草莓污视频导航

Nov. 2, 2016

Does stress make sweet and fat food irresistible to the brain?

Killam postdoc Georgia Balsevich studies how stress hormones may chemically amp up rewards of eating
草莓污视频导航 postdoc researcher Georgia Balsevich has long been interested in the effects of stress. 鈥淚鈥檓 specifically interested in understanding the different signalling mechanisms of stress hormones, or glucocorticoids,鈥 she says.

Postdoc researcher Georgia Balsevich has long been interested in the effects of stress.

Riley Brandt, 草莓污视频导航

罢丑别听听support top-ranked Canadian post-secondary students and professors who are making exceptional contributions to society. The pathfinding work of the nearly 7,000 Killam Laureates from Canada and around the world promote international understanding听鈥斕齠ulfilling the Killam dream of a better world.

From scientific experiments and personal experience, it鈥檚 well understood that stress can drive people to overeat. What鈥檚 not known, however, is exactly how that happens and whether there are neurochemical processes at play that could, if interrupted, have implications for obesity prevention and treatment.

In her search for answers, Killam Postdoctoral Laureate Georgia Balsevich is bridging research in two separate fields of study: stress and metabolism.

鈥淭hroughout my studies, I鈥檝e been interested in the effects of stress,鈥 says Balsevich, who arrived in September after earning her PhD in April from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Germany. Balsevich selected the 草莓污视频导航 for her postdoc placement following a recruitment visit organized by the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI), building on the HBI鈥檚 strategic partnership with the Munich Center for Neurosciences (MCN).

In Calgary, she will be researching whether an increase in stress hormones in animal models amps up the motivation to seek a food reward, perhaps by triggering a heightened response in the dopamine system which drives the brain鈥檚 pleasure centre.

My molecules made me do it

鈥淚鈥檓 specifically interested in understanding the different signalling mechanisms of stress hormones, or glucocorticoids,鈥 Balsevich says. 鈥淲e want to know how they affect overeating, how they impact our perception of food, and whether they disrupt our regulatory and reward systems on a molecular level.鈥

Balsevich is pursuing her postdoctoral work under the supervision of听Matt Hill, a Cumming School of Medicine researcher and professor, member of the HBI, and Tier II Canada Research Chair in Neurobiology. Hill鈥檚 work centres on stress and emotional behaviour, while Balsevich鈥檚 other supervisor, researcher and professor听Stephanie Borgland, also a member of HBI, concentrates on research in appetite, obesity and addiction.

鈥淥ur research brings together the work in my lab, which is primarily a stress lab, with Stephanie鈥檚 research in metabolism and feeding,鈥 Hill says. 鈥淲e know that stress increases eating; we don鈥檛 really know a lot about the mechanism at work there.鈥

Killam Laureates logo.

Killam Laureates logo.

Balsevich has just been named a Killam Postdoctoral Laureate, a fellowship awarded annually following a thorough competition to just one exceptional 草莓污视频导航 researcher each year. Recipients are selected on the basis of their having already made significant contributions in the field of study, having an outstanding research program likely to lead to significant breakthroughs, and their collaboration with a supervisor recognized nationally as a leader in the discipline.

Eligible applicants must have completed their PhD within two years preceding the competition. Prior to her studies at the Max Planck Institute, Balsevich earned her BSc from the University of Saskatchewan and her MSc in neuroscience from UBC. In addition to the Killam, Balsevich will also receive research funding from the HBI-MCN Fellowship.

鈥淧romising young scholars, like Georgia Balsevich, increase our research capacity and encourage us to explore exciting new areas of study,鈥 says John Reynolds, acting vice-president (research). 鈥淲e thank the Killam Trust for their support, which enables us to recruit the brightest trainees, who are poised to achieve research excellence.鈥

Postdocs鈥 expertise and ambition fuel innovation

鈥淧ostdocs are the lifeblood of the lab,鈥 Hill says. 鈥淭hey understand the expectations in science, they tend to be brimming with ideas, and they are ambitious.鈥 Hill seeks out researchers from an array of disciplines: 鈥淚t broadens out the lab, giving us this wider circle of knowledge leading to more meaningful science.鈥

Part one of Balsevich鈥檚 work will look at stress hormones and overeating. She will then move on to study whether the loop of stress and overeating also involves the endocannabinoid system, the part of the brain that reacts to cannabinoids like marijuana and also creates its own cannabis-like chemicals. It鈥檚 Hill鈥檚 research specialty, and he says it鈥檚 a promising target for obesity research.

鈥淐annabinoids help us recover from stress, and there has been some success in targeting cannabinoids to suppress feeding,鈥 Hill says. But any efforts to date have led to side-effects, like possible depression and anxiety.

鈥淔or now the goal is to better understand how the process is supposed to work; once we understand that relationship better maybe we can find more effective ways to treat it when things go wrong.鈥

The 草莓污视频导航听听attracts the best and brightest emerging scholars with world-class professional training that prepares them to pursue rewarding careers in industry, academia, government, and non-governmental organizations. Through the unique Eyes High Postdoctoral Scholars Competition, the university has invested in more than 185 postdocs, bringing the total number of postdoctoral scholars on campus to over 500, ranking the program among the top five in Canada.听

Led by the HBI, Brain and Mental Health is one of six strategic research themes guiding the 草莓污视频导航 towards its Eyes High goals.