Interneuron - Issue 02

Editorial B

oardShakira Brathwaite

Alina Guna

Laura Park

Omar Al-BitarSusmita Sarkar

Sarah Peters

Jenise ChenZahra EmamiHerman Tang

Steven Meas

Arash Samadi

Editors-in-Chief

Editorial Advisor

Junior Editors

Layout Editors

Marketing Director

Photographer

ContributorsCarlos Cano

Djurdja DjordjevicAdam Golding

Rachelle HoAnn Mansur

Filip Miscevic

Nicole OssachukJasmine Bo Xi SongSonja StojanovskiHoyee WanSamantha Yammine

Table of Contents

Editors-in-Chief

Editorial Advisor

Junior Editors

Layout Editors

Marketing Director

Photographer

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Letter From the Editors

Faculty Profile: Dr. Zhong-Ping Feng

Exciting New Neuroscience-Related Research at UofT: Interview with Greg Costain

Upcoming Events

Research at the Undergraduate Level: Getting Your Foot in the Door

Course Spotlight: LMP410

Course Spotlight: PSL300

UAID

Neuroscience in Translation:a review

Connect with CASA

Bench to Bedside: why we do research (an opinion piece)

Introducing the Blu Matter Project

Undergraduate Profile:Interview with Allan Turton

Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting

Art is Arterial

What`s New in Tau-n

Student Spotlight:Laureen Hachem

Words to Remember: a little wisdom from Dr. Suzanne Corkin

4 The Interneuron | Issue 2 | November 2013

Letter from the Editors

Hi young neuroscientists!

We hope you have been having a wonderful semester! We are glad that you returned to read the second issue of the

Interneuron. The Interneuron is a new venture by the Neuroscience Association for Undergraduate Students (NAUS)

aimed at any and all U of T students with an interest in the neurosciences.

The goal of this publication is to give undergraduate students a glimpse into the local and wider neuroscience

community. There is always lots going on in our rapidly advancing field and we don’t always have time to keep up!

We want to provide you with snippets of information in an accessible format. It is also important to us that you

know what is happening at U of T. There are always events on campus where you can get together with students and

have stimulating conversations about the coolest organ out there! We want to make sure that you know of the many

academic seminars, journal clubs, and socials that are happening on campus and get involved.

As always, we continue to feature interviews with undergraduate, graduate students and professors in the neurosciences.

Apart from believing that this promotes a sense of community, it also gives us undergrads a different perspective on

our education and options after graduation. Another key goal of this publication is to serve as a forum for students to

contribute their own opinions and voice to the neuroscience community.

An additional note: it is time to start hunting for summer research programs and positions! Though you may think it

is early and summer is many, many months away – you should start planning ahead! NAUS, CSBSU and UPSA, have

compiled a comprehensive document with where you should be looking for research opportunities if this is of interest

to you: http://nausuoft.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/research-seminar-handout-2014.pdf. Of course feel free to contact us

if you have any questions!

We look forward to your continued interest in the Interneuron. If you have any suggestions for what you would like to

see in future issues, contact us! Otherwise, please keep sending us your articles, artwork and pictures. Please visit our

Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/InterneuronUofT/) and follow us on Twitter (@interneuronUofT).

Alternatively, feel free to e-mail us at [email protected].

Best of luck with exams and have a great Holiday Season!

Your editors,

A & S

5

Faculty Profile: Interview with Dr. Zhong-Ping Feng

Steven Meas

. Dr. Zhong-Ping Feng is the director of the Collaborative Program in Neuroscience, which boasts the largest collective group of graduate students and researchers in U of T’s school of graduate studies. CPIN is an inter-departmental group that encourages graduate students across many faculties to specialize further in neuroscience research. In the following interview, Dr. Feng explains her academic background and how it has contributed to her research and direction of CPIN; she also offers a few pearls of wisdom for students interested in pursuing further studies in neuroscience.

S: Could you give us a brief overview of your educational background?

Rather than completing a Bachelor’s degree, I first completed my medical training at Xiu Tsung Medical College, which is now known as Sun Yi Xiang Medical University, in China. Even now it is one of the premier schools for medicine in the country and was renamed in respect for Sun Yi Xiang who was a medical doctor [who] became the provisional president of the People’s Republic of China. Afterwards, I completed my Master’s at the University of Alberta and then pursued my PhD at the University of Calgary. While I began my post-doctoral fellowship in Calgary I joined a pharmaceutical company known as NeuroMed Inc. since my supervisor was already involved with them. After working as a scientist in industry for many years, I realized that I felt a greater place in academia was necessary. Then I came here [to U of T].

S: Why did you choose the University of Toronto? What made it stand out compared to other scientific institutions?

So, I applied for different faculty positions at numerous facilities and when I received offers I knew immediately that I would go to U of T. Of all the universities in Canada, U of T stands at the forefront of academics and research.

S: Why did you choose research over medicine?

Even now, there is a major issue in medical practice - there are many diseases that are still incurable; we do not

know the reasons that cause them and we don’t know how to cure them. When I was in China, I practiced ophthalmology and I encountered many situations where I could do nothing for the patients. At the time I only had one thought: would I give myself the opportunity to do something more intelligent, or meaningful, than simply prescribing medications - with that I saw myself doing greater work in research. But back then the research facilities in China were not as advanced, so the only option I had was to go abroad. Luckily, there were not many international Chinese medical students willing to study oversees and so I was one of the early few that did. As soon as I engaged in research I knew that I wanted to continue; it was a rare opportunity that was rewarding and allowed me to work with students.

S: What sort of research do you do?

My training is in voltage-gated ion channels, on [their] biophysical properties and pharmacological options. I also have experience with cardiac and neurological disorders. During my PhD, I used an invertebrate model called Lymnaea stagnalis since it can answer questions which simply cannot be answered in mammalian models. It allows us to study synaptic activity and the process of synapse formation at a resolution that cannot be consistently studied in mammalian organisms. But, when I began my lab, I didn’t want to use L. stagnalis only as a biological model but also as a model to study the transcriptome and proteomics.

S: You study neuroscience and you’re also the director of the Collaborative Program in Neuroscience (CPIN). What is the program all about?

It is a graduate student collaborative program under the school of graduate studies. Currently, the program has over 200 students involved from 15 different graduate departments under 6 faculties. We also have about 300 faculty members and over 100 post-doctoral members. So you can see it is the largest collaborative program in neuroscience in North America, and probably in the world. We have actually been invited to go abroad and speak on CPIN. And Toronto also has a long history in collaborative programs in graduate studies: they have been around for about twenty years and we’re keeping the tradition.

The Interneuron | Issue 2 | November 2013

Neuro at UT

Neuro at UT

There are three ultimate goals of our program: to promote the graduate program at the university, to promote neuroscience research, and to enhance the visibility of the program in neuroscience by attracting the most enthusiastic individuals to the university. What the program really does is bring together students from diverse disciplines that are interested in neuroscience. We provide enriched educational programs that involve a distinguished lecturer series and faculty-recognized courses so that in this way we can improve the level of graduate education in Toronto and offer an advanced direction for students in theoretical neuroscience.

S: Why should someone become involved in CPIN?

First, to be involved in CPIN the graduate student must be involved in neuroscience-related research, their supervisor must be a CPIN faculty member, and their department must participate in CPIN. Beyond that, the student needs to attend a number of distinguished lectures and complete courses. By the end, they will receive recognition on their transcript noting that they have specialized in neuroscience.

S; Can you expand a bit on CPIN in terms of the emerging student movement (for example, the “Take an Undergrad to Lab Day” we are currently planning, CPIN Neurotalk, etc.)?

These activities have been graduate student-initiated and CPIN completely supports them. The “Take an Undergad to Lab Day” was founded to breach the gap between the undergraduate program in neuroscience and the graduate students in CPIN. We know that there are many talented students in the undergraduate program, and although we encourage diversity in CPIN we would also like to give our undergraduate students a greater opportunity to engage in research at our university. It simultaneously allows graduate students to engage as mentors. The CPIN Neurotalk is another great opportunity

for undergraduate students to become involved. They are hosted by CPIN graduate students and encourage informal discussion on current topics on neuroscience.

S: What would you recommend for undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in neuroscience?

I am a fan of graduate studies if the student has a dream to pursue an academic or professional career. In my opinion, I believe that graduate studies are necessary to pursue any direction. That is to say that undergraduate degrees are really an introductory program for the younger generation since the contemporary knowledge base is much more accessible due to technology compared to classical methods. This means that students can explore, to a greater extent, the details of different topics and really absorb their meaning, but the real thinking process occurs during the actual practice of conducting research, specifically in graduate studies. I believe that this thinking power is very difficult for undergraduate students to obtain if going directly into medicine or industry. Currently, there is a shift in education where an undergraduate degree is not sufficient to match the need for society’s fast-growing technology. Hence, for students interested in pursuing a career in neuroscience, they should consider taking a graduate education because it will become essential in the coming years.

S: Do you have any last words for the undergraduate neuroscience community?

Do a good job, because an undergraduate degree in neuroscience really sets up a foundation to understand the basics of neuroscience. If you are really interested in this direction, or if you want to make a contribution to society you must put your heart into doing what your doing. You must motivate yourself to do your best because this is the only way to be successful in whatever you choose to become.


7

Exciting New Neuroscience-Related Research at U of T: Interview with Greg Costain

Alina Guna

Greg Costain is currently a student in the MD/PhD program at U of T who aims to begin a career as a physician-scientist in psychiatry. His research centers on genetics and genetic counseling in schizophrenia; Greg has received the Lap-Chee Tsui Publication Award for a publication in Schizophrenia Bulletin about his work in these areas. Following, Greg explains his interests in psychiatry and how his academic and personal background can contribute to improvements in the field; he also explains the MD/PhD program, offering advice for interested students.

A: Just to start off, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Right now, I am a trainee in the combined MD/PhD Program at the University of Toronto. I was born and raised in Eastern Canada, and had a chance to study mathematics at two other great universities (Queen’s and McGill) before coming here. I recently defended my PhD in the Institute of Medical Science, under the supervision of a psychiatrist and genetics researcher named Anne Bassett. Working in her Clinical Genetics Research Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, I was given the opportunity to study schizophrenia and other complex genetic diseases. Having transitioned back into my undergraduate medical (MD) training, I am currently a clinical clerk rotating through different hospital departments every few weeks and trying to decide on the future direction of my independent research career.

A: When did you develop an interest in pursuing an MD/PhD?

As a graduate student in mathematics at McGill University, I started to appreciate that my strengths and temperament might be better suited to a research career that involved more interpersonal interaction. Although mathematics is more of a collaborative enterprise than one might expect (and thus the first ‘team sport’ I was ever remotely good at), I decided to make a change. The idea of studying medicine and conducting biomedical research had been in the back of my mind for a while: I had spent a summer working with a mathematical biologist during my undergraduate science training at Queen’s University, and other summers interviewing adults with

schizophrenia while working as a research assistant for a preeminent psychiatrist. Fortunately, in addition to being a research powerhouse, U of T happened to have few biology prerequisites for their MD program and was willing to consider my application. I wrote the MCAT midway through my MSc degree, and applied soon thereafter.

A: What prompted you to go into psychiatric research? Do you intend to stay in the field?

My mother and her father are both psychiatrists, and my siblings and I have similarly felt a pull to work with those with serious mental illness and their families. We have done so in different ways: my oldest brother is an Assistant Crown Attorney and Schizophrenia Society board member, my other older brother is training to be an Emergency Medicine physician, and my sister is studying Politics with an interest in social justice. Thanks in part to a great mentor in Dr. Bassett, who first hired me to work as a research assistant when I was a fresh-faced 17 year old, I chose my current path. Conducting psychiatric research gives one an opportunity to tackle big, challenging scientific problems, and to work with a very deserving population. Having now completed my PhD and returned to my medical training, I will soon have the opportunity to choose a specialty area. While this might not be psychiatry, I do intend to continue to study neurodevelopmental disorders. I would love to be able to work with my wife, who is a resident physician in psychiatry with research aspirations of her own.

A: What do you think are the greatest problems in psychiatry and how do you think your training will help you approach them?

As an outsider, one issue I see in psychiatry is that there are as yet few options for primary and secondary prevention of serious mental illness. This is not at all unique to this branch of medicine, of course, and is the ultimate aim of much of biomedical research. However, I think that recent advances in our ability to identify major inborn genetic risks for schizophrenia offers reason to be optimistic. With schizophrenia increasingly conceptualized as a disease process that is present early on but lying largely dormant until someone’s late teens or early 20s, there may be an opportunity for pre-symptomatic interventions to retard


Neuro at UT

The Interneuron | Issue 2| November 2013

Neuro at UT

onset, attenuate the course, or even prevent the later (psychotic) manifestations of the disease altogether. My training in mathematics, genetics, and medicine has given me some new ideas about how to approach this problem.

A: Thus far, what have you most enjoyed about U of T’s MD/PhD program? Does it come highly recommended?

I started in the MD/PhD Program at U of T in 2008, and most days this stands as one of the better decisions of my adult life. We have an excellent program director in Dr. Norman Rosenblum, and a cohort of about 45 current trainees with diverse interests but a shared passion for clinically-relevant science. What I have enjoyed most is the opportunity to combine the breadth of medical training with the freedom and depth of doctoral-level research training, in as integrated a way as I think possible. The Program is established, supports its trainees very well, and comes highly recommended by me to anyone with an interest in being a physician-scientist. More information can be found at www.mdphd.utoronto.ca.

A: Do you have any advice for undergraduates who have an inclination for medicine, or research, or both?

I think being able to work in healthcare in any capacity is a privilege. Combining clinical work with research provides a unique opportunity both to care directly for the few, and to identify and answer broader questions with the potential to impact the many. That being said, I think genuine personal reflection about ones’ interests, priorities, and desired lifestyle is key. Medicine involves caring for sick people, major responsibilities, long hours, and many years of training. It may also afford a relative degree of stability in comparison to pursuing medical research as a non-healthcare professional – the latter will have its

own advantages and disadvantages, which I am not well suited to comment on. Ultimately, collaboration between physicians, physician-scientists, scientists, and many others is increasingly the norm in biomedical research, and so one can earn a seat at the table by pursuing any of these careers. In terms of more specific advice, attributes that seem to serve people well in most academic fields include genuine curiosity, reading broadly (fiction and non-fiction), thinking critically, attention to detail, and self-care. Putting excessive pressure on oneself, and “point counting” with respect to accomplishments, can be counter-productive. Finally, I suggest trying to find an environment where you will be surrounded by likeable dedicated people with complementary interests and skill sets. Rarely (usually when alone) am I the smartest person in the room, and I like it that way.

A: Where do you see yourself in ten years in the context of your career?

One of the mixed blessings of the training path I have chosen is that the next few years of my life will likely follow a ‘typical’ course: another 18 months of medical school followed by 5+ years of postgraduate (residency) training. I plan to stay in Canada for much of the latter for family reasons, but at some point I would like to get additional experience outside Canada at another major academic centre. I aspire to a career as a physician-scientist where I will be able to both provide clinical care to, and to conduct research involving, a specific clinical population. That being said, I am trying to keep myself open to new opportunities and challenges and to be less rigid in my planning. If I had been asked this question 10 years ago, any specifics to my answer would in hindsight have been pretty wide of the mark.

8

Upcoming Events

Dec 3

Dec 4

Jan 17(tentative)

Jan 24

Jan 29(tentative)

January(exact date TBA)

January(exact date TBA)

February(exact date TBA)

February(exact date TBA)

1st weekend of February

Feb 13(tentative)

UPSA Fall Semester Social

UPSA PSL300 Peer Study Session(Final Exam Edition)

NAUS presents NeuroFROSH!an orientation event for 2nd year neuroscience students

Life Sciences Winter Formal(presented by HBSU, NAUS, CSBSU, NSSA and more!)

UPSA Graduate School Information Seminar in collaboration with GASP (Graduate Association for Students in Physiology)

Heart and Stroke Foundation U of T ChapterVolunteer Appreciation Event

Foundation for International Medical Relief Sushi Class Fundraiser

Heart and Stroke Foundation U of T Chapter Bake Sale

Heart and Stroke Foundation U of T Chapter Heart Café

Canadian University Life Sciences Challenge (hosted by NAUS)

NAUS presents:Careers in Neuroscience Night 9The Interneuron | Issue 2 | November 2013

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Research at the Undergraduate Level: Getting Your Foot in the Door

Ann Mansur

You just finished your first year or two of undergrad and have mastered the 1000+ people experience at Con Hall, learned the multiple choice tricks of the trade, and can pipette like a pro. You feel ready to leave the confines of the classroom and explore the world in which real science is born. It’s an exciting feeling that many students get at some point in their undergraduate career. However, it is unfortunate that not everyone ends up getting a taste of the world of research in their first four years at UofT. You may be asking, “why is that” and “what can I do to get my foot in the door of my research career?”

The first thing to realize is that contrary to what you might anticipate, application time for summer research positions doesn’t start in winter or spring – it’s happening right now. The application process for research positions often starts early for two reasons: (1) a large number of students are interested so supervisors need some time to look over applications and conduct interviews, and (2) supervisors have to select summer research students before their funding deadlines, which can be as early as December. Hence, it is important to be thinking of the kind of research experience you would want to gain, and seeking out potential supervisors early on in the game.

Before applying to any lab, you must think about your research topic of interest. Some students can instantaneously connect with a certain topic they read about in class. Others, however, may not come across such a “love at first sight” moment. So how do you choose a research field if you are not confident in your research career goals? The truth is that an undergraduate research experience is meant to expose you to the world of research, so that you can figure out what you like and what you don’t. First, make an attempt to look over different course materials in your search for inspiring topics, and talk to professors about their research to get a feel of what their research might be about. Some good resources include hospital websites, department websites and undergraduate research fairs. You can start by choosing a field that seems highly appealing to you; alternatively, if you notice that there aren’t too many opportunities in that field, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to apply to labs that have the most spots for undergraduates. This might sound counterproductive, but the skills you acquire in almost any research lab are often

transferrable, the learning experience is compelling, and having one research experience on your résumé will open doors for future research opportunities.

Once you know the lab(s) you intend to apply to, you must identify the type of experience you want to gain. Research assistant positions can be paid positions, volunteer positions or student positions in independent research courses provided through the university. A great way to get into a lab is through an independent research course, since it not only frees your supervisor from the financial considerations that may arise with a paid research opportunity, but also poses as a great way to earn credits. Of course, getting into such a course is contingent on securing a supervisor (which for many is the challenging part) and for some courses, requires that you have a competitive GPA. Also, you can aim to volunteer in a lab as a part-time assistant; this is a strategic approach for summer opportunities since you can get a taste of what the lab is about before you commit to an independent research course in the following school year.

Now comes one of the most challenging parts of the process: grabbing the attention of a supervisor to invite you for an interview. It is important to be persistent – you won’t have an open door unless you knock. Don’t be afraid to send out your résumé and cover letter to over ten labs, as you only need one to accept you. When sending out your application through email, make sure your subject line is descriptive, including the course code (in the case of independent research courses) or the type of opportunity you are seeking. Ensure that you state your particular interests in the lab’s research in your email and/or cover letter. Perhaps, name 1-2 areas of research that the lab is currently exploring or has published on in the past year or two. Doing a quick literature review (using Pubmed, for instance) on the supervisor’s work will convey your interest to that supervisor, showing him/her that you really did your homework.

Also, it’s important to be flexible. When sending your résumé and cover letter, it is important to show some inclination towards a specific research topic. However, you also need to show the supervisor that you would be interested in learning more about other potential research


Undergraduate Community

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Course Spotlight: LMP410

Jasmine Bo Xi Song

When considering our rapidly aging population and the mysteries of the brain, an enlightening course to take is LMP410: Pathobiology of Neurodegenerative Diseases. LMP410 is taught by lecturers who are knowledgeable researchers in the field with appointments in the Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases or in various hospitals. Like all LMP courses, this course examines the pathobiology of diseases, encompassing pathology, pathogenesis and pathophysiology. Therefore, you will learn comprehensively about each disease – from genetics and molecular mechanisms to symptoms, treatments, and animal models. The course is set up logically so that you begin with two core lectures on background of neurodegenerative diseases and neuroanatomy, then proceed to eight lectures focused on specific diseases, such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis, and conclude on a hopeful note with novel regenerative strategies.

The course evaluation is entirely from tests. 10%

comes from short 4-5 question quizzes at the end of every lecture except the first one – this encourages you to be present and actively listening, and perhaps even engaging the lecturers with stimulating questions! The midterm covering the first 5 lectures is worth 40% and the final, non-cumulative, weighs 50%. Questions can be fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, short or long answer. Since there are many different lecturers and each lecturer writes their own section for testing, you may find the amount of details overwhelming at first. However, if you consult past exams to familiarize yourself with each lecturer’s style and revise your notes diligently, you will quickly discover the foci of lecture. The course load is certainly not burdensome and you can score very high in this course if you put in the effort.

Above all, what you will take away from the course is an appreciation of the overlap of mechanisms and also of current research limitations among these diseases.



avenues, and if no research opportunities are available at the time, you would be very happy to shadow him/her on an afternoon to learn more about what that field of research can offer.

You have just sent your email and are waiting impatiently for a response. After refreshing your page for what might seem like a thousand times, you still don’t have a response. It is appropriate then, that after a week of no response, to follow up with the supervisor on the discussion. Many opportunities might be lost if you give up. Instead, you can forward the original email again to the supervisor (and perhaps cc the lab coordinator) or call the lab coordinator to confirm that your email had been received.

This may work out in various instances. Nevertheless, if you have sent your application and have had no response, it is more likely that your email was not opened than that your application was inadequate. Professors and scientists receive hundreds of emails from students, colleagues and administrative staff (on top of the junk mail and journal subscription offers), so if they don’t

know who you are, your email is likely to be missed. Thus, you need to give them a reason to take the time to open your email if you want to get a shot at the position. There is no better way to do this than to establish a relationship with professors, whether during office hours (through one-on-one time), or even by asking intelligent questions on the Discussion Board via Portal. These tactics will not only get you more engaged in your studies and improve your grades, but also teach you more about what your professors are interested in. If such an interest happens to be a mutual one, it certainly would be a great opportunity to demonstrate the passion that you hold for it.

Overall, getting a research position might seem to be Mission Impossible and can be a challenging endeavor. But with the right passion, level of determination, assertiveness and a helping hand from a close professor or scientist, you can end up in a research opportunity filled with cutting edge science, clinical exposure, interaction with graduate students and scientists, poster presentations, national conference presentations, and maybe even a publication or two!

Course Spotlight: PSL300

Nicole Ossachuk

PSL300 is a great class if you are interested in physiology and anatomy. It covers basic neurophysiology, in addition to various cycles, such as hormone cycles. This course, rather than just scraping the surface, goes deeply into detail; that being said, a lot of material is covered. Spanning a single semester, the course seems to fly by as the information piles up. Hence, it is in your best interest to stay on top of the lectures and really get to know your stuff. Although there is an assigned textbook for the course, the readings aren’t a necessity. Again, as the lectures are comprehensive, the textbook can be seen as an extra resource you could use if you did not understand a certain concept.

The course has two evaluations, one midterm and one final. This was difficult for some students. If you weren’t prepared for the first midterm, which is worth over 30% of your final mark, this affected your mark drastically. The evaluations are all in multiple-choice form, and I found that they were very fair. However, the only issue is the given time limit; there was an abundance of questions, and that didn’t really allow you to spend too much time on a particular question.

The instructors of the summer session of PSL300 were Dr. Kee, and Dr. Ju. Both professors were very enthusiastic with the material and very fair in their testing. They were also very approachable and took the time to answer the students’ questions. Overall, both professors made the class much more enjoyable.

There was also a tutorial component to this course. Personally, I did not find the tutorials to be of much help. Attendance was not taken, and there were no quizzes. Each week, we went through the given topics in more detail than what was expected of us to know for the evaluations. This is great if you have time to delve into the subject, though it created some confusion as we were reviewing things we had never learned.

Overall, this course is great and achieving a 4.0 is a possibility as long as you put the time in. I learned a lot from this course and highly suggest it to anyone interested in physiology and neurophysiology. Just don’t get behind and it will be enjoyable!



By synthesizing causation factors learned in lectures, you will understand how misfolded protein aggregations and inflammation are common causes to most neurodegenerative diseases. You will hear how therapies beneficial in animal models of disease often do not translate to improvements in human health outcomes. You will be humbled by the gaps in knowledge that scientists are striving to fill and the uncertainties that health care professionals manage when caring for patients.

LMP410 thus provides a thorough, up-to-date overview of several neurodegenerative diseases prevalent in society today. By immersing you in cutting-edge research and encouraging you to understand and internalize large amounts of information, LMP410 also serves as an excellent foundation course for anyone pursuing graduate studies in neuroscience or training in the health care profession.

12

UAIDFilip Miscevic

One of the most exciting things about modern neuroscience that it is interdisciplinary by nature. In my three short years of undergrad, exploring neuroscience has even taken me into the seemingly unlikely realm of artificial intelligence in computer science.

The annual Undergraduate Artificial Intelligence Day (UAID) held earlier this month, explores just how impactful artificial intelligence is and the multitude of disciplines it reaches. Firstly though, let’s define artificial intelligence, since the mystique that surrounds the term can often cloud its purpose.

Artificial intelligence is a field of research concerned with replicating intelligent behaviour. Ignoring for the moment HAL 9000, GLaDOS, and other fictitious homicidal computers, consider the implications of this: Artificial intelligence involves automating many computationally difficult or repetitive tasks intelligently so that we humans don’t have to; this application has no limits.

The panel of guest speakers at UAID this year certainly reflected the incredible diversity that underlies the field. Frank Rudzicz, a scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation institute and Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at U of T, refines statistical models for speech production and recognition using neuronal data. These augmented speech systems can be used in the context of speech rehabilitation and as a ‘prosthetic’ voice, among other applications.


Perhaps surprisingly, statistics and probability also run deep in Patricia Thaine’s research. A graduate student in computational linguistics, she uses optical character notating software to preserve and then decipher ancient texts. Her current work is focused on cracking the code to Linear A, a language spoken and written by the ancient Minoan civilization. Since so few remaining texts survive, that traditional cryptographic methods of translation simply fail. Patricia’s hope is that a unique set of statistical models designed to work with very little input can finally awaken this dormant language.

Since decoding the human genome, biology too has become a computational field. Anna Goldenberg and her team from the Genetics and Genome biology program at Sick Kids have recognized that the network of interactions that give rise to human disease can benefit from a network-based computational model. Combining a variety of heterogeneous datasets such as genome-wide association studies and protein interaction studies is no small task. Adept noise-filtering and normalizing algorithms are also required to optimize this data.

The annual Undergraduate Artificial Intelligence Day cohesively surveys the advances in major disciplines affected by artificial intelligence. I must commend the Undergraduate Artificial Intelligence Group for this fascinating and well-organized event; even as a neuroscience and computer science double major, this conference revealed to me some of the deep connections between the two fields. For full information about all of the speakers and about the group, please visit their website at www.cs.toronto.edu/~uaig.

13The Interneuron | Issue 2 | November 2013

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Neuroscience in Translation:a review

Hoyee Wan, Guest Contributor

ΣN is an annual undergraduate student led conference, coordinated by the Neuroscience Association for Undergraduate Students. This year’s theme was ‘Neuroscience in Translation’, providing a window into how neuroscience can translate from bench to bedside. The morning consisted of a lecture series, followed by poster presentations at lunch and an afternoon of smaller ‘breakout sessions’. The keynote speaker for this year was Dr. Charles Tator, a pre-eminent spinal cord researcher and the founder of ThinkFirst, a spinal cord and brain injury awareness program. He spoke on his experience in the field of spinal cord injury, both on the significant advances in our understanding of the pathology of SCI and the significant failure of treatments. The second speaker was Dr. Jose Nobrega, the head of the neuroimaging section at the CAMH. His talk focused on the use of deep brain stimulation and anti-psychotic medication in rodent models of psychological disease. Rounding out the speakers was Dr. Gabrielle Boulliane, a Tier 1 Canada research chair in molecular and developmental neurobiology. She focused on the usage of Drosophila Melanogaster (fruit flies!) to model Alzheimer’s disease through high throughput genetic screens. Following the speaker series, there was a short panel discussion involving the three speakers, focusing on the translational aspects of neuroscience. In particular, the translational validity of animal models to model human disease was a large point of discussion. The consensus between the speakers was that each animal model served their own purpose, and despite not fully mimicking human disease, is the best that we can currently do. In the afternoon, there were a number of student poster presentations, and a number of breakout sessions: Neuroimaging, Developmental Neurobiology, and Regenerative Medicine - allowing for a more intimate and specialized discussion in the area of interest for participants.

Highlights:- Despite the failures in treatment of spinal cord injury, future therapies, such as stem cell implantation in slow release biomatrixes are promising for future treatment of SCI patients.- The usage of rodents in experiments has allowed for an economical and simple model of mimicking multiple aspects of human psychiatric disease.- The usage of fruit flies to reveal the molecular mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease has identified novel pharmaceutical targets for the treatment of the disease.

Overall impression: This year’s ΣN conference was extremely organized and provided excellent insight as to how neuroscience can be translated from bench to bedside. However, there still remains to be a huge knowledge gap and overarching problems in the use of animal models, and it is up to the neuroscientists of the future to fill in those gaps. I would like to extend my personal thanks to NAUS for organizing this event. Looking forward to the conference next year!



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Undergradute Community

Connect with CASA

Bench to Bedside:why we do research (an opinion piece)

Adam Golding

Djurdja Djordjevic

Does the mental fascinate you? CASA, the Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence Students’ Association, is a home away from home for every discipline concerned with mental matters. Cognitive Science is the interdisciplinary study of the mind, and if you study Philosophy, Psychology, Linguistics, or Computer Science you are studying a Cognitive Science already, and may be engaged in Cognitive Science in a number of other fields, such as Neuroscience, Semiotics, Education, Anthropology, or Sociology, regardless of whether you use that label for your efforts. What is, and isn’t ‘Cognitive Science’ is subject to frequent debate--can you determine whether you’re already a Cognitive Scientist? Many ‘Cognitive Scientists’ do not yet self-identify as such.

Anyone who has been associated with a research lab probably knows that no study can be reasonably conducted without justification of its possible application to humans. Sure, it might be interesting – but what is the point of the findings? After all, understanding how our brains and bodies intervene when things go wrong is what scientific research is all about.

We as scientists know that this task is a challenging one, and it comes with setbacks we have yet to overcome.

For one, it doesn’t really work that way. One of the greatest issues facing the scientific method is ecological validity, and in the case of animal research which is currently booming - human validity. This is particularly pronounced in neurological research as evolution has

CASA at UofT is devoted to uniting this diaspora of students of The Mind, regardless of whether they study it on paper, or with a computer, or whether they study human minds, non-human thought, or something in-between. One of the most active student groups on campus, our calendar of events, http://cogsci.ca/main/events/ includes as many as ten events in a given month, attended by a variety of wanderers, with a core community running through this disparate array of discussion groups, reading groups, film events, research workshops, gaming nights, pure social events, field trips, and conferences. Our mailing list at cogsci.ca also aggregates an even wider array of event information from other groups around the city and university. If you want to think about the mind, or about ‘cognition’, and have a good time meeting incredible people doing so, then CASA is your home. Welcome home.

resulted in a species far more complex than any stimulus-response or any one cause-one effect theory can explain. While my background is psychology and neuroscience, and thus I am probably biased in that regard, it is most certainly a problem faced by our field.

There are far more disorders seen in humans than have been successfully modelled in animals. Those that have been modelled have also been met with much controversy. How do we evaluate whether we’re on the right track? Animals that present with the same behavioural symptoms as humans with the disorder is solid evidence for a successful model. How does that work with research into mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia: disorders which are inherently human? That isn’t to say that animals cannot feel sad – in fact, models which mimic depression in animals


16 The Interneuron | Issue 1 | September 2013


show they too can feel anhedonia, helpless and completely unmotivated. However, these are also behavioural manifestations of neurological abnormalities which are so diffusely influenced by every aspect of our environment and underlying predispositions – that is, the nature/nurture combination. How does being hung upside down until the animal stops struggling compare to the complex factors which combine to cause depression in humans? Even when the depressive period can be traced to an initial trigger, we are so fundamentally integrated within a society and influenced by many more factors than a mouse housed in a cage. Bearing this in mind, these animal models begin to sound more like clever analogies than they do realistic reflections.

Before I sound too pessimistic and cynical, I do not wish to say that research has done a terrible job in this regard. The leaps we have taken in the last few decades are momentous and we should be proud as students and scientists to be part of such a thriving area. Though not perfect, the depression models have lead to valuable insights into the signalling pathways, structures, and peripheral effects involved in depression. At this point, it is inevitable for models to have their shortcomings – they are, for now at least, the best we can do. Furthermore, there are many animal models which are in fact very similar to the human correlates, and we can actually compare the functional and structural happenings in our brains to confirm similar neurotransmitter systems and regions are involved. Animal research has dramatically lowered the mortality and suffering of humans and we are getting closer and closer ona daily basis to better functional and structural imaging, and better animal models. Unfortunately, because of some of technological and methodological limitations we are facing, the best animal models are ones recapitulating the neurological events that we know occur in humans; yet when the model is designed to discover the neurological underpinnings of a phenomenon or disorder, this leads us to circular thinking.

It can be overwhelming trying to advance your area of study with current limitations. This becomes even more pronounced when research becomes a fight for funding and essentially a race to the finish line. Standing in the middle of a conference, looking at rows and rows of posters with wonderful research and hard-working scientists standing proudly in front of them, I get overwhelmed and wonder: Where is my place in all of this? Where is everyone’s place?

This brings me to my second point. In a world of thousands and thousands of researchers, it gets to be

very challenging to keep the bigger goal in mind. We get enthralled in our own work, focusing so much of our time on one disorder, one pathway, one region of the brain, one behaviour. At the same time, we get so thrilled when someone comes out with ground-breaking work about so-and-so molecule implicated in so-and-so disorder. These discoveries are outstanding, but as researchers, we can lose touch with the greater aim of doing research in the first place: the reason we use to justify grants and spending countless hours examining one area – human application. It becomes difficult to integrate all of the information being generated on a daily basis. Thus, it is easy to forget we are one piece of the puzzle, ultimately leading us to an understanding of one topic: the human brain and how to approach an abnormality in order to stabilize it back to a normal threshold. It is a paradox of scientists which I have unmistakably observed in nearly every one I’ve met – myself included. When we are fighting for fundingto discover what we deem to be the most salient, or interesting, or important topic in the field, by explaining the clinical application, we aren’t truly considering the direct clinical relevance. It’s money, it’s politics, it’s a clash ofconflicting priorities and opinions of what is most important.

The transition from the lab to the clinic is the engine driving research. Otherwise, what is the point? As we proceed through the next few decades of great discoveries and increasing opportunities to lead us closer and closer to the workings of the brain, we must remember the ultimate goal of our field. It is not to win the Nobel Prize, and it is not to make the biggest and baddest discovery. If you do – that’s fantastic. Every step we make towards the bedside is a step in the right direction, and being able to combine our discoveries with other scientists in order to reach these goals, well that’s what we as scientists are all about.

Do you agree or disagree with Djurdja’s opinion? Let us know. Send a response to [email protected], and we may publish it in our next issue!

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Author Name

Introducing the Blu Matter Project

Rachelle Ho

Yoga is a practice that takes on many different forms. While it has half a yoga mat rolled out into the realm of the spiritual, it has the other half rolled out in the fitness world. Blu Matter Project makes the best of both halves, but it also reaches a hand into a third dimension: neuroscience.

Blu Matter Project is a non-profit organization that kick started this year. It works with people ages 18-30 who are suffering from depression and/or bipolar disorders and provides them with memberships to practice yoga at various locations around Toronto. With the latest buzz from the University of Toronto showing that moderate exercise is an effective preventative measure for depressive disorders1, Blu Matter Project is spreading its wings.

The name Blu Matter Project reflects its core values: wellness of the mind (“Blu”); the belief that depressive disorders matter and that brain matter can also feel blue (“Matter”); and the desire to keep building community bonds and to adapt its program to match the trends in neuroscientific research (“Project”). Blu Matter Project is often affectionately known as simply Blu Matter.

In September, Blu Matter began developing a student chapter at the University of Toronto. What started as a one-semester placement in HMB473: Exercise and Mental Health for six aspiring neuroscience students quickly grew into something that put the course material in a yoga studio. Just as exercise increases the brain-derived neurotrophic factors that fuel synaptogenesis2, so did this experience with yoga and Blu Matter spark connections with people of the wider community.

Blue lights lit the night on Tuesday, November 19th with stories of inspiration, dancers, poetry, and award-winning singers to celebrate the student chapter’s grand launch – coffeehouse style. In the new year, the Blu Matter chapter will begin monthly yoga workshops with an emphasis on student mental health and the alleviation of personal anxiety, as yoga has been shown to be effective at doing3. All students are welcomed to be part of these cool and edgy yoga classes. 2014 will also see the start of the Yogic Connections Mentorship Program that works towards small and tangible solutions to the little things that add to student stress. These could be issues with finances, creating schedules, eating healthy… anything that pumps the cortisol! The chapter is currently seeking out mentors – people with skills or tools that could help students struggling with mental wellness.

Blu Matter is always on the move. The student chapter has plans to expand to other universities in the near future with the University of Ottawa in their sights in the next few months. To keep up to date with student blogs, research on exercise and mental health, Blu Matter news, find them on Twitter, tumblr, Facebook, or at www.blumatterproject.com. Join the Blu movement. Your blu matters.

REFERENCES:1. Mammen, G., & Faulkner, G. (2013). Physical activity and the prevention of depression: A systematic review of prospective studies. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 45(5), 649-657.2. Ambrogini, P., Lattanzi, D., Ciuffoli, S., Betti, M., Fanelli, M., & Cuppini, R. (2013). Physical exercise and environment exploration affect synaptogenesis in adult-generated neurons in the rat dentate gyrus: Possible role of BDNF. Brain Research, 1534, 1-12.3. Mehta, P., & Sharma, M. (2012). Evaluation of a social cognitive theory-based yoga intervention to reduce anxiety. International Quarterly of Community Health Education, 32(3), 205-217.



www.blumatterproject.com

www.blumatterproject.com

18 The Interneuron | Issue 2 | November 2013


Undergraduate Profile: Interview with Allan Turton

Sonja Stojanovski

S: Can you tell us a bit about yourself? My name is Allan Turton, I grew up in the small town of Owen Sound and I’m a 4th year student doing a specialist in neuroscience. I love painting, drawing and expressing to keep that communication with myself going. I also practise yoga as a means of balance. I think sometimes you need to practice yoga [laughs]. I actually just started working with an initiative between yoga studios in Toronto and CAMH called the Blue Matter project. It’s a yoga support group for people with bipolar and depression, where we use yoga as a means of lifting people out of their maladies. Aside from all that, I relax and enjoy the company of the people I’m with. S: What drew you to neuroscience?Well, I’ve always liked reading; the first book I read was actually a history book. As I kept reading and reading, things eventually snowballed until I ended up reading neuroscience. It seems to me like it was all just one big story. I liked reading about where we came from in history books. Then, you start asking yourself where we are going. When you get to that part it becomes really exciting because for me, that’s where neuroscience came in. I remember the first neuroscience book I had read during my first semester in first year. It was called, The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge. At that point I still didn’t really know what I wanted to do. Doidge, in his book, basically tells us to look at the brain, describes how it can do almost anything, and hence tells us that we can accomplish anything in our lives. I think he was actually the first person to tell me that. Once you combine all these things with the concept of free will, [boom]! After that, I knew I wanted to do something to do with neuroscience in my life.

Generally, I was always interested in science, as I always thought it could explain everything – especially through neuroscience. Nevertheless, I also knew that I was very interested in individuals. Essentially, I experience the world as an individual, and if you want to study individuals, you must study the brain, mind, and consciousness – you must study neuroscience.

S: You and Sivaniya started the Neuroscience Journal Club (NJC) fairly recently. Can you tell me about this journey? The Neuroscience Journal Club actually started with an email Sivaniya Subramaniapillai sent to our HMB300 class more than a year ago, essentially asking our class if anyone was interested in coming out and talking about neuroscience. I was drawn to it because I’m here to learn about neuroscience and I feel learning is best done through discussion, so I became very excited to meet people who shared my passion. The group started with us talking about neuroscience and getting excited about it. We wanted to expand our group and form a committee so we could start delegating tasks to more people. The thing is that we didn’t want to try and attract people to join our group. Thus, we didn’t advertise and we still don’t advertise because we wanted people who were really excited about what they were doing. We wanted our members to truly want to be there. We thought it would bring a certain kind of energy to the group. Fast-forward to today and we have our biweekly meetings, just how we had originally planned. We want to continue building up the club, so that when we advertise for bigger talks in the future, people will already know who we are. There’s a lot of room for growth and we’re focused on that.



S: Tell me about your favourite thing about the NJC.My favourite thing about the NJC is that it brings in a variety of people. The NJC is unique because even though it is about neuroscience, it’s not about neuroscientists. We didn’t want this to be a space in which neuro people talk about neuro to other neuro people, that’s what we have classes or labs for. You come up with new ideas by connecting with people, especially with people of diverse backgrounds. My goal with the NJC is to get people with a diversity of backgrounds to come and contribute their point of view and knowledge to our discussions. Ultimately, I want the NJC to include more than just neuroscience, because the world is bigger than neuro. S: What advice would you have for a student with an idea for a club?Just do it, and start talking to people you think are interested! Ultimately, if you want something to exist in the world you need to make it exist. It won’t just appear.

S: Nuit blanche was a few weeks ago, and you’re a bit of an artist yourself, what are your thoughts on the marriage of art and brain science?I think it’s amazing, but it can be abused. You can easily lose sight of what art really is if you try to make it about science. Our faculty is called Arts and Sciences, so it’s a balance. Using myself as an example, I study science but I’ve always communicated through art. When school gets too intense, art is my outlet. For example, neuroaesthetics takes what I love and just tears it to pieces. On the other hand, you can use technology to do really cool things with art because technology is a tool. I think we should use advancements in the brain sciences to produce art, not to reduce the very experience of art. S: Where do you see yourself in the near future? And beyond?That’s a bit of a crisis I’m going through, I actually just finished my medical school applications. For a long time, I wanted to go to medical school and be a neurosurgeon, so I sacrificed a lot of things and became this really smart guy. But I don’t know if I can picture myself living that life. I was blinded by school for a long time. Towards the end of my third year, I looked at where I was and I asked myself what I was doing. At the same time, my paintings and drawings sort of told me I needed to make a change.

I have all this knowledge and love for science because of my education, and I have the talent to draw and I enjoy doing it. So now I’m looking into doing a post-grad in biomedical communications. I’m interested in becoming a medical illustrator for textbooks and magazines, not to mention paying off my student debts [laughs]. S: What advice would you give first year Allan?I don’t think I would. He figured it out. Actually, maybe I’d tell him the answers to his multiple-choice questions [laughs].

19“Integration”By: Andy Cheng

Han Fan

20

Neuro in the Wider Community

Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting

Samantha Yammine, Guest Contributor

Ever since I entered the undergraduate Neuroscience program, one of my goals was to attend to the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) annual meeting – a.k.a. Neuroscience Paradise – as soon as possible. I have always enjoyed being highly engaged by the strong neuroscience community in Toronto, and attending the SfN meeting was my first opportunity to interact with the global neuroscience community firsthand. With over 30 000 attendees every year, this conference is byfar the largest in the field and one of the best opportunities to learn about the latest hot trends in neuroscience before they get to press!

Overhead compartments packed to the brim with posters, an excited crowd of Toronto neuroscientists headed to the gorgeous (and hot!!) San Diego, eager for the next 5 days of science that would take place from November 9th to 13th. Once we arrived in San Diego, it was clear that neuroscientists had taken over the city; we had only been walking around in the historic Gas Lamp district for an hour when none other than the father of CLARITY and optogenetics, Dr. Karl Deisseroth, passed us by!

The inter-disciplinary nature of neuroscience is part of what makes it such an exciting field to study, and the SfN annual meeting does a killer job at highlighting this. The scientific content at the conference is broken down into themes, and this year’s spanned from development, disorders and technology development, all the way to cognition, sensory systems and public awareness. One downside to the conference is that it can be difficult to choose which concurrent sessionto attend, but this is made up for by the fact that they are all pretty much fascinating, especially to the new and eager student.

The current president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, Edwin Catmull, kicked off the conference with a special lecture on creativity. Some of the other large talks featured topics such as connectomics (in C. elegans, Drosophila, and mice), neural plasticity, epigenetics, aging, and neuroscience in the courtroom. These talks were all about an hour and geared towards a general neuroscience audience, making them a great way to learn about a new and unfamiliar subject from a world expert.

For those thirsty for more detailed talks in their respective field, the conference also offers minisymposia and nanosymposia that feature a panel of PIs and students who give brief talks on their lab’s latest (and sometimes unpublished) data. Some of my personal favourite talks were about hippocampal neurogenesis (by Dr. Michael Bonaguidi from John Hopkins University), neuroscience in the courtroom (by Dr. and lawyer Nita Farahany from Duke Law School), and out of body experiences (by Arvid Guterstam from the Karolinska Institute).

The SfN conference also offers other opportunities for students to share their research via the poster sessions. Personally, I found visiting posters to be the most beneficial because it allowed me to ask questions to the person directly doing the experiments, and while I learned a lot of cool new science, I also got some great tips and suggestions from highly collaborative and cordial strangers! In addition to over 15 000 scientific presentations, the meeting also boasts 34 professional development workshops and networking functions, in addition to 600 exhibitors from biotechnology companies from around the globe. My favourite exhibitor was the Oculus Rift booth, where they let you experience the power of virtual reality first hand: they had me jump off a platform into a dark abyss, and even though I knew I was still safely in the conference centre, I still let out a scream when I made the jump!

For those interested in learning more about the science at the conference, you can read the special annual meeting issue of the Journal of Neuroscience here:

http://www.jneurosci.org/content/33/45.toc#SymposiumandMini-Symposium,

and check out the full list of presentation abstracts here:

http://www.sfn.org/News-and-Calendar/News-and-Calendar/News/Annual-Meeting-Spotlight/Download-Abstracts-from-Neuroscience-2013.

Hope to see some of you there next year in Washington, DC!


Art is ArterialFilip Miscevic and Carlos Cano

Just as when taking a deep breath of the cool night air, we find Nuit Blanche deeply inspiring. This is why this phrase by Arnold Weinstein is very fitting. Nuit Blanche ends at dawn, but its vibrant effect is lasting. Walking down university avenue as the sun rises, Toronto feels more lively, fresh, oxygenated; it feels renewed. Like brightly red arterial blood that comes out fresh from the lungs and is pumped rhythmically and passionately by the heart, Toronto feels reinvigorated, full of passion; vibrant red.

‘Art is Arterial’. The appeal of this sublime phrase is not just a matter of the rhyme, or its musicality. The power of this phrase comes from the metaphorical bridge it crafts between art and science. Art is a humanist word: poetic and analogical. Arterial is a scientific word: anatomic and physiological. Science and art are different yet, undeniably, they both course through our beings and contribute to our vitality with equal importance.

What else could have been the focus besides the marriage of the two, of course, at the Ontario Science Centre exhibit at Nuit Blanche? In collaboration with the University of Windsor’s BIOart program, they put together some of their most aesthetically pleasing displays of science. A drum circle and mechanical dragon were among the unlikely exhibits. Visitors could enjoy painting pictures using mustard, tonic water and other household smearables and relish in the unexpected property of its intense fluorescence under ultraviolet light.

The night was illuminated by several transgenic organisms, too. E. coli expressing green-fluorescent protein were streaked in semi-random patterns on petri dishes.

Those who grew up during the 90s will surely remember the iconic iMac G3, with its variety of neon-colored casings, as well as assorted under-water-themed screensavers. By combining this fluorescent computer case with transgenic red fluorescent zebrafish, a recycled Macquarium brought visitors an ethereal incarnation of both.

Inside a dome, some blocks south ‘My Virtual dream’ demonstrated the beauty of brains in synchrony. This installation, powered by The Virtual Brain Group, and co-produced by Baycrest and the University of Toronto, used electroencephalography (EEG) to track the brain activity of a group of participants, ‘the dreamers’, in order to paint fireworks, colours, and transform the surrounding environment. To the backdrop of live operatic singing, the ‘dreamers’ worked together to co-ordinate their brain waves and collectively weave stunning virtual dreams, poetically suggesting that our realities are shaped by our collective dreams.

Exalted University of Toronto professor, Marshall Mcluhan, famously said that “the medium is the message.” He meant that the the content of a message is just a fraction of what is communicated to us, and this is certainly true of the Nuit blanche experience, as it goes beyond what is explicit to the senses. Beyond the content of each art installation, Nuit blanche’s real message is that there are lines that we can blur: the line that divides night and day, the line that divides the museum from the street, the line that divides stranger from friend, the line that divides art from science. That is the dream in this fantastic ‘white night’ where everything seems possible.



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22


What’s New in Tau-nSteven Meas

In a recently published article in Neuron, Maruyama et al. (2013) described developing a class of tau ligands called phenyl/pyridinal-butadienyl-benzothiazoles/benzathiazoliums, or simply PBBs, that document vivid images of tau pathology compared to previous radioligands1. That all sounds great, but why is this useful and what is that tau-thing anyways? When in 1975, M. D. Weingarten et al. at Princeton University, New Jersey, first identified a protein that aids in the polymerization of microtubules, they called it tau (τ)2. It was not until two years later at the same university, did Cleveland et al. determine that tau is actually a very important phosphoprotein3. A couple years later, Lindwall and Cole at UC Berkeley found that tau was regulated by phosphorylation and that dephosphorylated tau was responsible for greater microtubule polymerization4. Then, it was learned that hyperphosphorylated tau was the primary component of the neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)5. However, it was found that tau pathology (tauopathy) was not the primary cause of familial AD. Still, tau lesions in neurons were learned to be markers for sporadic neurodegenerative disorders such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD)1,5. Previously there have been fluorescent chemicals able to intensely label amyloid-β or tau amyloids, but there was little reactivity to non-AD tauopathies. Hence, Maruyama et al.’s study provides valuable tools to study anti-tauopathological treatments.

How did they do it? Without getting too much into the biochemistry of it all, they looked into the particular structural properties that would allow a chemical agent to easily gain access and attach to the β-pleated sheet structure of tau. They then examined pre-existing fluorescent dyes and modified the core structure to adopt the desired characteristics (for more detail take a look at page 1095 of the original article).

Using this method, they created five compounds (PBB1-PBB5), of which they needed to narrow down to the agent with the best imaging quality and most efficient delivery and removal.

Shown above is the general structures of PBBs

PBB3 and PBB5 were found most suitable for visualization of tauopathology in vivo since the intensity of staining of NFTs were positively associated with the hydrophilicity of the agent. They injected PBBs into transgenic mouse models of taupathy and analyzed the plasma and brain samples using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The results suggested that PBB2, PBB3, PBB4 and PBB5 were promptly converted to metabolites capable of transversing the blood-brain barrier (BBB), reoxidized into the original form, and therefore able to bind to tau fibrils. Both PBB2 and PBB3 were remarkably efficient, yielding no metabolites in the mouse brain even after 30 minutes. Afterwards, they radiolabelled PBB2 and PBB3 with [11C]. In comparing the two radiocompounds, [11C]PBB3 yielded a higher-contrast image compared to nonspecific labeling of white-matter than did [11C]PBB2, and [11C]PBB3 was easily removed when nonradioactive compounds were added. Hence [11C]PBB3 trumped the other four compounds and was selected as the most appropriate agent for visualization of in vivo PET imaging.

Next, they needed to make sure that their compound [11C]PBB3, was more effective than pre-existing dyes such as [11C]PIB, using comparative PET imaging of tauopathy in living brains of AD patients and age-matched, cognitively normal, control subjects Again, [11C]PBB3 showed greater specificity for tau pathology, and where there was no clear association between the binding of [11C]PIB and disease severity in AD patients, [11C]PBB3 yielded potential of clarifying the symptomatic progression of AD


23

Student Spotlight: Laureen Hachem

Shakira Brathwaite

The Interneuron features a number of interviews with students who have moved on from the HMB Neuroscience program to provide our readers with unique outlooks on courses, events and future career paths. In this issue, we are excited to feature Laureen Hachem, a former Neuroscience specialist who is now enrolled in her first year of studies at the University of Toronto’s MD Program.

Disclaimer: the ideas and sentiments expressed in this piece are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Toronto.

Questions:

S: Just to start off, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

L: My name is Laureen, and I just started first year med at U of T. During my time in undergrad [at U of T], I was enrolled in the Neuroscience specialist program; I also participated in both wet bench and clinical research. Away from that, I like to play tennis; I also like to read. Recently, I finished

reading a book called Still Alice, which tells the personal story of a woman’s progression into Alzheimer’s from her own perspective. I also watch Criminal Minds from time-to-time - my favourite character being [Dr. Spencer] Reid. I volunteer with Heart and Stroke, leading a team that does door-to-door canvassing to raise funds. I’m also an executive for Thinkfirst’s Brain Day, which goes into elementary schools to teach about brain and spinal cord injury prevention. I used to play clarinet and the piano; I can still play the piano, but the clarinet - not as well. I’m fluent in English and French and I took German in high school, knew it then, can still remember a few words.

S: In your eyes, how does med compare to undergrad? Do you feel disadvantaged in any way, having been admitted before completing your undergrad degree? How do you think your undergrad education as a whole has influenced your medical education?

L: I think the biggest difference is seeing a lot of clinical applications in lecture – and I like that a lot. It’s more fast-


Lastly, Maruyama et al. have brought to light ingenious tools to allow a seamless, bidirectional translation between preclinical and clinical insights1.

References1. Maruyama, M. et al. Imaging of tau pathology in a tauopathy mouse model and in Alzheimer patients compared to normal controls. Neuron 79, 1094108 (2013).2. Weingarten, M. D., Lockwood, A. H., Hwo, S. Y. & Kirschner, M. W. A protein factor essential for microtubule assembly. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72, 1858862 (1975).3. Cleveland, D. W., Hwo, S.-Y. & Kirschner, M. W. Physical and chemical properties of purified tau factor and the role of tau in microtubule assembly. J. Mol. Biol. 116, 22747 (1977).

4. Lindwall, G. & Cole, R. D. Phosphorylation affects the ability of tau protein to promote microtubule assembly. J. Biol. Chem. 259, 5301305 (1984).5. Pritchard, S. M., Dolan, P. J., Vitkus, A. & Johnson, G. V. W. The toxicity of tau in Alzheimer disease: turnover, targets and potential therapeutics. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine 15, 1621635 (2011).


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Laureen Hachem, MD (c)

at U of T really prepared me well for the depth and quantity of material.Studying neuroscience and now going to med – my undergrad helped me solidify that this is the field I want to go into. I mainly took a mix of molecular biology and physiology courses. Physiology and anatomy really helped – but I think even having the molecular was beneficial in that it provided a solid foundation on which to learn the physiology. One of my favorite courses in undergrad was PSL300 because it was my first real introduction to neurophysiology. PSL300 gives a taste of just how complex the body is, and served as a good starting point on which I could build connections with my later courses. I also found STA220 to be quite beneficial, as it really helped me to understand research – particularly how to approach clinical research. It was primarily theory-based, teaching such things as what a p-value is, type of errors, how to properly design a study, and how to interpret the results; in this sense, it focused more on understanding why you were carrying out such practices rather than the math itself. I also liked LMP410 (Neuropathobiology) for the seminar style presentations and learning about each researcher’s field. I especially enjoyed that it took you through how to set up a

study to address a particular problem. Over the years, I also enjoyed a number of research opportunities at U of T. In clinical practice classes specifically, I’ve noticed how one’s approach to research can drive clinical practice (particularly, as it relates to asking questions in the field and exploring). In general, I think that being at U of T, you learn how to ask good questions and study smart, which are both critically important for med school.

S: Can tell us a bit about your research?

L: I started in research in Grade 12, at Toronto Western with Dr. Charles Tator, studying stem cell therapies for spinal cord injury. I helped out with a lot of collaborative projects and then also a few independent ones. We look at adult neural stem cell transplants, and are currently trying to isolate factors that mediate secondary injury, as well as find factors can increase survival after secondary injury. Dr. Tator’s lab is a really supportive environment – great PI, great lab techs, great grad students – and I loved it there, which is why I am still a part of that lab today.Through ROP299, and later, NEW390, I also did kidney transplant research at Toronto General. This was all clinical; I wanted to try something new. I wrote a surgical paper looking at risk factors that potentially lead to bleeding complications after surgery (i.e. due to the operation itself) – things like gender, duration, type of surgery (laparoscopic vs. open) etc. It was nice to experience what clinical research is like, and also tied in very nicely with the concepts I learned in STA220. It also forced me to keep up to date with the literature. Moreover, it exposed me to a number of ethical concepts and approaches that I might not have otherwise encountered in undergrad - things like organ allocation, waitlists, consent (presumed vs. choice) and altruistic living donors.

S: How did you decide on neuroscience?

L: I studied neuroscience a bit back in high school, but I think that seeing it in action in Dr. Tator’s lab - how much research is needed, how many questions that remain to be answered, how interesting the field is – really solidified it for me. When I went on to U of T, the Neuroscience program allowed me the opportunity to learn more in regards to the anatomy, physiology, tracts, and molecular mechanisms of the spinal cord. So I guess a combination of getting that placement and U of T helping me expand on that.


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Words To Remember:a little wisdom from Dr. Suzanne Corkin

Sarah Peters

Dr. Suzanne Corkin from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is well known in the cognitive neuroscience community for her extensive work with amnesic patient H.M. She & her team have been instrumental in furthering insight into short- and long-term memory and the cognitive effects of damage to certain areas of the brain. In this article, Dr. Corkin offers some words of advice directed at research-oriented undergraduate students.

In Toronto to promote her new book, Permanent Present Tense, Dr. Suzanne Corkin visited Bahen to present a summary of her research partnership with Henry Molaison. Molaison grew up as a quiet, polite boy in Massachusetts; severe epileptic seizures prompted his doctor to perform a surgery that resected structures of his medial temporal lobe. Following the resection, Molaison exhibited anterograde amnesia: his memories of events prior to the surgery remained intact, but his ability to incorporate new memories was eliminated. The rare opportunity to study Molaison’s damaged memory – alengthy process involving over 120 researchers – revealed a great deal about the cognitive and neural organization of memory.

As her lecture began, Dr. Corkin asked: “How many of you remember what you had for dinner last night?” After surveying the room, she smiled: “Those of you who didn’t put up your hands, see me after this.”

With this ease and wit, Dr. Corkin guided the audience on a visual, scientific, and personal journey into H.M.’s lifestyle and neurological functioning. Using photographs, arecorded research interview with H.M., and extensive images of H.M.’s brain, Dr. Corkin revealed an intimate view of a case study that is often studied and taught with an empirical focus.

Dr. Corkin possesses rich experience advising aspiring neuroscience and cognitive science students. Many of us often wonder how we can get our foot in the door to research; those of us already keenly involved may be wondering about our next steps. Luckily, Dr. Corkin was quick to answer questions regarding how busy undergraduates can further their involvement in the neuroscience field.


S: Where do you see yourself in near future? Long-term?

L: In the next couple years, I hope to continue what I’m doing and the projects I am working on, while asking new questions and taking on new projects. For example, Thinkfirst is looking to expand Brain Day to more schools and advanced grades, so as to engage students as they begin to take part in higher-level sports. In the long-term, I would like to see myself as a clinician-scientist. It’s a very busy lifestyle, but if you enjoy what you’re doing, that should be enough to sustain you. I’d also like to travel eventually. I don’t travel too much – I go to the states where I have family – but I’d like to travel somewhere where I could rock-climb (I’m new to this), maybe somewhere in South America. I would really like my next big trip to be Greece - hopefully before I finish med school – since everyone keeps telling me how nice it is. Beautiful weather, terrible economy [chuckles].

S: Any final words of advice for our readers?

L: Make sure you enjoy the things you choose to do – that’s how you’ll excel! Also, if you’re interested in pursuing medical school, plan accordingly. Organization is key. I would also recommend trying a variety of activities - like research, interest clubs etc. – to find out what you like. U of T has so much to offer; there is bound to be something that fits your personality. Finally, don’t be afraid to take those challenging courses; those were the ones that I enjoyed the most. When you learn a lot, it’s challenging but also more interesting and will prepare you well.

The Interneuron thanks Laureen for taking the time to chat with us. Good luck with all your future endeavors!




“I think it’s very important to work in a research lab and do work on a specific research project…and then decide if that’s what you want to do later on or not,” Dr. Corkin advised. “Once you’re engaged in a project, understand what the project is all about so you can think about it intelligently and talk about it intelligently.”

Dr. Corkin clearly understands the academic demands that may prevent us from immersing ourselves fully and passionately into specific research; as a former behavioral neuroscience professor at MIT, she conducted academic career counseling sessions for students. She suggested that we “read deeply and constantly” – not only what is assigned in class, but also our own selections of subjects that are of personal interest. To supplement reading, Dr. Corkin believes that a critical requirement for modern researchers is technological knowledge, especially programs like MATLAB that are commonly used in laboratories.

“I think if you want to be in neuroscience, you have to be [tech savvy], because the field is driven by technology…gigantic advances [are] happening in neuroscience now, and they are all piggybacked on advances in technology of all sorts.”

So there you have it: read, be proactive and engage yourself in research, and become familiar with strategies and techniques that will enable you to think like a scientist. Dr. Corkin’s incredible experience working with H.M. was an inspiring lesson in not only the technicalities of long-term research, but also in the personal growth that can accompany a research-oriented career. Dr. Corkin captured this essence in two simple words: “Be scholarly.”

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Interneuron - Issue 02

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