At the Ontario Brain Institute, much of our work is dedicated to translating research and innovation into everyday language about the real-world benefits of science. 

This work extends beyond academic forums, and we strive to move lab discoveries, clinical trials, and treatments into practical applications. We also aim to highlight the lived experience of patients, caregivers and advocates, ensuring their points of view are central to conversations about brain health. One of the ways we support these objectives is to host three public talks each year, sharing updates and insights from a variety of experts on advances in neuroscience, developments in neurotechnology, the integration of community in care, and more.  

Our 2023-24 public talks series, Brain Health Basics, zoomed out on brain health – so to speak – providing our audiences with opportunities to revisit what it means to neurologically healthy. Based on six evergreen brain health tips, members of the OBI team curated three talks on the importance of movement on the brain, the need for the brain to relax and sleep, and connection between eating and socializing for optimized brain health.

Panelists at each talk shared actionable tips about brain health.

Experts at the ‘Movement for Brain Health’ agreed that one of the best ways to make movement part of your regular routine is to take it out of a medical setting. In fact, rethinking location is a big part of what motivated Sarah Lambert to create Ora Medical, a neurotechnology company supported by OBI. She realized that pediatric clients with limited mobility participating in physiotherapy sessions may not achieve the consistency level required to progress to their full potential. So, she developed a hands-free gait training device called the Levity, which patients are able to use from home whenever they want. “We’re improving their daily activity – and I think that’s really the key,” she said. “I got a video from a mom showing me her child is actually playing tennis. And the testimonial from the child is like, ‘Now I feel normal.’ And that’s the best feeling that we can ever have.”