Learning and memory is a key area of study in neuroscience and looks at how we acquire, store, and retrieve information. This research is crucial to gain a deeper understanding of the brain and how these processes can be disrupted, sometimes resulting in dementias.

This area of research is at its core interdisciplinary, and the Centre is home to important partnerships that have resulted in ground-breaking discoveries. Many collaborations in this area are focused on the genetics and inheritance of dementias, as well as elucidation of the causes and potential novel treatment targets for Alzheimer’s disease. The goal is to reshape the field toward prevention, earlier intervention, and treatment options for all dementias. Other research teams are focused on the fundamental aspects of learning and remembering in neurotypical individuals, which in turn provides clues to situations where these processes go awry.

Concept of memory loss and dementia disease and losing brain function memories as an alzheimers health symbol of neurology and mental problems with 3D illustration elements.

Together, we are working to improve the lives of Canadians by developing new biomarkers, therapeutic targets and interventions to find causes, treatments and cures for Alzheimer disease and other dementias, and to advance brain health across the lifespan.

Related Researchers

Learn more about the clinical and foundational scientists who are studying learning/memory and dementias.

Name and Contact Info Title Research Interests
Khaled Abdelrahman
Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Alzheimer’s disease, GPCRs, Glutamate, neurovascular coupling, cerebral blood flow, neuropharmacology, neuroglia
Douglas Allan
Professor, Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
nervous system, neurodegeneration, drosophilia
Shernaz Bamji
Co-Director, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
cognition, cell biology, nervous system
Phil Barker
Professor, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, UBCO
neurodegenerative disease, cancer, neurotrophin, cytokine signalling, cell death
Lara Boyd
Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
neuroplasticity, stroke, nervous system, rehabilitation, behaviour
Neil Cashman
Professor, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer disease, dementia, neurodegeneration, protein misfolding, prion diseases, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Mark Cembrowski
Associate Professor, Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
memory, hippocampus, cell types, big data
Brian Christie
Professor, Division of Medical Sciences, University of Victoria
hippocampus, synaptic plasticity, neurogenesis, exercise, mild traumatic brain injury, concussion, fragile-x syndrome, prenatal ethanol exposure, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, depression
Ann Marie Craig
Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
developmental neuroscience, neuroplasticity, autism, schizophrenia, Alzheimer disease, basic science, epilepsy
Max Cynader
Professor, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
ophthalmology, neuroplasticity, neurodegeneration, Huntington disease, stroke, glaucoma, nervous system
Ryan D’Arcy
Affiliate Professor, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
systems neuroscience, clinical neuroscience, functional neuroimaging, neurotechnology, neuroplasticity
Jessica Dennis
Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
genetic epidemiology, genome-wide association scans, whole genome sequencing, longitudinal data analysis, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, psychiatric genetics, traumatic brain injury
Adele Diamond
Professor & Head, Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
executive function, developmental neuroscience, learning, behaviour, cognition
Lauren Emberson
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, UBC
infant development, neural networks, learning, vision, audition, language, face perception, fNIRS, memory
Howard Feldman
Professor, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Thalia Field
Professor, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
stroke, clinical trials, cerebral venous thrombosis, cerebral small vessel disease, cognition, risk stratification, patient-centred outcomes
Dean Foti
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Liisa Galea
Professor, Departments of Psychiatry, and Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto
aging, neuroplasticity, neurogenesis
Jodie Gawryluk
Associate Professor, Psychology (Clinical Neuropsychology), University of Victoria
Neuropsychology, fMRI, DTI, MRI, imaging, multiple sclerosis (MS, Alzheimer disease
Deanna L. Gibson
Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science, UBCO
Kurt Haas
Professor, Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
autism, epilepsy, neuroplasticity, developmental neuroscience
Ghassan Hamarneh
Professor, School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University
medical image analysis, artificial intelligence, neuroimaging, medical computer vision
Sherri Hayden
Clinical Assistant Professor, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, UBC
Alzheimer disease
Robin Hsiung
Associate Professor, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
dementia, clinical trials, Alzheimer disease
Tao Huan
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, UBC
bioinformatics, systems biology, Alzheimer disease, neurodegenerative diseases, metabolomics
Judy Illes
Professor, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
neuroethics, neurotechnology, neuroimaging, neurodegeneration, dementia, regenerative medicine
Wilfred Jefferies
Professor, Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
David Kaplan
Adjunct Professor, Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Ujendra Kumar
Professor, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UBC
Xiaoxiao Li
Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, UBC
Neuroimaging, Brain Connectome, Machine Learning
Ian MacKenzie
Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
biobank, neuropathology, dementia, neurodegeneration, clinical trials
Brian MacVicar
Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
stroke, traumatic brain injury, foundational science
Manu Madhav
Assistant Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, UBC
cognitive representations, place cells, spatial navigation, path planning
Joanne Matsubara
Professor, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
neurodegeneration, Retina, Eye, Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease, Neuroinflammation, Glia Activation, Drug Discovery, Gene Treatment
Freda Miller
Professor, Michael Smith Laboratories and Department of Medical Genetics, UBC
Majid Mohajerani
Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge
Tim Murphy
Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
stroke, depression, neuroplasticity, imaging, foundational science
Haakon Nygaard
Associate Professor, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
dementia, clinical trials
Tim O’Connor
Professor, Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
developmental neuroscience, basic science
Daniela Palombo
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, UBC
Steven Pelech
Professor, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Alzheimer disease, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, Friedreich’s ataxi, cancer, diabetes, cell signalling, protein kinases, SARS-CoV-2
Mahmoud Pouladi
Associate Professor, Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders, Huntington disease, Fragile X syndrome, multiple sclerosis, preclinical translational research, animal models, human pluripotent stem cells, genome engineering
Lynn Raymond
Co-Director, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
Huntington disease, glutamate receptors, optogenetic imaging, electrophysicology, cortical-striatal synaptic function and plasticity
Julie Robillard
Associate Professor, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Alzheimer disease, dementia, neuroethics, patient experience, mental health, robotics, child health
Christian Schütz
Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Mental Health, UBC
addiction, psychiatry, psychotherapy, cognitive control, brain concepts
Jeremy Seamans
Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Jason Snyder
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, UBC
Weihong Song
Affiliate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Alzheimer disease, Down Syndrome
Paul Summers
Adjunct Professor, Department of Mechatronics, Simon Fraser University
MRI flow quantification, angiography, spine imaging, fMRI
Leigh Anne Swayne
Professor, Division of Medical Sciences, University of Victoria
neuroplasticity, neurite growth, neurodevelopment, ion channels, receptor trafficking
Rebecca Todd
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, UBC
Fidel Vila-Rodriguez
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
rTMS, ECT, MST, tDCS, depression, schizophrenia, student health
Naznin Virji-Babul
Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
traumatic brain injury, mTBI, mild traumatic brain injury, concussion, imaging , developmental neuroscience, cognition
Yu Tian Wang
Professor, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
neuroplasticity, stroke, epilepsy, foundational science
Lawrence Ward
Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, UBC
consciousness, attention, EEG/MEG, noise in the brain, information transfer in the brain, SDE models of neural activity
Cheryl Wellington
Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Alzheimer disease, dementia, metabolism, cardiovascular system, neurodegeneration, concussion, traumatic brain injury
Alex Wiesman
Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Physiology & Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University
MEG, neurodegenerative disorders, cognition
Stephanie Willerth
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Division of Medical Sciences, University of Victoria
Todd Woodward
Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UBC

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The Centre is home to the Clinic for Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders (CARD), which is dedicated to the assessment and care of individuals with—or at risk—of dementia.

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