Neurological Foundation of New Zealand

10.30am - Dr Louise Parr-Brownlie - Shedding light on Parkinson's disease. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease that affects approximately 8,000 people in New Zealand. To optimise current therapies and develop new treatments for PD, there is a critical need to fully understand the roles of each component in the brain circuits that control movement. Dr Louise Parr-Brownlie’s research focuses on the processes in the brain that underlie voluntary movements and the movement deficits of PD. Dr Parr-Brownlie’s lecture will introduce an exciting new gene-based technology that her research team is using to investigate brain circuitry dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease. This technology holds great hope for many applications, including the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

11.45am - Stroke Foundation of New Zealand - Is it a stroke? Act FAST! How can you tell if someone is having a stroke? This seminar will teach you the signs and symptoms of stroke that usually come on very suddenly. By learning to recognise the symptoms of stroke you could save a life! Learn the FAST check (Face, Arms, Speech, Time).

12.15pm - Associate Professor Anne La Flamme - New approaches to treating Multiple Sclerosis. There is currently no cure for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease that causes nerve degeneration leading to impaired vision and coordination and, eventually, paralysis. MS affects one in every 1400 New Zealanders. Immune cells are responsible for the damage to the nerves and subsequent clinical features of MS, and while disease-modifying drugs are available, they are often effective in only a percentage of patients.

New Zealand’s leading MS researcher, Dr Anne La Flamme, is focused on finding a cure, and alongside this crucial research, is aiming for a treatment that will benefit the subset of patients with MS that do not respond to existing treatments. In her lecture, Dr La Flamme will outline her recent work, funded by the Neurological Foundation, which is aimed at identifying new therapeutic targets and drugs to treat multiple sclerosis.

1.30pm - Alzheimer's Wellington - Caring for the Carer. Caring for someone with dementia can be an intensive, challenging and rewarding experience all at once. It is important you do not try to manage alone - there are services available to help you from health professionals and social services. This seminar will take you through the support options available and provide some key tools to ensure the wellbeing of you, your family, and the person you are caring for.

2.00pm - Dr Gina Grimshaw - Why so blue? Understanding vulnerability to depression. Why - given the same life circumstances - are some people more likely to become depressed than others? The answer is of course complex and includes genetic, neurological, cognitive, emotional, and social factors. Research in cognitive neuroscience suggests that one factor that is important is an individual's pattern of brain activity in left than right frontal areas of the brain, but those who are vulnerable to depression show the opposite pattern. Dr Gina Grimshaw will share her recent research into the thought processes that are controlled by these frontal brain areas, and will describe how those processes might give rise to depression.