Neuroprotection Against Parkinson’s Disease With Remote Photobiomodulation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$314,818.00
Summary
Treating the head of rodents with low-intensity 670nm light protects against Parkinson’s disease (PD), but the large size of the human skull and brain precludes clinical translation of this treatment. We have discovered that the brain is also protected when light is targeted at peripheral tissues (e.g. a limb), overcoming problems of delivery. This project aims to optimise this treatment and better understand how it works, to lay the scientific basis for a clinical trial.
Disorders Of Action Control And Learning-related Plasticity In The Basal Ganglia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$434,874.00
Summary
Disorders of the basal ganglia have long been known to produce severe cognitive symptoms including a deficit in the control of voluntary action. This project will assess the learning processes through which humans and other animals acquire such actions. We will systematically investigate changes in cellular plasticity associated with the acquisition of new actions to establish the role that it plays in action control under normal and pathological conditions.
Mechanism Of Action Of A Quinazolinone In Models Of PD
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$667,548.00
Summary
By the time symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) appear, 60-70% of the cells in a crucial part of the brain called the substantia nigra have been destroyed and within a few years of diagnosis, most of the remaining cells have died. This project investigates the causes of this cell loss and a how a new class of compounds could interrupts the process. Success in achieving the aims of this proposal will add to our knowledge of the causes of neuronal death in PD