CAN-ACN 2021 Submitted Abstracts ABOUT VISTA VISTA is a collaborative research program funded by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF). VISTA builds on York University’s world- leading interdisciplinary expertise in biological and computer vision with over 80 academic, public, and for-profit partners. HIGHLIGHTS MISSION Our mission is to advance vision science through computational and biological research perspectives and to produce applications that generate positive economic, societal, health and technological impacts for Canada and the world. FUNDED TO DATE BECOME A VISTA AFFILIATE/PARTNER Program benefits: Become a member of an interdisciplinary research community across BECOME A VISTA TRAINEE the research areas of health, science, engineering, humanities, & arts Master's Scholarships Work with over 80 industry partners offering opportunities for research 2 year funding ($10,000/year), in addition collaboration and product development to standard York University funding Supervisor must be a VISTA Core member Join an international network pushing the boundaries of vision PhD Scholarships research in North America, Europe, and Asia 4 year funding ($10,000/year), in addition to standard York University funding Collaborate on VISTA-funded research projects Supervisor must be a VISTA Core member Postdoctoral Fellows Participate in VISTA-funded events 2 year funding ($55,000/year) Yearly Research and Networking allowances Travel Awards to support expenses for visiting scholars, students, and fellows to/from current VISTA partners CONTACT/FOLLOW US [email protected] @vistayorku Visit us: yorku.ca/vista Contents Parallel symposium 1: Neurovascular function in health and disease .......................................... 1 Parallel symposium 2: The hypothalamus and its hormones in health & disease....................... 4 Parallel symposium 3: Emerging role of microglia in neurodegeneration .................................... 8 Parallel symposium 4: Intersections between chloride homeostasis and synaptic communication in health and disease .............................................................................................11 Parallel symposium 5: Dopamine and the response to environmental variation over the lifecourse: Clinical, neuroimaging, genomic and context characterization studies ..................14 Parallel symposium 6: The ever expanding roles of astrocytes in neural circuits, metabolism and disease .........................................................................................................................................17 Poster Session 1 .................................................................................................................................20 A – Development ............................................................................................................................20 B - Neural Excitability, Synapses, and Glia: Cellular Mechanisms ..........................................27 C - Disorders of the Nervous System ..........................................................................................40 D - Sensory and Motor Systems ..................................................................................................62 E - Homeostatic and Neuroendocrine Systems .........................................................................70 F - Cognition and Behavior ...........................................................................................................73 G - Novel Methods and Technology Development ....................................................................88 Poster Session 2 .................................................................................................................................93 A – Development ............................................................................................................................93 B - Neural Excitability, Synapses, and Glia: Cellular Mechanisms ..........................................99 C - Disorders of the Nervous System ....................................................................................... 112 D - Sensory and Motor Systems ............................................................................................... 133 E - Homeostatic and Neuroendocrine Systems ...................................................................... 143 F - Cognition and Behavior ........................................................................................................ 147 G - Novel Methods and Technology Development ................................................................. 162 Poster Session 3 .............................................................................................................................. 167 A – Development ......................................................................................................................... 167 B - Neural Excitability, Synapses, and Glia: Cellular Mechanisms ....................................... 174 C - Disorders of the Nervous System ....................................................................................... 185 D - Sensory and Motor Systems ............................................................................................... 206 E - Homeostatic and Neuroendocrine Systems ...................................................................... 214 F - Cognition and Behavior ........................................................................................................ 218 G - Novel Methods and Technology Development ................................................................. 231 Parallel symposium 1: Neurovascular function in health and disease Presenters: Baptiste Lacoste, University of Ottawa; Caroline Ménard, Université Laval (Chair); Mike Sapieha, Université de Montréal; Craig Brown, University of Victoria Cerebrovascular health is critical for a properly functioning nervous system. All aspects of the neurovasculature are tightly regulated in the healthy brain, including developmental processes such as angiogenesis and pruning, structures like the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and coupling between blood flow and neural activity. In advanced age and diseases, mechanisms governing cerebrovascular structure and function can go awry, which has profound implications on sensory, motor and cognitive abilities. This symposium brings together a diverse group of early/mid-career Canadian scientists exploring these issues. First, Dr. Lacoste will reveal how neurovascular dysfunction is involved in neurodevelopment disorders such as autism. Second, Dr. Menard will discuss the effects of stress resilience vs depression on BBB integrity and function. Next, Dr. Sapieha will describe how the innate immune system senses/remodels pathological blood vessels in the CNS with a focus on the retina. Finally, Dr. Brown will describe the factors influencing brain region- specific vessel loss that naturally occurs during aging. Cerebrovascular deficits in autism Baptiste Lacoste¹ ¹Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa BACKGROUND AND AIM: Brain development relies on proper maturation of its vascular beds that not only ensure steady supply of oxygen and nutrients, but also support the proliferation and differentiation of neural progenitors. As such, alterations in cerebrovascular processes during development may have long-lasting neurodevelopmental consequences, but direct evidence supporting this concept is missing. Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental conditions that affect attention, memory, learning, motor coordination, language, speech and social interactions. While the neuronal underpinnings of ASD are being extensively studied, whether vascular deficits play a role in ASD onset and/or progression is still unknown. The aim of our study is to address this important knowledge gap. METHODS: We investigated the maturation of cerebrovascular networks in 16p11.2df/+ mice, a robust mouse model of the 16p11.2 deletion ASD syndrome. In addition, we achieved endothelial-specific deletion of the 16p11.2 locus by CRE- mediated recombination under the control of an endothelial promoter (Cdh5- Cretg/+;16p11.2flox/+). Using both constitutive and conditional mutants and their Wild-Type littermates, we quantified neurovascular structure and function in vivo and in vitro, and assessed mouse behavior. RESULTS: We demonstrate that 16p11.2 hemizygosity leads to endothelium- dependent structural and functional neurovascular abnormalities. In 16p11.2df/+ mice, endothelial dysfunction manifested by impaired cerebral angiogenesis at postnatal day (P) 14, and by altered neurovascular coupling and cerebrovascular reactivity at P50. Defective angiogenesis was confirmed in vitro using primary 16p11.2df/+ mouse brain endothelial cells. Finally, we found that mice with endothelium-specific 16p11.2 deletion partially recapitulated ASD behavioral traits, including locomotor hyperactivity and impaired motor learning. CONCLUSIONS: By showing that endothelial Table of contents 16p11.2 homozygosity is required for normal brain maturation, our findings identify endothelial cells as substantial contributors to ASD, opening new research avenues. Molecular adaptations of the blood-brain barrier promote stress resilience vs depression Katarzyna Dudek¹, Laurence Dion-Albert¹, Manon Lebel¹, Katherine LeClair², Simon Labrecque³, Ellen Tuck⁴, Carmen Ferrer Perez⁵, Sam Golden⁶, Carol Tamminga⁷, Gustavo Turecki⁸, Naguib Mechawar⁸, Scott