Wiring of the brain at a molecular and cellular level
The brain is the organ through which we understand the world, yet there are so many unknowns about its function.
Think of the many industries and endeavours we could revolutionise with increased knowledge about cerebral function.
If we better understood how the human mind focuses on specific tasks, perhaps our education and productivity sectors could be supercharged. If we better understood the relay of information between the retina and brain, we could further advance imaging technology and computing. If we better understood selective attention, prediction and decision-making, the possibilities would be immense.
Research across these groups does not just focus on how the brain operates however – it also encompasses how the brain repairs in times of severe damage, and how genetic and environmental factors influence brain development in different stages of life.
Explore our groups
Neural migration
The Cooper Group explores the fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms governing the development of the neocortex.
Computational, systems and developmental neuroscience
The Goodhill Group is interested in how brains process information, particularly during development.
Neural circuits and behaviour
In the Scott Lab, we aim to understand how sensory stimuli are perceived and processed in the brain, and how the brain then interprets these stimuli to produce adaptive behaviours.
Imaging genomics
The Wright laboratory's research is at the interface of cognitive neuroscience and genetics. We focus on the neurobiological causes and modifiers of brain function, and especially brain disorders.
Molecular and cellular neurobiology
The Hilliard laboratory is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate neuronal development, maintenance and repair, using C. elegans as a model system.
Computational and molecular biology
Professor Faulkner’s research seeks to understand the role of retrotransposons, a type of “mobile DNA”, in causing genetic mosaicism in early mammalian embryogenesis, and in neurons.
Cognitive neuroscience
Researchers in the Mattingley laboratory seek to understand the roles played by selective attention, prediction and decision making in regulating perceptual, cognitive and motor functions in the human brain, in health and disease.
Drosophila behaviour and cognition
The van Swinderen laboratory uses the fruit fly model Drosophila melanogaster to understand mechanisms underlying consciousness.
Synaptic integration in neural networks
The Williams group aims to understand how information is processed and computed by neuronal circuits, and relate this to the control of behaviour.
Locomotor Circuits in Drosophila
The Dickson laboratory investigates the neural circuits that control walking in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster.
Kinase biology
The Ng Group are a molecular cell biology group with a primary interest in defining how cells respond to extrinsic and intrinsic signals to define cell function.
Molecular mechanisms for wiring the brain
The overall goal of the Millard lab is to understand how specificity is generated in the brain. This problem is best exemplified by considering that 100 trillion synapses are generated and maintained in the human brain using a toolkit of only 20,000 genes.
Brain development and disorders
The Richards lab investigates how the brain becomes wired up during development. The lab is focusing on the development of the cerebral cortex, a region of the brain where all higher order cognition is processed.
Meet some of our researchers
Professor Ross Cunnington
My research focuses on Action and Attention in the human brain, examining neural activity underlying the preparation for voluntary movement and the recognition of others' actions.
Professor Derek Arnold
I am interested in the relationship between sensory processing and perceptual experience.
Associate Professor Martin Sale
I am interested in using emerging brain stimulation and imaging techniques to "artificially" induce plasticity in the human brain, to ultimately improve the treatment outcomes for various neurological conditions, particularly stroke.
Professor Timothy Carroll
Dr Carroll’s research interests lie in the broad field of integrative human physiology. His work spans the fields of exercise science and integrative neuroscience, with a focus on determining how the central nervous system is reorganised as a consequence of motor learning and exercise.