Autism
Characterising changes in neuronal activity in brain regions regulating aggression in a mouse model of Autism - also offered as MBiomedSc
Supervisors: Dr Elisa Hill, Professor Anthony Hannan & Professor Terence O’Brien
Project Site: Department of Medicine & Department of Physiology, University of Melbourne
Contact: Dr Elisa Hill: E: elhill@unimelb.edu.au
Project description: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a prevalent neurological disorder characterised by impairments in social interactions, communication, and repetitive behaviour. Challenging behaviours including aggression are also commonly associated with ASD. NL3 mice express a mutation in the Neuroligin-3 gene identified in autism patients and show a robust aggressive phenotype. We have shown changes in neural activity in the basal amygdala, a brain region involved in regulating aggressive behaviour, in these mice. This project will extend these studies to examine neuronal activity in two other specific brain regions involved in the neurobiology of aggression: the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), and the periaquaductal gray (PAG).
Skills: Characterisation of neuronal subtypes and network activity using patch clamp electrophysiology in brain slices, fluorescence immunohistochemistry in fixed slices for cellular morphology.
Understanding gastrointestinal dysfunction in autism – how do synaptic mutations affect enteric neurons? - also offered as MBiomedSc
Supervisors: Dr Elisa Hill, Prof Joel Bornstein, Prof Terence O’Brien
Project Site: Department of Medicine & Department of Physiology, University of Melbourne
Contact: Dr Elisa Hill: E: elhill@unimelb.edu.au
Project description: Gastrointestinal disorders are common in patients with autism, but the biological mechanisms responsible are unknown. Many gene mutations identified in autism patients alter neuronal development and function, and studies in genetic mouse models show altered neural activity in the brain. Our recent studies show that mice carrying a mutation in a synaptic protein found in some autism patients have disordered gastrointestinal movements due to a change within the enteric nervous system.
Skills: In this project, you will use video-imaging of motility, immunohistochemistry, molecular and electrophysiological methods to determine how synaptic proteins in the enteric nervous system are modified in these mice and how this affects the neural circuits that control colonic motility.