brain

As part of The Neuro’s Thinking Ahead Campaign, a $240,000 donation from Desjardins Group, the largest financial cooperative group in Canada, to The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital – The Neuro, McGill University has enabled the creation of the Desjardins Outstanding Student Award. Twelve awards of 20 000 $ each will support top-rated graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who are advancing research to better understand the nervous system and neurological disorders and aid in developing new therapies.

Scientists at The Neuro find important time factor in second-language acquisition

The age at which children learn a second language can have a significant bearing on the structure of their adult brain, according to a new joint study by the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro at McGill University and Oxford University. The majority of people in the world learn to speak more than one language during their lifetime. Many do so with great proficiency particularly if the languages are learned simultaneously or from early in development.

Researchers at McGill University have found that sodium – the main chemical component in table salt – is a unique “on/off” switch for a major neurotransmitter receptor in the brain. This receptor, known as the kainate receptor, is fundamental for normal brain function and is implicated in numerous diseases, such as epilepsy and neuropathic pain.

A new study shows that memory pathology in older mice with Alzheimer’s disease can be reversed with treatment. The study by researchers from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro, at McGill University and at Université de Montréal found that blocking the activity of a specific receptor in the brain of mice with advanced Alzheimer’s disease (AD) recovers memory and cerebrovascular function.

What is ALS?
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neurodegenerative disease in which progressive muscle weakness leads to paralysis. ALS is a result of the death of motor neurons (nerve cells) in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. Most people survive less than five years following diagnosis, but a small percentage of patients live for ten years or even longer. So far, there is no cure.

Study compares data from hundreds of people in childhood and old age

A new study shows compelling evidence that associations between cognitive ability and cortical grey matter in old age can largely be accounted for by cognitive ability in childhood.  The joint study by the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, The Neuro, McGill University and the University of Edinburgh, UK was published today, June 4 in

Dr. Robert J.

Research opens door to new drug therapies for Parkinson’s disease

McGill University researchers have unlocked a new door to developing drugs to slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease. Collaborating teams led by Dr. Edward A. Fon at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital -The Neuro, and  Dr. Kalle Gehring  in the Department of Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine, have discovered the three-dimensional structure of the protein Parkin.

Live 3D images of brain’s vasculature will improve patient diagnosis and treatment 

The diagnosis and treatment of potentially life-threatening neurological conditions such as aneurysms and strokes will be significantly improved as a result of cutting-edge technology at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro, at McGill University and the MUHC.  The new angiosuite, inaugurated today, offers significant advantages to patients and physicians including most importantly, improved safety and outcomes.

• Creates a 3D “

New study shows what happens in the brain to make music rewarding

A new study reveals what happens in our brain when we decide to purchase a piece of music when we hear it for the first time. The study, conducted at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital – The Neuro, McGill University and published in the journal Science on April 12, pinpoints the specific brain activity that makes new music rewarding and predicts the decision to purchase music.