Yearly Archives: 2017


How common are sleep disturbances in multiple sclerosis? 1

Sleep disruption and sleep-disordered breathing (repetitively stopping breathing or insufficient breathing during sleep), may be important factors in the management of multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. Types of sleep-disordered breathing include obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea […]


Too much of a good thing? A new role for serotonin in the human spinal cord

Serotonin is one of the “feel good” neuromodulators floating around in the central nervous system, however, it doesn’t just play a role when it comes to our mood. Serotonin plays a very important role in transmitting impulses between nerve cells. More specifically, it affects the excitability of our motoneurones, the […]


How do we maintain reaching accuracy during body movement?

When reaching for an object we must compensate for any body movement that may take the arm off-target.  For example, reaching for a handrail when standing on a bus that suddenly accelerates requires detection and compensation for body movement relative to the handrail.  A key sensory system which can detect body […]


Interview: Professor Peter Eastwood talks about the role of respiratory muscles in breathing motor impairments 2

When you take a breath, many muscles in your body contract in a coordinated pattern to let air flow in and out of your lungs. While most of the muscular work for breathing is done by the diaphragm muscle in the abdomen, the muscles in the upper airway also play […]


Interview: Associate Professor Glen Lichtwark talks about microendoscopy in human muscles

With microendoscopy, it is now possible to study the microstructure of muscles in living humans with an unprecedented level of detail. Associate Professor Glen Lichtwark from the University of Queensland explains how microendoscopy can be used to gain a deeper understanding of how muscles adapt in response to, for example, training […]