Research Programs


More Information
Dr Meiyun Chang-Smith

FOR MORE detail about a particular area of QBI research, follow the category links (below) which provide summaries on individual research scientists and their programs.

Axonal Guidance

Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience

Computational Neuroscience

Mental and Neurological Disorders

Neurogenesis

Synaptic Plasticity

Visual and Sensory Neuroscience

Axonal Guidance

Axonal guidance investigates how the brain becomes wired-up during development. Using biological and mathematical modelling, QBI neuroscientists are examining how the brain forms new connections, and how these new nerve fibres locate targets and transform into integrated signal pathways.

Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience

The mechanisms of selective attention are crucial to virtually all aspects of everyday behaviour and cognition. QBI’s cognitive and behavioural scientists are looking at a range of important questions, such as how does the brain filter sensory stimuli so only behaviourally relevant inputs are selected for further processing? Or what are the consequences of such selective processing for conscious perception and action?

In addition, QBI scientists are investigating neurodevelopmental theories which suggest that genetic and nongenetic factors might disrupt early brain development and contribute to the risk of developing Schizophrenia. The condition is thought to be a developmental disorder with a characteristic onset in late adolescence and early adulthood.

Computational Neuroscience

Computational neuroscientists use theoretical, computational and experimental techniques to investigate how biological nervous systems become wired up during development. Current work is primarily focused on how growing axons find their targets by detecting molecular gradients, and how the statistical structure of visual activity influences the development of maps in the mammalian visual system.

 

Mental and Neurological Disorders

Nearly 50 per cent of hospitalisation is directly attributable to neurological disorders. For example, it is estimated more than 200,000 Australians are currently affected by dementia. QBI's molecular research in brain function boosts our overall understanding of how neurological disorders affect the brain.

Equipped with a better understanding of how the brain functions, QBI neuroscientists are working in areas such as cell survival and human genetics, which will help clinicians to develop treatments for a raft of conditions such as ageing dementia, motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis and Huntington's disease.

Click here for a full list of groups in this area

Neurogenesis

QBI neuroscientists are exploring ways to stimulate neurogenesis, the brain's innate ability to produce new nerve cells, which offers the very real hope that normal brain function, especially memory, can one day be enhanced. Our goal is to regulate neurogenesis in ways that allow for the replacement of nerve cells lost or damaged though stroke, trauma or neurodegenerative ill health.

Synaptic Plasticity

As the brain relies on complex chemical and electrical signalling, QBI neuroscientists are exploring the electrophysiological properties of neurons. In particular, QBI scientists are examining synaptic transmission, synaptic plasticity and studying the ion channels that regulate neuronal excitability.

Visual and Sensory Neuroscience

An understanding of visual processing in insects may provide simple, novel solutions to problems in machine vision and artificial intelligence. QBI visual neuroscientists have demonstrated that many relatively simple nervous systems nevertheless display a rich behavioural repertoire. QBI scientists seek to elucidate principles of flight control and navigation, and to explore the limits of the 'cognitive' capacities of small brains.

feedback