PROJECT SUMMARY: Alzheimer’s disease is the third leading cause of death in Australia, and currently has no cure. Every day, many Australians are diagnosed with early symptoms of dementia, but not every individual who attends a memory clinic with a concern will progress to this diagnosis....
PROJECT SUMMARY: Huntington's disease (HD) is a fatal disorder involving psychiatric symptoms, dementia and uncontrollable movements. The disease is caused by a ‘genetic stutter’ in a single stretch of repeated DNA. One extraordinary aspect of this disease is that HD sufferers often only have a handful...
PROJECT SUMMARY: Freezing of gait is a debilitating symptom of Parkinson’s disease associated with a heightened falls risk, which is a prevalent cause for morbidity and mortality. Individuals describe it as the feeling that their feet are glued to the ground leaving them frozen and unable...
PROJECT SUMMARY: For the brain to stay healthy, the blood vessels in the brain need to supply it with oxygen and nutrients and remove waste products. In stroke, the blood vessels of the brain either become blocked or burst, which results in a lack of nutrient...
PROJECT SUMMARY: Subarachnoid haemorrhage from a ruptured brain aneurysm is a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Cerebral vasospasm often complicates subarachnoid haemorrhage and can lead to stroke or death. The precise mechanisms contributing to the development of vasospasm are not well understood but it is...
PROJECT SUMMARY: In Australia, brain cancer is the leading cause of cancer-associated death for adults under the age of 40 and children under the age of 10, with one person dying every eight hours. The most common brain tumour is glioblastoma. The standard of care for...
PROJECT SUMMARY: Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder, which usually begins in childhood. Seizures can be well-controlled using medications in approximately 70% of patients, leaving 30% in need of better treatments. When the epilepsy is severe and affecting a child’s development, surgery sometimes offers hope for...
PROJECT SUMMARY: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune neuroinflammatory disorder of the central nervous system, characterized by significant disability. Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is a related autoimmune neuroinflammatory disorder which affects the peripheral nervous system – leading to progressive difficulties with walking and sensation. Both...
Photo: Li Shan Chiu on behalf of Associate Professor Meloni PROJECT SUMMARY: Brain injury or neurotrauma associated with TBI is a major cause of mortality and morbidity, especially in young adults worldwide. Neuroprotective treatments to reduce brain damage associated with TBI are currently lacking, which makes developing...
PROJECT SUMMARY: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes more deaths in Australians under 45 years of age than any other cause, with survivors often left with serious neurologic deficits. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that TBI will surpass many diseases as the leading cause of death...
Tasmania has a long history of health concerns about iodine nutrition. Our soil is low in iodine, for which the native Tasmanians compensated by eating seaweeds and shellfish, but European settlers growing food on Tasmanian soil experienced health problems such as goitre, and children with...
PROJECT SUMMARY: Idiopathic intracranial hypertension or pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) are names for a condition responsible for chronic headache and insidious vision loss. It affects primarily women of reproductive age but can also occur in anyone. The most important modifiable risk factor is obesity and as such...
The skull encases and protects the brain, but after injury, increasing pressure within the skull can reduce blood flow and worsen injury. As occurs elsewhere in the body, when the brain is injured (from e.g. trauma, stroke or bleeding around the brain) swelling occurs. Because the...
The Brain Foundation is the largest, independent funder of brain and spinal injury research in Australia. We believe research is the pathway to recovery.