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$10-million gift strengthens McGill's commitment to brain research, young researchers and faster results for patients
A transformative gift of $10 million from the Irving Ludmer Family Foundation in support of the Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics & Mental Health will expand the Centre’s internationally renowned role in brain research and establish a Global Brain Consortium of leading research institutions....
Genes associated with infantile forms of schizophrenia identified
Discovery will aid diagnosis and development of treatments
Scientists at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) and McGill University have identified novel genes associated with a specific form of schizophrenia.
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Rare mutation of gene carried by Québec family gives insight into how the brain is wired
The study of a Québec family with an unusual gene provides novel insight into how our brain is built and, according to the McGill led team of scientists, offers a better understanding of psychiatric disorders such as depression, addictions and schizophrenia.
...McGill University to partner with industry in developing virtual-reality training platform for spinal surgery
McGill University today announces an agreement with CAE Healthcare, and DePuy Synthes Products, Inc., part of the Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies, to develop a Virtual Reality (VR) platform to train orthopedic and neurosurgeons in advanced spinal surgery techniques....
AIDS and aging focus of research study
By Neuro Staff
When the general public thinks of HIV, they do not think of a neurological disease, yet people living with HIV infection know they need to worry about their brain health.
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No grain self-sufficiency in China without changes to land policies
If China is to achieve its target of 95% grain self-sufficiency by 2030 it will need to restrict the conversion of arable land to other uses say researchers from McGill. This may prove challenging in a country with a population of almost 1.4 billion, but with just under 13% of arable land, close to half of which is suffering from soil degradation....
Male guppies grow larger brains in response to predator exposure
Male guppies exposed to predators in the wild or in captivity have heavier brains than those living in relatively predator-free conditions, according to new research published in the journal Functional Ecology.
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Bright warning colours on poison dart frogs also act as camouflage
Poison dart frogs are well known for their deadly toxins and bright colours, which have made them a classic example of warning coloration.
The Dyeing Dart Frog, for example, is highly toxic and warns its predators with a bright yellow-and-black pattern.
...Older men with higher levels of sex hormones could be less religious
The level of sex hormones such as testosterone in a man's body could influence his religiosity. A new study by Aniruddha Das of McGill University in the Springer journal Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology adds to the growing body of evidence that religiosity is influenced not only by upbringing or psychological makeup, but that physiological factors could also play a role.
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Canadians are aging well, but …
It's not every day that one receives a call from a researcher asking if they want to participate in a study on aging for the next 20 years of their lives. That's what 50,000 Canadians aged 45 to 85 have agreed to do in taking part of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), one of the largest and most comprehensive studies on the health and well-being of the country’s aging population.
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The secret to longevity is in the microbiome and the gut
You are what you eat. Or so the saying goes. Science now tells us that we are what the bacteria living in our intestinal tract eat and this could have an influence on how well we age. Building on this, McGill University scientists fed fruit flies with a combination of probiotics and an herbal supplement called Triphala that was able to prolong the flies’ longevity by 60 % and protect them against chronic diseases associated with aging.
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Pain-induced changes in the brain’s opioid system may explain the limited effectiveness of opioid therapy in chronic pain
Pain-induced changes in the brain’s opioid receptor system may explain the limited effectiveness of opioid therapy in chronic pain and may play a role in the depression that often accompanies it, according to a study from the NIH’s Intramural Research Program and McGill University....
Clinical innovation takes centre stage at inaugural McGill CLIC and Hakim Family Prize event
Top finalists pitch to win 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes
By Diane Weidner, Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning
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As harmful as dehydration?
We are all familiar with the drawbacks of dehydration, but we rarely hear about the harmful effects of overhydration. It is known that excess fluid accumulation can lead to dangerously low sodium levels in the blood or hyponatremia – a life-threatening condition that can result in brain swelling. Similarly, more is known about the mechanisms in the body that detect and drive thirst while little is known about how the brain detects a state of overhydration.
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New approach to global-warming projections could make regional estimates more precise
A new method for projecting how the temperature will respond to human impacts supports the outlook for substantial global warming throughout this century – but also indicates that, in many regions, warming patterns are likely to vary significantly from those estimated by widely used computer models.
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