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Behavioural Neuroscience Honours Supervision 2007

An information session about potential supervisors is held in Semester 2 each year, and BNS Honours applicants are advised to attend.

BNS Honours information session slides (28 July 2006)

The project areas available to BNS Honours students span a wide range of topics and departments. Students interested in learning more about specific projects should contact the relevant supervisor. Students can also contact the department/centre of interest to seek potential supervisors.

BNS students applying for Psychology Honours can view potential supervisors in September 2007 for 2008 applications

Advanced Behavioural Neuroscience applicants can also seek supervisors in the above list, keeping in mind project topics should have a BNS focus.

Supervisors from other departments/schools

BNS students applying to undertake Honours in Biochemistry, Genetics, Pharmacology, Physiology, Anatomy or Immunology should view the Honours web page of the relevant department/school. Most of these web pages give details of potential supervisors. If you are interested in studying with a supervisor not listed, you should contact the department/school directly. Also note that your project should have a BNS focus, and will need approval by the BNS Hons coordinator prior to its initiation.

Additional Supervisor Information

School of Psychology, Psychiatry & Psychological Medicine research units/teams. Please see supervisors in the following disciplines:

  • Behavioural Neuroscience And Neuropsychology
  • Psychological Medicine

Prof. Elsdon Storey

The Van Cleef Roet Centre for Nervous Diseases is located at the Alfred Hospital campus, and has a close relationship with the hospital Neurology Department. The major research interest of the Centre is neurodegenerative disease

Laboratory-based research (NH&MRC and Alfred Research Foundation funded) is conducted into mechanisms of neuronal damage in the CAG triplet repeat diseases (e.g. Huntington's, Spinocerebellar ataxias), and into the cell biology of the Amyloid Precursor Protein of Alzheimer's disease. A research project is available in the APP cell biology area, involving the techniques of primary neuronal culture, time-lapse videomicroscopy, and computerised image analysis. A number of possible research projects addressing proteolytic processing of polyglutamine proteins are also available.

Research is also being conducted into the characteristics of various methods for quantifying cerebellar ataxia, including ramp tracking devices. This involves assessing the effects of different or variable speeds (ramp tracking), and developing a device to measure the rebound phenomenon, as well as collecting normative data from controls and studying the effects of differing cerebellar lesions.

Other movement disorders-related research projects include tremor frequency recording and analysis to distinguish essential tremor from dystonic tremor, validation of the “Fogg” test (a provocative test for dystonia), and development of and normative value determination for two sophisticated neurophysiological tests of use in the analysis of movement disorders: the C-reflex and reciprocal inhibition.

Quantification of neuromuscular function is important for rational treatment of inflammatory neuropathies and myopathies. In conjunction with the Alfred physiotherapy department, we offer a project to determine test-retest and inter-rater reliability of a measure of truncal strength (tilt-table, sit-ups) and quadriceps/hamstring isokinetic force generation (“Kincom”).

A neuropsychological research project, conducted under the auspices of Dr. Shaymaa Elkadi, is available into the cognitive effects in adults of therapies changing sex steroid levels (e.g. anti-androgens/oestrogens in prostatic cancer).