Voices From The Community
Building scientific infrastructure
Story by Janet Harvey/Photos by Bernie Wirzba and Veer
Why would a "superstar" neuroscientist like Dr. Bruce McNaughton leave his successful research lab at the University of Arizona to move to Lethbridge? Maybe it's the allure of the multimillion-dollar AHFMR Polaris Award and a province that knows how to support the pursuit of scientific knowledge.
Alberta is something of a magnet for health research. So says Dr. Bruce McNaughton, a world-renowned neuroscientist and the winner of the first AHFMR Polaris Award. And he should know. In accepting his award, he is moving to the province to set up his lab at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN), part of the University of Lethbridge.
"This is the most visionary award developed in North America," he says of the ten-year, $10-million AHFMR Polaris Award, which-together with the required matching funding provided by the University of Lethbridge and iCORE*-is in actuality worth more than $20 million. "I know of nothing else like it."
To Dr. McNaughton, Alberta is a port in the storm that is the research-funding crisis in the United States and, to some degree, in other parts of Canada. The award will enable him to build a team of experts looking at various aspects of how the brain computes and generates knowledge. Some of these experts are already lining up to follow Dr. McNaughton to Lethbridge: negotiations are in progress to bring four more researchers to the CCBN. "These people will bring immense technical skills and modern technologies that will enable us to interact and build knowledge," says Dr. McNaughton. "The AHFMR Polaris Award presents a unique opportunity. Within a few years this centre could be recognized as a mecca for this kind of research."
The kind of research to which he refers is the study of learning and memory; more specifically, how the brain constructs internal representations of the world. He explains that the brain is a dynamic system composed of a huge number of processors that continuously interact with each other "The brain creates its own reality. Everything that comes in is processed against its internal constructs."
Dr. McNaughton's research will build on the groundwork that has already been laid at the CCBN. "People like Dr. Bryan Kolb, Dr. Ian Whishaw, and Dr. Rob Sutherland have created a centre of world-class expertise in behavioural neuroscience here. My contribution will be a focus on the brain's processing elements." Dr. McNaughton's claim to fame is the development of the most advanced technology in the world for studying groups of brain cells and how they interact. This interaction is called computational neuroscience: how the brain extracts knowledge from experience.
Dr. McNaughton's work could have important implications for people with brain injuries and age-related brain disorders. "I have worked for many years in the field of aging of the brain. There are increasing possibilities of spinoffs from this work in terms of clinical treatments. And simply understanding the difference between normal and pathological aging gives clinicians a better picture. Not everyone will get Alzheimer's; and just because somebody is getting older does not mean that their memory will be impaired."
But he is also quick to caution about the danger of looking to science for applications. "There is increasing pressure on scientists in all disciplines to come up with applications for their work. This is a fundamental error on the part of public administrators; and it is unfortunate because it leads to the diversion of people away from basic science. Some scientists are pushed into the position of having to come up with some sort of quick solution from their work. But science works from a large number of people generating knowledge. From that knowledge emerges, now and again, a solution. If you don't foster that infrastructure you will not come up with solutions to health issues and medical problems. We need an infrastructure of people doing science for its own sake, always mindful of its relevance to solving problems." He points out that Alberta has the advantage of being a relatively small, closely knit scientific community-optimal conditions for creating such an infrastructure.
The AHFMR Polaris Award was specifically designed to recruit a "superstar" health researcher to Alberta. The term elicits a grimace from Dr. McNaughton. "My initial reaction to that word is 'Yuck!'-but really, I am delighted to be called a superstar. Superstars in athletics and the arts inspire young people. Scientists don't often get that kind of recognition; and I'd be just as happy not to have it, but it is now increasingly important for young people to be attracted to science. There is a tremendous need for science, and therefore science needs public recognition."
A world-class team
Dr. Bruce McNaughton and the other experts he hopes to bring with him to the University of Lethbridge will be joining an established team that is already world-class in its field. That field is behavioural neuroscience-the study of the relationship between brain function and behaviour, conducted mainly by observing animals. In this type of research, The Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN) has put Lethbridge on the map as a centre of expertise with an international reputation.
The CCBN team includes
Dr. Rob Sutherland, an AHFMR Scientist who researches learning and memory-both normal and disordered. His work could lead to treatments for the memory disorders that come with aging, brain injury, prenatal exposure to alcohol, and neurological disease.
Dr. Bryan Kolb, who studies the largest part of the brain, the cerebral cortex, which controls thought, reasoning, memory, sensation, and movement. He investigates how this part of the brain is organized in mammals and how its organization changes in line with experience. His work has the potential to help people who are recovering after stroke.
Dr. Ian Whishaw, who researches the regions of the brain that initiate and control skilled limb movements, such as reaching for objects and manipulating them. His work could ultimately help people who have suffered brain damage.