News – Page 33 – Canadian Association for Neuroscience

Boosting the immune system to treat brain cancer

Posted on 2013/12/16 | by Julie

Researchers identify mechanism implicated in brain cancer and a drug that decreases brain tumour growth

Researchers at the University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) have made a discovery that could lead to better treatment for patients suffering from brain cancer.

Despite current treatment strategies, the median survival for patients with the most aggressive brain cancer – called glioblastoma, is 15 months. Less than five per cent of patients survive beyond five years. Continue reading →

IRCM researchers discover a protein’s critical role in the brain

Posted on 2013/12/11 | by Julie

A team of Montréal researchers at the IRCM led by Dr. Nabil G. Seidah, in collaboration with Dr. William C. Wetsel’s team at Duke University in the United States, discovered that the protein PC7 plays a critical role in the brain by affecting certain types of cognitive performance such as anxiety, learning and emotional memory. Their results, recently published in the scientific journals Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and Nature, could have a significant impact on regulating behaviour related to anxiety disorders and trauma. Continue reading →

Discovery of the gene defective in a rare developmental disorder of the brain

Posted on 2013/12/04 | by Julie

In April 2009, a Quebec family experienced the worst tragedy for parents: before the age of one, one of their sons died of a rare genetic disease causing congenital microcephaly, intellectual disability, cerebral atrophy, and refractory seizures. The event was even more tragic because it was the third infant to die in this family from the same disease.

This tragedy led Dr. Jacques Michaud, professor in the Faculty of Medecine of Université de Montréal and Doctor at CHU Ste-Justine Hospital, to discover the genetic abnormality responsible for this developmental disorder. Continue reading →

Scientists find brain region that helps you make up your mind

Posted on 2013/12/03 | by Julie

One of the smallest parts of the brain is getting a second look after new research suggests it plays a crucial role in decision making.

A University of British Columbia study published today in Nature Neuroscience says the lateral habenula, a region of the brain linked to depression and avoidance behaviours, has been largely misunderstood and may be integral in cost-benefit decisions. Continue reading →

Monocytes to the rescue

Posted on 2013/11/26 | by Julie

Researchers show that these immune cells attack one of the main manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease

An article published in the journal Cell Reports by researchers from Université Laval reveals the existence of a natural mechanism to prevent one of the manifestations of Alzheimer’s in the brain. Using medical imaging techniques to view live events that occur in living mice with Alzheimer’s, researchers have discovered that a type of white blood cells – patrolling monocytes – selectively attack amyloid aggregates attached to the inner lining of blood vessels in the brain. Continue reading →

Disturbing the fetal brain during pregnancy impacts neural stem cell growth of offspring into adulthood

Posted on 2013/11/26 | by Julie

It is well known that there are events that happen in utero that can impact the child’s health as an adult. Changes in the maternal environment can have lasting effects for the child decades later. A new study led by The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is the first to demonstrate how disturbances (like infections) during pregnancy can result in a surge of brain stem cells in offspring. The study, published in the November 7 online edition of Cell Stem Cell, shows what occurs in the brain when the fetal environment is disturbed. Continue reading →

Scientists reduce behaviours associated with problem gambling in rats

Posted on 2013/11/05 | by Julie

With the help of a rat casino, University of British Columbia brain researchers have successfully reduced behaviours in rats that are commonly associated with compulsive gambling in humans.

The study, which featured the first successful modeling of slot machine-style gambling with rats in North America, is the first to show that problem gambling behaviours can be treated with drugs that block dopamine D4 receptors. The findings have been published in Biological Psychiatry journal. Continue reading →

Everything in moderation: excessive nerve cell pruning leads to disease

Posted on 2013/10/21 | by Julie

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. Continue reading →

Definitive imaging study finds no link between venous narrowing and multiple sclerosis

Posted on 2013/10/21 | by Julie

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. Continue reading →

To live and learn: making memories has to be a speedy business

Posted on 2013/10/21 | by Julie

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 be made rapidly. Continue reading →