Professor Darryl Eyles
Professor Darryl Eyles: Neurobiology
With a particular focus on dopamine systems, the Eyles laboratory focusses on how risk factors for schizophrenia and autism, such as developmental vitamin D (DVD) deficiency and maternal immune activation, change the way the brain develops and functions.
Researcher biography
Prof Darryl Eyles is the head of the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research Developmental Neurobiology laboratory. One of Darryl's research directions is focused on how known risk-factors for schizophrenia change the way the brain develops. His group have established the biological plausibility of various epidemiological risk factors for this disease including developmental vitamin D deficiency, prenatal hypoxia and maternal immune activation. Strikingly all these exposures affect the early development and later differentiation of early dopamine neurons. A second major focus is on understanding the effects of increased dopamine release in selective circuits and how this may be causal in schizophrenia. A third major interest is in factors such as the gut microbiome, and how increased testosterone contribute to altered brain function related to autism.