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MRI-enhanced EEG biomarkers of cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease Professor John Dalrymple-Alford, Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury $224,149 Parkinson’s disease (PD) is more than a motor disorder. It often impairs thinking and memory (i.e. cognitive ability); this decline can ultimately progress to dementia. Professor Dalrymple-Alford will examine the electrical activity of the brain (“EEG signals”) using electrodes placed on the scalp. This will describe patterns of communication across functional brain networks, aided by structural and functional brain scans to specify their neural sources. Some patterns will represent a bio-signal that identifies patients showing severe cognitive impairment. Such “biomarkers” will enable early assistance and identification of those patients at greatest risk of losing their ability to think clearly. Small project grants A pilot study of high resolution nerve ultrasound for ‘in vivo’ diagnosis of genetic and acquired peripheral sensory and motor neuronopathies Dr Luciana Pelosi, Department of Neurology, Auckland DHB $15,000 Sensory-neuronopathy is a disease of the nerve cells of dorsal root ganglia, causing degeneration of nerve fibres in the peripheral nerves and spinal tracts conveying sensory information to the brain. Non-invasive techniques allowing accurate diagnosis of this disease do not exist. Dr Luciana Pelosi has recently found that patients with two inherited types of sensory neuronopathy have characteristically ‘small’ nerves on ultrasound. This is distinct from the ultrasound abnormality reported in all other diseases affecting peripheral nerves. This project investigates if ‘small-nerve’ abnormality is also characteristic of other types of inherited and acquired sensory and inherited motor neuronopathies, providing a scope for a larger-scale project to establish nerve ultrasound as a non-invasive accurate diagnostic tool for these conditions. Potential use of lithium to treat Huntington’s disease Professor Bronwen Connor, Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, University of Auckland $14,969 Huntington’s disease (HD) is a genetic neurodegenerative disorder that results in the loss of brain cells found in the striatum. Currently there is no treatment to prevent or reduce the progressive cell loss that occurs in HD. One cause of cell death in HD may be a loss of the protective factor BDNF due to the genetic mutation causing HD. Professor Connor’s project will investigate whether lithium can reduce cell death in HD by restoring BDNF levels. This will be investigated using a novel technology that allows the researchers to generate brain cells from the skin tissue of patients with HD. i-Motifs as transcriptional regulators: Potential transcriptional regulation of the serotonin transporter by a non-canonical DNA structure Dr Darren Day, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington $13,000 Depression and anxiety are a significant social problem that arise from both genetic and environmental influences that alter the way the brain responds to chemicals (neurotransmitters) the body produces. Many medications for treating depression prevent the reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin by inhibiting the serotonin transporter, and hence are known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Dr Day will investigate how differences in the part of our DNA that codes for the serotonin transporter can make us more or less likely to suffer from depression or anxiety. THE TOTAL AWARDED IN THE 2019A GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS AND SCHOLARSHIP ROUND IS $1,381,051. $ 1.3m Headlines 15