2017 Program

Use these links to download (PDF):

The Program    The Program-at-a-glance   The Abstract booklet

Saturday, May 27, 2017

8:00AM – 6:00PMCAN Satellite Symposia (variable schedules)
2:00 – 4:30PMCanadian Association for Neuroscience 2017 Public Lectures and Art/Neuroscience Exhibit of the Convergence initiative at the Auditorium of the Grande Bibliothèque (Google map directions)

Get your free tickets on eventbrite (attendance is limited)

(Note: Doors will open at 1PM for Video projections of Convergence Dynamics exhibit, and Material exhibit set-up)

2PM Public Speaker:

Sonia Lupien, neuroscientist, Director and founder of the Centre for studies on human stress, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal

15h-16h30: Convergence – Material exhibit

 

Sunday, May 28, 2017

9:00 AM – 4:30 PMCAN Satellite symposia
5:00 – 5:15 PMWelcome and Opening Remarks by
Freda Miller, President of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience
5:15 – 6:00Special lecture by Margaret Trudeau, Mental Health Advocate
6:00 – 7:00Presidential Lecture:

Linda Buck | Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle

Deconstructing Smell

7:00 – 8:15Opening Reception  

 

Monday, May 29, 2017

 8:30 – 10:15 AM

Plenary symposium 1 | Growing, wiring and refining neural circuits in the developing brain.

Chair: Edward Ruthazer | McGill University

Speakers:

  • Karun Singh | McMaster University
    Signaling mechanisms regulating neural circuit formation and their relevance to neurodevelopmental disorders
  • Julie LeFebvre | SickKids Hospital
    The Protocadherin cell-surface code promotes the wiring and survival of inhibitory interneurons into brain circuits.
  • Graziella DiCristo | Université de Montréal
    Mechanisms of refinement of cortical GABAergic circuits
 10:15 – 10:45Coffee break

Posters/exhibits

10:45 – 11:45Featured Plenary speaker:
Hollis Cline | The Scripps Research Institute
Building circuits to process visual information
11:45 – 12:00 PMBrain Star talk – Claire Gizowski, MUHC, Clock-driven vasopressin neurotransmission mediates anticipatory thirst prior to sleep
12:00 – 1:30Women in Neuroscience Lunch
Lunch on own
 1:30 – 3:00

Parallel symposium 1 | Sleep mechanisms and functions

Chair: Valérie Mongrain | Université de Montréal

Speakers:

  • John Peever | University of Toronto
    Circuits controlling REM sleep in health and disease
  • Barbara E Jones | McGill University
    Arousal systems and their regulation by sleep
  • Emma K O’Callaghan | Université de Montréal
    Contribution of circadian components to sleep homeostasis
  • Robbert Havekes | University of Groningen, The Netherlands
    The tired hippocampus: insight into the molecular origins of hippocampal memory deficits associated with sleep loss

Parallel symposium 2 | Critical Mediators of Pain: Uncovering Novel Therapeutic Targets

Chair: Michael Hildebrand | Carleton University

Speakers:

  • Daniela Salvemini | Saint Louis University
    Deregulation of adenosine signaling at the A3 adenosine receptor subtype drives chronic neuropathic pain states – new insights in a novel therapeutic target.
  • Michael Hildebrand | Carleton University
    Molecular determinants of dorsal horn hyperexcitability in pathological pain processing
  • Laura Stone | McGill University
    Preventing pain at the source: targeting intervertebral disc degeneration as a therapeutic strategy for low back pain.

Parallel symposium 3 | Control of locomotor activity: from the cortex to the spinal cord

Chair: Simon Gosgnach | University of Alberta

Speakers:

  • Trevor Drew | Université de Montréal
    Walking 101 : What the brain tells the spinal cord.
  • Alain Frigon | Université de Sherbrooke
    The control of left-right coordination during locomotion by spinal circuits interacting with somatosensory feedback
  • Ying Zhang | Dalhousie University
    The local circuits of V3 interneurons in the spinal cord
  • Patrick Whelan | University of Calgary
    Parallel dopaminergic pathways controlling locomotion in the mouse.

Parallel symposium 4 | Genetic and Optogenetic Investigation of Neural Circuit Mechanisms for Behaviours

Chair: Mei Zhen | Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute

Speakers:

  • Kenichi Okamoto | Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute
    Novel optogenetic approaches for studying spatiotemporal roles of cAMP and cGMP signalling from the synapse level to the brain cognitive function
  • Oyama Tomoko | McGill University
    Multilevel multimodal integration enhances action selection in Drosophila
  • Michael Hendricks | McGill University
    Functional asymmetry for temporal stimulus features in C. elegans
  • Michael Gordon | University of British Columbia
    Neural circuit mechanisms for integrating taste, hunger, and nutrient detection in Drosophila
3:00 – 5:30PMPosters  session 1

Exhibits & Refreshments

5:30 – 7:00Parallel Sessions

  • Careers session, with discussion leaders
    Lisa Saksida | Western University
    Mike Sapieha | Université de Montréal
  • Highlight of Canadian Neuroscience Advocacy Initiatives and Networking
7:00 – 7:45Canada-wide Brain Research Strategy Development session

International Trainee reception (IBRO sponsored)

Reception (non-hosted) (7:00 – 7:30)

7:30 – 9:30CAN Student Social

 

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

 8:30 – 10:15 AMPlenary symposium 2 | Glia and brain function

Chair: Richard Robitaille | Université de Montréal

Speakers :

  • Richard Robitaille | Université de Montréal
    Glial Mismanagement of Neuromuscular Junction Structure and Function in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
  • Marie-Ève Tremblay | Centre Hospitalier de l’Université Laval
    Microglia-synapse interactions in health and disease
  • Grant Gordon | University of Calgary
    Behavioral State Dependence of Cortical Astrocyte Ca2+ Signals During Neurovascular Coupling
10:15 – 10:45Coffee break
Posters/exhibits
10:45 – 11:45 PMFeatured Plenary speaker:

Dwight Bergles | Johns Hopkins University
Multi-scale analysis of astrocyte activity in the mammalian brain

11:45 – 12:00Brain Star talk, Sameer Agnihotri, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, The Somatic Landscape of Schwannoma
12:00 – 12:30CAN-ACN Annual General Meeting of members
12:30 – 1:30Lunch on own
 1:30 – 3:00

Parallel symposium 5 | Memory symphony: the score, the orchestra and the conductor

Chair: Lisa Topolnik | Université Laval

Speakers:

  • Lisa Topolnik | Université Laval
    VIP members of the hippocampus
  • Mark Brandon | McGill University
    Space and time in the entorhinal-hippocampal circuit in health and Alzheimer’s disease
  • Sylvain Williams | McGill University
    Optogenetic manipulation and visualization of neuronal assemblies during memory formation
  • Attila Losonczy | Columbia University
    Dissecting hippocampal circuits for navigation and memory

Parallel symposium 6 | Mitochondria as a therapeutic target in Parkinson’s disease

Chair: Louis-Eric Trudeau | Université de Montréal

Speakers:

  • Louis-Eric Trudeau | Université de Montréal
    Is increased basal bioenergetics a common property of vulnerable neuronal populations in Parkinson’s disease?
  • Joanne Nash | University of Toronto
    SIRT3 rescues dopaminergic neurons through stabilisation of mitochondrial biogenetics in a rat model of parkinsonism
  • Ruth Slack | University of Ottawa
    Mitochondrial restructuring to enhance ATP production and resistance to stress.
  • David Park | University of Ottawa
    Letm1 as a substrate of the Parkinson’s disease gene pink1.

Parallel symposium 7 | Emerging roles of the cerebellum in shaping brain development and disease

Co-Chairs: Lu-Yang Wang | SickKids Research Institute & Hospital and Alanna Watt | McGill University

Speakers:

  • Dan Goldowitz | University of British Columbia
    Exploring novel and familiar genes involved in cerebellar development
  • Yi-Mei (Amy) Yang | University of Minnesota
    Molecular underpinnings of excessive inhibition in cerebellum with Autism Spectrum Disorder
  • Derek Bowie | McGill University
    Defective excitatory and inhibitory circuits of the Fragile-X brain
  • Alanna Watt | McGill University
    Ameliorating motor incoordination in a mouse model of spinocerebellar ataxia

Parallel symposium 8 | Stroke Recovery: From circuitry to behaviour

Chair: Diane Lagace | University of Ottawa

Speakers:

  • Diane Lagace | University of Ottawa
    Neurogenesis and Stroke Recovery
  • Baptiste Lacoste | Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
    Assessing Pathological Cerebrovascular Remodeling
  • Tim Murphy | University of British Columbia
    Automated Mesoscale Circuit and Motor Function Assessment in Mouse Models of Stroke
  • Dale Corbett | University of Ottawa
    Stroke Recovery: Does Rehabilitation Matter?
 3:00 – 5:30Posters session 2

Exhibits & Refreshments

 5:30 – 6:30Young investigator awards and lectures

Mike Sapieha | Université de Montréal

Tuan Trang | University of Calgary

 6:30 – 7:30Keynote Lecture:

Charles Bourque | McGill University
Control of body hydration by heat, salt and circadian time

7:30 – 10:00Neurocraft opening reception at Visual Voice Gallery (Belgo Building, Space 421, 372 Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest – Google Map directions).

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

8:30 – 10:15AM

Plenary symposium 3 | Memory & Cognition

Chair: Paul Frankland |University of Toronto

Speakers:

  • Kari Hoffman | York University
    Multiple roles of the primate hippocampus in visual exploration
  • Katherine Duncan | University of Toronto
    Memory States in the Human Brain and Behaviour
  • Paul Frankland | University of Toronto
    Identification and interrogation of a fear memory network
10:15 – 10:45Posters/exhibits
Coffee break
10:45 – 11:45Featured Plenary speaker:

Tim Bussey | Western University
How is memory organized? Memory Systems versus the Representational-Hierarchical View

11:45 – 12:00Brain Star talk, Malika Oubaha, Université de Montréal, Senescence-associated secretory phenotype contributes to pathological angiogenesis in retinopathy
12:00 – 1:30Lunch on own

Science Communication and Advocacy Workshop (Registration required – limited attendance)

1:30 – 3:30Posters session 3

Exhibits & Refreshments

3:30 – 5:00

Parallel symposium 9 | Epigenetics, DNA Methylation, and Mental Health

Chair: Mojgan Rastegar | University of Manitoba

Speakers:

  • Mojgan Rastegar | University of Manitoba
    A multi-level epigenetic deregulation in the brain of Rett Syndrome patients
  • Nathalie Berube | Western University
    Chromatin organization in the developing brain
  • Patrick McGowan | University of Toronto
    The impact of adversity on the DNA methylome
  • James Davie | Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba
    DNA Methylation and FASD

Parallel symposium 10 | New Insights into Reconsolidation

Chair: Karim Nader | McGill University

Speakers:

  • Karim Nader | McGill University
  • BK Kaang | Seoul National University
  • Oliver Michael Hardt | McGill University
  • Merel Kindt | University of Amsterdam

Parallel symposium 11 | Estrogen’s effect on cognition and the brain: A translational perspective

Chair: Gillian Einstein | University of Toronto

Speakers:

  • Gillian Einstein | University of Toronto
    The effect of estrogen depletion on verbal memory in young women
  • Nicole Gervais | University of Toronto
    Impact of ovarian hormones on recognition memory and perirhinal cortex in rats and humans
  • Agnès Lacreuse | University of Massachusetts
    Neurocognitive effects of estrogens in female non-human primates across the adult lifespan
  • Elizabeth Hampson | Western University
    Estrogen’s Effects on Frontocortical Memory in Peri- and Postmenopausal Women

Parallel symposium 12 | Mechanisms of Neuronal Migration and Regeneration

Chair: Claire Bénard | UQAM / UMass Medical School

Speakers:

  • Claire Bénard | UQAM / UMass Medical School
    Extracellular modulators of axonal guidance and long-term neuronal protection
  • Nicolas Pilon | UQAM
    Fam172a is critically required for neural crest cell migration and proliferation
  • Timothy Kennedy | MNI McGill University
    Netrin-1 and GAG Function in CNS Perineuronal Nets
  • Alexandra Byrne | UMass Medical School
    Poly(ADP-Ribosylation) Regulates Axon Regeneration

 

End of Meeting