Funded Grants

Before dementia occurs, the brain has issues getting enough energy and blood flow. This causes subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and is an early warning sign for dementia. Exercise and ketone supplements may help correct these problems.

Even though memory loss is one of the most debilitating features of dementia, several studies has revealed the ability of music to trigger the recall of old memories is relatively preserved in people living with dementia. Yet, we don’t exactly what feature of music activates memories. This goal of this project is to answer this question by studying how features of music, personal familiarity and emotional quality, can help improve memory for people living with dementia.

Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) causes the activation of a key nerve support cell called microglia. We recently discovered that microglia are important for spontaneous recovery of function after SCI, as they protect healthy spinal cord tissue from neighbouring injured and inflamed spinal tissue.

As humans, we are constantly making decisions, and those decisions are heavily influenced by how our environment shapes our thought and behavioral patterns. This process – the ability to adapt your behavioural strategy in the face of changing environmental conditions – is often referred to as cognitive flexibility. In ideal conditions, cognitive flexibility allows us to adapt our behavior in optimal ways.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease in which the immune system attacks the brain and spinal cord. Over time, many people with MS enter a progressive phase marked by steady worsening of disability. This decline is largely driven by the loss of nerve cells and their connections. Unfortunately, most current treatments focus on suppressing the immune system and provide little benefit once the disease becomes progressive. We still do not fully understand why nerve cells become vulnerable and die in progressive MS.

La douleur chronique touche une grande partie de la population et ses effets vont bien au-delà de la sensation de douleur. On sait maintenant qu’elle peut s’accompagner de changements dans le cerveau, mais on connaît encore très peu ses impacts possibles sur la santé des vaisseaux sanguins cérébraux.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a common and serious illness in which people keep drinking despite major harms. Even with today’s best medications and addiction treatments, relapse is frequent, and severe AUD can shorten life expectancy by many years.

As we age, the brain naturally changes, sometimes making it harder to remember things, stay focused, or think as quickly as we used to. Despite these changes, the aging brain still has an important ability called plasticity: it can adapt and reorganize itself. Harnessing this ability may help us support brain health later in life.