UNews - Robert Sutherland

Trailblazing ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscientists shaped global brain health and education

caroline.zentner — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 22:28:29 +0000

Brainstorm, a documentary that chronicles how ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge professors Drs. Bryan Kolb and Ian Whishaw revolutionized the understanding of the brain, will premiere at the Yates Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. After selling out the Yates theatre, organizers decided to show the film concurrently at the Sterndale Bennett Theatre. For more information and to sign up for seats to view the event from the Sterndale theatre, visit Brainstorm. Those not attending the premiere will be able to watch the film on TELUS TV in early 2025.

Brainstorm was directed by Dr. Jenna Bailey, adjunct assistant professor with the Department of History and Religion, co-produced by Bailey and Dr. Edgar Bermudez Contreras, an adjunct professor at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN), and edited by Bryn Hewko, assistant professor of new media.

“I made this film to showcase the groundbreaking work of two bold neuroscientists whose discoveries have transformed our understanding of the brain and advanced treatments for brain disorders and diseases,” says Bailey. “Their innovative research, fearless exploration of the unknown, and dedication to mentoring generations of scientists are captivating stories that highlight the power of science in making a real impact.”

The 42-minute film delves into the history behind the establishment of the CCBN and its growth through the efforts of Drs. Bryan Kolb, Ian Wishaw, Robert Sutherland and Robbin Gibb. The research results produced by CCBN scientists have provided insight into Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, strokes and early brain development, to name a few. As a result, prevention strategies for brain disorders and programs to improve brain health have been developed. Community programs have sprouted from their findings and have been key to launching such programs as Building Brains Together and the Early Years program through the Martin Family Initiative.

Brainstorm was produced with the support of TELUS STORYHIVE. Additional funding was generously provided by the Alberta Medical Association, Government of Alberta, Alberta Media Fund, CCBN, Centre for Oral History and Tradition (COHT) and the Historical Society of Alberta.

Watch the trailer.

About TELUS STORYHIVE

Since 2013, TELUS STORYHIVE has been able to support a community of thousands of local content creators across British Columbia and Alberta, providing over $66.9 million in funding and creating a safe space for storytellers to hone their skills and bring the projects they care about to life. Visit TELUS STORYHIVE for more information.

Facing an epidemic of dementia, PUBlic Professor Series explores, Why is the Brain Important?

trevor.kenney — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 16:24:32 +0000

It’s a simple question, and yet the answers are a lifetime’s work, and more.

Dr. Robert Sutherland says the the brain is central to many of the problems we are facing in health and society.

Dr. Robert Sutherland, chair of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Department of Neuroscience and director of the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, will present the final PUBlic Professor Series talk of the 2023-24 season when he discusses Why is the Brain important? on Thursday, March 28, 7 p.m. at the Sandman Signature Lodge.

While the query seems simple at first glance, it is one that has led Sutherland on a voyage of discovery over the course of a decorated 40-plus year career in neuroscience. Along the way, Sutherland has earned accolades as one of the world’s leading authorities in the study of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and recipient of the Donald O. Hebb Distinguished Contribution Award by the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, Sutherland and his team have had several breakthroughs which might someday help discover a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.

“My talk is going to be all about the brain, and in particular why the brain is central to a lot of the problems in health and society that we’re experiencing now,” he says. “We’re about to witness an epidemic of dementia that will become the greatest single problem in society and human health.”

Sutherland will address what they know about the prevention and treatment of dementia and describe what he thinks is the future of the brain.

“I’ll also provide information about how to prevent dementia, how it can be treated and how we can avoid the disastrous public health effects that dementia will have,” he says.

A scientist through and through, Sutherland is also an inspiring teacher and mentor — a responsibility he is proud to shoulder.

“Part of what we are charged to do as scientists is to create that next generation of scientists who will carry on the work that still needs to be done,” says Sutherland. “So, the neuroscience torch has been passed — successfully.”

This is the last of the six-part PUBlic Professor Series of talks. Initiated in 2014, the monthly lecture series is designed to spark thought-provoking discussions and bring a diverse group of experts and researchers from the ULethbridge campus right into the community.

Check out the PUBlic Professor Series web page for the 2023/24 talk schedule (including links to videos of previous presentations), to register for priority seating or to join the series mailing list.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge completes dose response study for Gb Sciences’ new Parkinson’s Disease Therapy

caroline.zentner — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 15:43:15 +0000

LAS VEGAS, July 11, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Gb Sciences, Inc., a leading cannabis- and plant-inspired biopharmaceutical research and development company, has successfully completed a dose response study in rodents at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge that supports Gb Sciences’ cannabinoid-based therapy for Parkinson’s disease. The study has established dose ranges and the corresponding times to onset and duration of action in a rodent model. In addition to the dosage range findings, this study demonstrated that Gb Sciences’ Parkinson’s disease formulations were well tolerated, and there were no adverse effects. As early as next year, Gb Sciences plans on filing an Investigational New Drug Application to begin first-in-human clinical trials. As the second most common neurodegenerative disease, the market for Parkinson’s disease (PD) treatments is expected to grow to $12.8 billion by 2028.

“Gb Sciences is developing a first-in-class, cannabinoid-based treatment for the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease,” says Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, President, Chief Science Officer and board member of Gb Sciences, Inc. “From this critical study, we have established ranges for the dosage and duration of action in a rodent model that helps us to predict the corresponding and appropriate dose range and duration of action of Gb Sciences’ Parkinson’s disease therapies for our first-in-human trial. Additionally, this study augments our safety data and suggests that our novel therapeutic may also help alleviate the significant non-motor symptoms of the disease such as problems with sleeping and appetite.”

The dose response study in rodents performed at ULethbridge helps to establish the correct dosing of Gb Sciences’ cannabinoid-containing Parkinson’s formulations for a first-in-human trial. Dr. Robert Sutherland, Ph.D., FRSC, Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Board of Governors Research Chair in Neuroscience and Director of the Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience, used deep learning models to analyze the rich data sets from their “Home Cage Small World” behavioural assessments of rodents with video cameras and Artificial Intelligence, using a system developed by Neurocage Systems Ltd. Future studies confirming the mechanism of action of these cannabinoid-based Parkinson’s formulations are planned with Dr. Sutherland’s research group at ULethbridge using their state-of-the-art behavioural measurement methods for rodents.

To learn more about Gb Sciences, visit www.gbsciences.com.

About Gb Sciences and GbS Global Biopharma

Gb Sciences, Inc. is a plant-inspired, biopharmaceutical research and development company creating patented, disease-targeted formulations of cannabis- and other plant-inspired therapeutic mixtures for the prescription drug market through its Canadian subsidiary, GbS Global Biopharma, Inc. The 'plant-inspired' active ingredients in its therapeutic mixtures are synthetic homologues identical to the original plant compounds but produced under current Good Manufacturing Practices. Gb Sciences' intellectual property portfolio contains six U.S. and five foreign patents issued, one US and three foreign patents allowed; as well as 18 U.S. and 55 foreign patent-pending applications. In its drug development pipeline, Gb Sciences has five preclinical phase product development programs. Gb Sciences' lead program for Parkinson's disease is being prepared for a first-in-human clinical trial. Gb Sciences' formulations for chronic pain, anxiety and depression are currently in preclinical animal studies with researchers at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). The company received positive preclinical proof-of-concept data supporting its complex mixtures for the treatment of Cytokine Release Syndrome, and its lead candidates will be optimized based on late-stage preclinical studies at Michigan State ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. The Company has also received positive preclinical proof-of-concept data supporting its phytochemical mixtures for the treatment of anxiety. Gb Sciences' productive research and development network includes distinguished universities, hospitals, and Contract Research Organizations. To learn more, visit www.gbsciences.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

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Burgeoning research partnerships key factor in driving ULethbridge Research InfoSource ranking

trevor.kenney — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 18:01:52 +0000

A continued focus on strengthening research partnerships and strong performance in federal grant agency support are at the heart of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s 2022 Research Infosource rankings that sees ULethbridge among Canada’s Top 50 Research Universities.

The annual ranking report, released today by Research Infosource Ltd., identifies the country’s top research universities in relation to research income. ULethbridge once again finds itself among the top 50 of all universities in Canada, spurred by a second-place ranking amongst all undergraduate universities in the growth of research income as it relates to industry partnerships.

“The partnerships we have forged in recent years highlight the fact our researchers are helping solve important issues facing small and big businesses, industrial partners, agri-food, tech and many other sectors,” says Dr. Dena McMartin, ULethbridge’s vice-president (research). “We have long excelled in fundamental research, something that continues to earn strong support from our federal granting partners, and more recently garnered the attention of valuable partners who recognize our researchers have answers to issues they need addressed.”

Recent examples include Dr. Michele Konschuh’s work supported by Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) and potato industry stakeholders. Konschuh, working out of the Department of Biological Sciences, is seeking to understand and mitigate the appearance of blackleg of potato, which can reduce yields by 20 to 25 per cent.

“This is a nearly $1-billion industry in Alberta and is vital to our provincial economy,” says McMartin. “The work of Michele and her team, which includes graduate and undergraduate students, is essential for the agri-food industry and also trains our students for future careers in this field — a further positive impact for society.”

Dr. Robert Sutherland, left, and researchers are pushing Parkinson's disease research forward through a new industry partnership.

Likewise, researchers in the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience have struck a partnership with Gb Sciences, Inc., a leading plant-inspired biopharmaceutical research and development company, completing a dose range study of Gb Sciences’ patent-protected formulations in a rodent model of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Gb Sciences uses cannabinoid-containing therapeutic mixtures for the treatment of PD.

“Gb Sciences is an international company that has recognized the expertise and state-of-the-art methods Dr. Robert Sutherland and his group utilize,” says McMartin. “The partnership enhances the work they are doing in CCBN, offers our researchers exceptional opportunities and pushes PD research forward in the quest to develop these new therapeutics.”

In addition to placing second in Corporate Research Income Growth, ULethbridge also had fourth place standings in the undergraduate tier rankings for research income via the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). A fifth-place standing in research intensity dollars per graduate student also stood out as the university placed 10th overall in ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Research Income amongst all Canadian undergraduate schools.

“Throughout the university there is a dedication to excellence and innovation, as well as a commitment to creating a research environment that provides unparalleled access to both undergraduate and graduate students,” adds McMartin. “Funding support is just one measure of how successful our faculty and their research teams are, and these rankings capture a snapshot of this. A better measure is the impact our research makes on society and the lives that are changed for the better because of the work we are doing.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge neuroscientist Dr. Robert Sutherland to receive distinguished contribution award

caroline.zentner — Fri, 08 Jul 2022 16:47:17 +0000

Marking a stellar career as a researcher and professor, Dr. Robert Sutherland has been named winner of the 2022 Donald O. Hebb Distinguished Contribution Award by the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour & Cognitive Science (CSBBCS).

The award recognizes those who’ve made a significant contribution to the study of brain, behaviour and cognitive science through their research, training of others and leadership in the field. Donald Hebb is often called the father of neuroscience for the way he merged psychology with neuroscience.

“This award is a very special honour, in part, because I had the privilege of having met and talked with Donald Hebb after his retirement,” says Sutherland, Chair of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Department of Neuroscience and one of the drivers behind the creation of the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN). “His contributions to Canadian neuroscience are difficult to exaggerate. Receiving an award named after this great scientist is especially valuable to me.”

Following the completion of his PhD at Dalhousie ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Halifax, Sutherland joined ULethbridge as a post-doctoral fellow under Drs. Bryan Kolb and Ian Whishaw. His key focus was on developing better ways to measure memory in non-human animals. He devised methods that are now used by drug companies and laboratories around the world.

Wanting to expand his skill set and work with students at all levels, Sutherland then took a position at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of New Mexico. There, he was able to work with students from undergraduate to PhD levels and post-doctoral fellows. During that time, he developed a theory of long-term memory that impacted the field and began focusing on understanding the role of the hippocampus in long-term memory. While scientists generally thought the hippocampus was only briefly involved in the storage of new memories, Sutherland’s work has shown the hippocampus continues to be engaged during memory recall.

He returned to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ as a senior Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research scientist when the CCBN building opened in 2001 and ULethbridge became home to the first Department of Neuroscience in Canada to offer degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels.

Sutherland has received many honours and was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 2021 and he was twice named one of the 50 Most Influential Albertans by Alberta Venture Magazine. In 2011, he made the list for his breakthrough discovery about the regeneration of cerebral cortex cells in adult mammals and, in 2013, he was listed for his contributions as president of the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations.

Sutherland will receive his award on Tuesday, July 19 at the CSBBCS annual meeting in Halifax, where he will also deliver the Hebb Award Lecture.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge chosen to conduct dosage study for novel Parkinson’s disease formulations

trevor.kenney — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 17:00:07 +0000

Biopharmaceutical research company GB Sciences’ plant-inspired formulations entering the final stages before first-in-human clinical trials

Gb Sciences , Inc. (OTCQB:GBLX), a leading plant-inspired biopharmaceutical research and development company, has selected the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge to complete a dose range study of Gb Sciences’ patent-protected formulations in a rodent model of Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Dr. Robert Sutherland, shown here on the left, and his lab will determine the dose range of active ingredients that will be used in human trials and will identify potential side effects.

“Gb Sciences is an innovator in drug discovery and development, and they have promising drug candidates for the treatment of Parkinsonian movement disorders. With the state-of-the-art behavioral measurement methods at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and the exceptional innovative programs, this promises to be an outstanding, productive partnership,” says Dr. Robert Sutherland, professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at ULethbridge; Board of Governors Research Chair in Neuroscience; and director of the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience.

Gb Sciences plans on filing an Investigational New Drug Application to begin first-in-human clinical trials as early as next year. As the second most common neurodegenerative disease, the market for Parkinson’s disease treatments is expected to grow to $8.8 billion by 2026.

Gb Sciences received U.S. Patent No. 10,653,640 in May 2020 for its proprietary cannabinoid-containing therapeutic mixtures for the treatment of PD. Animal studies conducted by the National Research Council of Canada found that Gb Sciences’ PD formulations achieved statistically significant reductions in the PD-like motor symptoms associated with the loss of dopamine-producing neurons. Initial toxicity studies for these original PD formulas came back with no significant evidence of adverse effects.

Through GbS Global Biopharma, its wholly owned Canadian subsidiary, Gb Sciences has signed a contract with ULethbridge to complete required rodent dose response studies. These important studies will determine the dose range of active ingredients that will be used in human trials and will identify potential side effects. These dose response studies are scheduled to begin next month.

“Using rodent models of PD-motor symptoms, we should be able to predict the appropriate dose range and duration of action of Gb Sciences’ PD therapies for its first-in-human trial,” says Sutherland.

“Our drug discovery process has identified ratio-specific mixtures of cannabinoids that achieved the statistically significant reduction of Parkinsonian movement symptoms in an animal model; thus establishing our proof-of-concept for this therapeutic program,” says Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, president and chief science officer of Gb Sciences. “Now, working with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, we are taking a major step forward by testing these cannabinoid ratio-specific formulations to establish the dose range for our first-in-human clinical trial.”

To create Gb Sciences’ novel therapies, the company’s goal is to identify ‘minimum essential mixtures’ that retain the efficacy of whole plant extracts, but with the manufacturing and quality control advantages of single ingredient pharmaceutical products. Gb Sciences uses its novel PhAROS™ (Phytomedical Analytics for Research Optimization at Scale) drug discovery engine’s predictive capabilities, combined with rigorous high throughput screening of potential combinations of these plant-derived compounds in established cellular models of disease to determine which minimum essential mixtures from these plant-based materials may be therapeutically beneficial. These minimum essential mixtures are then validated and refined in animal models, in preparation for the first-in-human trial.

To learn more about Gb Sciences, visit www.gbsciences.com.

About Gb Sciences and GbS Global Biopharma

U of L neuroscientist earns election to the Royal Society of Canada

trevor.kenney — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 16:05:54 +0000

Acknowledging a lifelong career with exceptional contributions to the field of neuroscience, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Dr. Robert Sutherland, Board of Governors Research Chair, Chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Director of the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN), has been elected to the Royal Society of Canada (RSC).

Dr. Robert Sutherland's work revolutionized the understanding of how the hippocampus is involved in the storage of new memories.

“It’s absolutely thrilling and it’s really gratifying to know there are colleagues who have been working at the highest level in Canada who recognize our contributions and voted to elect me into fellowship,” says Sutherland. “It’s a tremendous honour and I think it’s also an acknowledgement the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge is a mature research-intensive institution that can hold its own in many areas. It’s a great tribute to all the people who put in efforts to create a neuroscience program, and that includes undergraduate students.”

Sutherland began studying neuroscience before it was a recognized field and he has watched it grow over the years. In the 1970s when he was starting his post-secondary studies, neuroscience courses were typically found in psychology departments.

“It’s been very exciting to be with the area of neuroscience from its inception all the way to now,” he says. “It’s been fantastic, a really good ride.”

Following the completion of his PhD at Dalhousie ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Halifax, Sutherland joined the U of L as a post-doctoral fellow under Drs. Bryan Kolb and Ian Whishaw. His key focus was on developing better ways to measure memory in non-human animals. He devised methods that are now used by drug companies and laboratories around the world.

He returned to the U of L as a senior Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research scientist when the CCBN building opened in 2001 and the U of L became home to the first Department of Neuroscience in Canada to offer degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels.

“I also morphed my research from purely normal aging to pathological aging and then to Alzheimer’s disease, bringing along the methods and theoretical perspectives I’d acquired over the years,” he says. “Now, in my lab, I’d say half of the work we’re doing is directly related to understanding Alzheimer’s type dementia.”

Sutherland’s election will be formally recognized at the Royal Society’s meeting at McGill ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in November. Notably, he’ll become the fourth member of the Department of Neuroscience to receive the honour, along with Drs. Bruce McNaughton, Ian Whishaw and Bryan Kolb.

For more, see this profile.

U of L researchers net $1.8 million to help solve the mysteries of Alzheimer’s disease

caroline.zentner — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 18:05:03 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers are looking at the potential for cannabis compounds to treat or even prevent Alzheimer’s disease, as well as to track and possibly stop abnormal proteins from spreading damage in the brain with $1.8 million in funding grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Dr. Robert McDonald and his team at the U of L’s Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN), will use preclinical animal models to investigate marijuana compounds as potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

“There’s preliminary work in the field that’s emerged just recently, particularly in animal models, suggesting that cannabis compounds can reverse brain pathology and cognitive impairments,” says McDonald. “We’re really interested in trying to prevent that descent into neurodegeneration and dementia because once the brain has changed, it’s very hard to bring it back. If we can prevent or prolong that descent into dementia, that’s really the goal.”

In the other project, Dr. Robert Sutherland and his team at the CCBN will use an animal model to look more closely at two misfolded proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease — amyloid beta and tau. They will be digging into how these two proteins may spread in the brain and how the spread coincides with memory loss and decreased cognitive function, as well as trying to block the spread.

“We want to understand the basic biological mechanisms that push the disease forward in the brain,” says Sutherland. “Ultimately, we hope this kind of research will lead us to a cure, the same way vaccinations got rid of smallpox or polio, and that we’ll be able to come up with a way of absolutely preventing and stopping it. That’s my long-term goal.”

Cannabis and Alzheimer’s disease

As baby boomers age, Canada could be facing a health care crisis. Alzheimer’s disease currently affects about 500,000 people in Canada but that number is expected to increase to almost 940,000 by 2031. The costs, in terms of reduced quality of life, the burden on caregivers and financial expenses, will balloon.

“The treatments that have been developed so far are few, they’re not particularly effective and they ultimately do not prevent the descent into dementia,” says McDonald. “The treatment approach we’re investigating is exciting because cannabis compounds appear to target several pathologies that are found in Alzheimer’s disease and these compounds are available, inexpensive and relatively safe for human consumption. We’re just at the tip of the iceberg of understanding the cannabinoids, how complex they are, and what effects they may have on the brain and the body.”

McDonald adds that, while cannabis compounds are showing promise, it doesn’t mean every older adult should start using cannabis. Much work needs to be done to determine the correct combination of compounds, the doses required, the length of treatment and who the treatment might be appropriate for. As part of their research, they will also examine sex differences because the brain changes that come with Alzheimer’s disease differ between females and males.

“We have an incredible research team, including Drs. Rob Sutherland and Majid Mohajerani and my long-term collaborator Nhung Hong, that’s extensively involved in this work,” says McDonald. “Dr. Igor Kovalchuk is our cannabinoid expert so we’re working on combinations and cocktails with him. I have an incredible grad student, Abigail Nixon, who’s been working night and day this year trying to get preliminary data to support this work. And there’s this amazing crew of undergrads over the year who have been doing independent studies to help collect this preliminary data as well.”

Misfolded proteins and Alzheimer’s disease

Sutherland, along with the CCBN’s Dr. Majid Mohajerani and Dr. David Westaway at the Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, will be injecting mice with abnormal proteins and observing how they spread through the brain.

“We’re mainly looking at the cortex, since that’s where lots of memory and cognitive activity takes place,” says Sutherland. “We can measure how the brain activity changes as these abnormal proteins creep into circuits in the cortex. We’ll periodically assess the animal’s memory ability to see the moment when memory breaks down in these animals and what’s exactly happening in the cortex when that breakdown occurs.”

Once the researchers have developed a careful description of how the spread occurs through the brain and how cognition is affected, they plan to test different ways to block the spread. They may be able to block the spread by modifying microglial cells. These cells are a front-line defense when things go wrong and they work to break down abnormal proteins like amyloid beta and tau. But when the abnormal proteins increase, these cells become overwhelmed and, instead of destroying the bad proteins, spit them back out in a different location. The researchers want to determine if the cells may be contributing to the spread of the bad proteins, and, if that’s the case, then reducing their activity might help prevent spreading. They also plan to test whether increasing or decreasing activity in select nerve fibres will affect the spreading of the abnormal proteins.

“We can absolutely decide whether increasing or decreasing activity in the part of the brain that produces new memories causes more spread or reduces the spread,” says Sutherland. “Most people would predict that increasing brain activity would decrease spread and we’re going to find out whether that’s really true.”

Sutherland credits Campus Alberta Neuroscience for helping to build a strong network of researchers in the province dedicated to aging and neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, the Alzheimer’s Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories has invested in research being done by the network.

“That is now really paying off, in terms of the number of CIHR grants directed toward brain aging and dementia,” says Sutherland. “I don’t think we would have been able to get those grants without that catalyst funding from the Alzheimer’s Society. We owe them a big debt. The Alzheimer Society’s funding comes from lots of small donations. It’s not a big wealthy group; it’s just ordinary people giving a few dollars.”

U of L researchers earn $918,000 CIHR grant to test a new idea in memory formation

caroline.zentner — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 23:15:32 +0000

Drs. Bruce McNaughton and Robert Sutherland, neuroscientists from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, will explore a hypothesis about memory formation thanks to a grant of $918,000 over five years from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

“The U of L’s nexus of research and academic programming in neuroscience is internationally renowned,” says Dr. Robert Wood, vice-president (research). “Our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s reputation and impact in this area is a direct reflection of foundational and novel research being conducted by talented neuroscience colleagues such as Dr. McNaughton and Dr. Sutherland. The strength and importance of this project is further reflected in the fact that only about 15 per cent of applications in the national CIHR competition were successful.”

As age-related memory problems are on the rise, McNaughton and Sutherland are looking to unlock some of the mysteries of the memory-making process and, if successful, their research could open up new avenues for therapeutic treatments.

“The main point of the project grant is to test an idea about the organization of long-term memory that’s never been directly tested before,” says Sutherland. “We have had a long, long interest in trying to understand this particular process. It’s relevant to aging, dementia and almost any kind of failure of long-term memory.”

Two systems are involved in the memory formation process, one in the hippocampus and one in the neocortex. New information is replayed in the hippocampus during short-term memory storage while replay in the neocortex is involved in long-term memory storage.

“The real trick in trying to understand how long-term memories work is trying to understand how these two systems interact,” says Sutherland. “We know, for example, that when the interaction between the cortex and the hippocampus becomes rather weak, there’s a correlated memory problem. So, it could well be that this is an early problem in age-related memory decline or perhaps even some dementias.”

In the McNaughton lab, researchers observed a replay phenomenon in the hippocampus of rodents called sharp wave ripples. This distinct pattern of brain activity occurred after the animals had learned a certain task and while they were at rest or sleeping. For example, if the animal was running from one room to another during the learning task, the hippocampus, during rest or sleep, repeats the same sequence of activity during sharp wave ripple events.

“Anytime the brain is not busy processing input, it could be emitting sharp wave ripples,” says McNaughton. “They do occur sporadically when an animal is sitting there eating, which is kind of a reflexive, non-attentive behaviour. The hippocampus seems to have two modes. It has acquisition mode where it processes external input and it has replay mode.”

“The idea that’s been kicking around for quite a while in various models of how long-term memory could work is that somehow that replay strengthens the representation of information outside the hippocampus, and in particular, in other parts of the cortex,” adds Sutherland.

The specifics of an episode, what you ate for breakfast, for instance, are replayed in the hippocampus during rest or sleep. In the neocortex, the memory system extracts the information and interleaves it with other information about what you are likely to eat for breakfast. This neocortical memory is called semantic memory and can be thought of as general world knowledge.

“The long-term memories stored in the cortex are partly distinct memories, but more often than not, it’s kind of a semantic or schematic representation of how the world works,” says McNaughton. “We hypothesize this storage of general knowledge about the world is constructed by amalgamating and extracting the gist of many episodes.”

Associated with replay in the neocortex is a distinctive pattern of brain activity called the K-complex, which can be easily detected with microelectrodes.

“These cortical and hippocampal replays are thought to be shuffled together during rest and sleep, like a deck of cards, except that the number of old patterns exceeds the numbers of recent ones, of course,” says McNaughton. “What’s happening during this replay is the cortex is kind of re-evaluating its assumptions about the world.”

While scientists know that interfering with sleep can interfere with memory storage, testing to see if these patterns of activity are necessary for memory formation is more difficult. But McNaughton and Sutherland have devised a way to test it out in rodents by disrupting the sharp wave ripple and K-complex patterns using weak electrical stimulation of brain circuits.

“We don’t know for sure whether these two processes do the work that we just described,” says Sutherland. “If we do know that’s how new episodic memories are stored together with older memories, then those become very significant targets for therapeutic intervention.”

U of L researchers study the underlying biological processes associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease

caroline.zentner — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 18:25:16 +0000

Researchers at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge will delve further into the basic markers associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) thanks to two funding grants.

Dr. Majid Mohajerani, principal investigator, and co-investigators, Drs. Robert Sutherland and Bryan Kolb from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, and Dr. David Westaway from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, will primarily use mouse models to understand the underlying biological processes associated with the development of AD.

Dr. Majid Mohajerani

Their research will examine the links between noise stress and cognitive decline, as well as study the brain correlates of spatial navigation changes in early cognitive impairment and AD, thanks to almost $300,000 in funding for two projects from the Alzheimer Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories and the Alberta Prion Research Institute.

Two abnormal proteins called plaques and tangles are prime suspects in damaging and killing nerve cells in AD. Both are fragments of proteins that get misfolded in AD, but researchers are still unclear where in the brain plaques and tangles emerge and how they contribute to changing the properties of neuronal circuits in the brain and lead to the progression of cognitive impairments.

In the first funded project, Mohajerani, Sutherland and Westaway will investigate these questions to figure out what neural circuits are responsible for spatial navigation deficits in AD, one of its earliest symptoms. These deficits are evident when people lose their way in familiar and unfamiliar places, get lost while driving or wander away from home.

“It is important to understand these primary brain alterations as they provide a target for early-stage therapeutic interventions before the occurrence of significant and irreversible brain damage,” says Sutherland.

Dr. David Westaway is Canada Research Chair in Prion Diseases at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta.

The goal of the second project is to explore the effect of traffic noise on general brain learning and plasticity, cognitive functions and its impact on AD neurobehavioural symptoms. A deeper understanding of these harmful environmental exposures, as modifiable risk factors of AD, contributes to improvements in public health.

Recent research publications by Mohajerani, Kolb and post-doctoral fellow Dr. Zahra Jafari, showed an association between long-term traffic noise exposure and cognitive decline in healthy animals. In their studies on transgenic mice which develop various aspects of AD, animals were exposed to real traffic noise at a level similar to a typical urban area. The offspring of these mice developed impairments in learning, memory and cognitive performance and earlier aggregation of amyloid-beta plaques, which are precursors of AD.

“Our findings raise questions around the neural mechanisms related to the early development of AD due to traffic noise,” says Kolb. “Further exploration in other animal models is needed, as is looking at the adverse impacts of air pollution, which has been linked to cognitive decline and dementia in humans.”

Recent research findings have indicated that environmental exposures, including air pollution from traffic sources, are consistently associated with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, death from any cause and with cognitive impairment and early dementia.

Dr. Robert Sutherland is director and Chair of the CCBN.

“We need to determine if there’s any way of preventing or reducing the adverse effects of noise stress on the brain,” says Mohajerani. “Programs to reduce traffic noise are essential to mitigate the development of various diseases and cognitive impairment in human populations. Studies that consider other sources of noise over the life course are also needed.”

“Among the various aspects of the effects of noise on the brain and behaviour, the effect of traffic noise on neurodevelopment, the neurotransmitter system and the immune system has been less studied,” says Jafari. “Current evidence emphasizes the need for neuroimaging and functional brain studies to clarify the role of chronic noise exposure in the development of brain changes that lead to dementia in humans.”

According to the Alzheimer Society of Canada, more than half a million people were living with dementia in Canada in 2018. With about 25,000 new cases diagnosed every year, the number of people with dementia is expected to rise to around a million people by 2031.Possible or established risk factors for cognitive impairment include age, family history, genes, diabetes, hearing loss, hypertension, and lifestyle factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption.

“We are very grateful to the Alzheimer Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories and Alberta Prion Research Institute for these two grants that will enable us to gain an understanding of the mechanisms at work in the earliest stages of AD,” says Mohajerani.

UNews - Robert Sutherland

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