Neurodegeneration is the process by which a part of your brain dies as a result of trauma or disease.
There are several well-known diseases where neurodegeneration occurs, including Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, in which your memory and ability to think are affected, and Parkinson's disease and related disorders, in which your ability to move is affected.
At present, we don’t know how to prevent or cure neurodegenerative diseases, and our ability to treat them is limited. In most cases, we don’t know what causes these diseases.
Neurodegenerative disorders impact severely on your quality of life, as well as that of your family. The financial cost of these disorders – both to those affected by the disease and the Australian health system – is significant.
At Neuroscience Research Australia, we are identifying the causes of these disorders and are working towards developing better diagnostic methods and improved treatments. As part of this research, we are also examining what happens to the brain as we age.
Double Group The research carried out within my group focuses on the mechanisms that result in the selective death of the pigmented neurons in Parkinson's disease, a common neurodegenerative disorder. |
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Garner Group The Garner Group occupies three laboratories at NeuRA that are well equipped for cell and molecular biology, analytical biochemistry, advanced microscopy and animal studies. |
Halliday Group Age-related neurodegenerative disorders are relentless progressive diseases, producing relatively rapid dependencies for care, and are therefore responsible for considerable health-related expenditure |
Hodges Group Our clinical research group is dedicated to the study of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and related disorders, notably motor neurone disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). |
Kiernan Group The research group was established in 2001, with research labs based at NeuRA, linked to the Prince of Wales Clinical School UNSW and The Institute of Neurological Sciences, Prince of Wales Hospital. |
Kwok Group Our genes play an important role in whether we develop neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. |
Piguet Group Individuals over the age of 65 years represent the fastest growing segment of the general population. This rise is accompanied by an increase in dementia cases. |
