UNews - Masami Tatsuno

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge to celebrate Brain Awareness Week

caroline.zentner — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 20:49:22 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is inviting the public to learn more about the brain and the world-renowned research being done at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN) in advance of Brain Awareness Week from March 13 to 19.

Dr. Artur Luczak will discuss the brain's ability to predict the future and how that may help explain consciousness.

“The CCBN is a world-class research facility and we encourage members of the public to visit us and learn about the incredible activities taking place right here in southern Alberta,” says Dr. Artur Luczak, a neuroscience professor, and a Brain Awareness Week speaker.

On Saturday, March 11, the CCBN is hosting an open house from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend this free event which includes activities for children. Parking is free and the CCBN is located on Level 8 of Science Commons.

“We have an exciting lineup of activities for folks, including a guided tour of the dry labs, various fun activities in the kids’ room and an opportunity to see a real human brain,” says Jade Oldfield, a neuroscience student and co-organizer of Brain Awareness Week along with fellow student Cameron Beazer and professor Dr. Masami Tatsuno. “Brain Awareness Week happens only once a year and it gives us the perfect opportunity to welcome the community to the CCBN.”

From 2 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Luczak will give a free talk titled Predictive Neurons: Consciousness and Artificial Intelligence in the Science Commons Atrium on Level 7.

Talk summary — Correctly predicting the future can be very helpful for survival. In fact, the main reason why animals have brains could be to improve predictions of where the food is and how to best get it. Consciousness, the most mysterious feature of the brain, also seems to be related to predicting the future and detecting surprise. In this talk, Luczak will discuss how the ability of neurons to predict their future activity may be the key to understanding the brain, how it may help to explain consciousness and how it may allow us to build super-intelligent computers.

U of L researchers' work in memory highlighted

caroline.zentner — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 15:40:55 +0000

A group of ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscience researchers have had their work in memory published in the prestigious Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, highlighting the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience’s (CCBN) expertise in memory research.

“That ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers have contributed four research papers to this special issue on memory reactivation demonstrates our excellence of research and strength in this field,” says Dr. Masami Tatsuno, a neuroscience professor involved in the research.

“Our research in memory is helping us understand how memories are formed in the brain and our findings will help unravel the roots of memory disorders like dementia,” says Dr. Bruce McNaughton, director of the CCBN’s Polaris Brain Research Group.

Memories are formed as result of interactions between different areas of the brain, with the hippocampus and neocortex among the most important structures for memory processing. Evidence also suggests that neural activity patterns of recent experiences in these structures are reactivated during rest, including sleep.

Tatsuno’s research focuses on memory formation and storage during sleep. In one study, Tatsuno and his team analyzed neural activity in the medial prefrontal cortex of rats trained to run a spatial-sequence memory task. They found that reactivation of recent experience preferably occurred during a specific period of the UP state (elevated cortical activity) in slow-wave sleep (SWS). This reactivating in the UP-state period was often preceded by another UP-state period that was not related to recent experience. If the non-reactivating UP-state period is related to remote experience, the transition may help recent experience be gradually integrated with pre-existing memories.

In another study, Dr. Michael Eckert, a U of L post-doctoral fellow who works with Tatsuno and McNaughton, investigated reactivation of motor memory by recording the activity of cells in the rat’s motor cortex. They showed that reactivation occurs not only in SWS but also in rapid-eye-movement sleep (REM). Their results provide the first demonstration that reactivation of motor-skill memory occurs in REM sleep. They also showed that animals learned the skill better when SWS reactivation and REM reactivation occurred on the same day, suggesting that coordinated reactivation in both sleep stages is beneficial for motor learning.

McNaughton and his team investigated how new memories are integrated into the neocortex of the brain without interfering with the memories already there. In complementary learning systems theory, integrating new memories depends on a gradual learning process where new items are interleaved or interspersed with previously learned items. Studies have shown that new information that is consistent with prior knowledge can be integrated quickly. Using an artificial neural network resembling the workings of the neocortex, the researchers set out to understand the role of consistency with prior knowledge to learn more about when integration will be fast or slow and how it might be made more efficient if the items to be learned are structured in a hierarchical way. Their research has shown that the speed of integration depends on its consistency with prior knowledge. Information that had few consistencies with prior knowledge took longer, requiring more gradual interleaved learning.

McNaughton’s group also examined activity in the retrosplenial cortex (RSC), an area of the brain involved in learning and navigation. Their findings indicate that the RSC is involved with processing spatial information during rest, confirming the idea that the brain likely uses off-line periods to consolidate recent memories.

The takeaway message is pretty simple.

“A good night’s sleep is essential for a good memory,” say Tatsuno and McNaughton.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge awarded record $3.9 million in NSERC funding

trevor.kenney — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 22:04:26 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge was awarded a record $3.9 million of funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) this year, with U of L researchers earning support for projects in neuroscience, biological sciences, psychology, chemistry & biochemistry, physics & astronomy, geography and mathematics & computer science.

This unprecedented level of support was announced earlier today by Canada’s Minister of State (Science and Technology), the Honourable Ed Holder, at a national funding announcement in Oshawa, Ont.

Dr. Robert McDonald’s base grant of $355,000 (over five years) is the largest NSERC grant awarded to the U of L this year.

“This latest round of NSERC funding clearly demonstrates the outstanding research our faculty and students are undertaking,” says Interim Vice-President (Research) Dr. Lesley Brown. “That our research portfolio continues to grow as it does is testament to the quality of the work being done and also speaks to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ striking the right balance as a comprehensive teaching and research institution.”

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers receiving NSERC Discovery Grant funding include: Dr. Gerlinde Metz (neuroscience); Dr. Aaron Gruber (neuroscience); Dr. Alice Hontela (biological sciences); Dr. Jean-Baptiste Leca (psychology); Dr. David Logue (psychology); Dr. Artur Luczak (neuroscience); Dr. Robert McDonald (neuroscience); Dr. Majid Mohajerani (neuroscience); Dr. Gregory Pyle (biological sciences); Dr. Masami Tatsuno (neuroscience); Dr. Paul Vasey (psychology); Dr. Robert Laird (biological sciences); Dr. René Boeré (chemistry & biochemistry); Dr. Paul Hayes (chemistry & biochemistry); Dr. Locke Spencer (physics & astronomy); Dr. Mark Walton (physics & astronomy); Dr. Christopher Hopkinson (geography); Dr. Robert Benkoczi (mathematics & computer science); Dr. Shahadat Hossain (mathematics & computer science); Dr. Habiba Kadiri (mathematics & computer science); Dr. Nathan Ng (mathematics & computer science).

In addition, Drs. John Zhang and Olga Kovalchuk were each awarded NSERC Discovery Development Grants.

Luczak and McDonald will also both receive an additional $120,000 in funds through the Discovery Accelerator Supplements program (over a three-year period), while McDonald’s base grant of $355,000 (over five years) is the largest NSERC grant awarded to the U of L this year. He is studying neural circuits and mechanisms of context-specific conditioned inhibition.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s doctoral students were extremely successful in the NSERC Doctoral Scholarship competitions, led by Katie Wilson (chemistry & biochemistry), who was named a Canada Vanier Scholar, demonstrating leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies. Jason Flindall (neuroscience) was awarded a Canadian Doctoral Scholarship, while Kayla Stone (neuroscience), Allonna Harker (neuroscience) and Stefan Lenz (chemistry & biochemistry) were awarded NSERC Postgraduate Doctoral Scholarships. Additionally, five masters students were awarded the NSERC Canadian Graduate Scholarship, including: Justin Lee (neuroscience), Serena Shandik (neuroscience), Matthew Robbins (physics & astronomy), Rhys Hakstol (chemistry & biochemistry) and Douglas Turnbull (chemistry & biochemistry).

“We are pleased with the amount of money invested in our researchers and what this could yield in terms of the results they will achieve and the benefits their work will bring to society,” adds Brown. “Our continuing success with the federal research funding agencies is testament to our researchers’ ability to compete on the national stage.”

NSERC grants aim to develop, attract and retain the world’s most talented researchers at Canadian universities who are working in a multitude of scientific and engineering disciplines.

2010 faculty research awards

trevor.kenney — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:36:52 +0000

External SSHRC Grants
(Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council)

Paul Vasey and Martin Lalumiere (Aid to Research Workshops and Conferences in Canada) $23,663
Claudia Malacrida is a co-applicant on a $1 million CURA through the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta

Independent Foundational Grants

Fangfang Li $4,800
Duane Rockerbie $4,000
Ed Wasiak $3,000
David Gregory $11,780
Malla Stavroula $11,500

CREDO Applications
(Community of Research Excellence Development Opportunities)

Kiki Benzon
Robin Bright
Lynn Kennedy
Kevin McGeough
Janice Newberry
Claudia Steinke/Helen Kelley
Wei Xu

CIHR
(Canadian Institutes of Health Research)

Ute Kothe
Igor Kovalchuk
Gerlinde Metz
Paul Vasey
H.-J. Wieden
Kelley Williams-Whitt

AGRI
(Alberta Gaming Research Institute)

Noella Piquette-Tomei, $10,000
Robert Williams, $44,000

Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions
(formerly AHFMR)

Igor Kovalchuk

ARDN
(Alberta Rural Development Network)

Noella Piquette Tomei
Steve Ferzacca

NIH
(National Institutes of Health)

Bruce McNaughton (2 grants awarded by NIH to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Arizona were successfully transferred to the U of L)

Alberta Cancer Research Institute

Roy Golsteyn

Sport Science Association of Alberta

Jennifer Copeland

Alberta Family Wellness Initiative
(Norlien Foundation)

Noella Piquette-Tomei

NSERC CREATE Grant

Phil Teillet, Physics $1.5 Million over 6 years

NSERC Discovery Grants
(Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada)

Robert Laird, Biological Sciences (Developing and testing the evolutionary reliability theory of senescence) $24,000
Rene Boere, Chemistry & Biochemistry (Redox-generated free radicals: basic science to nanomaterials) $40,000
Paul Hayes, Chemistry & Biochemistry (Organometallic complexes of new pincer ligands: Structure, reactivity and catalysis) $61,000
Steven Mosimann, Chemistry & Biochemistry (Structure and function of PTP like inositol polyphosphatases) $31,000
Nathan Ng, Mathematics & Computer Science (Prime numbers and L-functions) $15,000
Aaron Gruber, Neuroscience (Dopamine modulation of neural dynamics and behavioral flexibility) $27,000
Brian Kolb, Neuroscience (Brain plasticity and behaviour) $105,000
Artur Luczak, Neuroscience (Neuronal population patterns - studying interactions among hundreds of neurons) $26,000
Deborah Saucier, Neuroscience (Neural and hormonal bases of sex differences in spatial ability) $42,000)
Masami Tatsuno, Neuroscience (Quiescent dependent memory consolidation: memory-trace replay during REM sleep) $23,000
David Euston, Psychology (Neural mechanisms of decision making in frontal cortex) $23,000
Martin Lalumiere, Psychology (The nature and functions of genital sexual arousal) $27,000
Paul Vasey, Psychology (The comparative biopsychology of non-conceptive sexuality) $30,000

NSERC Equipment Grants

Aaron Gruber, Neuroscience $96,373
Rene Boere, Chemistry $22,024

* We are unable to post SSHRC winners at this time as SSHRC has not officially announced its award recipients. They will be published once they are made available.

Solidifying memory while you sleep

trevor.kenney — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:55:32 +0000

Neuroscience professor Dr. Masami Tatsuno's investigations into REM and non-REM sleep and their effects on memory are producing findings that are quite awakening. Memory is a crucial brain function for humans and other animals; therefore, understanding how memory is encoded and maintained in the brain is an important problem of neuroscience.

Tatsuno, an AHFMR funded researcher at the U of L Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience (CCBN) and an iCORE scholar, is conducting studies aimed at understanding how REM and non-REM sleep contribute to memory consolidation. He investigates neuronal activity in lab animals to determine what types of memory benefit from REM and non-REM sleep, what the specific benefits are, and whether or not REM and non-REM sleep play complimentary roles in the formation of memory.

"Neuronal activity patterns that appear in the brain when a subject is engaged in a behavioural task reappear during the subsequent sleep," Tatsuno explains. "We call this memory reactivation or memory replay."

Many researchers believe that memory is stored on the connections between neurons. Changes in these connections due to some new experience or behaviour are reinforced again during sleep; this indicates the formation of new memory.

Tatsuno inserts multiple electrodes into the brains of his study subjects, monitoring up to 240 electrodes at a time to gain insights on how the brain functions and is subsequently modified during awake and sleeping conditions. Subjects are engaged in simple tasks such as running on a track or repeating a simple sequence. Tatsuno then investigates how the subjects' brains change by comparing neuronal activity during pre-task sleep, during the task, and again during post-task sleep.

Tatsuno has also been developing a computational technique that allows for the analysis of vast amounts of neuronal activity data. With his theoretical training in applied physics, he tries to integrate computational and experimental approaches in his research. The mathematics provides an insight into memory reactivation and learning, as well as the computational principles of memory function.

"Sleep is not only for recovery from fatigue; it plays an active and important role in memory formation," Tatsuno explains.

UNews - Masami Tatsuno

��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge to celebrate Brain Awareness Week

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