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18 | InTouch AUTUMN 2025 Muscular dystrophies are a group of diseases predominantly characterised by skeletal muscle atrophy, wasting, weakness and sometimes heart dysfunction. Mild to severe neurological disorders also affect a significant percentage of patients with muscular dystrophies and these are often overlooked and neglected in basic scientific research. In fact, there are no neurological-specific therapies for patients suffering from muscular dystrophies. In Duchenne muscular dystrophy, neurological disturbances often include intellectual (e.g., lower IQ), behavioural (e.g., ADHD), and emotional disorders (e.g., anxiety), which can impact the quality of life for patients from a social, intellectual and independence perspective ( Fig. 1 ). The type, severity and sometimes progressive nature of these neurological disorders is often regulated by the type of genetic mutation that a patient with Duchenne muscular dystrophy possesses. A recent neurological disorder identified in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which is also present in pre-clinical research models of the disease, is a hypersensitivity to fear or stress. This condition affects many patients independent of their genetic mutation type, with research suggesting the behaviour could RESEARCH NEWS Neurology of Myopathies (NoM) Lab – University of Canterbury Prioritising neurocognitive research in muscular dystrophies – accelerating therapeutic development to improve social and intellectual quality of life. impact disease progression. Due to this hypersensitive response to fear or stress, both international and New Zealand-based laboratories are determinedly researching the underlying cause, including the Neurology of Myopathies (NoM) Lab at the University of Canterbury. The NoM Lab The NoM Lab is a pre-clinical research group based at the University of Canterbury, with a focus on understanding muscle and neurological dysfunction in the muscular dystrophies as well as developing pharmaceutical and genetic therapies. The group is led by Dr Angus Lindsay (HRC Hercus Research Fellow and Chairperson of the Neuromuscular Research Foundation Trust) and his team of five exceptionally talented researchers and students. The NoM Lab uses state-of-the-art technology and leverages numerous international collaborations to accelerate the translation of primary laboratory outcomes to the clinic. A major focus of the NoM Lab is understanding the interplay between fear, stress and anxiety in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Each member Fig 1. Mechanisms associated with the hypersensitive fear or stress response in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Gharibi, S., Vaillend, C., Lindsay, A (2024). The unconditioned fear response in vertebrates deficient in dystrophin. Progress in Neurobiology 235: 102590)..