Noradrenergic mechanisms in attention and response inhibition

神经科学研究是政府和主要卫生组织确定的优先领域之一。统计数据显示，精神病和神经退行性疾病的患病率有所增加，这尤其突显了对这些疾病治疗方法取得新进展的临床需要的认识。这项研究项目的重点是调查注意缺陷多动障碍(ADHD)的生物学，ADHD是一种在儿童和成人中普遍存在的令人衰弱的疾病。ADHD给社会造成了巨大的社会和经济代价，尽管有治疗方法可用，但人们对它们的作用方式或原因知之甚少或了解甚少。为了解决其中的一些问题，我们可以求助于动物模型，使我们能够剖析调节这种疾病的症状和治疗的特定大脑机制。动物为研究基本的大脑功能提供了一种强有力的方法，而我们将要使用的方法与在人类身上进行的研究提供了很好的平行关系。使用我们的动物模型，我们将测量行为，如冲动，当做出一个没有得到适当考虑并产生负面后果的行为时，以及注意力不集中。这些实验将测试目前治疗ADHD的方法在大脑中的作用，并分离出涉及到大脑的哪些区域和化学过程。我们获得的结果将帮助我们设计未来的实验，进一步完善我们对大脑如何控制行为的理解。重要的是，因为我们的模型与人类使用的心理学测试密切相关，所以我们将能够直接将我们的结果与临床情况联系起来。我的研究与人类疾病密切相关，总体而言，这个项目将确定改变大脑功能和改善ADHD等精神疾病治疗的新方法。

Neuroscience research is one of the priority areas identified by the Government and leading health organisations. Recognition of the clinical need for new advances in therapeutic approaches to these diseases is particularly highlighted by statistics revealing an increase in the prevalence of psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. The focus of this research project is to investigate the biology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a prevalent and debilitating condition in children and adults. ADHD is responsible for significant social and economic costs to society and, although treatments are available, very little is known or understood about how or why they work. To address some of these issues, we can turn to animal models to enable us to dissect the specific brain mechanism that mediate the symptoms and treatment of this disorder. Animals provide a powerful method to study basic brain function and the methods we will use provide an excellent parallel with studies that are carried out in people. Using our animal models we will measure behaviours such as impulsivity, when an action is made that is not properly considered and has negative consequences, and inattention. The experiments will test how current treatments for ADHD act within the brain and isolate which brain areas and chemical processes are involved. The results that we obtained will help us to design future experiments to further refine our understanding of how the brain functions to control behaviour. Importantly, because our models relate closely to psychology test used in humans, we will be able to directly relate our results to the clinical situation. My research is closely linked with human disease and overall this project will identify new ways to alter brain function and improve the treatment of psychiatric conditions such as ADHD.