At MON Lab we combine unique biological, physiological and nutritional techniques to investigate and understand the underlying effects of obesity that contribute to weight gain and disease. We want to know what makes an individual with obesity unique. Our focus is in linking how molecules and cells in the blood and tissue interact with the whole body to contribute to the variations in outcomes of treatment and chronic disease prevention. Through this talk, we will discuss some of the uniqu...

The majority of immune development and the ability to ‘tolerate’ food proteins occurs after birth, during the period when most infants’ are consuming human milk. The omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), is required for immune function but Canadian have one of the lowest contents of DHA in their breast milk in the world. The content of this fatty acid is highly variable in breast milk and depends primarily on dietary intake. Using information from the ...

In this talk, we will present our recent developments in the context of Personalized functional Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy (fNIRS) investigations, which consist in optimizing placement of fNIRS sources and detectors on the head of the participant in order to maximize fNIRS sensitivity to some targeted brain regions, while allowing accurate local 3D reconstructions of fluctuations of oxy-hemoglobin and deoxy-hemoglobin along the cortical surface. Personalized fNIRS investigations could be ...

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) and diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) are two established techniques which allow monitoring brain health non-invasively. With the foundation of our seminal NIRS-DCS work on neonates, we are developing novel devices and approaches to better quantify cerebral blood oxygenation, cerebral blood flow and oxygen metabolism in the clinical setting both in children and adults. In particular, in the last few years we have made substantial progress on D...

Sleep is important for memory consolidation and cognitives performances during the day. There is increasing evidence that brain oscillations during sleep play a central role in such processes. This presentation will review recent work from our lab on the interplay between brain rhythms during sleep, memory consolidation and age-related cognitive decline. We will also discuss recent data showing the impact of sleep disturbances on cognitive functions, as well as the effects o...

This talk will discuss sleep of children as they transition to teens in the context of research that examines associations between brain systems that regulate sleep/wake behavior—the circadian timing system and the sleep homeostatic system. For example, adolescents’ circadian timing becomes later; their sleep “need” does not diminish; their sleep homeostatic system is also modified in a way that can modify sleep timing. A major implication of this work has been in the area of education, sp...

Circadian clock genes are widely expressed in mammalian brain. Despite considerable knowledge about the role of these genes in the generation of circadian rhythms in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the master circadian clock, insight into brain-region specific function of these genes limited. Studies in our laboratory investigate the role of core clock gene, Bmal1 and Per2 in the control of behaviors governed by the striatum, a forebrain structure critical in in motor control, reward processi...

Sleep and circadian disturbances are common and represent risk factors for the development of some of the most prevalent and challenging chronic illnesses, such as cardio-metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders.Circadian rhythms are ubiquitous in all organisms. These rhythms, maintained through a complex molecular transcription-translation feedback loop are present throughout the brain and body, and play a key role in the regulation of nearly all physiological and behavioral processes. S...

Regional brain function is determined by its local structure and connectivity. I will present work from our lab that strives to quantify connectivity for applications in healthy development and understanding the impact of disease - focusing on understanding normative cerebellar connectivity and quantifying the impact of stroke. I will also touch on some recent work linking interhemispheric functional connectivity to bimanual motor control in older adults.

With aging, there are declines in sensorimotor functions such as fine motor control, gait and balance. Moreover, the largest age differences in brain structure are observed in the motor and somatosensory cortices. A key question of interest is why some individuals are more resilient than others to these functional declines. I will describe my findings showing that, in some cases, individual differences in sensorimotor system structure and function are associated with motor performance meas...

Safe mobility is vital to the functional independence of older adults. Executive functions such as working memory updating and dividing attention play an increasingly important role in supporting mobility in old age. This talk describes recent studies that examine the influence of cognitive and sensory challenges to complex motor performance. Featured are recent cognitive training and exercise intervention studies designed to target executive functions to improve mobility and cognition in old...

Disorders of gait and cognition are central to many age related conditions and diseases. While there are medications available to treat some of these disorders, they have significant side effects and limited effectiveness. A better understanding of the inter-relationship between motor and cognitive function in aging may help guide the development of new therapeutic approaches for conditions such as frailty, mobility disability and dementia. In this talk, I will discuss non-pharmacological ...

An innovative workshop aimed to help attendees develop effective presentation skills. Colleen brings a unique actor’s perspective to communicating with an audience. Effective communication starts with self-awareness, authenticity and passion for the message. The key is learning how to convey these elements in a manner that connects and resonates with the audience. This workshop is highly interactive and includes movement, visualization, warm-up exercises, practice presentations and...