Author: Julie

Humans and other primates have an extraordinary ability to voluntarily and efficiently focus attention on important information while ignoring distraction. For decades it has been hypothesized that this ability relies on the evolutionary expansion of the lateral prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain located in the lateral convexity of the frontal lobe, that reaches its highest level of complexity in primates.

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“We were amazed by the extent to which microexons are misregulated in people with autism,” says Professor Benjamin Blencowe

Very small segments of genes called “microexons” influence how proteins interact with each other in the nervous system, say scientists at the University of Toronto. Continue reading →

A research team led by Valerie Verge at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) has discovered an important molecular worker in the repair shop of the body’s nervous system, a finding that brings them a step closer to new treatments for debilitating nerve injuries.

The molecule in question is called Luman, a nerve cell (neuron) protein discovered by Vikram Misra in the Western College of Veterinary Medicine while investigating the common cold sore virus. Continue reading →

Scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have identified a novel drug target that could lead to the development of better antipsychotic medications.

Dr. Fang Liu, senior scientist in CAMH’s Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute and professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, and her team published their results online in the journal Neuron. Continue reading →

How neurons communicate with each other is central to our understanding of the nervous system. Since the times of Golgi and Cajal, the roles of electrical vs. chemical forms of transmission have been much debated. While it is now well established that both electrical and chemical forms of transmission co-exist throughout the mammalian nervous system, gap junction-mediated electrical signals are found to be extremely weak compared to their chemical counterparts Continue reading →

People affected by a common inherited form of autism could be helped by a drug that is being tested as a treatment for cancer, according to researchers from the University of Edinburgh and McGill University.

Fragile X Syndrome is the most common genetic cause of autism spectrum disorders. It affects around 1 in 4,000 boys and 1 in 6,000 girls. Currently, there is no cure. Continue reading →

Study has far-reaching implications for unconscious role of infant experiences on adult development
An infant’s mother tongue creates neural patterns that the unconscious brain retains years later even if the child totally stops using the language, (as can happen in cases of international adoption) according to a new joint study by scientists at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital – The Neuro and McGill University’s Department of Psychology. The study offers the first neural evidence that traces of the “lost” language remain in the brain. Continue reading →

MUHC-led study identifies new player in brain function and memory

Is it possible to change the amount of information the brain can store? Maybe, according to a new international study led by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC). Their research has identified a molecule that puts a brake on brain processing and when removed, brain function and memory recall is improved. Published in the latest issue of Cell Reports Continue reading →