News | Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function


	Our attention can jump between visible and invisible objects 13 December 2018 The discovery that we can focus our attention on invisible things is helping us understand the relationship between attention and consciousness. Read more.
	Centre scientist selected for Superstars of STEM 11 December 2018 Dr Sharna Jamadar, a Research Fellow with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, has been selected to join the prestigious Superstars of STEM program. Entry into the program is highly competitive and she will spend the next two years undertaking activities that aim to remove society’s gender assumptions about scientists and increase the public visibility of women in STEM. Read more
	Could K-cells save your life? 29 November 2018 Our ability to respond quickly to imminent physical danger could be due to a small group of brain cells known as K-cells. Read more.
	How hearing helps you see 20 November 2018 One-way connections between the parts of the brain involved in hearing and seeing help the brain to quickly react to new sensory information. Read more.
	Disrupted connectivity between brain areas may explain the development of schizophrenia 25 October 2018 Some highly interconnected areas of the brain are more vulnerable to disruption than others, which could explain how disorders such as schizophrenia develop. Read more.
	Healthy people who have psychotic-like experiences also have decreased brain connectivity 18 October 2018 Researchers have discovered a link between psychotic-like experiences in otherwise healthy individuals and disruption to their brain connectivity – which could be used to identify people at high risk of developing schizophrenia. Read more.
	Research on a syndrome caused by a DNA deletion offers clues to the emergence of schizophrenia 16 October 2018 Brain-mapping studies of a syndrome that increases the risk of developing schizophrenia can help researchers to understand the brain changes leading to the emergence of this psychiatric disorder. Read more.
	You can memorise faces in a single glance without trying 9 October 2018 New research shows that we create detailed memories of faces in a single glance without trying. Surprisingly, trying to recall them doesn't improve our memory very much. Read more.
	Ethics and the brave new brain 25 September 2018 Advances in neuroscience and AI could revolutionise medicine but they also pose significant ethical and social challenges. If a brain computer interface can allow a blind person to see, or restore speech to those who’ve lost the ability to communicate, what does this mean for a person’s sense of self, personal responsibility, or privacy? Find out on Radio National's All in the Mind program. Read more.
	Using physics to understand the ‘music’ of the brain 9 August 2018 A physics-based approach successfully explains mysterious oscillations in brain activity that are like the notes produced by a musical instrument. Read more.
	Paying attention helps your brain process what you can’t see 2 August 2018 Paying attention to a location helps the brain to process not just what you can see there, but also what you can’t – suggesting that attention and awareness are controlled by different pathways in the brain. Read more.
	Without attention, you can see a lot – but not everything 31 July 2018 Novel research shows that we can be conscious of a face’s gender even when paying little or no attention to it. Read more.
	The brain uses the same pathways when we produce speech and predict sounds 12 July 2018 By comparing brain activity when individuals are making sounds, anticipating forthcoming sounds or listening to sounds passively, researchers have shown that the same pathways are involved. Read more.
	Redrawing the map of brain connections involved in extinguishing learned fear 22 May 2018 The identification of a new connection in the brain involved in reducing the fear response upends the current model of fear extinction. Read more.
	Polar expedition: mapping connections at the tip of the brain 15 May 2018 Humans are not the only primate species to have subdivisions in the frontopolar cortex. Read more.
	What’s that? How the brain makes sense of objects in surprising and unsurprising places 8 May 2018 Several areas of the brain involved in processing visual information respond differently depending on whether an object is in an expected or an unexpected location. Read more.
	From noise to meaning: how visual information makes sense 26 April 2018 Dr Elizabeth Zavitz, an Affiliate Postdoctoral Researcher based at Monash University, has created a digital exhibition that illustrates how different types of visual information combine to produce our perception experience. Read more.
	A part of the brain can still see – even if you can’t 26 April 2018 Even if the primary visual cortex is damaged — causing blindness — the pathway that transmits visual information from the retina is not completely destroyed. The penultimate stop on the pathway still processes visual information, even if it has nowhere to go. Read more.
	In-phase doesn’t help, anti-phase doesn’t hinder 12 April 2018 In-phase or anti-phase electrical stimulation of the brain’s hemispheres does not affect the ability to track objects moving between the left and right fields of vision. Read more.
	Your brain is full of spots, and somebody has counted all of them 28 March 2018 The distribution of highly active cells in the brain’s visual processing area reveals similarities between humans and other primates. Read more.
	Rhythmic brain waves determine what you see – or don’t see 27 March 2018 Rhythmic brain waves determine what you see – or don’t see. Read more.
	Seeing fast, acting slow 13 March 2018 Identifying an object in an unexpected location is quick, but responding to it is slowed down. Read more.
	Studying a syndrome caused by a DNA deletion could provide insights into how schizophrenia develops 1 March 2018 A syndrome that increases the risk of developing schizophrenia is also linked to increased sensitivity to repeated sounds. Read more.
	Greater flexibility in brain networks helps you solve harder puzzles 15 February 2018 The more different your brain networks are between resting and reasoning, the better your chances of solving difficult tasks. Read more.
	Brain stimulation reverses the effects of fast music on learning 8 February 2018 Listening to high-tempo music can impair learning, but electrical brain stimulation reverses the effects. Read more.
	Learning to look faster 6 February 2018 Repetitive training can improve what was thought to be an entirely reflexive behaviour. Read more.
	Australian and New Zealand Brain Bee Challenge 2018 1 February 2018 Teacher registrations are open for round 1 of the Australian and New Zealand Brain Bee Challenge, a neuroscience competition for secondary school students. Round 1 is held during Brain Awareness Week (12-16 March 2018). Register today.
	Attention and conscious awareness: similar or opposing? 1 February 2018 Attention and perceptual awareness can have similar or opposing effects, depending on the circumstances. Read more.
	Grasping how the brain controls reaching behaviour 30 January 2018 The brain area responsible for visually guided movements – such as reaching, pointing and grasping – is divided into three subregions with distinct yet complementary roles. Read more.
	Electrically stimulating the brain while training also enhances performance on untrained tasks 23 January 2018 Electrical stimulation applied to the brain during training can boost performance on new, untrained tasks mediated by the same brain areas. Read more.
	Brain champions needed 11 January 2018 The Australian Brain Alliance is looking for Brain Champions to help spread the word and send politicians an important message: that Australians want to crack the brain’s code! Sign up on their website.
	Kiwi kid qualifies for International Brain Bee 9 January 2018 New Zealand High School student Alan Li, 16, is the first in his country to qualify for the International Brain Bee competition and will travel to Berlin next year. It comes after he won the New Zealand national finals section of the Australian Brain Bee Challenge held in Sydney earlier this month. Read more.
	New paper from Travis, Dux & Mattingley (UQ) 19 December 2018 Travis, S. L., Dux, P. E., & Mattingley, J. B. (2017). Re-Examining the Influence of Attention and Consciousness on Visual Afterimage Duration. Journal of Experimental Psychology-Human Perception and Performance, 43(12), 1944-1949. doi:10.1037/xhp0000458
	Mattingley, Breakspear and Carter help progress Aust Brain Alliance initiatives 14 December 2017 The Brain Function CoE’s Jason Mattingley, Michael Breakspear and Adrian Carter chaired working groups as part of the ‘Brains at the Dome‘ event held by the Australian Brain Alliance (ABA) on 7 December in Canberra. Visit the Australian Academy of Science website to read a copy of the Canberra Declaration.
	Brain Function CoE annual meeting awards 7 December 2017 Congratulations to the Centre's Marcello Rosa, Tristan Chaplin, Matthew Tang, James Roberts, Jessica Despard and Lisa Hutton for receiving awards at the Centre's annual meeting.
	And the Brain Bee winner is… 7 December 2017 The Australian winner of the Australian Brain Bee Challenge was Elaine Cheung from MacRobertson Girls’ High School in Melbourne and the runner-up was Wenjing Chen from James Ruse Agricultural High School in NSW. The New Zealand champion was Alan Li from Lincoln High School in the South Island and the runner-up was Jemima Po from the Diocesan School for Girls in the North Island.
	Neuroethics mini documentary released 7 December 2017 The Centre’s Neuroethics Program Coordinator, Adrian Carter, has featured in a mini documentary produced by Monash University. The video examines the fundamental questions being raised by our growing understanding of the human brain and features experts in philosophy, psychiatry and law. View the video.
	Pitch 2017 winners! 5 December 2017 Congratulations to Molis Yunzab, Ali Almasi and Babak Nasr (pictured L-R) who won the Centre’s inaugural early career research ‘The Pitch’ competition during the Centre's annual dinner. The winning team will now receive $4000 to conduct their pitch project during 2018 and they will present their results at the 2018 annual meeting in Brisbane.
	New paper from CI Greg Stuart 5 December 2017 Jones, S.L, To, M-S and Stuart, G.J. (2017) Dendritic small conductance calcium-activated potassium channels activated by action potentials suppress EPSPs and gate spike-timing dependent synaptic plasticity. eLife 6:e30333 doi: 10.7554/eLife.30333
	Prestigious scholarship awarded to young investigator 1 December 2017 Cooper Smout, an early career researcher from the Mattingley lab at the University of Queensland, has been awarded a prestigious and competitive 2018 Endeavour Postgraduate Scholarship. Cooper will use the award funding to visit the Predictive Brain Lab, based at the Donders Institute in The Netherlands.
	Young investigator wins best talk award 1 December 2017 Nicholas Bland, a PhD student with the Mattingley lab at the University of Queensland, has recently won a ‘Best Talk’ award at the 2017 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society meeting.
	Best poster award for young researcher 1 December 2017 Luke Hearne, an early career researcher with the Mattingley lab at the University of Queensland, was recently awarded ‘Best Poster’ at the 2017 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society meeting.
	First Gender Equity and Diversity Committee meeting held 28 November 2018 Our new Gender Equity and Diversity Committee had its first meeting on 9 November 2017. The Committee’s purpose is to provide advice and guidance to the Executive Committee with regard to issues pertaining to gender equity and diversity in the Centre. They aim to propose strategies to improve gender equity and diversity within the Centre, in line with our gender equity policy.
	FENS Brain Function CoE 2018 Satellite Meeting announced 28 November 2017 The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function and Ruhr-University Bochum are co-hosting a satellite meeting as part of the 11th FENS Forum on Neuroscience in Berlin, Germany. Read more and to register.
	Associate Investigator Alex Fornito widely recognised 21 November 2017 Alex Fornito, an Associate Investigator with the Centre based at Monash University, has had a tremendously successful year with numerous accolades and awards. They include the Australian Academy of Science Gottschalk Medal, a prestigious 2017 Sylvia and Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation Senior Medical Research Fellowship and one of Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers for 2017.
	New paper from Ward and Egan 14 November 2017 Phillip G.D.Ward, Nicholas J.Ferris, ParneshRaniga, David L.Dowe, Amanda C.L.Ng, David G.Barnes, Gary F.Egan (January 2018). Combining images and anatomical knowledge to improve automated vein segmentation in MRI. NeuroImage.
	Honeybees could teach drones a thing or two about safe landing 7 November 2017 When honeybees fly around from flower to flower, they control their flight speed so that the images of the world on their retinas move at a fixed speed. But why would they care what speed objects appear to be moving? Read more.
	New paper from UQ node 2 November 2017 Verghese, A., Mattingley, J., Palmer, P., Dux, P. (2017). From eyes to hands: Transfer of learning in the Simon task across motor effectors. Atten Percept Psychophys doi: 10.3758/s13414-017-1427-1.
	Phil Ward wins VESKI Victoria Fellowship 31 October 2017 Congratulations to Phil Ward who was awarded a Victoria Fellowship at the VESKI Victoria Science prizes last week. Phil, a post-doc based at Monash University, will use his $18,000 award to study new techniques at the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre to measure how blood vessels respond to changes in brain function, whilst also measuring the amount of oxygen being metabolised.
	Paxinos reappointed NHMRC senior research fellow 19 October 2017 Congratulations to one of our Chief Investigators, George Paxinos, who was recently reappointed as a NHMRC senior research fellow (2018-2022). George will continue to work on histological and MRI atlases of brain and spinal cord for research and clinical practice.
	Brain research moving in the right direction 12 October 2017 Brain activity ebbs and flows like ocean waves during a tropical storm. The turbulent waves of activity form micro patterns even when we’re sleeping or under anaesthesia, but how these patterns relate to what we’re currently seeing and experiencing is not completely understood. Read more.
	Breakspear award and report 12 October 2017 Michael Breakspear from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane was recently an RANZCP Senior Researcher Award winner for his abstract: Brain Network Disturbances in Affective Disorders. Michael has also recently published in Nature’s Scientific Reports: Justin J. Chapman, James A. Roberts, Vinh T. Nguyen and Michael Breakspear, ‘Quantification of free-living activity patterns using accelerometry in adults with mental illness‘.
	Transmission wires alert the brain to what the eyes see 12 October 2017 When we see something, our eyes send messages to our brain through the optic nerves. Each nerve contains around a million long ‘wires’, called axons, which carry information from ganglion cells in the retina to relevant parts of the brain. Although at least 20 ganglion cell types have been discovered in primate retinas, how each type contributes to visual processing is not clear. Read more.
	The way certain brain cells communicate with each other may underlie how we see things 10 October 2017 It’s clear that our conscious experiences – what we perceive and feel at each moment – have something to do with the brain. But what exactly is the connection? Understanding how conscious experience comes from brains is one of the greatest challenges facing neuroscientists. Read more.
	A part of the brain specialised in humans helps manage competing goals 3 October 2017 This study suggests that a part of the brain called ‘frontopolar cortex’ plays a role in assessing the value of an alternative goal and switching to it if it’s more beneficial. Read more.
	Examining the brain under threat 28 September 2017 We are more likely to be surprised when we feel anxious. This is reflected in increased brain activity and disrupted connections within the brain. Novel or uncertain situations can make us a little anxious and more alert to potential danger. This state of hypervigilance is helpful in the case of real threats, but when it becomes persistent – such as in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – it can be incapacitating. Read more.
	$20k grant for Teri Furlong, UNSW 28 September 2017 Dr Teri Furlong from UNSW was recently awarded a $20,000 seed grant from Parkinson’s NSW. The grant will enable Teri to extend her Brain Function CoE research.
	Stripes and pinwheels, the fashion for vision 19 September 2017 Cells in the visual cortex are organised in a “pinwheel” formation that is altered by visual experience during development — including exposure to stripes. What we see during our early life has a strong effect on the way that our brain’s visual areas are organised. Read more.