[BIC-announce] <REMINDER> Pathways and Connections: Dr. Maria Natasha Rajah (Wed-May-2nd at 5:30 pm; Thomson House, room 403)

[Zografos 'Aki' CARAMANOS]

*Pathways** and Connections*****

*How does one become a successful neuroscientist?*  This informal seminar
series will try to answer this question through a series of conversations
with some of the most successful neuroscientists in the world: researchers
who are affiliated with McGill University <http://www.mcgill.ca/>’s  Integrated
Program in Neuroscience <http://www.mcgill.ca/ipn/> or former McGill
Neuroscience Alumni who are now in the non-academic world.   This will be
your chance to talk to them about the circuitous pathways and the
important, but often serendipitous, connections that led them to where they
are now.   ****

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*The next session of the Pathways and
Connections<http://www.mcgill.ca/ipn/continuing/events/pathways/>
series
will feature Dr. Maria Natasha
Rajah<http://www.douglas.qc.ca/researcher/maria-natasha-rajah?locale=en>
and
will be held at Thomson House <http://pgss.mcgill.ca/MEMBERSHIP/index.html>
 (3650 McTavish <http://www.mcgill.ca/maps/?Building=188>, room 403)
starting at 5:30 pm **on Wednesday, May 2nd.  *****

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*Please note that space is limited: to **RSVP, or for more information,
please contact Zografos
<zografos.caramanos at mcgill.ca>Caramanos<zografos.caramanos at mcgill.ca>
**.*****

** **

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Dr. Rajah<http://www.douglas.qc.ca/researcher/maria-natasha-rajah?locale=en> is
a Researcher in the Geriatric Psychiatry Program (Douglas Institute)
and Director of the Brain Imaging Centre (Douglas Institute); she is also
an Associate Professor in McGill's Department of Psychiatry.  Her lab at
the Douglas <http://www.douglas.qc.ca/page/natasha-rajah-lab> uses brain
imaging to examine the neural substrates of learning and memory in healthy
young adults. It also aims to understand how normal ageing and various
forms of dementia affect these substrates and mnemonic abilities.****

** **

Dr. Rajah received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 2003 and did
her post-doctoral training at U.C. Berkeley from 2003 to 2005. She began
working at the Douglas in 2005. In 2007, she was awarded a CIHR New
Investigator Salary Award by the Institute of Aging to use a brain imaging
technique called event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (*fMRI*)
to *(i)* examine the role of the frontal cortex in encoding and retrieving
memories, and *(ii)* to understand the impact of healthy ageing on the
structure and function of the frontal cortex.  More specifically, she is
interested in determining which frontal cortex regions exhibit changes in
grey matter volume and activity with healthy ageing, and how these changes
impact our ability to remember details about our past personal experiences.
She is also interested in understanding what compensatory mechanisms
the ageing brain uses to try and maintain memory functions. To answer these
questions Dr. Rajah asks healthy young, middle-aged, and older adults to
perform memory experiments while they undergo fMRI scanning to see what
brain regions are involved in memory functions.  The goal of this research
is to understand how the frontal cortex, in collaboration with other brain
regions, work as a neural network and influence learning and memory across
the adult lifespan. Ultimately, she wants to understand how the brain
changes from young adulthood to old age so she can identify: *(i)* at what
age neural and memory changes start to emerge, *(ii)* how these changes in
middle age relate to healthy versus pathological ageing, and *(iii)* what
the compensatory mechanisms are in the ageing brain that help some older
adults maintain good memory function.****

** **

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*At the present time, one more session is planned for Spring-2012:*****

1) Dr. Phil Barker<http://www.mni.mcgill.ca/neuro_team/neuronal_survival/philip_barker/>on
May 23rd, 5:30 pm, Thomson House, room 403.
****

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-- ****

Zografos Caramanos, M.A.****

** **

Research Assistant, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Unit****

Ph.D. Student, Integrated Program in Neuroscience****

** **

McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, ****

Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University****

3801 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 2B4
(phone) 514-299-8160;  (fax) 514-398-2975
(e-mail) zografos.caramanos at mcgill.ca
(website) www.zcaramanos.com****

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