the focal dystonias are also task specific and the aim of this proposal is to investigate these task-specific focal dystonias. Task-specific focal dystonia is common in the community and causes considerable suffering and loss of productivity. For example, writer's cramp (a common form of task specific focal dystonia) is probably the commonest cause of writing difficulty in patients in whom this is the sole complaint. No treatment regimen has been shown to be effective in alleviating it's often debilitating symptoms. The aim of these studies is to further define the pathophysiological changes seen in task-specific dystonia and investigate the mechanisms responsible for their generation. Using the techniques of transcranial magnetic stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation we will investigate the organisation of the motor cortex in this condition and examine the influence of afferent input on intrinsic cortical circuitry. We hypothesise that the motor regions of the brain are more sensitive to the particular repeated patterns of sensory information reaching the brain during repetitive movement and this results in abnormal alterations in organisation that may be responsible for the symptoms of dystonia. Additionally, we predict that it may be possible to reverse these organisational changes by applying novel patterns of nerve stimulationRead moreRead less
Pharmacological Strategies To Prevent Damage To White Matter In The Central Nervous System After Ischaemia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,770.00
Summary
A stroke is caused by an acute blockade of blood flow to a brain region and in most cases, is caused by a clot in the artery that supplies the oxygenated blood and nutrients such as glucose to that region. Within minutes, the region of the brain that is deprived of blood flow will die and so the functions controlled by that region are lost. In the majority of stroke patients, the middle cerebral artery is blocked and this affects parts of the brain controlling movement of limbs or speech and so ....A stroke is caused by an acute blockade of blood flow to a brain region and in most cases, is caused by a clot in the artery that supplies the oxygenated blood and nutrients such as glucose to that region. Within minutes, the region of the brain that is deprived of blood flow will die and so the functions controlled by that region are lost. In the majority of stroke patients, the middle cerebral artery is blocked and this affects parts of the brain controlling movement of limbs or speech and so these patients suffer permanent disabilities. Not surprisingly, stroke is the most common life-threatening neurological disease and the major cause of disbility in adults over 45 years of age. Apart from the profound effect that stroke has on the patient and family, the annual cost of disability to the Australian community is approximately $ 1 billion. If the disability could be reduced, this could reduce the need for institutionalisation of patients and then the cost saving would be great. So our research is directed towards designing drugs to minimise the disability after stroke. Research in the past has focussed on designing drugs to minimise damage to the grey matter in brain but it is becoming apparent that the white matter in brain is very important for transmitting information and also needs to be protected. We will study the biochemical changes in white matter after a stroke in a rat model and use this information to design in a rational way, novel drugs to minimise damage to white matter (axons), thereby reducing the degree of disability after a stroke.Read moreRead less
Functional MRI And MR Spectroscopic Studies Of Penicillin Induced And Kindled Sheep Models Of Epilepsy
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$311,244.00
Summary
Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, affecting 1-2% of the population. Many epilepsy patients do not respond to drug therapy and their only hope for seizure control is surgical removal of the part of the brain responsible for their seizures. Successful surgery is very much dependent on the ability to exactly localize the seizure focus and this is often not possible using the imaging techniques currently available. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a new techni ....Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, affecting 1-2% of the population. Many epilepsy patients do not respond to drug therapy and their only hope for seizure control is surgical removal of the part of the brain responsible for their seizures. Successful surgery is very much dependent on the ability to exactly localize the seizure focus and this is often not possible using the imaging techniques currently available. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a new technique which may improve our ability to localize the seizure focus from which seizures arise, if the brain can be imaged at, or near, the time of a seizure. MR spectroscopy (MRS) enables us to detect metabolic changes in the brain which may persist at the site where seizures have begun for up to 30 minutes after the seizure. The aim of our research is to obtain a greater understanding of the changes detected with these MR modalities so that we can learn to apply these techniques to human sufferers of epilepsy. Ultimately it may help enable previously incurable epilepsy patients to undergo successful surgery and live normal lives.Read moreRead less
Development Of A Smart Arthroscopy System And Prototype Probe For Joint Tissues
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$230,632.00
Summary
This project relates to the ever growing use of arthroscopy in the management of joint defects. An innovative probe that will combine all the molecular, microstructural and biomechanical characteristics of joint articular cartialge and bone for the purposes of diagnosis, treatment, treatment-related decisions, comparison of the effectiveness of treament methods and post treatment evaluation will be developed. This system will produce spin-offs for artrhoscopy of other soft tissues and bodies.
The Sulphate Anion Protects Against Stroke: Characterisation Of Neuroprotective Potential And Mechanism Of Action.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$189,170.00
Summary
Stroke-cerebral ischaemia affects approximately 40,000 - 50,000 Australians every year and is Australia's leading single cause of disability and second greatest cause of death after heart disease. About 25% of people who suffer a stroke die within one month while most survivors are disabled because of impaired speech, memory, thought processes, vision, balance, or motor control of the limbs (paralysis). The direct and indirect cost of stroke to the Australian community is over $2 billion annuall ....Stroke-cerebral ischaemia affects approximately 40,000 - 50,000 Australians every year and is Australia's leading single cause of disability and second greatest cause of death after heart disease. About 25% of people who suffer a stroke die within one month while most survivors are disabled because of impaired speech, memory, thought processes, vision, balance, or motor control of the limbs (paralysis). The direct and indirect cost of stroke to the Australian community is over $2 billion annually. Hence preventing or reducing brain damage following stroke is of fundamental clinical, social and economic significance. A stroke occurs when there is a reduced blood supply to the entire brain (Global ischaemia; eg. cardiac arrest, heart bypass surgery, closed head injury) or when there is a reduced blood supply to a specific region of the brain, usually as a result of a blockage in a brain artery (thrombo-embolic stroke or focal ischaemia). Despite decades of research, there is no totally satisfactory clinical treatment to reduce brain damage following stroke; the search for new treatments is paramount. We have shown that sodium sulphate can prevent brain damage in rat models of focal and global ischaemia. Importantly we demonstrated that sodium sulphate could prevent brain damage when given up to 8 hours after the stroke was induced in the global model. Delayed treatment following stroke is of clinical significance, since most patients do not receive medical attention until several hours after initial stroke symptoms. It is not known how sodium sulphate protects the brain from stroke. This project has three main aims: 1. To determine the how well sodium sulphate treatment protects the brain in rats following stroke. 2. To determine if sodium sulphate treatment can reduce brain damage in the rat model of focal ischaemia when given 4 - 8 hours after the stroke. 3. To determine how sodium sulphate protects the brain from stroke.Read moreRead less
Pharmacological Modulation Of Microglial Responses After Transient Forebrain Ischaemia In Rats
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$170,906.00
Summary
A stroke is caused by an acute blockade of blood flow to a brain region and is normally caused by a clot in the artery that supplies blood to that region. Within minutes, the region of the brain that is receiving no blood flow, dies and so the functions controlled by that region cease. If this region controls key functions such as breathing then the patient dies and this occurs in about one third of patients. However, in the majority of patients, the blockage affects parts of the brain controlli ....A stroke is caused by an acute blockade of blood flow to a brain region and is normally caused by a clot in the artery that supplies blood to that region. Within minutes, the region of the brain that is receiving no blood flow, dies and so the functions controlled by that region cease. If this region controls key functions such as breathing then the patient dies and this occurs in about one third of patients. However, in the majority of patients, the blockage affects parts of the brain controlling movement of limbs or speech and so these patients suffer permanent disabilities. Not surprisingly, stroke is the most common life-threatening neurological disease and the major cause of disability in adults over 45. Apart from the profound effect stroke has on the patient and the family, the annual cost of disability to the Australian community is approx $ 1 billion. If the disability could be minimised by reducing institutionalization then the cost saving would be great. Research is being carried out to define how nerves die when they have insufficient blood supply and progress has been made in understanding the biochemical basis of this process. Such knowledge opens the way for the design of novel drugs to delay nerve death. Our laboratory has been successful in designing a novel drug, AM-36 that minimises nerve death in the forebrain of rats that have had the blood supply to the forebrain interrupted for 3 to 5 hours. A recent report has shown that a stroke in the forebrain can lead to nerve damage in the spinal cord and this could contribute to impaired walking in stroke patients. This is an unexpected finding and this project seeks to define how and when nerves in the spine die after a stroke in the forebrain. Such information should then lead to the rational design of drugs to minimise the death of nerves in the spinal cord as well as in the forebrain.Read moreRead less