How Amyotrophic lateral disease affects an individuals hypothalamus

Amyotrophic Lateral disease, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neuromuscular disease that is caused by degeneration of motor nerve cells in the brain and in the spinal cord. It leads to progressive muscle weakness and dysfunction of the medulla oblongata causing patients issues with transmitting signals from their brain to their spinal cord…

Disconnection between Rat’s Left and Right Hemisphere Impairs Short-Term Memory but Not Long-Term Memory

The brain is a remarkably complex organ comprised of billions of interconnected neurons and glia cells. It controls all functions of the body and interprets information from the outside world. Intelligence, emotion, memory, creativity, and movement are a few of the many things governed by the brain. Some researchers believe that the function of the…

How Exercise Can Improve Brain Function

It has been proven in various studies that physical activity can significantly improve brain health. However, many of those studies involve uniquely aerobic forms of exercise, and exclude resistance training forms of exercise. A few examples of aerobic forms of exercise would be walking, running, hiking, biking, swimming, etc. Resistance training includes free weights, medicine…

Higher Volumes of Hippocampal Subfields in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric condition involving recurrent and intrusive thoughts and repetitive actions. OCD can be debilitating and can negatively impact family, school, and social functioning. 2.5% of children and adolescents struggle with OCD, and approximately 76% of OCD patients begin to show symptoms at an early age. Recent research has identified the…

Obesity May Alter Brain Structure

It is no surprise that food has evolved to reflect our ‘fast-paced’ lifestyles. Despite the negative consequences that ‘junk food’ has on our bodies, it is affordable, convenient and tasty – which increases its popularity. Consequently, 27% of Canadian adults suffer from obesity (Statistics Canada, 2018). Obesity can be considered “a disease in which excess body…

Dysfunction of Brain Reward System in People with Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are characterized by irregular eating habits and unhealthy relationships with food. Bulimia Nervosa (BN) is a subtype of eating disorders marked by recurrent episodes of binge eating associated with inappropriate behaviours that compensate for the overeating, such as forced vomiting. Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is also a severe eating disorder, which is differentiated from…

Benefits of Exercise on the Working Memory

As an athlete, I’ve never thought about how working out may affect my brain and cognitive abilities. My focus is always on the physical benefits of working out… losing weight, toning muscles, gaining strength etc. But now I am retired from varsity athletics and it’s safe to say the vigour of my workouts has declined.…

Structural neuroplasticity in expert pianists depends on the age of musical training onset

Professional musicians make excellent subjects for neuropsychology research. Music performance requires a complex interaction of auditory and touch sensory perception, bimanual coordination, muscle memory and fine motor control, all directed to shape the artistic interpretation of the music. Expert musicians often begin their study at a young age, during the ‘critical period’ of neural development…

White matter alterations in narcolepsy patients with

Narcolepsy is recognized as a disabling sleep disorder which demonstrates sleep paralysis, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), indications of abnormal rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, cataplexy, and hallucinations either right before falling asleep or immediately after waking up. Functional imaging studies have shown metabolic (a process within a living organism to maintain life) and perfusion (oxygenated…

Language: The brain’s ability to process native speech sounds

It’s approximately 6 o’clock in the evening when the telephone rings. As I pick up the receiver, my 4-year-old nephew greets me. With great excitement, he demonstrates his ability to say words that he’s learned in his intensive French program. I proudly congratulate him, trying to mask my tone of jealously at how he pronounces…

The Long Term Effects of Sport-Related Concussions: Evidence of Visual Processing Deficits

With participation in sport being an increasingly popular interest among individuals of all ages, sport-related injuries are undoubtedly becoming a serious issue. In particular, sport-related concussions (i.e. complex effect on the brain resulting from serious biomechanical force, such as a blow to the head) represent a serious problem, with 15 to 20% of all annual…

In one nostril and out the other

Marriage has been a human tradition for an approximated 4,000 years. It is safe to say that the phrase, “honey, stop worrying about nothing” has probably been around just as long. For some reason, even after all these years of practice, men and women just can’t seem to reach a common wavelength when it comes…