An all-star lineup of experts in the fields of sports and neurology will share a stage on Jan. 27 to discuss concussions, a serious injury that has only recently been getting the attention it deserves.


Olivia Oxlade, one of the authors is an epidemiologist at McGill University’s TB centre. http://alturl.com/zzqby

Have you ever met someone who just wasn’t into music? They may have a condition called specific musical anhedonia, which affects three-to-five per cent of the population.
Researchers at the University of Barcelona and the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital of McGill University have discovered that people with this condition showed reduced functional connectivity between cortical regions responsible for processing sound and subcortical regions related to reward.

Drug shown to reduce new attacks/symptom progression in some patients
In separate clinical trials, a drug called ocrelizumab has been shown to reduce new attacks in patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), and new symptom progression in primary progressive MS.

Study tracks patients to better understand effects and possible treatments
December 1 is World AIDS Day, a time to raise awareness about a disease that has afflicted 70 million people worldwide, 35 million of whom have died as a result.

Researchers have linked a debilitating neurological disease in children to mutations in a gene that regulates neuronal development through control of protein movement within neuronal cells.

Two researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (MNI) of McGill University have received funding to study a devastating neurodegenerative disease that first appears in toddlers just as they are beginning to walk.

MNI scientists will study stem cells, genetic mutations to develop new treatments
Researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University who are playing key roles in uncovering the mechanisms underlying ALS will share in $3.9 million in research funding, part of $4.5 million announced on Nov. 23 by the ALS Society of Canada in partnership with Brain Canada.

When two people smell the same thing, they can have remarkably different reactions, depending on their cultural background. Researchers at the Neuro have found that even when two cultures share the same language and many traditions, their reactions to the same smells can be different.

Scientists have identified a gene in the French-Canadian population that predisposes them to the development of intracranial aneurysm (IA), a potentially life threatening neurological condition that is responsible for approximately 500,000 deaths worldwide per year, half of which occur in people less than 50 years of age.
Using genetic analysis, the team of researchers found rare variations of one gene, RNF213, that appeared more frequently in IA patients than in the control group. Both patients and the control group came from French-Canadian families.

You probably know someone who has it. It is the most common movement disorder, yet most people don’t even know its name.
Essential tremor affects nearly one per cent of the world’s population, increasing to four per cent of those over 40. The involuntary shaking of hands is the most common symptom, but symptoms can also include shaking of the head and legs.

The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) is pleased to announce a new initiative designed to ease the suffering of seriously ill patients through specialized consultation and comprehensive care.
The Susan Cameron Cook Neuro-Palliative Care Program, named in honour of Susan Cameron Cook, whose family provided vital seed funding for this initiative, has the goal of reducing the mental and physical suffering of neurological patients and their families in the journey from diagnosis of a terminal illness to end of life.

Dr. Guy Rouleau, Director of the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre, has been chosen to receive another major award recognizing his outstanding scientific career. The national organization representing Canadian francophone doctors, Médecins francophones du Canada, is bestowing on him its 2016 Prix de l’oeuvre scientifique.

Inspiring event to raise money for brain cancer research
An evening filled with personal stories from those whose lives have been affected by brain cancer will once again contribute to the fight against the disease.

A project led by an MNI researcher has been awarded $6.1 million to study progressive multiple sclerosis.
The International Progressive MS Alliance has awarded three $6.1 million Collaborative Network Award grants for a total investment of $18.4 million toward accelerating the pace of progressive MS research. More than 2.3 million people worldwide live with MS and more than one million of those living with the disease have progressive MS.