Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

The beneficial effects of estrogen treatment on brain function are well documented. These include reduction of injury to the brain during a stroke, enhancing the birth and survival of new neurons in distinct regions of the brain (neurogenesis), enhancing memory, and eliciting antidepressive as well as anxiety-relieving properties. There is evidence to suggest that the effects of estrogen are achieved by interacting with the endocannabinoid system as increases in endocannabinoid activity in the brain will result in similar effects as those previously mentioned with estrogen manipulation. The endocannabinoid system consists of naturally produced molecules known as anandamide and 2-arachidonylglycerol. The endocannabinoid system also includes two types of receptors, CB1 and CB2, which are both expressed in the hippocampus. Anandamide, 2-arachidonylglycerol and THC, the main psychoactive component of cannabis, all exert their effects by acting on these receptors. The hippocampus is a brain structure known to play an integral role in spatial memory, and is also implicated in mental health disorders such as depression and Alzheimer's disease. In an effort to better understand estrogen and endocannabinoid system interactions in the hippocampus, I intend to examine how the natural levels of endocannibinoid system activity and content relate to estrogen levels. Following that, I would like to investigate how removal of estrogen (i.e. by surgically removing the ovaries) will affect endocannabinoid content and activity. This will provide a solid foundation of neurological knowledge in how estrogen and the endocannabinoid system naturally interact. Then I will investigate whether manipulations of the endocannabinoid system and estrogen will affect neurogenesis and whether these changes have an effect on spatial memory. Enhanced understanding of these interactions may aid in the development of more powerful or specific therapeutic treatments for neurological disorders.