Our aim in the school is to have research that influences what’s going on in the wider community. We look to our research output to be published into journals where its going to have an influence. We aim to help our junior staff evaluate the kind of work they’re doing to ask "where can I make a difference?" rather than "isn’t this an interesting intellectual curiosity?"
While the intellectual curiosities are great we want to make sure that the work we are doing makes a difference, and that we are part of the opinion leaders who can influence the way that funding is provided for research into these areas. As a result during 2011 we’ve identified a number of particular areas, or “themes”(outlined below) that we want to work in, where our strengths and our expertise lie, and also where the needs are: what are these kinds of contemporary issues where we think there are both opportunities and needs for research?
Addiction and Consciousness
We are interested in understanding the neuronal basis of addiction and consciousness. Conscious experience remains a fundamental and almost mysterious research topic in science. We are also interested in the interaction of addiction with other medical conditions. Learn more ...
Brain Injury and Rehabilitation
Almost half a million Australians have an acquired brain injury (slightly more than one in every fifty people). We are interested in better understanding brain injury as it occurs in populations including children and adults, as a result of trauma or stroke, in basic science and animal research, and from the perspectives of neuroimaging to everyday function. Learn more ...
Culture and Mental Health
We are interested in the impact of culture and social context on the experience of mental illness, health and wellbeing. This includes the prospects for meaningful recovery among individuals and groups living with mental health problems. The goal is to locate mental health within a range of social, political and cultural contexts including issues concerning gender, globalization and cultural diversity, social inclusion, migration and social change. Learn more ...
Forensic Mental Health and Behavioural Science
We are interested in exploring the interface of mental health, behavioural science, and the legal system. In particular, we are interested in understanding how individual characteristics interact with the environment to produce criminal behaviour, and what might be done to prevent such behaviour in the future. We also seek to understand the experiences and challenges faced by mentally ill people and staff members within the criminal justice system from the first point of police contact to community reintegration. Learn more ...
Mental Illness and Mood Disorders
Mental illness is relatively common and impairs the lives of many Australians. We are concerned with determination of biological, psychological and social factors that contribute to both mental illness and health. Learn more ...
Movement Disorders and Ageing
The study of aged individuals with and without disease is becoming ever more significant as our population is getting older and older. We adopt strong multi-disciplinary research strengths from neurology, psychiatry, genetics, cognitive neuroscience, and experimental neuropsychology in understanding brain-behaviour relationships in both healthy ageing and in individuals with movement disorders, including Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Freidriech ataxia, FXTAS (Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome), Alzheimer’s disease and other associated dementias. Learn more ...
Neurodevelopment and Disorders
The human brain undergoes massive developmental change from infancy to early adulthood, underpinning age-related changes in cognitive ability, temperament, personality and social functioning. The consequences of disruption to neurodevelopment can be dramatic, as exemplified by the host of clinical conditions that are marked by a failure to attain appropriate cognitive, social or brain developmental milestones. Thus members of our theme seek to understand for example, how individual differences in our genetics might influence the development of traits such as inattention or impulsivity and their associated neural correlates. Other members of our theme lead the way in studying neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, Fragile X and William’s syndrome. Learn more ...
Sleep Health and Sleep Disorders
Our theme encapsulates a multi-disciplinary program of research that aims to investigate the contribution of sleep regulatory processes on waking function, health and safety. Learn more ...
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