Integrative Physiology

Professor Vaughan Macefield (opens in a new window)
Senior Lecturer:  Dr David Mahns (opens in a new window)

Professor Macefield's Research

Professor Macefield specializes in recording from single nerve fibres via tungsten microelectrodes inserted into the peripheral nerves of awake human subjects, and is known nationally and internationally as a world expert in recording the firing properties of human sympathetic neurones (e.g. those supplying blood vessels) in health and disease and as a leading investigator in human sensorimotor control. In 1996 he was awarded the $10,000 Sunderland Award for "Excellence in Sensorimotor Biology."

He has active collaborations with many groups in universities and hospitals in Australia and in Sweden and the USA, and has attracted postdoctoral scientists from Sweden, Denmark, Canada and Australia. For over 10 years Prof Macefield has been been examining the changes in control of the autonomic nervous system following human spinal cord injury. Over the last decade his research has extended into the study of pain and its effects on the autonomic and somatic nervous systems, using brain imaging techniques (fMRI) to study the processing of pain originating in muscle and skin. Most recently, he has developed the technique of concurrent  microneurography and fMRI, through which sites responsible for the generation of sympathetic nerve activity to muscle or skin can be identified in the human brain.

His research is currently supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and the Australian Research Council.

Professor Macefield's Collaborators

Dr Mahns' Research

In most circumstances we can readily distinguish between painful and non-painful stimuli. It is widely appreciated that non-painful and painful sensations rely on the activation of distinct groups (or classes) of sensory nerves. Despite this common perception,  it remains unclear whether distinguishing between innocuous (non-painful) and noxious (painful) stimuli result from the activation of single class of sensory nerves, convergence of inputs arising from multiple classes or the pattern of activation within the central nervous system. The broad aim of Dr Mahn's work is to define the contribution of different nerves (and central pathways) to pain arising from deep (e.g. viscera, muscle and bone) and superficial (skin) structures. In order achieve this his team is using a range of recoding techniques, that allow recording from individual nerve fibres, and psychophysical techniques that allow the group to better understand how the nervous system detects and relays information about pain. an> David is the recipient of a current NHMRC project grant,Neural Mechanism of Bone Painand a Western Sydney University Research Grant,

Peripheral encoding of forces associated with manipulation by tactile afferents. He is involved in several research projects involving collaborations with Prof Macefield and Prof John Morley (Western Sydney University), Dr Ingvars Birznieks (Neuroscience Research Australia), Dr Richard Vickery (University of New South Wales) and A/Prof Gustavo Duque and Dr Wei Li (University of Sydney).

Dr Mahns' Team