news

'Our findings could help doctors and mental health professionals better educate patients about the potential risks of frequent cannabis use' A McGill University-led study found that people with cannabis use disorder (CUD) had elevated dopamine levels in a brain region associated with psychosis. "This could help explain why cannabis use increases the risk of hallucinations and delusions, key symptoms of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders," said first author Jessica Ahrens, a PhD candidate in McGill's Integrated Program in Neuroscience.

UdeM pharmacy professor Simon Matoori has reviewed studies on the therapeutic properties of honey in the treatment of both acute and chronic wounds. It's a remedy that dates back to Pharaohs-one that doctors still use today to treat certain acute and chronic wounds, although in a different form than ancient Egyptian physicians knew.

Developing new drugs to treat illnesses has typically been a slow and expensive process. However, a team of researchers at the University of Waterloo uses machine learning to speed up the development time. The Waterloo research team has created "Imagand," a generative artificial intelligence model that assesses existing information about potential drugs and then suggests their potential properties.

A new study by McGill researchers yields insights into how the disruption of calcium transport in the brain is linked to autism and intellectual disability. The findings, published in the journal Nature, not only upend a long-held belief among neuroscientists, but could pave the way for treatments. The researchers discovered that tiny protein structures on brain cells, known as AMPA receptors, can transport calcium.

Previous studies show exposure to Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the main psychoactive component in cannabis - while in utero can lead to lower birth weight and potential heart complications in newborn animal offspring. For the first time, researchers from Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry have found a potential way to prevent those effects.

UdeM scientists use a combination of experimental data and modelling to reveal how physical forces help plants to generate their complex 3D shapes. Sylvia Silveira, Daniel Kierzkowski, Anne-Lise Routier-Kierzkowska and Loann Collet Credit: Amélie Bauer Plants don't just grow, they build. From towering trees to delicate flowers, complex plant shapes are sculpted with remarkable precision.

According to a study by Marie-Colombe Afota, how people see themselves plays an important role in their intense-and sometimes toxic-approach to work. How do workaholics' self-image influence their degree of dedication to their job? And how does that impact their mental health? To find out, Marie-Colombe Afota, a professor in Université de Montréal's School of Industrial Relations, teamed up with colleagues in Montreal and France to study 544 graduates of a French business school over an eight-month period.

Researchers focused on those with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and other immune-mediated inflammatory diseases New research findings provide solid evidence that annual COVID-19 vaccine booster doses continue to be advisable for certain immunocompromised people, researchers at McGill University say.

Researchers express concern the animals' strategy may not be able to keep pace with rapidly changing conditions A new study led by McGill researchers indicates that humpback whales in the southeastern Pacific combine real-time environmental cues with their memories of conditions in their Antarctic feeding grounds to determine when to embark on their annual 10,000-kilometre journey.

In a study that used large language models to analyze healthcare records of Quebec francophone children, scientists argue that current criteria for diagnosing autism are in need of revision.

Researchers suggest behavioural traits are more telling than social communication and interaction factors, so diagnostic focus should be sharpened An analysis of digital health records using large language models (LLMs) is challenging a long-held belief about the clinical identifiers of autism. A new study led by researchers at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) of McGill University and Mila Quebec AI Institute found that social communication factors may not be as important in identifying the condition as previously believed.

For the first time, researchers at the University of Waterloo's Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) and the University of Innsbruck in Austria have performed a quantum simulation of a two-dimensional particle physics theory on a qudit quantum computer, bringing us closer to understanding nature at its most fundamental level.

According to the Standard Model of Cosmology, the expansion of our universe is driven by the simplest possible version of dark energy: an unchanging 'cosmological constant' called lambda.  "It's the start of a new era," says Will Percival, professor and director of the Waterloo Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Waterloo, and associate faculty at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.

A large-scale study in which UdeM cardiologist Rafik Tadros took part focuses on the origins of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM. Affecting one in 500 people, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a condition in which the walls of the left ventricle, the heart's main pumping chamber, become abnormally thick.

The knock-on effects of cumulative threats to salmonids has Simon Fraser researchers pushing for more effective strategies to protect British Columbia's most important fish populations. Salmonids - which include salmon, trout, charr and grayling- are vital to communities and ecosystems such as those of the West Coast, yet little is known about how these species will respond as the stressors they face compound - an increasingly likely scenario under climate change.

McGill researchers want to harness a natural process that enables slime's transformation from liquid to fibre and back again A new discovery about the slime ejected by velvet worms could revolutionize sustainable material design, according to a study by McGill researchers. Their findings outline how a naturally occurring protein structure, conserved across species from Australia, Singapore and Barbados over nearly 400 million years of evolution, enables the slime's transformation from liquid to fibre and back again.

When a person's hearing and vision are uncompromised and function at a relatively high level, the human brain is able to take in various sights and sounds from any environment and seamlessly allow said person to perceive what's happening around them. But how does it work? Spoiler alert: There's more than meets the eye.

As climate change reshapes food web, McGill-led study introduces a new method for assessing impacts on marine mammals such as killer whales and polar bears that could help inform conservation management practices   A new method of tracking the dietary habits and contaminant exposure of animals in Arctic marine ecosystems is providing critical insights as climate change reshapes the region's food web.

A new study led by Western researchers is the first to identify a factor that could influence how fast the pocket where human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) hides dormant inside of cells shrinks when treated. HIV is difficult to cure, partly due to the virus' ability to create a "latent reservoir" - where it hides dormant inside of cells, safe from detection.

In Quebec, most first-time food bank users don't have to keep going back, but 40 per cent still rely on the service two years later, an UdeM study shows.