Simply Speaking
The central nervous system and immune system engage in many interactions that keep us healthy and prevent the brain from degenerating. We study some of these interactions and try to identify how they work and how they might be augmented to reduce ageing-related impairments in brain function. Sometimes, inappropriate or excessive activation of the immune system can also cause tissue damage in the brain, for example after an injury like a stroke. We investigate how this occurs and how to dampen the immune response to minimise damage and promote repair in the injured brain.