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

Nabil Seidah
Nabil Seidah

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

Scientists reduce behaviours associated with problem gambling in rats

Dr. Catherine Winstanley
Dr. Catherine Winstanley

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