Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

The process of myelination involves insulating the communication pathways in the brain with a fatty substance called myelin. This lifelong process is constantly shaped by our experiences and is essential for proper communication of information throughout the brain. However, myelination declines with aging, which is associated with impairments in brain function. These age-induced impairments are commonly experienced by older adults (65 years of age and older), and is linked to an increased risk of developing dementia. The reasons behind these impairments are difficult to discern, but they are likely linked to an impaired function of the cells responsible for regulating myelination, particularly the oligodendrocyte lineage cells. One potential therapeutic avenue that could help promote myelination, is cannabis. However, research focussing on how cannabis may impact the aged brain-not to mention studies investigating its effects on myelination-is scarce. Using complementary microscopy techniques, we will visualize the cells responsible for myelination and the degree of myelination in the brain of aged male and female mice, which will be contextualized with behavioural data and live brain imaging through diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to provide insights into brain function. We hypothesize that cannabis will enhance beneficial oligodendrocyte lineage cell activities in the aged brain, leading to improved myelination, which in turn will improve brain function. This research targets a large gap in cannabis research surrounding the impact cannabis has on the aged brain and will provide meaningful results for the scientific community, as well as a broader audience, including a so-far neglected population (i.e., older adults) in cannabis research that is increasing their consumption of cannabis faster than any other demographic in North America.