Scientist Profiles M-R

Sunnybrook Research Institute

Brian Murray MD, FRCPC

Associate Scientist

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
76 Grenville St., Room 418
Toronto, ON
M5S 1B2


Phone: 416-323-6486
Fax: 416-323-7739

Administrative Assistant: Richelle Bercasio
Phone: 416-323-6486
Email: richelle.bercasio@sunnybrook.ca

Education:

  • MD, 1995, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada
  • FRCPC, 2000, Neurology, Harvard University, USA
  • D,ABSM, 2002, Sleep Medicine, Harvard University, USA

Appointments and Affiliations:

Research Focus:

  • Neurology of sleep and circadian rhythms

Research Summary:

Dr. Murray's major research interests are the neurological aspects of sleep/circadian rhythms, and the relationship between sleep and behaviour. Some clinical conditions of particular interest include the following:

  • sleep deprivation;
  • narcolepsy;
  • REM sleep behaviour disorder;
  • restless legs syndrome;
  • sleep disruption during pregnancy; and
  • the effects of sleep and sleep disorders in other medical conditions.

Polysomnography (sleep studies) and actigraphy are two commonly used tools in his lab. Polysomnography is a powerful tool that can be used to study, objectively, the physiological effects of various treatment interventions in multiple medical conditions. Similarly, treatment of sleep disorders can often have significant impact on patient health from a variety of perspectives. Dr. Murray's team performs overnight sleep studies, as well as tests of daytime alertness while recording various physiological parameters.

Dr. Murray is particularly interested in the cortical plasticity of rehabilitation. Sleep and sleepiness act as models for cortical plasticity given the dramatic physiologic and chemical changes that occur in the brain every night. His team has created a state-of-the-art sleep laboratory at the Bayview campus of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, with full polysomnographic monitoring, including extended EEG, video monitoring, psychomotor vigilance assessment, actigraphy and portable equipment for in-home use. They have also set up a facility to draw blood samples (including genetic studies) from patients overnight and administer medications without disturbing sleep, while simultaneously making polysomnographic recordings. All data collected from clinical research assessments are stored digitally for advanced signal analysis. The laboratory has three technologists, a postdoctoral fellow and a number of student volunteers.

Dr. Murray's team is also developing tools for the early diagnosis of neuropsychiatric disorders and for the endophenotyping of various conditions. Their premise is that during sleep, the brain is relatively isolated from its environment and therefore more "objective" with various physiologic parameters reflecting a baseline level of neurochemical activity.

Selected Publications:

See current publications list at PubMed.

  1. L.E.Ross, B.J. Murray, M. Steiner, “Sleep and perinatal mood disorders: A critical review”, Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 2005 July 30(4) 247-256
  2. L. Merabet, G. Thut, B. J. Murray, J. Andrews, S. Hsiao, A. Pascual-Leone, “Feeling by Sight or Seeing by Touch?”, Neuron, 42, 173-9, 2004
  3. B. J. Murray, J. Matheson, T. Scammell, “Effects of vagus nerve stimulation on respiration during sleep: A pilot study”, Neurology, 57:1523-1524, 2001
  4. B. J. Murray, D. Apetauerova, T. Scammell, “Severe acute disseminated encephalomyelitis with normal MRI at presentation”, Neurology, 55:1237-8, 2000
  5. B. J. Murray, R. Llinas, L. R. Caplan, T. Scammell, A. Pascual-Leone, "Cerebral deep venous thrombosis presenting as acute micrographia and hypophonia", Neurology, 54:751-753, 2000

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