Maurice Ptito, M.D., Ph.D.

Education

• B.Sc., Psychology, Université de Montréal, 1970
• M.A., Psychology, Université de Montréal, 1971
• Ph.D., Psychology, Université de Montréal, 1974
• Postdoctorate, Neurophysiology, Stanford University, Stanford CA, 1974-1976
• M.D. University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Danemark, 2001

Research interests

Development and plasticity of the visual system in animal (hamsters, monkeys) and human (congenital blindness, cortical blindness) models; neural mechanisms of motion and depth perception; fetal alcohol syndrome in monkeys

Techniques involved: neuroanatomical tracers, psychophysics, electrophysiology, molecular biology, fMRI, PET, MEG

Recent publications

Caleo, M., Innocenti, G.M. & Ptito, M. (in press 2013) Physiology and plasticity of interhemispheric connections. Neural Plasticity.

Desgent, S. & Ptito, M. (in press 2013). Cortical GABAergic interneurons in cross-modal plasticity following early blindness. Neural Plasticity.

Dyrby, T.B., Søgaard, L.V., Hall, M.G., Ptito, M. & Alexander, D.C. (in press 2013). Contrast and stability of the axon diameter index from microstructure imaging with diffusion MRI. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Kupers, R. & Ptito, M. (in press 2013). Compensatory plasticity and cross-modal reorganization following early visual deprivation. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

Ptito, M., Matteau, I., Zhi Wang, A., Paulson, O.B., Siebner, H.R. & Kupers, R. (in press 2013). Crossmodal recruitment of the ventral visual stream in congenital blindness. Neural Plasticity.

Bouskila, J., Javadi, P., Casanova, C., Ptito, M. & Bouchard, J.F. (2013). Müller cells express the cannabinoid CB2 receptor in the vervet monkey retina. Journal of Computational Neurology, 521(11), 2399-2415.

Duff, G., Argaw, A., Cecyre, B., Cherif, H., Tea, N., Zabouri, N., Casanova, C., Ptito, M. & Bouchard, J.F. (2013). Cannabinoid Receptor CB2 Modulates Axon Guidance. PLOS ONE, 8(8), e70849.

Gagnon, L., Kupers, R. & Ptito, M. (2013). Reduced taste sensitivity in congenital blindness. Chemical Senses, 38(6), 509-517.

Ioannides, A.A., Liu, L., Poghosyan, V., Saridis, G.A., Gjedde, A., Ptito, M. & Kupers, R. (2013) MEG reveals a fast pathway from somatosensory cortex to occipital areas via posterior parietal cortex in a blind subject. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7,429.

Bouskila, J., Burke, M.W., Zabouri, N., Casanova, C., Ptito, M. & Bouchard, J. F. (2012). Expression and localization of the cannabinoid receptor type 1 and the enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase in the retina of vervet monkeys. Neuroscience, 202, 117-130.

Burke, M.W., Kupers, R. & Ptito, M. (2012). Adaptive neuroplastic responses in early and late hemispherectomized monkeys. Neural Plasticity, 2012.

Gagnon, L., Schneider, F.C., Siebner, H.R., Paulson, O.B., Kupers, R. & Ptito, M. (2012). Activation of the hippocampal complex during tactile maze solving in congenitally blind subjects. Neuropsychologia, 50(7), 1663-1671.

Argaw, A., Duff, G., Zabouri, N., Cécyre, B., Chainé, N., Cherif, H., Tea, N., Lutz, B., Ptito, M. & Bouchard J.-F. (2011). Concerted action of CB1 cannabinoid receptor and deleted in colorectal cancer in axon guidance. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(4), 1489-1499.

Beaulieu-Lefebvre, M., Schneider, F.C., Kupers, R. & Ptito, M. (2011). Odor perception and odor awareness in congenital blindness. Brain Research Bulletin, 84(3), 206-209.

Chebat, D.R., Schneider, F.C., Kupers, R. & Ptito, M. (2011). Navigation with a sensory substitution device in congenitally blind individuals. Neuroreport, 22(7), 342-347.

Kassuba, T., Klinge, C., Hölig, C., Menz, M.M., Ptito, M., Röder, B., et al. (2011). The left fusiform gyrus hosts trisensory representations of manipulable objects. Neuroimage, 56(3), 1566-1577.

Kupers, R., Beaulieu-Lefebvre, M., Schneider, F.C., Kassuba, T., Paulson, O.B., Siebner, H.R. & Ptito, M.(2011). Neural correlates of olfactory processing in congenital blindness. Neuropsychologia, 49(7), 2037-2044.

Kupers, R., Pietrini, P., Ricciardi, E. & Ptito, M. (2011). The nature of consciousness in the visually deprived brain. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 19.

Kupers, R. & Ptito, M. (2011). Insights from darkness: What the study of blindness has taught us about brain structure and function. Progress in Brain Research, 192, 17-31.

Lundell, H., Nielsen, J.B., Ptito, M. & Dyrby, T.B. (2011). Distribution of collateral fibers in the monkey cervical spinal cord detected with diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Neuroimage, 56(3), 923-929.

Zabouri, N., Ptito, M., Casanova, C. & Bouchard, J.F. (2011). Fatty acid amide hydrolase expression during retinal postnatal development in rats. Neuroscience, 195, 145-165.

Alexander, D.C., Hubbard, P.L., Hall, M.G., Moore, E.A., Ptito, M., Parker, G.J., et al. (2010). Orientationally invariant indices of axon diameter and density from diffusion MRI. NeuroImage, 52(4), 1374-1389.

Burke, M.W., Zangenehpour, S. & Ptito, M. (2010). Partial recovery of hemiparesis following hemispherectomy in infant monkeys. Neuroscience Letters, 469(2), 243-247.

Desgent, S., Boire, D. & Ptito, M. (2010). Altered expression of parvalbumin and calbindin in interneurons within the primary visual cortex of neonatal enucleated hamsters. Neuroscience, 171(4), 1326-1340.

Fortin, A., Beaulieu Lefebvre, M. & Ptito, M. (2010). Traumatic brain injury and olfactory deficits: The tale of two smell tests. Brain Injury, 24(1), 27-33.

Gagnon, L., Kupers, R., Schneider, F.C. & Ptito, M. (2010). Tactile maze solving in congenitally blind individuals. NeuroReport, 21(15), 989-992.

Kupers, R., Chebat, D.R., Madsen, K.H., Paulson, O.B. & Ptito, M. (2010). Neural correlates of virtual route recognition in congenital blindness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), 107(28), 12716-12721.

Matteau, I., Kupers, R., Ricciardi, E., Pietrini, P. & Ptito, M. (2010). Beyond visual, aural and haptic movement perception: hMT+ is activated by electrotactile motion stimulation of the tongue in sighted and in congenitally blind individuals. Brain Research Bulletin, 82(5-6), 264-270.

Papia, M.F., Burke, M.W., Zangenehpour, S., Palmour, R.M., Ervin, F.R. & Ptito, M. (2010). Reduced soma size of the M-neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus following foetal alcohol exposure in non-human primates. Experimental Brain Research, 205(2), 263-271.

Burke, M.W., Palmour, R.M., Ervin, F.R. & Ptito, M. (2009). Neuronal reduction in frontal cortex of primates after prenatal alcohol exposure. NeuroReport, 20(1), 13-17.

Burke, M.W., Zangenehpour, S., Bouskila, J., Boire, D. & Ptito, M. (2009). The gateway to the brain: dissecting the primate eye. Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), May(27), pii: 1261.

Burke, M.W., Zangenehpour, S. & Ptito, M. (2009). Brain banking: making the most of your research specimens. Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), July(29), pii: 1260.

Burke, M.W., Zangenehpour, S., Boire, D. & Ptito, M. (2009). Dissecting the non-human primate brain in stereotaxic space. Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), July(29), 1-5.

Burke, M.W., Zangenehpour, S., Mouton, P.R. & Ptito, M. (2009). Knowing what counts: unbiased stereology in the non-human primate brain. Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), May(27), pii: 1262.

Desgent, S., Burke, M.W., Chaudhuri, A. & Ptito, M. (2009). Batch immunostaining for large-scale protein detection in the whole monkey brain. Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), July(29), pii:1286.

Ptito, M., Matteau, I., Gjedde, A. & Kupers, R. (2009). Recruitment of the middle temporal area by tactile motion in congenital blindness. NeuroReport, 20(6), 543-547.

Research orientation

Axis 1

Research topic

Research Site

CRIR – Institut Nazareth et Louis-Braille of the CISSS de la Montérégie-Centre

University Affiliation