Research Areas
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Rehabilitation Neuroscience
Brain damage and degeneration can result in permanent disability in those afflicted. Researchers in this area explore how rehabilitation therapy and treatments that encourage brain rewiring can improve recovery from neurological disorders including spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury and stroke.
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Sensory and Motor Systems
The brain and spinal cord construct our perceptions of the world from sensory information across all modalities. Motor systems in the brain allow us to move through and interact with the world around us. Researchers in this area examine how the brain interprets and organizes sensory information and how the brain and spinal cord facilitate motor behaviours including locomotion, voluntary movement, and respiration.
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Synapses and Signaling
The brain includes approximately 100 billion neurons with over 100 trillion connections. Researchers in this area use primarily electrophysiological approaches to understand how these individual neurons communicate and form the integrated neuronal networks that underlie brain function.
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Neural Development
From conception through death, the central nervous system is constantly developing and changing in response to experience. Researchers in this area study how the central nervous systems grows and changes during development and experience dependent plasticity.
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Neurochemistry and Psychiatry
Disturbances in brain structure or function can lead to the development of debilitating mental illness. Researchers in this area use a variety of approaches to understand the etiology of neuropsychiatric illness and develop novel approaches to treatment.
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Neuroimaging
Watching the intact brain has long been a goal of neuroscientists. Researchers in this area use a variety of approaches, including magnetic resonance imaging and cellular functional microscopy, to image brain structure and function in-vivo.
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Cognition and Behaviour
The central nervous system allows us to think, feel and interact with the world around us. Researchers in this area use a variety of approaches to study how the brain facilitates and co-ordinates complex thought and behaviour.
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Neural Death and Degeneration
Injury to neurons or glial cells in the brain can lead to immediate or delayed cell death. Researchers in this area study how damage and pathophysiological signaling cascades lead to cell death, and how these events related to traumatic brain injury or neurodegenerative disease.
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Neurogenetics
Genes and environment interact to shape the development and function of the central nervous system. Researchers in this area investigate how our genetic code regulates function or dysfunction in the healthy or diseased brain.
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Clinical Neuroscience
Brain damage, disease, and degeneration can lead to debilitating disability or death. Researchers in this area work with human patients to better understand the causes of brain disorders and translate new and exciting treatments into clinical practice.