Dr Bill Connelly’s research is driven by pure curiosity. ‘The brain is the most complex device in the known universe. It’s responsible for literally everything we experience from the moment we are born until the moment we die, and yet we know almost nothing about how it works as a whole. I would argue that the number of brain functions we can explain in complete detail can be counted on one hand. In the face of that fact, it’s impossible not to be curious.’

Dr Connelly focuses on fundamental research into the way the brain works, using a collection of methods called electrophysiology for studying the electrical language of individual brain cells and small networks of brain cells. With real time brain imaging (a new image is produced 30 times a second) it’s possible to see how individual brain cells behave. ‘It’s exciting when a new technique allows me to gather information that previously has been unavailable,’ he says.

The field of neuroscience came to Dr Connelly’s attention somewhat fortuitously. ‘When I was getting ready to leave high school, I was lined up to study electrical engineering. And I knew the brain had something to do with electricity, so I looked it up. I found an issue of the Journal of Neuroscience and I was absolutely blown away by what seemed to be this foreign language. I couldn’t understand any of it! I was gripped by curiosity. And I’ve been trying to understand more about the brain ever since.’

Dr Connelly has contributed to numerous areas of brain research. One of his most significant discoveries to date relates to the part of the brain called the thalamus. ‘What we did was show that instead of it just being a one-way pathway, whereby information from the environment is trafficked straight to higher areas of the brain, there is a two-way conversation going on. The other parts of the brain can send information back to the thalamus to control the activity of its cells.’ What this means is still unclear for how the brain functions as a whole and opens up new areas for research.

Another of his discoveries was the existence of a fourth histamine receptor in the brain. ‘Everybody is aware of antihistamine drugs that block the naturally produced compound histamine that causes inflammation. But histamine is also a neurotransmitter released by neurons in the brain. Other neurons sense this and change their behaviour as a result.’ It was thought that only three receptors existed for histamine in the brain. Histamine plays a large role in regulating sleep and wake cycles, and more research is being done on how these processes operate.

‘I’ve worked in Europe and other places in Australia, but nowhere else I’ve been,’ he declares, ‘strikes such a perfect balance between a great place to raise a family and a great place to do science. UTAS has excellent facilities, research infrastructure, and equipment.’

Dr Connelly describes the brain as ‘a biological computer that somehow performs all the tasks that give rise to perception, emotion and memory’. The brain is the seat of our conscious experience, while operating numerous subconscious reflexes and countless bodily functions. ‘And yet,’ he says, ‘the individual components of the brain – the neurons – work more slowly than the first general purpose computers of the 1940s. It’s a mystery how it does all these things.

‘If I could leave this world with a complete understanding of just a single computation that the brain performs, I would be satisfied. If it led scientists in the future to better understand how the brain produces the mind, I would be ecstatic.’