Research

Forget Tylenol, Try Passion: A Journey into Pain Management

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From the sudden agony of stepping on a Lego block to persistent aching from chronic conditions, everyone experiences pain. Sometimes we know the pain will subside quickly and we can just tough it out, but other times it’s more than we can (or want to) handle on our own. The quest for pain relief has led humans to explore a vast array of treatments, from traditional painkillers to alternative therapies like massages and ice packs. Pain is an essential evolutionary mechanism, serving to ensure our survival and reproduction. Even so, I’m sure most people would opt to take an Advil to stop a headache rather than worrying about the growth of our family tree.      

Sex and Gender: Can we go beyond male or female in neuroimaging?

By / / Interview, Opinion, Research / ,

Have you ever wondered how and why we should think about sex AND gender when conducting research? Join Dr Buckley, Dr Flatt and me today as we question ourselves on these topics in the field of neuroimaging. We discuss topics from how to define sex and gender to discussing interesting results. This conversation denotes the importance of continuing this dialogue and including people from different fields in and outside of academia to gain a holistic view on sex and gender.

Meet the mentors of QBIN’s first cégep student mentorship program!

By / / Initiatives, Research / , ,

Last summer, QBIN launched the first trial of a new program designed to engage CEGEP students in bio-imaging research and help graduate students and postdocs gain valuable mentorship experience. Three PhD students from the Integrated Program in Neuroscience at McGill University were paired with two CEGEP students from Dawson College to complete a 10-week research internship. The pilot was a great success and we plan to expand the program to include more mentors and interns from across the province in summers to come! Read on to learn more about the program from the perspective of our first three QBIN mentors, Aurelie Bussy, Stephanie Tullo, and Isabelle Arseneau-Bruneau!

The link between hearing loss and cognitive decline

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In Canada, 38% of adults between the age of 20 and 79 years old suffer from hearing loss, and many never receive treatment. Furthermore, scientists have found that hearing loss often precedes diagnoses of age-related dementia by 5 to 10 years, suggesting that difficulty in hearing may contribute to cognitive decline – an interesting link that is supported by imaging studies showing functional and anatomical changes in the brains of older adults.

Best Buddies in research and beyond: how collaborative science facilitates progress in autism bio-imaging research

By / / Interview, Research, Science / , ,

How many times have you asked yourself whether your research has a broader impact on society? Why is it so hard to quantify the impact of our scientific endeavors? I recently sat down with a few prominent neuroscientists who are members of both QBIN and the Transforming Autism Care Consortium (TACC) network. I wanted to get a sense of the state of the art in autism bio-imaging research and what the motivating factors and benefits are behind collaborative science and inter-network initiatives in Quebec.

Spotlight on a Rising Star: A conversation with Sylvia Villeneuve

By / / Events, Interview, Research / , ,

Exceptionally this year, QBIN will be awarding two Professors the Rising Star in Bio-Imaging in Quebec award, Profs. Sylvia Villeneuve and Hassan Rivaz, who will present their work at the 2022 QBIN Scientific Day in Sherbrooke on June 2nd along with this year’s William Feindel lecturer, Louis Collins. In order to learn more about their research and interests, the QBIN blog team conducted interviews with each of them. Stay tuned for interviews with Hassan Rivaz and Louis Collins soon and enjoy this first interview with Sylvia Villeneuve!

Can a computer make you cry? Revisiting the age-old question through the uncanny valley

By / / Research, Science / , , ,

Video games are more popular and more profitable than ever before.  Having come a long way since the arcade hits of decades past like Pong and Pac-Man, modern video games often have incredible photorealistic 3D graphics as well as complex narratives and engaging storylines that have helped them outperform even cinema in terms of profit and share of the entertainment industry. Video game players get to become part of the narrative by virtually embodying characters through gameplay, which often runs for over 20 hours or more, rather than just observing the story from the outside for 1-2 hours of film. As a result, people often report that video games can to some extent elicit far stronger emotional responses than movies, making it somewhat unsurprising that many games end up with cult-like followings of devoted fans waiting anxiously for the next release.

Reflecting the light of this year’s QBIN Rising Star: Bratislav Misic

By / / Events, Interview, Research / , , ,

The second annual Rising Star in Bio-imaging in Quebec was awarded to Dr. Bratislav Misic, Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University. Dr. Misic leads the Network Neuroscience lab at the Montreal Neurological Institute, where he and his team investigate how brain networks — the interactions between brain regions — support complex behaviour. We sat down with Dr. Misic for a chat to learn more about him and his research trajectory, and were struck by his humility and positivity. It was a breath of fresh air during these trying times. We hope our interview with Dr. Misic serves as a source of inspiration and wisdom for you, as much as it did for us.

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