Martin Parent, PhD
Full Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Université Laval
Principal Investigator, CERVO Brain Research Centre
My research team investigates the anatomical and functional organization of the basal ganglia, a set of subcortical structures involved in motor behavior, in rodents, human and non-human primates. Our research projects aim at characterizing alterations of neuronal circuits that occur in Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s chorea using animal models of neurodegenerative diseases and post-mortem human brains. We take advantage of a vast array of methodological approaches that include in vivo electrophysiological recordings followed by tracer injections and three-dimensional reconstructions of neurons, examination of synaptic contacts by electron microscopy, localization of neurotransmitters and analysis of post-mortem human brain tissue using optical and confocal microscopy.
