Neuroscience

Projects in this research theme mainly focus on factors influencing the formation of neurotoxic protein aggregates, the involvement of immune cells, the effects of anti-inflammatory or neuroprotective agents, and the imbalance of hemispheric activity.

For neurodegenerative diseases, we aim to dissect the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of major nervous system diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementias, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Our neuroscientists have been at the forefront of studying interactions between the nervous and immune systems and disorders where these interactions are altered or dysfunctional, forming one of the largest neuroimmunology groups in the world. Research from this group examines how immune cells affect brain and spinal cord function, and how these responses are affected following infection and during neurodegenerative diseases. In multiple sclerosis, for example, neuroimmunologists of the CHU de Québec–Université Laval Research Center study how myeloid cells and lymphocytes cause the demyelination of axons. They also investigate the role of microglia in synapse plasticity during development, stress, and in various pathological conditions.

Research on neurooncological diseases focuses on understanding and treating cancers affecting the nervous system, such as gliomas and meningiomas. It aims to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the growth of brain tumors, their resistance to treatments, and their interaction with the neuronal microenvironment.

This theme includes projects focused on:

• The role of inflammation in the repair process of nerve and muscle tissues following injury or stroke;
• The identification of neuronal circuits involved in sensorimotor behaviors and their transformations (neuroplasticity) after injury, trauma, chronic pain, or in response to treatments affecting neurotransmitters;
• Researching neurostimulation therapies to modulate brain activity and improve functions after brain injury, trauma, or in chronic pain;
• Developing therapies for hereditary ataxias, muscular dystrophies (e.g., Duchenne muscular dystrophy, hereditary inclusion body myopathy, Steinert disease), neuromuscular disorders (e.g., amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, dystonia), neuropathies, aneurysms, traumatic brain injuries, and neuropathic or low back pain. Therapies being explored include genetically corrected autologous stem cell transplants, induced pluripotent stem cells, or normal allogeneic cells, neurostimulation and neuromodulation, new surgical approaches, and the development of new genetic tests for neurogenetic diseases.

The research in this theme focuses on the regulation of major nervous system functions, such as memory, motor skills, social behaviors, and chronic stress, the development and control of neuroendocrine processes, the role of physiological barriers separating the bloodstream from the nervous systems (e.g., blood-brain, blood-spinal cord, and blood-meningeal barriers) in the passage of immune mediators (e.g., immune cells, cytokines, antibodies) and drugs, as well as the effects of the neural environment on the epigenomic and transcriptomic signatures of nerve and glial cells. Other studies focus on the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in conditions of systemic and neurogenic stress and the role of this response in homeostasis. Finally, scientists of the Neuroscience program are studying the consequences of neuroendocrine dysfunction and sex hormones on neuronal function in certain neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.