New branch of science founded

Infra-red beams are used to measure eye movements

A team of scientists has founded a new branch of science as a multi-million pound brain research centre prepares to open in Newcastle, UK.

Newcastle University's brain research institute puts the North East at the forefront of international research into the human brain.

The £8.3m facility was built with money from the government and the Wellcome Trust.

Its team of scientists has called the new area of research "Visual Neuroecology".

They hope to identify potential new treatments for a range of degenerative brain disorders.

The research instute cost more than £8m

Malcolm Young, Professor of Psychology at the University, said his team aimed to study the effects and causes of strokes, brain injuries and dementia.

He said: "Millions of people are condemned to terrible suffering and to premature death through a very wide variety of neurological and psychiatric brain disorders.

"These are some of the most feared conditions in the world because effective treatments do not exist.

"The new institute will bring together some of our best scientists in state-of-the-art facilities to increase our knowledge of brain function, and suggest ways of putting things right when they go wrong.

"We may also be able to shed new light on disorders which have puzzled the medical profession throughout the ages, such as autism and dyslexia."

The team has called the research area Visual Neuroecology because it puts the emphasis on the study of vision, the most complex and important of the human senses.