On the path from the eye to the brain, visual information travels between neurons via glutamate. Glutamate levels are crucial to cell communication: too high and neurons die, too low and information cannot be properly understood. In either case, the wrong balance of glutamate in the neurons can contribute to neurological diseases including stroke, glaucoma, and Alzheimer's.
Newsroom

For media enquiries or to connect with researchers in the MacVicar Lab at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, please contact Emily Wight, Communications Manager.
- Email: emily.wight@brain.ubc.ca
- Phone: 604-417-0165
For general enquiries about MacVicar Lab activities, please contact Katherine Rhodes at krhodes@brain.ubc.ca.
The MS Walk, an annual fundraising event engaging more than 40,000 Canadians across the country, highlights the cause at the center of everything the UBC Hospital MS Clinic at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health does.
Effective help for depression and anxiety is now just a click away, thanks to a mobile-optimized website developed at the Mood Disorders Clinic at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health. MoodFx, accessible by mobile device or computer, uses validated questionnaires to track patients’ mood, cognition and work performance.
New research by Dr. Liisa Galea, at the University of British Columbia, suggests the form of estrogens used in hormone therapy and that occur in motherhood could be critical to explaining why hormone therapy has variable effects.
The Canadian Association for Neuroscience, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health and Science World have teamed up to present latest neuroscience research to the public.
Researchers at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health say a new epilepsy drug holds promise as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
Acknowledging the influence of female physiology is essential to providing effective, individualized treatment.
Pictured: Dr. Terrance Snutch (left) and Dr. Brian MacVicar (right)
A team of researchers has made a significant discovery in the mechanism of brain swelling, paving the way to preventative treatment for severe to fatal brain damage following stroke, head injury or cardiac arrest. Their research, published today in Cell, paves the way for a preventative drug treatment for severe brain damage following stroke, infection, head injury or cardiac arrest.
A collaborative, interdisciplinary project from researchers at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health is making it possible to watch brain stimulation in action.