May 21-25, 2025, Toronto Sheraton Centre Hotel
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
| 7-9 PM | 2025 CAN Public lectures: Topics and speakers TBA |
Day 1: Wednesday, May 21, 2025
| 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM | CAN Satellite symposia |
| 5:00 – 5:15 PM | Welcome and Opening Remarks Melanie Woodin, President of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience |
| 5:15 – 6:15 | Presidential Lecture: Gina Turrigiano, Brandeis University |
| 6:15 – 8:00 | Opening Reception |
Day 2: Thursday, May 22
| 8:30 – 10:15 AM | Plenary symposium 1: Fear, Threat and Aversive Learning Chair – Mihaela Iordanova (ConcordiaU) Maithe Arruda-Carvalho (UToronto Scarborough) Josh Johansen (RIKEN Institute, Japan) Susan Sangha (Indiana University, USA) |
| 10:15 – 10:25 | Partner update |
| 10:25 – 10:45 | Coffee break Posters/exhibits |
| 10:45 – 11:00 | Brain Star Award winner talk |
| 11:00 – 12:00 | Featured Plenary speaker 1: Kerry Ressler (McLean Hospital Harvard University USA) |
| 12:00 – 1:30 | Advocacy lunch |
| 1:30 – 3:00 | Symposium 1: Gut Microbiome-Brain Interaction on Host Health Symposium Chair: Frank Duca | University of Arizona Speakers: Lesley MacNeil | McMaster University Role of the gut microbiome in neural aging Frank Duca |University of Arizona Bacterially-derived metabolites impact hypothalamic regulation of metabolic homeostasis via Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Tony Lam | Toronto General Hospital Research Institute Small intestinal microbiota impacts nutrient-induced gut-brain signaling pathways that regulate glucose homeostasis. Premysl Bercik | McMaster University The Brain-Gut-Microbiome Axis and Irritable Bowel Syndrome Symposium 2: New Insights of Noradrenaline in Neural Diseases: From Neurodevelopment to Neurodegeneration. Symposium chair: Xuming Yin | University of Ottawa Speakers: Xuming Yin | University of Ottawa Abnormal Spatiotemporal dynamics of noradrenaline release during motor learning in 16p11.2 deletion mice of autism Oxana Eschenko | Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics Noradrenergic transmission promotes flexibility of spatial behavior and sleep-dependent memory consolidation Bruno Giros | McGill University Noradrenergic control of the resilient shift following chronic stress Qi Yuan | Memorial University of Newfoundland Locus coeruleus neuronal vulnerability in a pretangle tau rat model Symposium 3: A genomics approach towards understanding sex differences in cognition, mental health, and neurodevelopment. Symposium chair: Giannina Descalzi | University of Guelph Speakers: Iva Zovkic | University of Toronto Mississauga Sex specific effects of histone H2A.Z on normal and pathological memory Marija Kundakovic | Fordham University Single-cell insights into gene regulation in the mouse brain across the estrous cycle and sex Silvia De Rubeis | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Sex differences in the developmental functions of the autism risk gene DDX3X Deena Walker | Oregon Health & Science University Sex-specific Transcriptional Mechanisms of Substance Use Disorder Symposium 4: Mechanisms of Stress Regulation in Complex Behaviors Symposium chair: Mijail Rojas-Carvajal | University of Calgary Speakers: Nuria Daviu | University of Guelph Survival optimization: Role of PVN-CRH neurons in innate escape execution Mijail Rojas-Carvajal | University of Calgary Exercise erases the behavioral and synaptic consequences of stress Thomas Kash | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Probing the role of lateral septum peptide signaling in aversion and reward Jamie Maguire | Tufts University Biased information routing through the BLA mediates behavioral deficits following chronic stress |
| 3:15 – 3:45PM | Trainee Power Pitch Session |
| 3:45 – 5:15PM | Coffee break Poster session 1 / exhibits |
| 5:15 – 5:45 | New investigator award lecture |
| 5:45 – 6:45 | Brain Prize lecture Larry Abbott, Columbia University |
| 7:30 – 9:30 | CAN Student Social |
Day 3: Friday, May 23
| 8:30 – 10:15 AM | Plenary symposium 2: Visualizing the Brain Chair – Jibran Khokhar (WesternU) Istvan Katona (Indiana University Bloomington, USA) Isabelle Boileau | CAMH, University of Toronto Michele Desjardins | Université Lavala |
| 10:15 – 10:25 | Partner update |
| 10:25 – 10:45 | Coffee break Posters/exhibits |
| 10:45 – 11:00 | Brain Star Award winner |
| 11:00 – 12:00 | Featured Plenary speaker 2 Yulong Li | Peking University, China |
| 12:00 – 1:00 | CIHR Canadian National Brain Bee Showdown |
| 1:00 – 2:30 | Symposium 5: Diversity and Flexibility in Motor Cortical Control Symposium chair: Jonathan Michaels | York University Speakers: Jonathan A. Michaels | York University Sensory expectations shape neural population dynamics during reaching Shreya Saxena | Yale University Constrained Models of Neural Dynamics induce Generalizability and Interpretability Matthew G. Perich | Université de Montréal Motor cortical dynamics evoked by closed-loop modulation of spinal sensory pathways Emily Oby | Queen’s University Dynamical constraints on neural population activity Symposium 6: Opioid Drugs and the Brain: Research Insights to Understand the Opioid epidemic Symposium chair: Gaspard Montandon | University of Toronto Speakers: Bernard Le Foll | CAMH Regulation of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) in the brain of subjects using opioid drugs Tuan Trang | University of Calgary A brain to spinal cord neurocircuit in opioid withdrawal Anna Taylor | University of Alberta Protracted opioid withdrawal and the gut microbiome Gaspard Montandon | University of Toronto Neural mechanisms mediating opioid-induced respiratory depression Symposium 7: Connectomics across Scales: from Synapses to Systems Symposium chair: Per Jesper Sjostrom | McGill University Speakers: Mei Zhen | Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute; University of Toronto Form of developmental plasticity: insights and reflection from the C. elegans connectomics study Paul De Koninck | Université Laval Brain-wide functional and structural circuit development in larval zebrafish Jesper Sjöström | McGill University Principles of mouse visual cortex excitatory microcircuit organization Kathryn Manning | University of Calgary The impact of prenatal maternal distress upon the developing human connectome Symposium 8: Circuit, synaptic and neuromodulatory mechanisms underlying basal ganglia function Symposium chair: Corey Baimel | Dalhousie University Speakers: Talia Lerner | Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Plasticity of striatal dopamine circuits and neuromodulatory mechanisms during motor skill learning Nicolas Tritsch | Douglas Research Institute, McGill University Revealing dopamine’s contributions to motor vigor Meaghan Creed | Washington University School of Medicine Synaptic mechanisms of reward seeking in the ventral pallidum Corey Baimel | Dalhousie University Subregion specific processing of reward cues in the nucleus accumbens |
| 2:45 – 3:15PM | Trainee Power Pitch Session |
| 3:15 – 4:45 | Coffee break in Poster Hall Poster session 2 & Exhibits |
| 4:45– 5:45 | Keynote lecture: Paul Frankland, University of Toronto |
| 5:45 – 6:45 | Economic barriers to trainee achievement, retention and funding opportunities Event organized by the CAN Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee Moderators: Dr. Paul Sheppard (postdoctoral fellow, UWestern) and Olivia Reshmi Ghosh-Swaby (PhD student, UWestern). Presentation by Support of Science Representative Panelists: –Dr. Sam Weiss, Professor at UCalgary, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction –Dr. Sarah MacFarlane, Professor at UCalgary,Director of the REALISE Career Development Program –Dr. Maithe Arruda-Carvalho, Associate Professsor at UofT, mid-career researcher –Dr. Annemarie Dedek, Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo, early-career researcher –Dr. Hayley Vecchiarelli, Postdoctoral fellow (Trembley lab, UVic) –Adiia Stone, CGSD-holding PhD student, (Murray lab, UGuelph) |
Day 4: Saturday, May 24
| 8:30 – 10:15 A.M. | Plenary symposium 3: External Influences on Neurodevelopment Chair – Deborah Kurrasch | University of Calgary Jessica Rosin | University of British Columbia Catherine Lebel | University of Calgary Armen Saghatelyan | University of Ottawa |
| 10:15 – 10:25 | Partner update |
| 10:25 – 10:45 | Posters/exhibits Coffee break |
| 10:45 – 11:00 PM | Brain Star Award winner |
| 11:00 – 12:00 | Featured Plenary speaker 3 Yasmin Hurd (MSSM, USA) |
| 12:00 – 1:30 PM | CAN-ACN Annual General Meeting of members Career Networking event Lunch on own |
| 1:30 – 2:00PM | Trainee Power Pitch Session |
| 2:00 – 3:30 | Poster session 3 & Exhibits |
| 3:30 – 5:00 | Symposium 9: Sleep, stress and sex differences in development and aging: Translational impact in health and disease Symposium chair: Haung (Ho) Yu | University of Toronto Speakers: Valérie Mongrain | Université de Montréal The neurodevelopmental disease-related protein Neuroligin-2 is shaping slow waves during slow-wave sleep and the multifractal signature of the electrocorticogram. Mayuko Arai | Simon Fraser University The impact of trazodone administration on sleep in the APPNL-F mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Ciarán Murphy-Royal | Université de MontréalAstrocyte glucocorticoid receptors mediate sex-specific changes in activity following stress. Interactions with sleep-regulating orexinergic neurons. W. Haung (Ho) Yu | University of Toronto Sex differences in proteostasis and pathology in response to chronic stress and sleep impairments in AD pathology. Symposium 10: Therapeutic applications for focused ultrasound in the treatment and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease Symposium chair: Joanne Nash | University of Toronto Speakers: Isabelle Aubert | Sunnybrook Research Institute MR-guided-focused ultrasound mediated permeabilization of the blood brain barrier to deliver gene therapies: Progress in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Joanne Nash | University of Toronto MR-guided-focused ultrasound mediated delivery of AAV9.SIRT3-myc is neuroprotective in a rat model of Parkinson’s Disease. Samuel Pichardo | University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Institute Tremor reduction using a multi-focus transcranial ultrasound stimulation method targeting the thalamus: Preliminary results Oury Monchi | Université de Montréal Non-invasive forms of neuromodulation in the treatment of cognitive symptoms of Parkinson’s disease Symposium 11: Models of inhaled cannabis exposure: effects on behaviour and brain across the lifespan of rodents Symposium chair: John Howland | University of Saskatchewan Speakers: John Howland | University of Saskatchewan Long-term effects of gestational cannabis exposure to cannabis smoke on behaviour and cortico-limbic brain circuits in the offspring Hakan Kayir | University of Guelph Impact of adolescent exposure to vaporized cannabis on adult rat behaviour and brain connectivity Ryan McLaughlin | Washington State University Clouded judgement: long-term cellular and behavioral changes in a rodent model of adolescent cannabis use Cassie Moore | Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Behavioral and neurobiological consequences of chronic vaporized Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) self-administration in rats Symposium 12: The function of catecholamines in learning and decision-making Symposium chair: Robert Rozeske | University of Toronto – Scarborough Speakers: Robert Rozeske | University of Toronto – Scarborough | Prefrontal dopamine dynamics during context fear learning and discrimination Laura Corbit | University of Toronto Locus coeruleus activity increases in response to omission of an expected reward Michael Baratta | University of Colorado – Boulder Prefrontal dopamine reveals sex differences in coping with stress Kate Wassum | University of California – Los Angeles Dopamine release in the basolateral amygdala facilitates reward learning and prediction |
