Successful Department of Neuroscience launch!

Monash University and the Central Clinical School is delighted to present you with a virtual tour of its new state-of-the-art Neuroscience research laboratories. Along the tour you will get to meet some of the world-renowned scientists working within the space. Professor Patrick Kwan is pictured above in a still from the video.

Opened by the Honourable Greg Hunt MP, Federal Minister for Health, 30 August 2018, the department is headed by Professor Terry O'Brien.

• Photo album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9TbgT3dCfve6K9fz6
• Neuroscience department: https://www.monash.edu/medicine/ccs/neuroscience
• Video: https://youtu.be/eXqUiYqzc5g

Participants sought: Migraine and visual disturbance, known as 'visual snow'

Visual snow can granulate visual perception as per the
right-hand image pictured here. Image: Medpage today

The problem

Currently, there is little understanding of the causes of Visual Snow (VS) and the relationship between VS and migraine.  As such, more research needs to be conducted to better understand the underlying mechanisms of these conditions.

A large portion of the brain is involved in vision and controlling the movement of the eyes. Other research has shown that simple eye movement tests and visual perception tasks can give important information about the mechanisms underlying neurological conditions.

What we want to find out

We wish to investigate whether differences in performance on eye movement and visual perception tests can account for the symptoms of VS and the differences in symptomology between VS and migraine.

Recent publications for Neuroscience researchers

Neuroscience
Brady RD, Casillas-Espinosa PM, Agoston DV, Bertram EH, Kamnaksh A, Semple BD, Shultz SR. Modelling traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic epilepsy in rodents. Neurobiol Dis. 2018 Aug 16. pii: S0969-9961(18)30439-X. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2018.08.007. [Epub ahead of print]

Sivathamboo N, Hitchcock A, Graham J, Sivathamboo S, Chen Z, O'Brien TJ, Vajda FJE. The use of antidepressant drugs in pregnant women with epilepsy: A study from the Australian Pregnancy Register. Epilepsia. 2018 Aug 24. doi: 10.1111/epi.14539. [Epub ahead of print]
Surgery

Stein MS, Ward GJ, Butzkueven H, Kilpatrick TJ, Harrison LC. Dysequilibrium of the PTH-FGF23-vitamin D axis in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis; a longitudinal study. Mol Med. 2018 May 30;24(1):27. doi: 10.1186/s10020-018-0028-3.

Thomalla G et al, Gerloff C; WAKE-UP Investigators. Collaborator, Cloud G. MRI-Guided Thrombolysis for Stroke with Unknown Time of Onset. N Engl J Med. 2018 Aug 16;379(7):611-622. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1804355. Epub 2018 May 16.

Dr Elspeth Hutton on 'suicide' headaches

Dr Elspeth Hutton, Research Fellow
Department of Neuroscience

They’re called suicide headaches because the pain is frequent and unbearable.

Commonly known as cluster headaches, they can occur up to eight times a day. They start suddenly, last for up to three hours, and can be very painful. A bout of regular attacks, known as a cluster bout, can last weeks to months.

Epilepsy research success in State Government funding

Alfred epilepsy specialists. L-R: Dr Genevieve Rayner, Prof Patrick Kwan, Dr Piero Perucca, Dr Hugh Simpson, Dr Anne McIntosh, Dr Prash Puspanathan, Ms Shobi Sivanthamboo, Dr Andrew Gleason, Dr Anita Vinton, Dr Mark King, Dr Lyn Millist, Prof Terry O'Brien, Dr Anna Willard, Dr Lucy Vivash.

Professors Terry O'Brien and Patrick Kwan in the Department of Neuroscience were successfully awarded Victorian State Government grants each worth $100,000 this week. Their submissions were selected by the Department of Health and Human Services as part of its ‘Healthier Lives, Stronger Economy: Victoria’s Health and Medical Research Strategy 2016-20'. The projects are:

Monash brain research success in major national grants

Associate Professor Sandy Shultz, the recipient of
 a 2018 NHMRC Career Development Fellowship.

by Anne Crawford

Researchers in Monash University’s new Department of Neuroscience have been recognised in National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants worth more than $1.3million.

The Department, part of Monash University’s Central Clinical School (CCS), will be officially opened by Hon. Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Health, on 30 August. It attracted almost half of the grants awarded to CCS scientists.