BrainsCAN's Postdoctoral Associates

Research Information:
Stress impairs memory in healthy individuals and worsens it in mental illnesses. These impairments arise from defects in a specific brain region. We propose that a chemical signal that is produced during stress will suppress the activity of this brain region and impair memory. First, we will develop a state-of-the-art technique to sensitively measure this chemical signal in the brain during stress. Next, we will use an advanced memory testing system to examine the effects of this stress signal on specific types of memory. Interestingly, this protein is more abundant in females. So, we will test sex-specific effects of this protein.

Research Information:
Stress impairs cognitive ability in otherwise healthy individuals and dramatically affects memory and learning in disparate brain disorders such as depression, anxiety disorders and autism. The effects of stress on cognition is due in part to the dysregulation of neural plasticity. This project will explain the spatiotemporal association of internal calcium ion – one of the second messengers – to neural plasticity and their roles in stress-induced cognitive impairment in mouse models.

Research Information:
Think fast - a colleague unexpectedly bumps into your arm while you’re carrying your coffee mug. If the cup is full of hot coffee your reaction will look strikingly different than if the cup is empty. Understanding how the brain incorporates high-level contextual information while dealing with unexpected sensory feedback is essential in understanding movement. Yet, the brain regions and computational principles involved remain unclear. In this project we will generate a novel set of behavioural tasks, recording techniques, network models, and biomechanical modeling tools to elucidate the circuits and computations involved in using context and expectation to make feedback corrections in humans and NHP.