Two New Assays from The Neuro Speed Up the Search for α-Synucleinopathy Therapies

The Neuro's Early Drug Discovery Unit has published two complementary automated assays built on stem-cell-derived dopaminergic neurons. The first, published in Methods, screens for molecules that block cells from absorbing toxic α-Synuclein preformed fibrils. The second, also published in Methods, picks up where the first leaves off, automating the tracking of new α-Synuclein aggregates as they form inside neurons, showing that aggregate formation scales with dose and exposure time and depends on the neuron's own α-Synuclein levels. Together, the two assays give researchers scalable tools for testing how candidate drugs might interrupt α-Synucleinopathy at different stages, from blocking entry to halting propagation.  

Learn more about the TRIDENT iPSC & Organoid Core HERE.

A New Assay for the Touchscreen Toolkit: Validating Stimulus–Response Learning as an α-Synucleinopathy Biomarker. 

Published in Translational Psychiatry, this Mouse Core study adds a validated task to its translational cognitive testing platform. Testing two distinct α-Synuclein fibril strains in the M83 mouse model, the team found that both impaired stimulus–response learning well before motor symptoms emerged, even though only one strain led to overt motor deficits. These findings expand the touchscreen platform’s suite of translational cognitive assays for α-Synucleinopathy research, delivering a robust, cross-species readout to detect cognitive decline in α-Synucleinopathy.

Learn more about the TRIDENT Mouse Core HERE.

It's Not Just Amyloid: Failing Myelin May Be Driving Brain Network Breakdown in Alzheimer's Disease

Posted on bioRxiv, this study from TRIDENT's Mouse Imaging team tracks the default mode network (DMN) in an APP knock-in mouse model as the disease progresses. The team found a biphasic pattern that mirrors what's seen in human Alzheimer's patients: early network hypersynchrony gives way to hyposynchrony as amyloid accumulates, tracking closely with myelin maturation failure and oligodendrocyte precursor loss. Because this same DMN pattern shows up in humans, the findings position myelin-network coupling as a promising candidate for a cross-species imaging biomarker in Alzheimer's disease.

Learn more about the TRIDENT Mouse Core HERE.

A New Method for Automatic Face-Detection and Tracking of Marmosets in Home Cages

Published in eLife, this study introduces an automated system that identifies individual marmosets in real time using facial recognition and coloured collar beads for tracking freely moving marmosets in home cages. Once trained, it runs on its own, tying behavioural data to the correct individual without an experimenter needing to be present, and is well suited to longitudinal studies like TRIDENT's marmoset research.

Learn more about the TRIDENT Marmoset Core HERE.

Cognitive Flexibility Falters First in a Preformed Fibrils-Injected Model of Marmosets

Posted on bioRxiv, this TRIDENT study is the first to track α-Synuclein pathology, brain structure, functional networks, and cognition together in a single non-human primate cohort over time. Marmosets injected with α-synuclein preformed fibrils showed a selective decline in cognitive flexibility, tied to disruption in fronto-limbic brain networks, while motor or sleep deficits were not seen yet. These findings add non-human primate evidence to a pattern already observed in the Mouse Core's PFF models: cognitive decline precedes overt motor symptoms in α-Synucleinopathy. By mirroring the premotor executive dysfunction documented in prodromal Parkinson’s and Lewy body disease patients, this cross-species convergence reinforces cognitive flexibility as a translationally predictive biomarker. 

Learn more about the TRIDENT Marmoset Core HERE.

The Menopause Blind Spot: What Science Has Been Missing About Brain Health

Published in The British Journal of Psychiatry, this review from TRIDENT’s Sex-Based Analysis + team shows menopause is not one-size-fits-all: its type, along with hormone therapy's formulation, dosing, and route, all shape whether treatment protects the aging brain in women. These are the same kind of sex-based factors TRIDENT accounts for when modelling neurodegenerative disease in preclinical models.

Learn more about the TRIDENT SBA+ Core HERE.

Sovereignty Through Sharing: TRIDENT Open Science Lead Makes the Case for Open Innovation

Published in Policy Options, this commentary by TRIDENT's Open Science Core lead, Dr. Richard Gold, argues Canada cannot achieve innovation sovereignty alone. He calls for stronger domestic research-industry ecosystems paired with international open science partnerships, the same open, patent-light model TRIDENT itself is built on. Dr. Gold points to leaders like the Montreal Neurological Institute as proof that this approach outpaces isolation, and moves discoveries from bench to bedside faster.

Learn more about the TRIDENT Open Science, Practices and Partnerships Core HERE.

When Is Large Team Science Collaboration Worth It? TRIDENT Team Science Core Lead Studies What Makes Scientists Say Yes

Posted on PhilSci-Archive, this preprint by TRIDENT's Team Science Collaboration lead, Dr. Jackie Sullivan, explores when joining a large team-based research project is worth pursuing. Drawing on interviews with TRIDENT neuroscientists, Dr. Sullivan finds that scientists weigh not just the scientific payoff of collaboration, but the experience they build over time, which shapes how they judge future opportunities to work together. The result is a thoughtful look at what draws scientists toward large-scale collaboration in the first place.  

Learn more about the TRIDENT Open Science, Practices and Partnerships Core HERE.

HQP Spotlight:
Kruti Joshi
Western Imaging Core
 

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HQP Spotlight:
Aya Arrar
Western Mouse Core
 

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HQP Spotlight: 
David Roper
Douglas Data Management & Sharing Core

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HQP Spotlight:
Dr. Alessandro Zanini
Western Marmoset Core

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