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UdeM scientists have developed a method to create retinal transplants from stem cells, and with them, blind mini-pigs have showed signs of restored vision, a promising development for humans, as well. Scientists at Université de Montréal have successfully transplanted retinas made from stem cells into blind mini-pigs - and, it seems, made them see again, according to a new study.

A new study provides insights into the brain processes involved in nonverbal communication of pain, specifically facial expressions. Stubbing your toe on a table leg or fracturing your wrist will probably make you wince in pain (and possibly curse). It's a natural reaction; facial expressions play an important role in communicating the unpleasant sensory and emotional experience of pain.

Scientists have uncovered a new link between the immune system and the development of Parkinson's disease. Researchers at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) at McGill University have discovered that an immune response plays a key role in how toxic protein clumps, known as Lewy bodies, form in brain cells and contribute to disease.

An international team of scientists led by UdeM wife-and-husband team Zdenka Pausova and Tomas Paus links the presence of white spots on MRI brain scans of older adults to a genetic risk of dementia. They show up as bright white spots when you get a brain MRI: lesions called white matter hyperintensities, or WMH.

A new study shows that photoreceptor cells in the retina exhibit planar polarity, i.e. their light-sensitive cilia orient themselves in a coordinated manner.

Young adults at risk of psychosis show reduced brain connectivity, a deficit that cannabis use appears to worsen, a new study has found. The breakthrough paves the way for psychosis treatments targeting symptoms that current medications miss. In the first-of-its-kind study, McGill researchers detected a marked decrease in synaptic density-the connections between neurons that enable brain communication-in individuals at risk of psychosis, compared to a healthy control group.

A multi-disciplinary team of University of Calgary researchers is aiming to use genetic variants to discover new cardiovascular diseases and disease mechanisms. Libin Cardiovascular Institute members Dr. Wayne Chen, PhD, and Dr. Robert Rose, PhD, are leading a novel study investigating the genetics behind rare cardiovascular conditions.

Groundbreaking finding by Faculty of Veterinary Medicine team opens door to new immunotherapies and enhanced vaccines. The human immune system is a marvel of biological engineering, yet, even today, there are fundamental aspects of its operation that remain shrouded in mystery. "Our immune systems protect us from everyday threats - like the viruses that cause the flu or from mutated cells like cancer cells," says Dr. Johnathan Canton, PhD.

A genetic signature in newborns can predict neonatal sepsis before symptoms even start to show, according to a new study. The study, led by UBC and SFU researchers in collaboration with the Medical Research Council (MRC) Unit The Gambia, has the potential to help healthcare workers diagnose babies earlier, including in lowerand middle-income countries (LMICs) where neonatal sepsis is of particular concern.

What is the "most Canadian" animal' Spoiler: it's not the beaver, or the moose. Published today in the journal The Canadian Field-Naturalist , the study from a team of Simon Fraser researchers ranks, for the first time ever, species of terrestrial vertebrates in Canada by their level of Canadian evolutionary distinctness: the amount of time animals have evolved independently from other Canadian species.

A collaborative study sheds light on how cannabis use affects brain development in young people, the main one being atrophy of certain regions of the cerebral cortex. Cannabis use may lead to thinning of the cerebral cortex in adolescents according to a recent study led by Graciela Pineyro and Tomas Paus , according to a recent study led by Graciela Pineyro and Tomas Paus, researchers at CHU Sainte-Justine and professors at the Université de Montréal Faculty of Medicine.

According to the Heart & Stroke Foundation , each year around 60,000 Canadians experience their first heart attack. Heart attacks happen when blockages in the coronary arteries prevent oxygen and nutrients from reaching the heart, leading to cell death and scarring. This damage can eventually result in heart failure.

By generating mice with genetic mutations that disrupt the brain's TrkC-PTP? protein complex, researchers at the UdeM-affiliated IRCM find a key way that brain cells communicate. Scientists at Université de Montréal and its affiliated Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM) have uncovered unique roles for a protein complex in the structural organization and function of brain cell connectivity, as well as in specific cognitive behaviors.

Oct. 10-11, campus is open to McGill students, employees and essential visitors. Most classes are in-person. See Campus Public Safety website for details. Les 10 et 11 octobre, le campus est accessible aux étudiants et au personnel de l'Université, ainsi qu'aux visiteurs essentiels. La plupart des cours ont lieu en présentiel.

The effects of rapid exposure to alcohol in early pregnancy - when a woman consumes as many as six drinks in an hour - can be detected in the placenta, an UdeM study on mice suggests. The effects of alcohol exposure on an embryo prior to implantation in the uterus can be detected in the late-gestation placenta, according to new research by Université de Montréal scientists.

To help clinical staff choose the right drug against a fungal infection, researchers have classified the protective effects of around 4,000 mutations of a pathogenic fungus. Only four classes of antifungal drugs currently exist, and pathogen resistance to these drugs complicates treatment. A research team has identified resistance mutations in the fungus Candida albicans , the most common cause of fungal infections, for six widely used clinical drugs belonging to the azole class.

A discovery by scientists at the IRCM and the University of Pennsylvania leads to a better understanding of the role of the cytoskeleton in the neurological disorder of mirror movements. A team of Canadian and American scientists has made a promising breakthrough in understanding the origins of a mysterious neurological disorder known as mirror movements.

A new study by researchers in Canada and France provides insight into how a particularly severe form of epilepsy - as well as autism spectrum disorder - develops. What are the molecular and cellular mechanisms whereby some babies develop epileptic encephalopathies and autism spectrum disorder? That's what researchers in Canada and France set out to uncover - and they think they've found and answer.

A new study by UdeM neuroscientist Guillaume Dumas sheds new light on the behaviour and brain activity of people with autism in social situations. The behavioural and inter-brain dynamics between a person with autism and a neurotypical person are different than those between two neurotypical people. That's the conclusion of a new study by Guillaume Dumas , a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Addiction at Université de Montréal and principal investigator at the Precision Psychiatry and Social Physiology Laboratory at the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre.

Scientists at UdeM knit little wool caps to contain electrodes that cats normally shake off and chew to buts when being tested for chronic pain. In a world first, veterinary scientists at Université de Montréal have found a way to scan the brains of cats while they're awake, using electrodes concealed under specially knitted wool caps.