Welcome to the Villeneuve Lab

The Villeneuve Lab is interested in how the brain ages with a specific focus on the factors that modify the association between brain lesions and cognitive performances. Our research is motivated by the fact that more than 25% of older adults are considered cognitively normal despite the presence of beta-amyloid in their brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. This fact suggests that other factors interact with beta-amyloid to trigger the expression of cognitive deficits in Alzheimer’s disease. It also suggests that actions can be taken to prevent or postpone the expression of disease-related symptoms. The main focus of The Villeneuve Lab’s research is therefore to examine the factors that protect (or worse) the development of cognitive deficits in age-related neurodegenerative diseases. We use a multi-tier approach that includes molecular PET imaging, MRI imaging, neuropsychological testing, and genetics.

Visit our research page to learn more about our ongoing projects.

 

Recent News

Douglas Research Day
June 11th, 2019
2019 Annual Research Day of Douglas Hospital Research Centre and McGill Department of Psychiatry was on Tuesday, June 11, 2019. Pierre-Francois Meyer gave a presentation, while Theresa Kobe and Melissa McSweeney presented their posters. [Photos]

OHBM
June 9th, 2019
The Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) 2019 conference took place in Rome from June 9 – 13. At OHBM, Alexa Pichet Binette presented her poster “Gray matter volume and whole-brain pattern organization across the lifespan and Alzheimer’s disease”. [News]

First Annual Canadian Open Neuroscience (CONP) Meeting
April 29th, 2019
The first annual meeting of CONP took place at the end of April in Toronto. Dr. Sylvia Villeneuve and Jennifer Tremblay-Mercier took part in the two-day conference which featured talks about open neuroscience’s role in accelerating scientific breakthroughs and how researchers can maintain the accessibility of freely available data. [News]

Découverte
April 16th, 2019
In April 2019, the Canadian television series Discovery visited 3 laboratories at the Douglas for their segment covering Artificial Intelligence and new discoveries in the field of Alzheimer’s research. Dr. Judes Poirier and Dr. Villeneuve’s lab took part in this filming session as well as Dr. Mallar Chakravarti, a PREVENT-AD collaborator. [News]