Neurological Foundation of New Zealand

10.30am - Dr Suzanne Ackerley - Predicting and priming recovery after stroke. Every day 22 New Zealanders have a stroke and many will be disabled and need significant daily support. Dr Suzanne Ackerley is part of a New Zealand-based team investigating new approaches to rehabilitation following stroke or brain injury, and these approaches show great promise. Dr Ackerley's PhD research, funded by the Neurological Foundation, has been focused on combining 'priming' of the stroke-affected side of the brain using non-invasive magnetic stimulation with simple rehabilitation exercises.

12.10pm - Author Ann Andrews - Positively Parkinson's. More than 10,000 New Zealanders have Parkinson's disease, but many thousands more are dealing with Parkinson's every day - relatives and friends, carers and health professionals. This segment takes on an interview format with Sue Giddens from the Neurological Foundation interviewing Positively Parkinson's author Ann Andrew followed by a public question and answer segment.

1.50pm - Dr Phil Wood - Alzheimer's disease: research progress and prospects. Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative brain disease and research has shown that the immune system plays an important role in the disease process. Some immune-based therapies show great promise for the future treatment of Alzheimer's disease, and geriatrician Dr Phil Wood will cover recent and planned research techniques that are currently being investigated for both the treatment and the prevention of Alzheimer's disease.