BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health | DMCBH - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health | DMCBH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health | DMCBH
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/Vancouver
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20240310T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20241103T090000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20250309T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20251102T090000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20260308T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20261101T090000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20270314T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20271107T090000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20250613T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20250613T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20240531T202837Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250609T234811Z
UID:13638-1749812400-1749816000@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Wafaa Zaaraoui: In Vivo ²³Na MRI: Unveiling Sodium Homeostasis in Brain Function and Neurological Disorders
DESCRIPTION:Zoom option if unable to attend in person:\nZoom link here (click on “Join a meeting”)\nMeeting ID: 91512 289258\nPasscode: 289258\n\nSodium (²³Na) MRI is a powerful tool for investigating sodium homeostasis in the brain\, offering a unique\, non-invasive method to study in vivo changes in sodium concentrations in both healthy and pathological conditions. Sodium plays an essential role in brain function by maintaining membrane potentials\, supporting cellular energy metabolism\, and regulating ion gradients – critical processes for neuronal activity and tissue integrity. Disruptions in sodium balance are recognized as key contributors to numerous neurological disorders\, making in vivo ²³Na MRI an innovative and highly valuable technique for advancing neuroscience research. \nThis presentation will emphasize the neuroscientific applications of in vivo ²³Na MRI\, particularly its capacity to reveal sodium imbalances associated with neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. I will focus on research in multiple sclerosis (MS)\, where altered sodium homeostasis has been explored as a promising biomarker of disease progression and its impact on motor and cognitive function. More broadly\, I will explore how in vivo sodium MRI enhances our understanding of brain pathophysiology and its potential role in a wide range of neurological disorders beyond MS.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-wafaa-zaaraoui/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20250912T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20250912T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250417T180401Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250729T164603Z
UID:15834-1757674800-1757678400@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Bence Olveczky: Neural circuits underlying learned motor sequences.
DESCRIPTION:Our ability to sequence movements and actions in response to unpredictable environmental events underlies our rich and adaptive behavioral repertoire. Such flexible behaviors contrast with overtrained\, or automatic\, motor sequences directed at specific tasks and executed the same way every time. We probed how neural circuits underlie these distinct forms of motor sequence execution by training rats on a ‘piano task’ in which the same motor sequence can be generated in response to unpredictable cues or overtrained to the point of automaticity. By measuring and manipulating neural activity in motor cortex and sensorimotor striatum\, we delineate the logic by which these circuits combine to generate both flexible and automatic motor sequences.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-bence-olveczky/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20250919T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20250919T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250417T181034Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250731T173317Z
UID:15838-1758279600-1758283200@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Matthew Hill: Amygdalar Regulation of Neuroendocrine and Behavioral Responses to Threat and Stress
DESCRIPTION:While the basolateral amygdala (BLA)  is known to be a highly stress sensitive region of the brain\, there is surprisingly little understanding of the role the BLA plays in the orchestration of a stress response. The first portion of this talk will focus on the role of the BLA in regulating neuroendocrine responses to stress\, and how differential projection neuron populations in the BLA are stress sensitive and have diverse anatomical organization. The second arm of this talk will examine the role of the BLA in modulating behavioral responses\, in a sex specific manner\, to a dynamic threat based environment with a robotic predator.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-matthew-hill/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20250926T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20250926T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250417T180736Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250818T171918Z
UID:15836-1758884400-1758888000@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Andrienne Antonson: Blueprint for the Developing Brain: Cues from Microbes\, Myeloid Cells\, and the Maternal-Fetal Interface
DESCRIPTION:Emerging evidence suggests that key neurodevelopmental processes are shaped by immune and microbial signals during the prenatal period. My work is based on the premise that disruptions to these signals can alter neurodevelopmental trajectories and increase vulnerability to lifelong mental health disorders. Using a clinically translatable mouse model of maternal influenza infection\, we demonstrate that prenatal inflammatory insults compromise vascular integrity in both the placenta and fetal brain\, allowing bloodborne molecules to cross transplacental and blood-brain barriers. These changes are associated with cortical thinning\, altered fetal microglia and meningeal macrophage signaling\, and shifts in circulating maternal and fetal microbial metabolites. Together\, these findings highlight converging pathways through which maternal inflammation may influence fetal brain development and long-term psychiatric risk.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-andrienne-antonson/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20251003T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20251003T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250417T181420Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250819T195406Z
UID:15841-1759489200-1759492800@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Erik Bloss: Synapse plasticity in learning and disease states
DESCRIPTION:Synapses are the computational subunits of the brain. They allow cell-type specific forms of information flow\, permit neurons to compartmentalize electrical and biochemical signals\, and undergo rapid structural plasticity during experience. Although Crick suggested spine plasticity was a correlate of memory more than 40 years ago\, it has been hard to understand precisely how the plasticity of spines drives cognitive function. We have examined this issue in two contexts: one in which mice are required to learn competing memory traces\, and one in which mice are engineered to express mutant amyloid as a model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). I will present unpublished data that suggest adaptive learning requires spine plasticity in specific cortical neurons\, at specific synaptic sites\, and in a sex-specific manner. In AD mice\, the loss of synapses appears to coincide with interference between memory traces. These results suggest new ways in which plasticity might support memory functions.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-erik-bloss/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20251024T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20251024T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250417T181954Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250815T203832Z
UID:15845-1761303600-1761307200@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Nicolas Tritsch: Dopamine and Movement: Defining Timescales of Modulation
DESCRIPTION:Ever since the discovery that the degeneration of midbrain DA neurons (mDANs) projecting to the striatum underlies bradykinesia (i.e.\, slowness of movement) in Parkinson’s disease (PD)\, DA has become synonymous with motor vigor. However\, the mechanisms through which DA contributes to the speed and amplitude of individual voluntary movements are still debated. Initial investigations suggested a somewhat slow or permissive role for DA\, but recent experiments in rodents proposed a stronger and faster role for DA in the dynamic control of the gain of motor commands. In this presentation\, I will describe our attempts at better understanding how dopamine contributes to motor vigor through the study of release patterns\, lesions\, and optogenetic and pharmacological manipulations. Our findings call into question the widely-held view that phasic fluctuations in extracellular dopamine control the vigor of ongoing movements\, constraining the kinds of mechanisms and timescales that dopamine likely acts on to modify behavior. \n 
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-nicolas-tritsch/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20251031T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20251031T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250423T203759Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251003T162242Z
UID:15873-1761908400-1761912000@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Michael Yellow Bird: The Power of Ceremony: Indigenous Contemplative Practices\, Neurodecolonization\, and the Medicine Wheel
DESCRIPTION:Indigenous contemplative practices and teachings have enabled Indigenous Peoples to develop an important paradigm of healing that has important implications for western medicine and health care providers who work with Indigenous Peoples. In this presentation\, Dr. Michael Yellow Bird uses Indigenous wisdom and western science to show how Indigenous contemplative approaches can create important changes in the brain and body and can prevent\, heal\, and cure\, many emotional and physical diseases brought about by colonization and the current Western industrial lifestyle.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-michael-yellow-bird/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20251107T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20251107T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250617T142822Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251006T192819Z
UID:16170-1762513200-1762516800@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Bruce Pike: MRI Guided Transcranial Focused Ultrasound
DESCRIPTION:The integration of MRI and transcranial focused ultrasound represents a disruptive technology that has many potential applications.  This seminar will provide an overview of a new research program I established in this area that has three major research themes: neurosurgery\, drug delivery\, and neuromodulation.  Methods\, applications\, and progress in each of these areas will be reviewed and future research opportunities highlighted.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-bruce-pike/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20251205T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20251205T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250506T192333Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251031T161409Z
UID:15942-1764932400-1764936000@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Jean-Claude Béique: A tale of serotonin’s value: from release dynamics to behavioral regulation
DESCRIPTION:Our lab seeks to gain granular descriptions of synaptic\, neuronal and network dynamics in the brain. To this end\, we use a combination of in vitro and in vivo electrophysiology\, two-photon imaging/uncaging\, optogenetics and behavioral approaches\, and use computational simulations to coalesce these levels of analysis in tractable interpretations. I will present results from ongoing work aimed at identifying unifying roles for the neuromodulator serotonin. I will show data supporting the idea that serotonin neurons located in the raphe encodes an estimate of cumulative future rewards\, a quantity referred to as value in reinforcement learning. We further identified unsuspected network organization and serotonin release dynamics in the raphe that\, collectively\, impart highly non-linearly processing features of long-range synaptic inputs and behavioral regulation. Collectively\, this work is beginning to identify elemental computations that may be involved in animal’s ability to optimally adapt their behavioral policies to changing environmental contexts.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-jean-claude-beique/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260116T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260116T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250417T182454Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251212T181128Z
UID:15847-1768561200-1768564800@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang: Longitudinal neurodevelopmental correlates of mid-adolescents’ psychosocial processing: A path to young adult wellbeing?
DESCRIPTION:Combining open-ended interviews (outside the scanner) with structural\, trial-by-trial\, and resting-state functional MRI neuroimaging\, we examined real-time functional neural dynamics underlying diverse urban mid-adolescents’ cognitive and emotional engagement with compelling social stories at two time-points\, two years apart. We found that the patterns of longitudinal change in neural network dynamics predicted psychosocial outcomes five years later in young adulthood. \nWe found that “transcendent thinking” – seeing situations not just in terms of X happened to person A\, which makes me feel thusly\, but in terms of the larger societal and contextual forces that shaped how Person A was treated and how Person A reacted\, the broader implications and lessons one can draw from that situation\, and the larger issues it exemplifies or reveals—correlated with a particular set of neural activity dynamics and predicted future structural and functional neural development across the subsequent two years\, controlling for the starting state of neural development\, and independent of IQ and SES. Transcendent thinking also countered negative effects of exposure to community violence on structural brain development. \nThe neural development predicted by transcendent thinking (the changes in the brain across the 2-year period) in turn predicted young adult identity strength\, self-liking\, relationship satisfaction\, and achievement 5 years later. \nThese findings reveal a novel predictor of neural development across mid-adolescence\, and underscore the active role adolescents play in their own brain development through the meaning they make of the social world.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-mary-helen-immordino-yang/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260123T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260123T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20260112T183928Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260113T200922Z
UID:17279-1769166000-1769169600@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Milan Valyear: Rewards\, errors\, and the disentangling of striatal functions.
DESCRIPTION:Successful pursuit of reinforcers requires the generation of predictions and evaluation of outcomes. Midbrain dopamine neurons and their projections to the striatum are thought to be critical for these processes. Here\, we will consider two narratives: dopamine as a reward signal and dopamine as an error signal. Then we will examine the extent to which these\, and other narratives\, can be disentangled using new optical tools.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-milan-valyear/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260130T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260130T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250716T191232Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251215T165932Z
UID:16353-1769770800-1769774400@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:UBC Kickstart Updates
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/ubc-kickstart-updates/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260206T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260206T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250417T182834Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251212T180900Z
UID:15849-1770375600-1770379200@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Donna Rose Addis: The Prospective Brain: Past and Future
DESCRIPTION:The human brain has the remarkable capacity to transport the self into the past and future. While previously thought of as distinct functions\, recent research has shown that memory for past events and imagination of future events rely on the same brain networks. In this talk\, I will present neuroimaging and neuropsychological research demonstrating the overlap between remembering and imagining\, the unique properties of our ability to foresee the future\, and how these abilities are affected by memory impairment.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-donna-rose-addis/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260213T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260213T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250722T192617Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251215T165850Z
UID:16412-1770980400-1770984000@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:UBC Kickstart Updates
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/ubc-kickstart-updates-4/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260220T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260220T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20260127T200607Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260217T213857Z
UID:17341-1771585200-1771588800@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Sheena Josselyn: Engrams and Memory in Mice
DESCRIPTION:Understanding how the brain encodes\, stores\, and uses information is a central goal of neuroscience. Many neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders\, including autism spectrum disorder\, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)\, and Alzheimer’s disease\, may arise from disrupted information processing. Thus\, uncovering the neural mechanisms by which information is represented in the brain is not only key to understanding normal cognition but also essential for developing targeted therapeutic strategies. \nMemory can be defined as the persistence of internal representations acquired through experience\, and the capacity to reconstruct these representations across time. The enduring physical changes in the brain that encode such information are referred to as engrams. Although the idea of a physical memory trace can be traced back to ancient Greek philosophy\, it was not formally articulated until 1904 when Richard Semon coined the term engram. Despite this long conceptual history\, identifying the precise neural substrates of an engram has proven remarkably difficult\, in part because memory is encoded across multiple levels; from epigenetic and synaptic modifications to coordinated patterns of neuronal ensemble activity. \nOur laboratory seeks to understand how specific neurons are recruited\, or allocated\, to a given engram\, and how membership within these neuronal ensembles may evolve with time\, plasticity\, or new learning. By combining molecular\, imaging\, and behavioral approaches in mice\, we aim to link changes in neuronal excitability and network dynamics to the stability and flexibility of memory representations. In my lecture\, I will describe our historic and recent findings toward mapping and manipulating memory engrams in the mammalian brain\, and discuss their implications for understanding both healthy and disordered memory.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-sheena-josselyn/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260227T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260227T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250707T185555Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260107T211904Z
UID:16291-1772190000-1772193600@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Leah Mayo: Lost in translation? Exploring the endocannabinoid system as a novel pharmacotherapeutic target in PTSD
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Mayo will talk about studies involving animal-to-human translational work highlighting how endocannabinoid function regulates stress reactivity and fear learning\, leveraging human behavioral pharmacology and neuroimaging. She will also highlight outcomes from a recent clinical trial exploring how augmenting cannabinoid function impacts clinical\, behavioral\, and neural measures in people with PTSD.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-leah-mayo/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260306T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260306T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250417T183425Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260122T232417Z
UID:15851-1772794800-1772798400@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Cris Niell: Neural circuits for natural vision
DESCRIPTION:Natural visual processing entails a complex interplay between sensory input\, behavioral context\, and on-going brain dynamics. Our lab seeks to understand how these processes give rise to goal-directed visual behaviors\, by exploring the neural circuits mediating ethologically relevant behaviors that laboratory mice perform\, including prey capture and distance estimation. We are also implementing novel experimental approaches to investigate neural coding of the visual scene as animals freely move through their environment. Finally\, I will present a new research direction studying the completely different\, yet largely unexplored\, visual system of the octopus.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-chris-niell/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260313T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260313T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250417T184754Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251217T173617Z
UID:15853-1773399600-1773403200@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Keri Martinowich: Spatially-resolved molecular approaches for understanding human brain circuits and disease vulnerability
DESCRIPTION:This talk will highlight recent efforts to generate and analyze spatially resolved molecular datasets to better understand structure–function relationships in the human brain\, particularly in the context of complex brain disorders. While single-cell and single-nucleus sequencing approaches have rapidly advanced our ability to define molecularly distinct cell populations\, these methods often lack the spatial and circuit context necessary to interpret how cells interact within intact brain tissue. I will describe integrative strategies that combine spatial transcriptomics\, single-cell genomics\, and data-driven computational approaches to define molecularly distinct spatial domains within human brain regions\, map cell–cell and circuit-level interactions across these domains\, and identify enrichment of disease-associated molecular profiles in specific cellular and spatial contexts. Across examples from cortical and subcortical circuits\, these approaches provide a framework for understanding how molecular heterogeneity is organized in space and how this organization may confer selective vulnerability in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disease.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-keri-martinowich/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260320T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260320T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250801T201011Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260318T232607Z
UID:16498-1774004400-1774008000@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Stephan Lammel: Neural Dynamics of Dopamine Neurons in Motivated Behavior
DESCRIPTION:Despite decades of research on the properties of ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons\, the precise information encoded by these cells in reward learning and motivated behavior remains uncertain. In this talk\, I will describe recent work investigating two distinct modalities of the midbrain dopamine system at different levels of investigation. First\, I will present work leveraging an approach that combines Neuropixels recordings and optogenetics to examine dopamine neurons at the single-cell level. In conjunction with computational modeling\, we explored the neural dynamics of dopamine subpopulations across different VTA subregions in mice performing a reward-seeking task. Second\, I will discuss a neural mechanism that explains why a chronic high-fat diet paradoxically diminishes the desire for high-fat\, sugary foods\, even when these foods are easily accessible. We found that this reduction in desire is attributed to decreased neurotensin signaling from nucleus accumbens inputs to dopamine neurons in the lateral VTA. We propose that restoring this desire\, either through dietary modifications or by enhancing neurotensin expression and release\, can drive changes in eating behavior and promote weight loss. Together\, our experiments are geared towards developing comprehensive frameworks for understanding dopamine’s diverse roles in behavior.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-stephan-lammel/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260327T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260327T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20260310T170903Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260310T170912Z
UID:17542-1774609200-1774612800@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Zachary Pennington: An amygdala-hypothalamic circuit gates stress vulnerability.
DESCRIPTION:There is substantial individual variability in how individuals respond to stress\, and a major predictor of this variance is the prior experience of stress. Here\, I’ll share data showing that prior stress inflates negative valence signals in an amygdala-hypothalamic circuit and increases stress vulnerability.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-zachary-pennington/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260410T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260410T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250417T185940Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251218T175743Z
UID:15855-1775818800-1775822400@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Mark Brandon:  Stability and drift in neural representations
DESCRIPTION:How does the brain maintain stable internal representations of the world while also remaining flexible enough to learn\, adapt\, and predict the future?  This is a central question in systems neuroscience.  In this talk\, I will present recent work from my lab that addresses this problem at both the level of network dynamics and the level of single-neuron coding. \nFirst I will focus on the head direction system and the concept of network gain as a control parameter that regulates how strongly external landmarks can realign an internal directional attractor during reorientation.  I will describe new data and models that begin to reveal the circuit mechanisms that may tune this gain signal in different behavioral contexts. \nI will then turn to hippocampal representations across days. Using chronic recordings\, we find that not all place cells drift.  In one set of experiments\, a majority of cells whose firing is constrained by environmental geometry can remain remarkably stable across sessions\, whereas other cells show substantial drift.  In a separate set of experiments\, we identify a distinct population of reward coding neurons whose drift is not random but highly organized\, showing a systematic backward shift over learning as an activity transitions from encoding current outcomes to predicting future reward locations. Together\, these studies begin to specify when neural representations are stable\, when they change\, and how that change can follow precise trajectories rather than random wander\, providing concrete constraints for models of long-term spatial memory and its disruption in disease.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-mark-brandon/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260417T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260417T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250417T190805Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260113T181536Z
UID:15857-1776423600-1776427200@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Kelly Dunn: How Can Differences in Opioid Withdrawal Inform New Treatment Strategies?
DESCRIPTION:This presentation will review the need for a precision medicine approach to opioid withdrawal and illustrate how variability in withdrawal symptom expression would inform novel treatment strategies. Differences in withdrawal presentation as a result of illicit fentanyl exposure will be reviewed and results from a randomized trial comparison of a new medication for withdrawal management will be presented
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-kelly-dunn/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260424T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260424T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20260323T164917Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260324T172554Z
UID:17592-1777028400-1777032000@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Mypinder Sekhon: Characterizing The Human Dying Process for translational insights into in vivo Brain Ischemia
DESCRIPTION:The talk will undertake an overview of the physiology of the human dying process as an in vivo model of brain ischemia physiology. The talk will cover the feasibility of undertaking this work at VGH and the characterization of the physiology of circulatory arrest in humans. Additionally\, I will describe preliminary insights into the changes of the proteome and metabolome of the human brain during brain ischemia and use of whole brain autopsies for insights into disease mechanisms.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-mypinder-sekhon/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260501T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260501T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250417T191903Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260114T214959Z
UID:15859-1777633200-1777636800@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Guillaume Dumas: Multi-Brain Neuroscience: from Generative Neurophenomenology to Inter-Personalized Psychiatry
DESCRIPTION:Human cognition and mental health do not arise from the brain alone\, but from continuous interactions among people\, bodies\, and social environments. This talk introduces a multi-brain perspective on neuroscience that connects research on consciousness with new directions in psychiatry. Using recent advances that enable multiple brains to be recorded simultaneously\, we explore how everyday social interactions\, such as conversation\, cooperation\, and shared attention\, give rise to coordinated patterns of brain activity across individuals. These patterns reflect how people align emotionally\, cognitively\, and behaviorally during real-world interactions. \nBuilding on these insights\, the talk argues for a shift in how we think about mental health. Rather than focusing solely on what happens inside an individual’s brain\, we propose an embodied and relational view in which well-being and vulnerability depend on the quality of interactions with others. Changes in how brains coordinate during social exchanges have been linked to a range of psychiatric conditions\, suggesting that mental health is shaped by relationships as much as by biology. Inter-personalized psychiatry extends this idea by considering diagnosis and intervention at the level of pairs\, families\, and groups\, integrating brain mechanisms with lived social experience. \nOverall\, this work highlights how studying brains in interaction can deepen our understanding of consciousness\, inform more socially grounded approaches to mental health\, and open new paths for clinical research and practice.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-guillaume-dumas/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260508T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260508T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250417T192443Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260407T170343Z
UID:15861-1778238000-1778241600@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Kelsie Eichel: Building a polarized neuron: from C. elegans to humans
DESCRIPTION:Neurons are defined by their remarkable polarity\, a feature that is highly conserved across most nervous systems. A key neuronal structure\, the axon initial segment (AIS)\, is essential for establishing and maintaining a functional\, polarized neuronal architecture. As such\, defects in the AIS and a loss of polarity are associated with neurological dysfunction and numerous disease states. Though critical for fundamental aspects of neuronal polarity and synaptic transmission\, we have lacked the tools to define the molecular choreography that endows the AIS with such important functions until recently. My work has spearheaded approaches to visualize and uncover the dynamic cell biology at the AIS in both cultured mammalian neurons and living C. elegans animals. I will present our findings on how active cellular mechanisms at the AIS maintain neuronal polarity and drive nervous system function\, bridging cellular and developmental neurobiology with the behavior of living animals.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-kelsie-eichel/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260515T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260515T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20251204T221611Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251204T221621Z
UID:17186-1778842800-1778846400@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Christian Ruff
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-christian-ruff/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260529T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260529T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20250428T183652Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260116T210049Z
UID:15904-1780052400-1780056000@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Jennifer Gommerman: Targeting B cells in MS - understanding mechanisms of action.
DESCRIPTION:I will be presenting data on an animal model of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) progression\, how we have used this model to better understand disease progression and to understand how MS treatments impact this process. By going back and forth between the animal model and MS tissues\, we have learned about what can trigger so-called “compartmentalized inflammation” in MS\, and have unveiled a potential fluid biomarker that reflects this inflammation.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-jennifer-gommerman/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260605T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260605T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20260311T202557Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260311T225633Z
UID:17549-1780657200-1780660800@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Core Facilities Showcase: NINC (NeuroImaging and NeuroComputation Core) and CNFBI (Core Facility for Neurology Biomarker Innovation)
DESCRIPTION:Title: Capabilities and Collaborations: Charting the NINC’s second decade \nThe NeuroImaging and NeuroComputation (NINC) core has grown rapidly over its first decade adding many new instruments which extend our community’s capabilities for measuring key aspects of brain structure and function.  This presentation will highlight these new instruments\, including our 3-photon microscope\, functional ultrasound imaging system\, multiphoton mesoscope\, lattice and conventional lightsheet microscopes\, among others.  Capitalizing on these new capabilities will foster new collaborative projects and inform the directions for NINC’s development in its second decade. \nTitle: Blood Tests for Brain Health: Inside CFNBI \nThe Core Facility for Neurology Biomarker Innovation (CFNBI) uses state-of-the-art technologies to support neurological fluid biomarker research across the discovery\, validation and implementation continuum. This presentation will describe how biomarker testing can inform on physiological and pathological changes occurring within the central nervous system and be leveraged into multiple contexts of use. We will further highlight the wide array of analytical platforms and biomarker expertise CFNBI can offer researchers involved in both clinical and pre-clinical research programs.
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/core-facilities-showcase/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260911T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260911T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20260326T202414Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260326T202414Z
UID:17655-1789124400-1789128000@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. John Lukens
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-john-lukens/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260918T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Vancouver:20260918T120000
DTSTAMP:20260419T063342
CREATED:20260206T183003Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260323T164741Z
UID:17381-1789729200-1789732800@www.centreforbrainhealth.ca
SUMMARY:Dr. Jonathan Pillow
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.centreforbrainhealth.ca/events/dr-jonathan-pillow/
LOCATION:Rudy North Lecture Theatre\, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health\, 2215 Wesbrook Mall\, Vancouver\, British Columbia\, V6T 1Z3\, Canada
CATEGORIES:Neuroscience Research Colloquium
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR