More than 70% of Canadian adults experience moderate levels of stress daily. The effect of stress on the Canadian health system is enormous and escalating. Increasing evidence has pointed out that the communication between brain cells - synaptic transmission - is highly susceptible to stress insult.

Tak Pan Wong, PhD, is interested in understanding the impact of stress on the brain. He also evaluates how this relates to individual behaviour, learning ability and memory formation.

One of his research interests is to understand how stress produces abnormality in synaptic transmission, and consequently, impairment in memory formation. Using a combination of electrophysiological, molecular, and proteomic approaches, he will study the molecular mechanism of how stress facilitates a form of hippocampal synaptic plasticity namely long-term depression (LTD).

Another major direction of Wong’s laboratory is to study the molecular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity, a cellular process that regulate the strength of synaptic transmission. Research in synaptic plasticity has recently evolved from a focus on physiological processes such as learning and memory to its potential pathological role in producing abnormal synaptic transmission, which is the most common neuropathology in mental illness. For instance, Tak Pan Wong and colleagues has found that blocking LTD is sufficient to abolish addictive behavior in rats. Findings from these studies could generate novel and specific therapeutic targets for the treatment of drug addiction and other brain disorders.