What are memories and how can our understanding of them help us treat brain diseases?

Dr. Mark Cembrowski, a 2019 Azrieli Future Leader in Canadian Brain Research and investigator at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, is seeking an answer to one of the most pressing questions in neuroscience. What is memory? Through Dr. Cembrowski’s research, he is exploring how we form and store memories and how our memory relates to a variety of brain diseases and disorders.

The hippocampus is a brain region critical for memory, as well as learning, spatial navigation and emotion. The main output of the hippocampus is termed the “subiculum” and is responsible for delivering hippocampal output to a host of other brain regions. To date, there is little knowledge of the precise organization or operation of the human subiculum, either in health or illness.

Dr. Cembrowski and his team’s research will provide a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental biology of the human subiculum.

Understanding what a memory physically is, is one of the holy grails of foundational neuroscience.”

Dr. Mark Cembrowski, a 2019 Azrieli Future Leader

His research could help us treat a wide array of brain disorders and diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Learn more about the Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research program.