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La série Feindel Brain and Mind Seminar s’inscrit dans la ligne de pensée du Dr William Feindel (1918-2014), directeur du Neuro de 1972 à 1984, qui consiste à maintenir un lien constant entre pratique clinique et recherche. Les présentations porteront sur les dernières avancées et découvertes en neuropsychologie, en neurosciences cognitives et en neuro-imagerie.Ìý

Les scientifiques du Neuro, ainsi que des collègues et collaborateurs venus du milieu ou du monde entier, se chargeront des conférences. Cette série se veut un forum virtuel pour les chercheurs et les stagiaires en vue de favoriser les échanges interdisciplinaires sur les mécanismes des troubles cérébraux et cognitifs, leur diagnostic et leur traitement.Ìý

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Véronique Bohbot

Professeure, Département de psychiatrie, Hôpital Douglas, Université 91ÉçÇø

´¡²ú²õ³Ù°ù²¹³¦³Ù:ÌýDifferent memory systems, dependent on separate parts of the brain, can sustain successful navigation. The hippocampus is implicated in spatial memory strategies used when finding one’s way in the environment, i.e. it is allocentric and involves remembering the relationship between landmarks. On the other hand, another strategy dependent on the caudate nucleus can also be used, i.e. the response strategy, which relies on making a series of stimulus-response associations (e.g. right and left turns from given positions that act as stimuli, such as turn right at the white building). Adults who use spatial memory strategies showed increased fMRI activity in the hippocampus, increased grey matter in the hippocampus, and better overall cognition compared to adults who use response strategies. Decades of research in my laboratory has shown that specific navigation strategies are associated with several genes, such as BDNF and ApoE, as well as hormones, such as cortisol and progesterone. Experiences dependent modulators such as age, habit, stress and rewards also modulate strategies dependent on the hippocampus and caudate nucleus. Moreover, certain technologies such as Global Position Systems (GPS) or video games inhibit the use of the hippocampus and are associated to poor spatial memory. These results have important implications on mental health because a larger hippocampus has been associated with healthy cognition in normal aging and with a reduced risk of numerous neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Schizophrenia, Post-Traumatic Stress disorder and Depression.