Blog Post
Professor Maryse Lassonde is the Scientific Director of the Quebec Natural Sciences and Technology Granting Agency (FRQNT), and President of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC). A neuropsychologist, Professor Lassonde’s research has focused on a range of topics, including cognitive development of babies and children, childhood epilepsy, and the effects of sports concussions on the brain. She was a consultant with the Montréal Canadiens hockey team for several years, where she treated players with concussions. She also undertook research into the effects of concussions on children and athletes, the result of which had important implications for the regulation, prevention, and treatment of concussions.
The CCA was pleased to welcome Professor Lassonde to its Board of Governors in January 2016, and equally pleased she agreed to be profiled in this issue’s Expert Spotlight. Despite her busy schedule, she found some time to answer a few questions for CCA News Editor Kelly Loverock.
Q: Your research on concussions has been referred to as “game-changing.” Similarly, your research on a mother’s voice on the brain activity of their infants was novel for its approach (brain exploration had never before been undertaken on such young participants). What about the field of neuropsychology appealed to you?
A: I was drawn to the field of neuropsychology through my own personal experience. When I was 13, my father was diagnosed with a brain cancer, which manifested with epileptic seizures. I had just completed biology courses, and in order to intellectualize a very difficult situation, I was following my father’s brain deterioration by consulting textbooks. I was thus able to identify several pathologies, including aphasia, which is the loss of language abilities, and rapidly became familiar with a number of brain functions.
I maintained a serious interest in brain studies while obtaining both my college and bachelor’s degrees. Actually, after attending my first psycho-physiology course during my very first week at the Université de Montréal, I immediately volunteered to work in the neuropsychology labs. This led me to co-author publications and communications as an undergraduate student. My three-year lab experience, as well as those publications, likely helped me considerably in getting accepted to Stanford University for my postgraduate studies. While at Stanford, I had the privilege of working with a pioneer in neuroscience and neuropsychology, Professor Karl Pribram, a neurosurgeon reputed to have unveiled the functions of several parts of the brain, especially the frontal lobes, which are considered to be involved in higher cognitive functions.
Of course, afterwards, I devoted my entire career to the study of the brain. What may have characterized my approach is the use of novel neuroimaging techniques (I was myself instrumental in developing one such technique, called near-infrared spectroscopy, with my colleagues from Engineering). I also sought the collaboration of physicists and mathematicians from several countries, but more importantly from the Cuban Neuroscience Center. Without the help of my Cuban colleagues, we would not have been able to decipher the brain signals that we recorded in one-day-old newborns in response to their mother’s voice.
Q: What do you think have been the biggest insights on concussions since 2013? Where do you think this field is going? (We still have much to learn about the brain, despite big advances in our understanding of concussions.)
A: There has been an explosion of research on sports concussions since 2013. Our group and others have clearly shown the long-term deleterious effects of concussions on the aging process of the brain. We have also started to characterize the effects of concussions in female athletes and these results show that women react differently to concussions, in terms of neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and behavioural changes. Basically, women tend to have more symptoms and longer recovery periods than men and their brains do not show the same pattern of damage as that seen in men. Similarly, new work is emerging that shows the greater vulnerability of young athletes to sports concussions. In fact, when a young athlete returns to play before the symptoms have abated and suffers another concussion, “second impact syndrome” may occur. This is characterized by severe brain damage that may lead to coma or death and it has been reported in high school and college students. This is most probably what led to Rowan Stringer’s death at age 17. Such tragic events, including the death of former football or hockey players who showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a form of dementia, have contributed to increased public awareness. This public awareness is probably, and quite unfortunately, the biggest breakthrough of recent work on concussions. Now that we have circumscribed the effects of concussions, we need to find a cure, perhaps by stimulating circuits known to be involved in neural plasticity. But this work will be for others…
Q: You’ve had an impressive and diverse career that has included work in academia and government, and research that has spanned many disciplines. Can you share one or two career highlights?
A: Research leads to all kinds of experiences but perhaps one of the strangest, for me, was that, in 1998, I was called upon to become the neuropsychologist for the Montréal Canadiens. This consisted of testing all the rookies and professionals at the beginning of the season on a variety of memory and attention tests and re-testing them after they had suffered a concussion during the season. This gave me a lot of news coverage (e.g., “A woman in the player’s room!”; speaking at Hockey Night in Canada, and about 300 interviews). Almost a new career!
With regard to my administrative work, I think that the most challenging was being elected President of the National Order of Quebec Council. This is the provincial equivalent to the Order of Canada and in that function, I had to co-chair with Premier Charest several events held at the Quebec parliament or elsewhere in the world. We welcomed into the Order of Quebec wonderful people, including artists such as Charles Aznavour. Again, this led me far away from my own zone of comfort ― science and the lab ― and probably prepared me to assume the functions of the President of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC).
Q: How do you see your own diverse background informing your current positions (at the RSC, the FRQNT, and on the CCA Board), especially in light of the importance of a multi-disciplinary background in addressing major science issues?
A: The study of the brain cannot be achieved by neuropsychologists or neuroscientists alone. I personally had to work with, and hire, engineers, physicists, and mathematicians in order to advance my own knowledge of the brain. The promotion of interdisciplinary and intersectoral research constitutes one of the main axes in the FRQNT strategic plan that was developed under my leadership. Knowledge today can only be achieved through such collaborations. I believe that the RSC is uniquely positioned to provide such knowledge. The College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists has been created within a framework of interdisciplinarity, with no boundaries between the various disciplines. My hope is to be able to enhance the collaboration between the three Academies (I, Arts, Letters and Humanities; II, Social Sciences; III, Science), which would constitute a wonderful platform to tackle great societal issues, such as demographic changes. I am new to the CCA board and hope to bring some of my administrative and scientific experience to the advancement of the CCA.
Q: Is there anything you are reading or watching for fun right now?
A: Truly, not much. My work at the FRQNT is full-time and I am devoting a lot of time to the RSC and other committees, which does not leave me much fun time (although work is fun for me). But I do play with my four grandchildren and read them stories, so that may count for something!