Backgrounder

August 4, 2010

Projects Funded In St. Catharines

Through the ORF – Research Infrastructure program , the government is investing close to $18 million in research infrastructure projects at universities and research hospitals across the province. This investment will support 104 projects and more than 1,300 researchers at 14 institutions in 11 cities across the province.

Brock University

The Development of Face Perception
Understanding how we process differences in faces
Lead researcher: Dr. Catherine Mondloch
Provincial funding: $170,790
Researchers affected: 1

Adults are extremely good at recognizing the identity of individual faces and facial displays of emotion. Dr. Catherine Mondloch of Brock University wants to better understand how this expertise develops during childhood. Her research will help us understand what happens in cases of atypical development, such as autism, and could yield new approaches to treatment.

The Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS) for research on electronic and magnetic properties of materials and thin films of compounds
Accelerating the development of new materials with unique properties
Lead researcher: Dr. Fereidoon Razavi
Provincial funding: $245,850
Researchers affected: 8

Brock University’s Dr. Fereidoon Razavi develops materials for industrial applications. He now has a new Physical Property Measurement System, which allows for the automated measurement of several properties. This will speed up his research – which has applications across several industries, including electronics, chemicals, medical and health.

Neurovisceral models of mental health and personality
Understanding how self control develops
Lead researchers: Dr. Sidney J. Segalowitz and Dr. Jane Dywan
Provincial funding: $35,965
Researchers affected: 2

At Brock University psychologists Dr. Sidney Segalowitz and Dr. Jane Dywan are using scalp electrophysiology to learn more about how self control develops in adolescents and how it changes with age, with a particular focus on gambling. Their findings could change the way addictions are treated in the future.

An electrophysiological approach to the developmental trajectories of working memory functions
Advancing our knowledge of working memory
Lead researcher: Dr. Ayda Tekok-Kilic
Provincial funding: $125,617
Researchers affected: 3

Brock University clinical and cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Ayda Tekok-Kilic studies how children develop working memory – the system that lets us temporarily store and manage information so we can carry out complex tasks like learning and reasoning. She hopes to identify the functional problems related to working memory in anxiety and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Establishment of the Balance and Gait Laboratory to investigate neural mechanisms underlying posture and locomotion
Reducing the incidence of falls among seniors
Lead researchers: Dr. Craig Tokuno and Dr. Allan Adkin
Provincial funding: $148,790
Researchers affected: 7

Drs. Craig Tokuno and Allan Adkin at Brock University hope to reduce the incidence of falls and fall-related injuries in older adults. They are investigating how the central nervous system controls posture and locomotion, and how this changes with advancing age.