Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an irreversible neurodegenerative disease causing substantial cognitive deterioration over time. Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is a noticeable decline in cognition that has been implicated as a significant risk factor for transitioning to AD. Distinguishing biomarkers for accurate preclinical detection of AD, in at-risk aMCI patients, will allocate attention to early treatable symptoms and exacerbating factors. This research project will explore how saccadic eye movements, a simple and non-invasive recording method, can detect regular and irregular cognitive functioning in at-risk aMCI patients over 50 years of age. Detecting impairment by tracking saccades is optimal due to extensive understanding of sensory (vision), cognitive (executive function), and oculomotor (eye movement) systems. Cognitive impairment is assessed using the interleaved anti/prosaccade task, which measures antisaccade (voluntary eye movement) and prosaccade (automatic eye movement) performance. Memory impairment is assessed using the memory-guided saccade task, which measures spatial memory during the absence of visual cues.