Extensive pre-clinical and clinical assessment has shown that, when transplanted into the Parkinsonian brain, primary dopaminergic neurons can survive, integrate with the host system, produce dopamine and provide functional ...

The ability to experience pain is essential for survival, and to prevent potential tissue damage upon exposure to noxious stimuli. The periaqueductal grey - rostral ventromedial medulla – dorsal horn of the spinal cord ...

Zebrafish are a versatile experimental model which have progressed the fields of many research areas through both genetic and pharmacological studies. In this thesis I studied a novel zygotic gene, nanor, in zebrafish and ...

Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a congenital heart disorder characterized by replacement of the ventricular myocardium with fibrofatty tissue. The majority of cases are due to mutations in genes ...

Fear/anxiety and pain modulate one another reciprocally, but the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie this interaction are not completely understood. Fear-conditioned analgesia (FCA) is pain suppression upon exposure ...

Over 200 years since its first description, Parkinson’s disease (PD) remains the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. Treatments are insufficient and there is still no cure. The continued lack of treatment ...

Toll-like receptors are a family of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), which have evolved to recognise structurally conserved components of microorganisms. They form an important part of the innate immune system, yet ...

In recent years, there has been renewed interest in targeting the central opioid system as a novel strategy for the treatment of psychiatric disorders such as depression, due to its involvement in the regulation of mood, ...

Pain and negative affect (anxiety and depression) modulate one another reciprocally. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying this interaction are unclear. The endogenous opioid system plays a key role in regulating ...

Fear-conditioned analgesia (FCA) is the robust suppression of pain that occurs upon reexposure to a context previously paired with an aversive stimulus. FCA is mediated by activation of the descending inhibitory pain ...