Dr Vibeke Sørensen Catts is a schizophrenia researcher. Her interests lie in exploring the biological factors that help brain cells grow and die, and how these pathways might be altered in schizophrenia. Here she describes her discovery that certain types of brain cells are inflamed in some people with schizophrenia. This recent finding opens new understanding of what goes wrong in […]
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Dr Nic Dzamko and Prof Glenda Halliday have put together an international team dedicated to researching the causes of Parkinson’s disease. They will be the first in the world to use valuable early clinical samples to identify the genetic and molecular underpinnings of this brain illness. Parkinson’s disease is a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder with no current cure. It is estimated […]
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Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is the second most common degenerative disease causing dementia in younger adults, with onset typically occurring in the 50s or 60s. In FTD, damage to brain cells begins in the frontal and/or temporal lobes of the brain, which often results in personality and behavioural changes or losing the ability to speak or understand language. When conveying a […]
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Over the past decade geneticists have discovered a number of genes that can cause familial or inherited Parkinson’s disease. There are almost twenty known genes that can increase the risk or even cause Parkinson’s disease if they become mutated. There is much hope amongst scientists that by understanding the function of these genes new ideas about how Parkinson’s disease starts […]
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