A variety of different neuronal pathways have been implicated in hypothalamic regulation of feeding and body weight. The work to be presented focuses on the organization of the descending pathways that subserve the cardiovascular responses generated from the DMH, and in particular its connections with the rostral ventrolateral medulla that plays a pivotal role in the regulation of sympathetic activity and blood pressure. Changes in the physiological functioning of these cells can then trigger further adaptive changes within connected networks of neurons. Our studies show that there is very specific activation of CNS projection pathways during withdrawal. Furthermore, there is considerable cross-talk between CNS pathways that mediate physical and psychological symptoms of withdrawal.
Pelvic ganglia are unusual as they are a mixture of sympathetic and parasympathetic neurons.
They also show a remarkable degree of plasticity after different types of injury, with very rapid axogenesis, specific targeting of new sprouts to particular groups of neurons, and changes in neurotrophin signalling. This raises issues such as how these changes impact on restoring autonomic circuits after injury, and what mechanisms may be available to manipulate these changes. The paper will describe the measurement of breathing and voice in opera and popular singers and the attempts being made to understand the physiology and anatomy of singing. Dr Davis is co-founder of the National Voice Centre, a centre dedicated to excellence in the art, care and science of voice. The Wallace Wurth building is situated on the upper campus of the University of New South Wales.