Physiology

Head: Professor W Anderson
Address: Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton 3168
Telephone: (03) 9905 2555

• + Regulation of cardiovascular and renal function High blood pressure (hypertension), renal factors in blood pressure control, renin-angiotensin system, regulation of glomerular filtration rate, autonomic neural control of the kidney, central nervous system control of cardiovascular function, pressure-natriuresis, vascular growth and hypertension, hypertension in pregnancy, renal effects of antihypertensive agents, peptidases and blood pressure control.
• + Fetal and neonatal development Growth and development of fetal organ systems, including molecular control of lung growth and cellular differentiation; what is the role of growth factors. Central and peripheral control of breathing in the fetus and neonate, with particular reference to the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. How the fetus responds to periods of intra-uterine stress, how the fetal brain is affected by hypoxia and how a sub-optimal intra-uterine environment affects neonatal outcome. Fetal-maternal endocrinology; what are the mechanisms that initiate labour and how can premature birth be prevented. Control of placenta growth and how the placenta determines fetal behaviour and consciousness. How do fetal muscles grow and develop and how does the intra-uterine environment affect their differentiation.
• + Reproductive biology Production and secretion of reproductive hormones, role of hypothalamus and pituitary, responses of endocrine cells to stimuli; hormonal control of sexual differentiation; hormonal control of oestrous cycle, menstrual cycle and early pregnancy. Regulation of ovarian function; new reproductive technologies to alleviate infertility and to conserve native endangered species; regulation of secretion of hormones from the pituitary gland; regulation of the reproductive cycle in the female; prenatal immunisation against gonadotropin releasing hormone.
• + Autonomic neurobiology Mechanisms of smooth muscle contraction; ion channels and their modulation, spread of excitation, roles of neurotransmitters and neuropeptides, function of autonomic ganglion cells, enteric nervous system; peripheral neural networks, neuroendocrine cells, pineal function and innervation of adrenal chromaffin cells; simultaneous measurement of muscle tension, electrical events and intracellular calcium concentration.
• + Regulation of muscle function The interrelationship between calcium, contraction and energy output of muscles; physiological determinants of oxygen usage in heart muscle; effects of age on mechanical and energetic properties of cardiac muscle; control of smooth muscle contraction by calcium and other second messenger systems; the mechanisms whereby second messengers modulate contractile activity and metabolic consequences of this; mechanisms of relaxation of smooth muscle; mechanical and energetic aspects of fatigue in skeletal muscle.
• + Neuroscience Muscle sense organs, their development and regeneration, internal functioning and spinal reflex action; recovery from nerve and muscle injury, nerve regeneration, axonal sprouting and deafferentation, role in spinal reflex action and proprioception, exercise-induced changes in skeletal muscle, structural and mechanical aspects of muscle development; brain processing of auditory signals, plasticity of the auditory cortex and deafness, function of auditory efferent systems, sound localisation, comparative aspects of hearing in Australian native animals; brain pathways involved in movement control; function of the cerebellum, development of somatic sensory receptors and pathways and central connections; control of motor function in the primate, movement programming by cortical motor areas and basal ganglia. Regulation of gene expression in brain in response to stress, neurodegeneration and aging; Molecular mechanisms of cell death/cell survival in adult brain; neurotrophic factors.
• + Exercise physiology Effect of alterations in blood glucose levels on hepatic glucose production and glucose uptake during intense exercise in humans; energy state in contracting human muscle at the point of fatigue; causes of fatigue during intense exercise in trained and untrained individuals; importance of fluid ingestion during intense exercise.
• + Cellular physiology Membrane transport processes studied in the red blood cell; regulation of ionic transport; intracellular buffering of magnesium; computer modelling of the interaction of the red cell with its environment.
• + Eye research Optics of the eye lens; fibre optic sensing of tissue properties; ageing changes in function of the lens: loss of near focussing ability, cataract; epidemiology of cataract and its link to ethnicity; use of polarizing light in clinical diagnosis of lens and cornea.