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The Developmental Neurobiology Research Stream is based at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) and led by Professor Darryl Eyles. This Research Stream is comprised of two research groups – the Eyles Group led by Professor Darryl Eyles, and the Burne Group led by Associate Professor Thomas Burne.
The Eyles Group focuses on how early epidemiologically-validated risk factors for schizophrenia and autism, change the way the brain develops and functions with a particular focus on dopamine systems. We also want to understand how the adolescent brain progresses towards a hyperdopaminergic state.
Lab History
Visit the Eyles Group on the Queensland Brain Institute website for more information on the group’s team members, funding, and publications.
The Burne group studies the underlying biological basis for schizophrenia, with the goal of finding public health interventions that will alleviate the burden of this disease.
The laboratory has been exploring the impact of developmental vitamin D deficiency on brain development, the impact of adult vitamin D deficiency on brain function and behaviour and, more recently, has been establishing novel ways to assess cognitive behaviour in rodents.
In 2015, the Burne laboratory built on previous research on low prenatal vitamin D (the “sunshine hormone”) to show that adult vitamin D deficiency is also associated with alterations in behaviour, brain neurochemistry and receptor profiles. They have discovered that low vitamin D levels during adulthood affect the balance of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain, and also alter cognitive behaviour in rodents. These results provide the first evidence in mice to show that adult vitamin D deficiency impacts on neurotransmitter systems that are affected in a number of neuropsychiatric conditions, including autism, schizophrenia and depression.
Ongoing NHMRC funding allows the laboratory to dissect the exact neural pathways involved in cognitive impairments of attentional processing in vitamin D–deficient animals to model the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia.
The Burne laboratory has also created and validated a unique cognitive task for rodents that mirrors the continuous performance task in humans. The laboratory’s goal is to provide a novel tool for cognitive research in rodents and to uncover more about the pathophysiology and drug treatment of cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia.
Visit the Burne Group on the Queensland Brain Insitute website for more information on the group’s team members, funding, and publications.
Head
Developmental Neurobiology Research Stream
Conjoint Professor
Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland
Senior Researcher
Developmental Neurobiology Research Stream
Honorary Research Fellow
Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland
Research Officer
Developmental Neurobiology Research Stream
Honorary Research Fellow
Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland
Principal Researcher
Developmental Neurobiology Research Stream
Professorial Research Fellow - Group Leader
Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland
Advanced Researcher
Developmental Neurobiology Research Stream
Lecturer
School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland
Completed PhD Student (Awarded 2010)
Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research
Senior Researcher
Developmental Neurobiology Research Stream
P/T Acting Assistant Director
Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research
Conjoint Laboratory & Research Manager
Queensland Brain Insitute, The University of Queensland
The Eyles laboratory focuses on how early epidemiologically-validated risk factors for schizophrenia and autism, change the way the brain develops and functions with a particular focus on dopamine systems. We also want to understand how the adolescent brain progresses towards a hyperdopaminergic state.
The Burne laboratory studies the underlying biological basis for schizophrenia, with the goal of finding public health interventions that will alleviate the burden of this disease.
Want to know more about QCMHR? Click the button to get in touch with us!
Level 3, Dawson House
The Park Centre for Mental Health Treatment
Research and Education, Wacol, QLD 4076
P: +61 7 3271 8660
In the spirit of reconciliation, the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research (QCMHR) acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands in which QCMHR operates and their continuing connections to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and stand together with all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.