Behaviour | Cervo Brain Research Centre

	Isabelle Blanchette Isabelle Blanchette étudie comment les processus cognitifs tels que la mémoire, l’attention et le raisonnement sont affectés par les émotions; autant les émotions modérées de la vie quotidienne que les émotions intenses associées aux événements potentiellement traumatiques. Ses études mesurent l’impact cognitifs d’événements tels que les agressions sexuelles, les accidents de la route ou le stress opérationnel. Plusieurs projets portent sur l’impact psychologique de l’exposition aux conflits armés pour les populations civiles, notamment au Rwanda et en République Démocratique du Congo. Ses...
	Vincent Breton-Provencher How do we acquire new skills? How do we optimize previously acquired behaviors? Our systems neuroscience lab studies the neuronal correlates of learning and attention. We are particularly interested in understanding the roles of catecholamines – noradrenaline and dopamine – in learned behaviors. Our main objectives are to determine when catecholaminergic neurons are active during learning and task execution, what are the brain inputs that cause this activity, and how in turn the release of dopamine and noradrenaline controls the activity of target regions. Our ultimate goal is to...
	Yves De Koninck Synaptic transmission: from chronic pain to Alzheimer's disease Yves De Koninck's work focuses on the transmission of signals from one neuron to another, also called synaptic transmission, and the necessary balance between excitatory and inhibitory signals in the brain and spinal cord. His research has shown how a normally benign stimulus can turn into a pain signal, leading to the development of chronic pain. One person in five will experience chronic pain in their lifetime, a proportion that increases with age. This is the leading cause of disability in the country...
	Martin Deschênes Studying the senses as a key to understand how complex behaviours are coordinated in the brain Most senses require movement to extract information from the environment: vision is associated with eye and head movements, hearing with head movements, touching entails limb movements, and olfaction requires movement of the nose. To understand how movement and sensation are coordinated to lead to sensory perception, Professor Martin Deschênes and his team study the rodent vibrissa system, a model widely used in neuroscience. The whisking movement allows rodents to explore their...
	Marc Hébert Promising discoveries on the effects of light on the brain, and the use of light to improve the health of night workers and to help diagnose psychiatric illnesses. Marc Hébert is a specialist in the study of the biological clock, or chronobiology, and photobiology, which is the study of the effects of light on the brain. His research has shown that light has important effects on mood, and, specifically, that blue light affects the biological clock. These discoveries have led to the development of technologies that directly affect people's health, using light to reduce the...
	Philip Jackson The Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory was created by Professor Philip L. Jackson, full Professor at the School of Psychology at Laval University. The laboratory studies are carried out at the Interdisciplinary Center for Rehabilitation and Social Integration (CIRRIS), at the CERVO Research Center, and at the School of Psychology. Members of the lab are interested in the human brain's ability to mentally represent others’ actions, emotions or states of mind. From a cognitive and social neuroscience perspective, his research program examines factors that may influence this...
	Benoit Labonté Discoveries about differences in the brains of depressed men and women Dr. Benoit Labonté's research aims to understand the biological basis of depression and other mood disorders, with a specific focus on sex differences. Although depression is twice as common in women, most preclinical studies have been conducted primarily in males. Dr. Labonté's research has recently shown that genes expressed in the brains of model animals and humans with depression are very different in the two sexes. Dr. Labonté's research focuses on mouse models of mood disorders, but his results...
	Michel Maziade Psychiatric genetics and child neurodevelopment program: characterizing infant risk pathways for the prevention of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression Dr. Michel Maziade, a clinical psychiatrist and researcher, has led a research program for more than 35 years on families affected by schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depression. The risk of developing these disease in children born to an affected parent is 15 to 20 times higher than that of other children. His work has shown that healthy children who are born to an affected parent can, early in life, carry...
	Caroline Ménard
	Chantal Mérette Development and application of biostatistical analysis methods for experimental and observational data in neuroscience Professor Chantal Mérette is a specialist in the analysis of the complex data that is generated in neuroscience studies. Thanks to her expertise and that of her team of biostatisticians and epidemiologists (specialists in the factors influencing the health of populations), her research has made it possible to detect and validate biomarkers of risk of major neurodevelopmental diseases, including schizophrenia, recurrent major depression, and bipolar disorder....
	Christophe Proulx Deciphering the neural mechanisms of emotions and their contribution to behavior through the brain reward circuits Professor Christophe Proulx studies the neural mechanisms of emotions underlying normal behavioral responses, but also the defects in these mechanisms that can lead to mood disorders such as depression. Areas of the brain that play an important role in these responses are the reward circuitry of the brain, which includes various limbic system nuclei, the lateral habenula, and the dorsal raphe nucleus. To understand how emotions are encoded and transmitted in...
	Martin D. Provencher Dr. Martin D. Provencher, a cognitive-behavioral therapy specialist, is interested in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, particularly bipolar disorder, depression, and generalized anxiety disorder. His research aims to develop, apply and evaluate the implementation of new psychological approaches to treat patients in the clinic. Provencher's approaches are based on research evidence, which can be tested in a practical setting. Dr. Provencher's recent research aims to integrate patient self-management practices to determine the characteristics of effective and...
	Nancie Rouleau Mindfulness to treat attention disorders and anxiety Dr. Nancie Rouleau's research focuses on attention disorders, and aims to develop and validate new approaches to treatment. Dr. Rouleau’s team studies mindfulness, which is a training to intentionally focus one's attention on the present experience - without attempting to modify it, which is emerging as a new way of helping people with cognitive or attention disorders to overcome these disorders. This training is done using different activities, including meditation and yoga. The first part of Dr. Rouleau's research...
	Armen Saghatelyan Studying the birth of new neurons in the brain to discover new approaches for the treatment of neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases. Research in Dr. Armen Saghatelyan’s laboratory aims to better understand how new neurons are born and integrated in the adult brain. The adult brain contains stem cells that divide to generate new neurons. Dr. Saghatelyan's team is interested in the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying stem cell division, neuronal precursor migration and the integration of new neurons in the adult brain. The olfactory bulb, which is involved in...

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