the NeuRA blog

Dr Joana Caetano, Dr Jasmine Menant and Prof Stephen Lord.   Balance and walking impairments are disabling symptoms of Parkinson’s disease that adversely affect performance of daily activities, reduce independence and increase the risk of falls. Around 60% of people with Parkinson’s disease fall at least once a year, with a large proportion (50-86%) falling multiple times in this period. […]

Chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) is a common condition affecting 1 in 5 adults worldwide. CMP encompasses a diverse range of conditions such as osteoarthritis, chronic low back pain (CLBP), fibromyalgia and chronic widespread pain, where ongoing pain is felt in the bones, joints and tissues. Exercise is considered to be the primary treatment intervention for people with CMP; it is […]

By Dr Sylvia Gustin   I am particularly excited about my new research which shows that in people who suffer from spinal cord injury, 50% of those that suffer complete thoracic spinal cord injuries are still left with some of their sensory connections intact, and although suffers cannot sense touch below the waist, their brain still lights up to indicate that […]

By Prof Lynne Bilston and A/Prof Julie Brown   While we’re all excited to get on the road and begin our journey in the holiday season, it is important to ensure everything is secure before travelling –especially the children. A correctly fitted child car restraint, appropriate for the child’s age and size, can reduce the risk of serious injury or […]

By Prof Danny Eckert  If you get disruptive or inadequate sleep, or if you suffer from sleep apnoea, it can adversely affect every organ in your body causing anxiety, depression and a range of mental disorders relating to your poor sleep quality. In the workforce, poor sleep habits can also impact on your judgement and decision-making processes. If you are […]

Professor Kaarin Anstey joins NeuRA in January 2018 to lead an innovative multi-disciplinary team addressing ageing research, with a focus on vital community lifestyle solutions around dementia in the Australian community. Speaking about her new appointment, Prof Anstey said, “I’m looking forward to expanding my research programs on the epidemiology of cognition and dementia with a focus on identifying lifestyle, […]

By Dr Lucette Cysique  News relating to HIV infection in Australia are full of success stories particularly since the reduction of HIV infection rate with the ramping up of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), principally in metropolitan bisexual and gay men (BGM), however, with an ageing HIV population, there remain key challenges such as, getting older with HIV, and greater risk of […]

By Prof Lars Ittner Senior Principal Research Scientist, Professor Lars Ittner is working to understand Motor Neurone Disease (MND), and trying to develop novel therapeutic approaches for this devastating condition. Specifically, Prof Ittner develops disease models that allow his team to understand the detailed cellular events that lead to the dysfunction and death of neurons and therefore to the loss […]

In Australia alone, 250,000 people are affected by bipolar disorder. Current treatments are highly variable for the severe and debilitating psychiatric condition and the specific genetic causes have remained largely obscure. Bipolar disorder is most commonly treated with lithium, but this is only effective for 30% of patients. Unlocking the genetic code of bipolar disorder and using pharmacogenomics studies to […]