LEARNING. MEMORY. COGNITION.
Welcome to the Department of Neuroscience
We are a group of neuroscientists who approach the study of the brain from the point of view of the behavioural and cognitive function of distributed neural systems.
Our Department at the University of Lethbridge was the first established neuroscience department in the country and home to some of Canada’s most famous neuroscientists. Our faculty have a wide range of interests that span topics such as memory, neuroplasticity, comparative neurology, brain development, neurodegenerative disease, recovery after injury, decision making, gambling, play, sleep and stress. And all of our faculty have national and international reputations for their work. The Department is located in the Science Commons, Canada's more advanced faility for science education and research. This new $280-million facility truly puts science on display and will inspire the next generation of researchers, entrepreneurs and leaders. With open and flexible laboratories, makerspaces and specialized outreach spaces, students from kindergarten to PhD-level, faculty and community members will have boundless opportunities for hands-on learning, collaboration and discovery.
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Department Highlights
6th Annual Undergraduate Research in Science Conference of Alberta (URSCA)
The Undergraduate Research in Science Conference of Alberta (URSCA) is a celebration of Alberta's discovery and innovation at the earliest stage of postsecondary education. Gone are the days when most researchers began their original research at the graduate level. Increasingly, student-focused, research-intensive institutions are not only encouraging hands-on research in the laboratory and in the field at the undergraduate level.
Javad Karimi is focusing his doctoral work on untangling the mechanisms involved in memory processing.
“Understanding such mechanisms are among the initial steps we need to take to unravel the roots of memory disorders like dementia,” says Javad Karimi Abadchi, a doctoral student in Dr. Majid Mohajerani’s lab. “Moreover, our findings could help devise diagnostic tools for screening potential candidates for developing memory disorders.”
University of Lethbridge researchers examining memory processing in the brain have shed light on the mechanisms involved in this complex process — one of the first stages in understanding the basis of memory disorders. This significant work was recently published in the journal eLife and is part of the continuing contributions of the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN) in the field of learning and memory.
Memories are formed through interactions between different areas of the brain, with the hippocampus and the neocortex among the most important structures for memory processing. After a memory is formed, the interactions between these two structures during sleep influence how that memory will be incorporated into the bulk of previously stored memories without interfering with them. During this incorporation process, called memory consolidation, some memories lose their details, some become persistent and some are forgotten.
Building Brains Together group offers play activities to local families through park posters
Don’t let your children know, but the new activity posters that have popped up on lampposts around Henderson and Nicholas Sheran Lakes are actually helping them build their brains.
The posters, placed by U of L neuroscientists Drs. Robbin Gibb (BASc (BSc) ‘77, MSc ‘01, PhD ‘04) and Claudia Gonzalez (MSc ‘00, PhD ‘04) and the Building Brains Together (BBT) group, are designed for families to engage their children with simple activities as they make their way around the city paths.
Career Bridge | Co-operative Education & Applied Studies
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Whether you’re looking for a more in-depth learning experience by assisting with research projects on campus or by testing your knowledge in a real-life work setting, we can help! The programs available in the Career Bridge office will provide you with a solid foundation for further studies and an excellent framework for a challenging and rewarding career — whatever direction you decide to go. Explore career options, participate in research and develop skills that complement your degree.