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Senior Scientist, Neuroscience, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry and Dept. of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa
Dr. Bergeron is a physician, psychiatrist and neuroscientist. His scientific interest is to study the function of the NMDA receptor in the central nervous system. The clinical impacts of Dr. Bergeron's research are potentially schizophrenia, dementia and stroke and affective disorders. Dr. Bergeron's work is supported by the Canadian Institute of Health Research, The Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression.
Techniques used in his laboratory
Patch-clamp recording, confocal microscopy, single cell RTPCR.
Major Research Activities
Evidence suggests that glutamate might play a key role in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Glutamate activates many subtypes of receptors, one of them called the NMDA receptor. The NMDA receptor can be blocked by many drugs including phencyclidine (PCP; also known as 'angel dust'). PCP can induce psychosis in healthy volunteers. The PCP psychosis is very difficult to distinguish from an acute schizophrenic episode. If the NMDA receptor hypofunction hypothesis is correct, it suggests that new treatments for schizophrenia patients should enhance the function of the NMDA receptor.
Dr. Bergeron and his team will use the patch-clamp technique in brain slices and confocal microscopy to study the effects of neuroleptic drugs and neuropeptides used or involved in Mental disorders. The effects of these agents are assessed on the circuitry of two brain areas; the hippocampus and the amygdala. Three electrophysiology data acquisition systems are available in Dr. Bergeron's laboratory. The first is used to record from projection cells from the hippocampus; the second is used to record from projection cells from the amygdala; the third is dedicated to study the interneuronal network of the hippocampus. Dr. Bergeron will interact directly with both the clinical and basic research components of the Neuroscience Program at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.
Dr. Bergeron's objective is to establish a neuroscience laboratory dedicated to neuropsychiatriatric disorders. His training as a psychiatrist and as a neuroscientist allows him to study mental diseases with cellular, molecular and neuro-imaging techniques. Recognizing the pathophysiology of mental disorders has the potential of revealing alternative modes of therapy, ultimately improving the health and quality of life of patients suffering from neuropsychiatric disorders.
Professional Associations
Member of: Québec Medical Association
Member of: Ontario Medical Association
Member of: Canadian Medical Association
Member of: American Medical Association
Member of: College of Physicians of Québec
Member of: College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
Member of: Board of Medicine, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Member of: Canadian Psychiatric Association
Member of: American Psychiatric Association
Member of: Society for Neuroscience
Member of: Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Member of: European Association of Psychoneuroendocrinology
Member of: International Association of Psychoneuroendocrinology
Member of: Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum
Member of: European Society for Neuroscience
Member of: International Brain Research Organization
Most Recent Publications (provided by The Ottawa Hospital Library Database)
Abedini MR;Muller EJ;Bergeron R;Gray DA;Tsang BK;, (2010 Jan 7), Akt promotes chemoresistance in human ovarian cancer cells by modulating cisplatin-induced, p53-dependent ubiquitination of FLICE-like inhibitory protein, Oncogene, Vol.29, Issue 1, 11-25 -> view abstract
Basu AC;Tsai GE;Ma CL;Ehmsen JT;Mustafa AK;Han L;Jiang ZI;Benneyworth MA;Froimowitz MP;Lange N;Snyder SH;Bergeron R;Coyle JT;, (2009), Targeted disruption of serine racemase affects glutamatergic neurotransmission and behavior, Molecular Psychiatry, Vol.14, Issue 7, 719-727 -> view abstract
Martina M;Bergeron R;, (2008 Sep), D1 and D4 dopaminergic receptor interplay mediates coincident G protein-independent and dependent regulation of glutamate NMDA receptors in the lateral amygdala, Journal of Neurochemistry, Vol.106, Issue 6, 2421-2435 -> view abstract
Abedini MR;Muller EJ;Brun J;Bergeron R;Gray DA;Tsang BK;, (2008 Jun 15), Cisplatin induces p53-dependent FLICE-like inhibitory protein ubiquitination in ovarian cancer cells, Cancer Research, Vol.68, Issue 12, 4511-4517 -> view abstract
Imamura Y;Ma CL;Pabba M;Bergeron R;, (2008), Sustained saturating level of glycine induces changes in NR2B-containing-NMDA receptor localization in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, Journal of Neurochemistry, Vol.105, Issue 6, 2454-2465 -> view abstract
Martina M;Turcotte ME;Halman S;Bergeron R;, (2007 Jan 1), The sigma-1 receptor modulates NMDA receptor synaptic transmission and plasticity via SK channels in rat hippocampus, Journal of Physiology, Vol.578, Issue Pt 1, 143-157 -> view abstract
Bergeron R;Imamura Y;Frangioni JV;Greene RW;Coyle JT;, (2007), Endogenous N-acetylaspartylglutamate reduced NMDA receptor-dependent current neurotransmission in the CA1 area of the hippocampus, Journal of Neurochemistry, Vol.100, Issue 2, 346-357 -> view abstract
Note: This is not a complete list of publications. More publications may be available in The Ottawa Hospital Library database and Pubmed (search by last name and initials).
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Roger Guindon Hall
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