Meet the principal
Background
Wayne Brake joined Concordia’s Science College as a fellow in 2009. He became the College’s sixth principal in 2018. Brake is a professor in the Department of Psychology and a trained behavioural neuroscientist. He earned his PhD in Neurological Sciences at McGill University in 1999 and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Neuroendocrinology at New York City’s Rockefeller University.
Research focus
Estrogen, learning and memory, female cognition, dopamine
Vision for the College
Apart from fostering an atmosphere academic excellence, Dr. Brake seeks to encourage students to achieve a work-life balance. He believes that students should apply their talents to their studies as well as focusing their genius into hobbies and other activities. Students at the College are encouraged to complement their scientific pursuits with everything from athletics to fine arts.
Select publications
Lacasse JM, Boulos V, Fisher C, Hamilton S, Heron M, Mac Cionnaith CE, Peronace V, Tito N, Brake WG. (2023). Combined effects of the contraceptive hormones, ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel, on the use of place and response memory in gonadally-intact female rats. Psychoneuroendocrinology. Jan;147:105974. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105974.
Evangelista C, Mehrez N, Boisvert EE, Brake WG, Shizgal P (2023). The priming effect of rewarding brain stimulation in rats depends on both the cost and strength of reward but survives blockade of D2-like dopamine receptors. European Journal of Neuroscience. Oct;58(8):3751-3784. doi: 10.1111/ejn.16142.
Gomez-Perales EL, Brake WG. (2023). The role of progesterone in memory bias during spatial navigation in females. Journal of Neuroendocrinology. Feb;35(2):e13197. doi: 10.1111/jne.13197.
*Lacasse JM, Gomez-Perales E, Brake WG. (2022). Modeling hormonal contraception in female rats: a framework for studies in behavioral neurobiology. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology. Aug 8:101020. doi: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2022.101020.
*Almey A, Milner TA, Brake WG. (2022). Estrogen receptors observed at extranuclear neuronal sites and in glia in the nucleus accumbens core and shell of the female rat: Evidence for localization to catecholaminergic and GABAergic neurons. Journal of Comparative Neurology. 530(11):2056-2072. doi: 10.1002/cne.25320.
