Regulation Of Extraocular Myosins In Craniofacial Muscles
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$196,018.00
Summary
Muscles which move the eyeball are highly complex and contain a special motor protein which enables them to contract with the highest speed of all muscles in the body. This protein is found also in muscles of the throat which open and close the airway during coughing, sneezing and swallowing. These muscles also make many other types of motor proteins, giving them a wide spectrum of properties. The functional advantage of having very fast muscles to move the eyes, and protect the airway by preven ....Muscles which move the eyeball are highly complex and contain a special motor protein which enables them to contract with the highest speed of all muscles in the body. This protein is found also in muscles of the throat which open and close the airway during coughing, sneezing and swallowing. These muscles also make many other types of motor proteins, giving them a wide spectrum of properties. The functional advantage of having very fast muscles to move the eyes, and protect the airway by preventing foreign bodies from entering the lungs, is obvious, but how the synthesis of this motor protein is restricted to these muscles is intriguing. Studies in limb muscles have established the principle that the type of motor protein in a muscle is determined by both the type of muscle cells and the type of innervation. Nerves can change the motor proteins in response to the pattern of use imposed by the brain via electrical impulses along its nerve supply. It is known that frequency of nerve impulses to eye muscles are exceptionally high. This project will use several approaches to test the hypothesis that the nerve impulse pattern delivered to these special muscles is involved in the regulation of this motor protein. In one approach, these muscles in rat will be subject to long-term paralysis by cutting their nerve or by the use of botulinum toxin to see if the motor protein is abolished or reduced. In another, the nerve to throat muscles which make this protein will be redirected to another throat muscle which does not normally make this motor protein. These experiments are expected to support the notion that eye and throat muscles are different from all other muscles in the body, and that the normal neural activity from nerves innervating these special muscles is necessary for inducing the synthesis of their motor proteins. These results will greatly help us understand how eye and throat muscles acquire their unique characteristics.Read moreRead less
Control Of Prosthetic Limbs From Decoded Brain Signals
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$895,832.00
Summary
This research will restore mobility to patients who suffer from paralysis. We aim to create a device, known as a brain-machine interface, which is an artificial communication path from the brain that bypasses an injury, such as a damaged spinal cord or stroke. The interface will decode a user’s intent and act upon it. Decoders will use physiological principals and state-of-the-art machine learning methods. We will test a user’s ability to control an artificial limb using decoded brain activity.
Preclinical Validation Of First In Man Endovascular Brain Machine Interface Device
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$870,000.00
Summary
The stentrode technology has been given significant public attention, following publication in the fourth highest impact factor journal 'Nature Biotechnology' and a public statement of endorsement by the President of the United States in 2016. The program now seeks to conduct a preclinical validation program to satisfy the FDA in its requirements to provide Investigational Device Exemption (IDE).
Pregabalin And Speech Pathology Treatment For Refractory Chronic Cough With Laryngeal Hypersensitivity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$155,747.00
Summary
Persistent cough that does not respond to medical treatment is debilitating and frustrating for the sufferer and very expensive for the Australian government. This research will provide a new and effective treatment option and extend our current reputation as the world leader in the identification and treatment of refractory chronic cough. This treatment strategy has not been trialled before and the findings will change current medical practice and significantly reduce community health costs.
Dynamic In Vivo Size & Shape Measurement Of The Human Upper Airway Using Endoscopic Long-range Optical Coherence Tomogra
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$184,250.00
Summary
This project will fund the construction of a clinically deployable prototype device to measure changes in upper airway size and shape in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea. We have recently developed and validated a technique based on endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT). Preliminary in vivo studies have been performed in the human upper airway and the results published. To our knowledge, this is the only such system world-wide capable of making these important measurements. The tec ....This project will fund the construction of a clinically deployable prototype device to measure changes in upper airway size and shape in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea. We have recently developed and validated a technique based on endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT). Preliminary in vivo studies have been performed in the human upper airway and the results published. To our knowledge, this is the only such system world-wide capable of making these important measurements. The technique has wide commercially applicability as it can be used to measure the internal dimensions of any hollow organ system.Read moreRead less
Roles Of Peripherally Derived BDNF In Regeneration Of Spinal Cord And The Mechanisms
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$472,770.00
Summary
Injury to the brain and spinal cord often leads to permanent disability due to lack of regeneration. The mechanism why central nerve does not regenerate is not known. Neurotrophic factors are powerful molecules which can overcome effects of inhibitory factors on regeneration. This project aims to investigate how neurotrophic factors override the effects of inhibitory factors and how to improve the regeneration by increasing the production of neurotrophic factors within nerves. Successful complet ....Injury to the brain and spinal cord often leads to permanent disability due to lack of regeneration. The mechanism why central nerve does not regenerate is not known. Neurotrophic factors are powerful molecules which can overcome effects of inhibitory factors on regeneration. This project aims to investigate how neurotrophic factors override the effects of inhibitory factors and how to improve the regeneration by increasing the production of neurotrophic factors within nerves. Successful completion of this project will help understanding the mechanism of how neurotrophic factors work on regeneration and developing the effective way to improve regeneration of the injured spinal cord.Read moreRead less
Neurons And Neurotransmitters That Control Phasic Laryngeal Motoneuron Activity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$278,736.00
Summary
Opening and closing of the vocal cords with breathing is an automatic function that is present before birth and is essential for life. Opening the vocal cords allows inspired air to enter the lungs and closure serves to protect the lungs from food and drink. Failure of coordination is associated with a range of life-threatening airway disorders, particularly in newborns. Nerves in the brain and the chemicals they release transmit the rhythm of breathing to the nerves that control the vocal cords ....Opening and closing of the vocal cords with breathing is an automatic function that is present before birth and is essential for life. Opening the vocal cords allows inspired air to enter the lungs and closure serves to protect the lungs from food and drink. Failure of coordination is associated with a range of life-threatening airway disorders, particularly in newborns. Nerves in the brain and the chemicals they release transmit the rhythm of breathing to the nerves that control the vocal cords. However, the specific neurons and chemicals involved are not known. This information is crucial in understanding the chemical disorder in the brain responsible for the loss of coordination between breathing and vocal cord activity, and in formulating strategies to treat these conditions using drugs that correct the chemical disorder. By way of example, we have used our animal studies to develop the first ever drug trial to treat children with congenital vocal cord paralysis, whose vocal cords fail to open with inspiration and require a tracheostomy. We have selected a drug that corrects the proposed disorder of brain chemistry responsible for this condition. This approach will serve as a template for the management of a variety of other life-threatening airway disorders in newborns using drugs that act on the brain. We will now carry out further experiments to identify the nerves and their chemicals that control the motoneurons that drive the vocal cords. The key experiment involves recording from inside an individual vocal cord motoneuron in the brain while simultaneously applying a range of chemicals to its external surface. By recording the response of the nerve, we can determine which chemicals control its activity. Using our knowledge of the pattern of chemicals released by respiratory neurons, we will identify neurons for further study, and establish chemical and anatomical relationships between the respiratory nerve and the vocal cord nerve.Read moreRead less
The Role Of Ten-m3 In Patterning Ipsilateral Retinal Projections
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$453,042.00
Summary
The normal functioning of the brain depends on connections of billions of nerve cells or neurons. We have found that a protein called Ten_m3 plays a very important role in specifying the way that neurons from the eye connect to the brain. The role of this protein is so important that mice which lack the protein behave as if they are blind. The aim of this project is to understand how this protein controls the development of the visual system.