Dr. Artur Luczak elected to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists

caroline.zentner — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 16:31:58 +0000

While he’s recently received media attention for his paper on choking self-treatment published in the journal Resuscitation, Dr. Artur Luczak, a ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscience professor, typically receives attention for his research into neural activity in the sensory cortex.

Luczak has been elected to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. The College is the first national system of multidisciplinary recognition for the emerging generation of Canadian intellectual leadership. Members have demonstrated a high level of achievement at an early age in their career.

“Neuroscience is a fantastic journey of discoveries and I really enjoy taking a part in it,” says Luczak, who is currently working on an epilepsy project at Stanford ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. “It is a great honour for me to be recognized by the RSC but I owe it to many people I have worked with.”

“Artur’s hard work has led to many worthwhile academic accomplishments and I was happy to nominate him,” says U of L President Mike Mahon. “I’m very pleased he has been elected to the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.”

As part of the Lethbridge Brain Dynamics group at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, Luczak’s has determined through his research that information in the brain’s cortex is not processed continuously but in discrete packets. Some neurons, whether spontaneously or in response to a stimulus, are active early and others are active later. Taken together, their activity forms a packet filled with information. He proposes the packets allow the brain to integrate and exchange information throughout all brain areas.

Luczak is also involved in promoting brain research as president of the Lethbridge Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience. His expertise in computational neuroscience gives students the opportunity to use statistics and programming techniques in neuroscience.

Luczak’s website has more information about his research work.

Anyone who wants to know more about the College and its annual nomination process is invited to attend a workshop on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at the U of L. Dr. Alidad Amirfazli, president of the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, will be on hand to explain the process.

U of L neuroscience research in the spotlight during annual Brain Awareness Week

caroline.zentner — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 20:34:07 +0000

Residents of southern Alberta are invited to learn more about the brain research being done at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN) during an open house on Saturday, March 19 as part of the yearly Brain Awareness Week.

The open house from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. gives visitors the chance to explore the CCBN, tour the labs, talk to researchers and learn about the groundbreaking discoveries being made right here in southern Alberta. Youngsters will enjoy engaging in educational brain-related activities. More information is available online through the neuroscience department and in an event poster.

Dr. Matthew Tata, chair of the Department of Neuroscience, will give a free public talk on cognitive robotics and how neuroscience can be used to make robots smarter on Tuesday, March 22 at 7 p.m. in the Yates Memorial Centre.

“The idea of helpful machines that exhibit intelligent behaviours goes back at least as far as ancient Greek mythology. We now live at a time when the technology of robotics has caught up with human imagination,” says Tata.

Recent advances in robotics have been inspired by discoveries about how our own brains work. The Cognitive Robotics lab at the U of L is working at the front of this field. Tata will describe and demonstrate some of the innovations and explain how they follow from basic neuroscience research. He’ll also discuss how artificial intelligence and robotics is likely to affect our lives and communities in the future.

“We welcome everyone to take part in this year’s Brain Awareness Week activities,” says Dr. Artur Luczak, a U of L professor and neuroscience researcher, and one of the organizers of Brain Awareness Week. “CCBN researchers are happy to talk about their work, show people around the building, and answer any questions they may have.”

Brain Awareness Week is a global campaign to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research. Local activities are organized by the Lethbridge Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience.

UNews - Dr. Artur Luczak

Dr. Artur Luczak elected to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists

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U of L neuroscience research in the spotlight during annual Brain Awareness Week

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