Month: October 2013
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Everything in moderation: excessive nerve cell pruning leads to disease
Mechanism meant to maintain efficiency of brain network involved in neurodegenerative disease Scientists at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital-The Neuro, McGill University, have made important discoveries about a cellular process that occurs during normal brain development and may play an important role in neurodegenerative diseases.
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Definitive imaging study finds no link between venous narrowing and multiple sclerosis
A study led by Dr. Anthony Traboulsee of the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health to see whether narrowing of the veins from the brain to the heart could be a cause of multiple sclerosis has found that the condition is just as prevalent in people without the disease.
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To live and learn: making memories has to be a speedy business
The brain is plastic – adapting to the hundreds of experiences in our daily lives by reorganizing pathways and making new connections between nerve cells. This plasticity requires that memories of new information and experiences are formed fast. So fast that the body has a special mechanism, unique to nerve cells, that enables memories to…
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Scientists shed light on the brain mechanisms behind a debilitating sleep disorder
Researchers at the University of Toronto discover how the body’s muscles accidentally fall asleep while awake Normally muscles contract in order to support the body, but in a rare condition known as cataplexy the body’s muscles “fall asleep” and become involuntarily paralyzed. Cataplexy is incapacitating because it leaves the affected individual awake, but either fully…
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IRCM researchers identify new proteins crucial for hearing
A team of researchers led by Dr. Michel Cayouette at the IRCM made an important discovery, published online yesterday by the scientific journal Developmental Cell, that could better explain some inherited forms of hearing loss in humans. The Montréal scientists identified a group of proteins crucial for shaping the cellular organ responsible for detecting sounds.
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A Pain Pump
Yves De Koninck’s team shows that chronic pain depends on a cellular disorder that can be corrected Researchers from the Faculty of Medicine of Université Laval have just taken a step towards the development of a new class of drugs to relieve chronic pain.
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A world first: Douglas Institute researchers identify the neural circuits that modulate REM sleep
A team of scientists led by Dr. Antoine Adamantidis, a researcher at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and an assistant professor at McGill University, has released the findings from their latest study, which will appear in the October issue of the prestigious scientific journal Nature Neuroscience.