The ability to remember sounds, and manipulate them in our minds, is incredibly important to our daily lives — without it we would not be able to understand a sentence, or do simple arithmetic. New research is shedding light on how sound memory works in the brain, and is even demonstrating a means to improve it.
One of the big mysteries in the scientific world is how the ice sheets of Antarctica formed so rapidly about 34 million years ago, at the boundary between the Eocene and Oligocene epochs.
There are 2 competing theories:
The first explanation is based on global climate change: Scientists have shown that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels declined steadily since the beginning of the Cenozoic Era, 66 million years ago. Once CO2 dropped below a critical threshold, cooler global temperatures allowed the ice sheets of Antarctica to form.
A team of researchers at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) has found an epigenetic modification that might be the cause of 15% of adult cancers of the throat linked to alcohol and tobacco use. This is a first in the field of epigenetics and the researchers are hopeful that the discovery can blaze a path in the development of new, targeted, more effective treatments that could arise over the next few years.
Researchers have linked a debilitating neurological disease in children to mutations in a gene that regulates neuronal development through control of protein movement within neuronal cells.
By Shawn Hayward, Montreal Neurological Institute
Researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University are playing key roles in uncovering the mechanisms underlying ALS and will share in $3.9 million, part of $4.5 million in research funding announced on Nov. 23 by the ALS Society of Canada in partnership with Brain Canada.
When two people smell the same thing, they can have remarkably different reactions, depending on their cultural background. Researchers at the Neuro have found that even when two cultures share the same language and many traditions, their reactions to the same smells can be different.
The first large-scale study of its kind has revealed that Canadian men generally lack knowledge about the risk factors contributing to male infertility. Research led by Dr. Phyllis Zelkowitz, head of psychosocial research at the Lady Davis Institute of the Jewish General Hospital, found that men could only identify about 50% of the potential risks and medical conditions that are detrimental to their sperm count and, thus, their prospects to father children.
To the naked eye, ancient rocks may look completely inhospitable, but in reality, they can sustain an entire ecosystem of microbial communities in their fracture waters isolated from sunlight for millions, if not billions, of years. New scientific findings discovered the essential energy source to sustain the life kilometres below Earth’s surface with implications for life not only on our planet but also on Mars.
David Thomas, professor and chair in the Department of Biochemistry at McGill University addresses progress in molecular biology and the latest strategies for tackling genetic disease.
Watch the whole episode HERE.
The ISS Training Program would like to congratulate the winners of the NSERC CREATE – ISS Winter Networking Event 2016 Photo contest, held at Thompson House on February 24th.
Category 1: Research Project
First Prize: Etienne Bourbeau, Physics, McGill
Second Prize: Donald MacNearney, Biomedical Eng., McGill
Third Prize: Julia Bairos, Biomedical Eng., Polytechnique
It is with deep sadness that we inform you that Dr. Terry-Nan Tannenbaum passed away peacefully at her home on Thursday, March 17, 2016 surrounded by her family. Terry was as an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine.
Donations may be made to the "Dr. Terry Nan Tannenbaum Memorial Fund for Education" c/o the Jewish General Hospital Foundation (514-340-8251).
On behalf of the McGill Department of Family Medicine, we would like to express our deepest sympathies.
As of today, 25,000 Syrian refugees will have arrived in Canada fleeing their war-torn country. Approximately 7,300 of those will stay in Quebec. Chunip Koo, a clinician nurse at the Montreal Neurological Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre (MNH-MUHC), and Dr. Zinab Gouda, physician in the Transitional Care Team and Secondary Care division of the MUHC Department of Family Medicine, describe their experience.
IHDW is committed to encouraging a transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach to the study of human development and well-being. It aims to foster the development of networks in the study of human development and well-being and to facilitate informed discussion about public policy. It also aims to encourage community engagement through the various activities originating in the Institute.
Thank you to Dr. Douglass Dalton for his dedication to the Postgraduate Residency Program