Grant: Operating Grant

Most Canadians know one close friend or family member who suffers from a neurological disorder. In order to treat such illnesses, a better understanding of how the brain functions at a cellular and functional level is necessary. The connections between neurons, called synapses, are designed to rapidly and efficiently relay signals from one neuron to another. Such connections need to be stable in order to preserve important information while at the same time have enough flexibility to accommodate new information. Adaptation of synaptic networks during development and in response to injury or learning behaviors occurs through a continuous process of synapse formation and elimination. At least two distinct mechanisms play a central role in these processes: one involves a selective stabilization of synapses through activity-dependent mechanisms and a second involves modifications of synapse turnover and dynamics to allow network rewiring. The molecular mechanisms underlying these two aspects of synaptic structural plasticity are still mainly unknown. Using a multidisciplinary approach involving imaging, morphological, molecular and electrophysiological techniques our aim is to identify molecular pathways regulating structural plasticity, stability of excitatory synapses and examine their implication in cognitive dysfunctions. This grant will provide fundamental insight about how the brain encodes information, help advance the design of new strategies towards memory enhancement and repair in neurological disorders such as stroke and Alzheimer 's disease.