November 10, 2014
Photo credit: Luther Caverly
Minding The Mind
As the number of people diagnosed with anxiety disorder and other mental illnesses rise, neuroscientist Natalina Salmaso is scanning the brain to understand the biological basis of the phenomena.
Salmaso was recently named Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Behavioral Neurobiology, bringing the total number of CRCs at Carleton to 24. As both a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist, she brings a unique perspective to the role.
“The clinical background is really important,” Salmaso explains.
“There is a general segregation between clinical psychology and neurobiology and yet any behaviour you want to change needs to be represented in the brain. If we know what is happening in the brain, we can recommend psychotherapy with pharmacotherapy.”
Admitting the cross talk between the twin disciplines is not nearly strong enough, Salmaso is hoping to find new ways to treat the aging or the injured brain, as the population ages and the number of people suffering from psychiatric illnesses rises.
As both a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist, she brings a unique perspective to the role.
It’s about bringing bench to bedside
“It’s about bringing bench to bedside,” adds Salmaso, whose laboratory experiments will build a data set to examine the responsiveness of what are known as astroglial cells, one of the most abundant types of cell in the brain.
Salmaso is particularly interested in studying the role of astroglial cells in “normal” states as well as illnesses such as anxiety and mood disorders with a view to helping the brain repair and regenerate through therapies that can improve cognitive impairment.
“The star-shaped astrocytes, which were long thought of as the “glue” that holds the neurons together, have a history of being the underdog. They have traditionally been overlooked in developmental models of mental illness and disease, which is remarkable considering that astroglial cells (collectively, astrocytes are known as astroglia) play crucial roles in keeping the neurons going by nourishing them.”
Nevertheless, the role of the “humble” astroglia has only come to light in the last couple of decades, says Salmaso, who started on her long path to her current position in 1995 when she landed a job as a psychology technician at Concordia University in Montreal.
“I found psychology exciting. It answered all the questions in my head. And my psychology professor, Jane Stewart (founder of Concordia’s Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology) was instrumental in teaching me how to study methodically.”
Salmaso worked as Stewart’s research assistant for six year before beginning a master’s degree in clinical psychology. By 2009, she had completed her doctorate in behavioural neurobiology with Barbara Woodside, while working at McGill University’s health centre as a clinical psychologist.
The star-shaped astrocytes, which were long thought of as the “glue” that holds the neurons together, have a history of being the underdog.
Then, as a post-doctoral fellow at Yale on a Young Investigator Grant under the mentorship of Flora Vaccarino, she studied anxiety by delving deeper into the role of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), a protein that is synthesized by astrocytes and that is associated with anxiety behaviour in rodents and mood and anxiety disorders in humans.
“We are studying the mechanism by which FGF2 may modulate these behaviours during early development and its association with maternal care,” Salmaso explains.
While medicine has significantly improved the survival rate of prematurely born children, the elderly and people with brain injuries, Salmaso is concerned with their poorer quality of life and their suffering from psychological and neurological pathology.
While the biological and neurological mechanisms at work are not yet understood, Salmaso has already discovered through her research that a rich, stimulating learning environment can improve developmental and cognitive disabilities.
One of her current projects involves a rodent paradigm that models very premature human babies to study how a stimulating environment can improve future development and outcome through childhood and beyond. She is specifically examining the contributory role of maternal care during recovery, and also looking at the astroglia and other molecules associated with various outcomes.
Since she arrived in Ottawa in July, she has been settling into her new office in the Life Sciences building. The role of CRC in Behavioral Neurobiology is “a dream come true” for Salmaso, who longed to return to Canada during her five years in Connecticut.
“I always wanted to come back north of the border – and raise my children here.”
Meanwhile, Carleton’s Neuroscience Department, she says, “is truly supportive. They care about their students and they care about their colleagues.”
Salmaso has already discovered through her research that a rich, stimulating learning environment can improve developmental and cognitive disabilities.
Share: Twitter, Facebook