We study the microscopic structure and function of the nerves that control and monitor the activity of the internal organs, as well as specialised regions of the skin. Many of these pathways detect and react to painful stimuli such as tissue damage or inflammation. We also examine how circulating hormones, such as angiotensin II, interact with these neural pathways.
We use a wide variety of techniques to study nerve cells and their communication with each other. We use state-of-the-art microscopes to examine the detailed connections between nerve cells in specific pathways, such as the autonomic nerves regulating gut activity or sensory nerves from the female genital tract. These results then allow us to generate computerized reconstructions of nerve cells and their pathways. We directly observe the behaviour of neurotransmitters or hormones as they interact with neurons, and combine these observations with measurements of electrical activity of the neurons. Together, these observations let us determine how chemical messengers influence the activity of other nerve cells, including those that respond to painful stimuli.
Our new results are helping us to redefine how these neural pathways operate so effectively in a wide range of conditions associated with health and disease. In addition, they can provide a strong framework to identify and investigate new avenues for therapeutic treatments of chronic pain associated with tissue damage and inflammation.
Vilimas PI, Yuan SY, Haberberger RV, Gibbins IL (In press) Sensory Innervation of the External Genital Tract of Female Guinea Pigs and Mice. J Sex Med [Epub ahead of print]
Schirmer S, Eckhardt I, Klein J, Lau H, DeGraaf Y, Lips KS, Pineau C, Gibbins IL, Kummer W, Meinhardt A, Haberberger RV (In press) The cholinergic system in rat testis is of non-neuronal origin. Reproduction [Epub ahead of print]
Bastian I, Tam Tam S, Zhou XF, Kazenwadel J, Van der Hoek M,
Michael MZ, Gibbins I, Haberberger RV (2011) Differential expression
of microRNA-1 in dorsal root ganglion neurons. Histochem
Cell Biol. 135(1):37-45
Mair N, Benetti C, Andratsch M, Leitner MG, Constantin CE, Camprubí-Robles M, Quarta S, Biasio W, Kuner R, Gibbins IL, Kress M, Haberberger RV (2011) Genetic evidence for involvement of neuronally expressed S1P1 receptor in nociceptor sensitization and inflammatory pain. PLoS One, 6(2):e17268
SY Yuan, IL Gibbins, VP
Zagorodnyuk, JL Morris (2011) Sacro-lumbar intersegmental spinal
reflex in autonomic pathways mediating female sexual function.
Journal of Sexual Medicine, 8(7):1931-42
Morris JL, Gibbins IL (2009) Postganglionic Neurotransmitter,
in Encyclopedia of Neuroscience ,eds Binder MD, Hirokawa
N, Windhorst U, Springer, Berlin - Heidelberg, Part 16, pp 3202
- 3207 (DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_4695)
Ruthenbeck GS, Carati CJ, Gibbins IL,
Reynolds KJ (2008) A virtual reality 3D jigsaw for teaching anatomy. Stud
Health Technol Inform, 132:436-8
Blessing WW & Gibbins IL (2008)
Autonomic Nervous system. Scholarpedia, 3(7):2787 http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Autonomic_nervous_system
Gibbins IL (2008) Poem "Beanie on the Moon" in Friendly
Street Reader, 32
Gibbins IL (2008) Essay: "body, brain and the
new science of communication: turns of phrase, figures of speech"; Australian
Book Review / Flinders University 2007 Annual Public Lecture. Australian
Book Review, 301: 54-58
Gibbins IL (2008) Poem "esplanade" in Blast, 7
Gibbins IL (2008) Poem "field guide" ,
selected for Best Australian Poems 2008, ed P Rose, Black
Inc Press
Gibbins IL ( 2008) Poem "local knowledge" in Page
Seventeen, 6 (second place in annual poetry prize)
Gibbins IL (2008) Poem "middle of the road" in Blast, 7
Gibbins IL (2008) Poem "rules for interior design" in Blue
Dog, 7 (14)
Gibbins IL (2008) “The B-word”: Review
of Mirroring People: The new science of how we connect with
others by Marco Iacoboni; The Meaning of the Body: Aesthetics
and human understanding by Mark Johnson; The Stuff of
Thought: Language as a window into human nature by Stephen
Pinker; and Mirrors in the Brain: How our minds share actions,
emotions and experience by Giacomo Rizzolatti and Corrado
Sinigaglia. Australian Book Review, 306:46-47
Gibbins IL (2008) Poem "turtledove" in P
age Seventeen, 6
Gibbins IL (2008) Poem "types of rain" in Going
Down Swinging, 27
Gibbins IL (2007) “Eco-futures”:
Review of: How
a Continent Created a Nation by Libby Robin. UNSW
Press, in Australian Book Review, 290, 23
Gibbins IL (2007) “Field Guide”, poem, Australian
Book Review, 296, 27
van Wijngaarden P, Brereton HM, Gibbins IL, Coster DJ, Williams
KA (2007) Kinetics of strain-dependent differential
gene expression in oxygen-induced retinopathy in the rat.
Exp Eye Res.
85: 508-517
Zagorodnyuk VP, Gibbins IL, Costa M, Brookes SJH, Gregory SJ
(2007) Properties of the major classes of mechanoreceptors
in the guinea pig bladder. Journal of Physiology 585:
147-163
Gibbins IL (2007) “The Knowing People”:
Review of: The
Evolution Revolution: Design without Intelligence by Ken
McNamara and John Long,. MUP, in Australian Book
Review, 293, 18-19
Gibbins IL (2007) ”With the Body in Mind”, FMC: first
public performance of WBM and XCN , electronic
music specially composed for the ”With Body in Mind” event;
first public reading of poem sequence: After Vesalius
