Otago research into memory wins grant

Research involving brain stimulation to improve memory in people with dementia is one of several University of Otago projects boosted by more than $330,000 in grants from the Neurological Foundation of New Zealand.

A research team led by Prof Neil McNaughton, of the Otago psychology department, received a $95,243 grant in the foundation's latest national grant round, totalling more than $800,000, which was announced last week.

Memory "dysfunction" can arise through brain disorders ranging from traumatic brain injuries, such as in some motorcycle accidents, to dementia.

Prof McNaughton was "very pleased" to gain the grant and said the foundation did an "excellent job" in funding such research.

This was the third grant he had received from the foundation for this work, including an initial grant to start the research.

This had resulted in a publication in the journal Hippocampus in 2006.

The research involved a technique which was internationally distinctive in "putting a rhythm back in to the brain" through deep electrical stimulation, and this had attracted overseas interest, he said.

In the brain, the hippocampus and surrounding cortex were "implicated in disorders of memory and show slow rhythmic activity, known as theta", foundation officials said.

Prof McNaughton's team had recently shown that deep brain stimulation reinstated theta activity and could repair memory deficits in models of dementia.

There was evidence that such stimulation also ameliorated the effects of traumatic brain injury, officials said.

Prof Paul Smith, of the Otago pharmacology and toxicology department, has also received a grant, of $132,306, to pursue research involving a possible novel drug treatment for chronic tinnitus.

Foundation officials said chronic tinnitus was a debilitating condition affecting about 10% of the population.

There were very limited drug treatment options, mainly due to a lack of systematic, well-controlled preclinical drug studies and a lack of understanding of the condition's underlying mechanisms.

It had been suggested that tinnitus was generated in the brain by the hyperactivity of brain cells involved in hearing.

This research project would investigate a novel drug, which could reduce this brain cell activity, in a model of tinnitus.

Dr Toni Pitcher, of the Otago University Christchurch campus, has received a $78,143 grant to explore the prevalence of Parkinson's disease in New Zealand and related medication consumption.

Parkinson's disease was a neurodegenerative disease which caused disabling motor disturbances, involving movement, and other disturbances, but there was a lack of information about the disease's impact in this country.

Other Otago University grants: Associate Prof Cynthia Darlington, Otago pharmacology and toxicology department, $9052; Dr Patries Herst, Malaghan Institute of Medical Research and Otago's Wellington campus, $8550; Dr Annemarei Ranta, MidCentral Health/Otago University, $10,000.

-john.gibb@odt.co.nz