We have found that giving mice real-time sounds linked to their movements during a task helps them learn motor skills faster, paving the way for further studies to improve our understanding of motor skills learning. Read more about our findings here: https://www.eneuro.org/content/12/3/ENEURO.0008-25.2025
What were you doing at 5 am? Dreaming peacefully or lacing up your running shoes? For the past two weeks at 5 am, Emma Peng has been on a train from her home on the Gold Coast to Brisbane for an internship in the Balbi lab.
In November 2023, Emma participated in UQ’s Young Changemakers Program, prompted by her high school biology teacher. After hearing a presentation by Queensland Brain Institute neuroscientist Dr Phoebe Mayne, Emma reached out to Phoebe to ask about internship opportunities. She remembers the moment she got Phoebe’s positive response.
“I was helping my Mum at work, and I jumped up when I read Phoebe’s email. I was so excited,” Emma said. “I want to go into medicine, but visiting QBI and listening to Phoebe’s career story sparked my interest in neuroscience.”
Emma understood the QBI internship was practical but didn’t realise how hands-on it was.
“I joined the lab at the same time as some Summer Research Program students, and we got straight into histology workshops and sectioning and staining brain tissue for research.
“It was nothing like the simple experiments I was used to at school. Every measurement is so precise and detailed.”
Under Phoebe’s supervision, Emma has also learnt about imaging and data analysis and observed surgeries. Her brief experience with the QBI team has piqued her interest in brain research. While she is about to embark on her last year of high school at Trinity Lutheran College, Emma is already talking about opportunities to return to QBI to gain more research experience.
“Neuroscience brings together everything I like – biology, chemistry, maths – it all clicks. I love science because it is all about the present and the future.”
https://qbi.uq.edu.au/blog/2024/01/exploring-future-neuroscience%C2%A0
Best way to celebrate 1 year from the opening of the lab!
Fresh of the press! Gamma range optogenetic stimulation shows neuroprotective effects after stroke in mice. Thanks to everyone who worked hard on this paper. https://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(21)00009-7
Research on vascular pathologies now more than ever is essential to progress our understanding of brain function. Learn more about our plan and our vision by watching this interview.
I am incredibly excited to announce the opening of the Balbi Lab in 2020 at the Queensland Brain Institute, where we will focus on the investigation of intrinsic mechanisms of the brain to restore itself and harness them for therapeutic purposes in conditions such as stroke. The Lab will combine cutting edge imaging and stimulation techniques in behaving rodents. The institute offers a welcoming and energetic working environment that promotes collaborations, all in beautiful Brisbane.
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