A team of McGill researchers published a paper in Nature Methods showcasing neuromaps, an open-source Python toolbox that allows neuroscientists to analyze brain imaging data using a consistent set of tools and compare it with a curated brain-map database. PhD candidate Justine Hansen, one of the paper’s first authors, spoke[Read More…]
Tag: neuroscience
Demystifying ARSACS, a rare neurodegenerative disease concentrated in Quebec
Autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS) is a rare neurodegenerative disease first identified in the Charlevoix-Saguenay region of Quebec. The disease affects muscle control, making a range of activities, from swallowing to speaking to walking, more difficult. Brenda Toscano Marquez, a postdoctoral researcher, and Alanna Watt, a biology professor[Read More…]
Sex bias in pain research leads to failed studies, inequity in pain management
It is a well established fact that men and women experience chronic pain differently. By the late 1990’s, the findings of various review studies on pain research were clear: Women are more likely than men to experience a variety of recurrent types of pain. It remains troubling, however, that most[Read More…]
Reason and the art of neuroscience
One of the major attractions of academia is the ability to make a career out of learning, where one can pursue a life reminiscent of ancient Greek philosophers or Renaissance polymaths. Of course, following one’s research passions depends on funding. Grant applications and email correspondence shape the everyday life of[Read More…]
Big discoveries from tiny rodents
In the past decades, the field of neuroscience has made astounding progress toward unravelling the intricacies of the human brain, but much of how it functions remains terra incognita. Adrien Peyrache, a researcher at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) and Canada Research Chair in systems neuroscience, studies how brain structures[Read More…]
A future vision of STEM education
Nanotechnology is revolutionizing healthcare systems. Self-driving cars are changing how we navigate our roads. The world has entered an unprecedented era of technological innovation, and scientists are making novel discoveries that will extend and improve the quality of our everyday lives. Ainissa Ramirez, a world-renowned materials scientist and science evangelist,[Read More…]
Neuroscience gets even brainier with open access science
The human brain is the most complex, compact system known in the universe and certainly one of the most mysterious. Researchers from McGill and the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, now known as the Neuro, have long been at the forefront of neuroscience. This includes Wilder Penfield, who discovered brain[Read More…]
Brain circuit connectivity directly affects how much we like music
Humans are on the lookout for rewarding stimuli all the time. Our ability to experience pleasure from some of these stimuli is an evolutionary mechanism to ensure the pursuit of basic biological needs, such as eating, known as primary rewards. However, humans also have the capacity to experience pleasure from[Read More…]
How peppers both produce and prevent pain
Scorching heat, exasperated breathing, and trickles of sweat aren’t necessarily the result of a lengthy stay in a sauna or running on a hot day. They can instead result from a bite of spicy food. The chemical capsaicin causes the spicy sensation that some hate and others love. This compound[Read More…]
From beeps to dancing: The effect of the motor system on auditory input
In a recent study, Benjamin Morillon, a researcher at the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University and Sylcain Baillet, the head of the Lab at MNI that lead the study, took a look at the surprising relationship between the auditory system and the motor cortex of the brain. Both of[Read More…]
