Dr. Gerlinde Metz

What once may have been considered a dark area in the spectrum of sciences—neurology and the study of the human brain—is fast approaching the forefront of innovative research. An aging population and greater advances in technology have prompted scientists to delve deeper into the causes of neurological disorders and conditions. The search for new treatments and therapies is a global endeavor, but some of the most important advances are being made in Alberta.

Dr. Gerlinde Metz has been looking at the human mind from a biological standpoint since she was a student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. It was there that she first began using her own invention, the ladder beam task, in experiments on locomotion, after finding the available tools inadequate.

Upon receiving her PhD in biology, Metz moved to Alberta in 1999, to accept a teaching position at the University of Lethbridge in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. Along with experience in the field of neurological disorders, she brought her ladder beam along and continued to use it in the assessment of lab animals and various other experiments.

Metz receives grant funding from the National Institute of Health and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research for her research initiatives. She is currently examining the role of stress and other external factors in the development of Parkinson’s disease.

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