Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a devastating and pervasive illness. This disease has severe psychological, social and economic impacts on those affected, as well as their loved ones and society at large. AD is predicted to affect over one million Canadians in the next 30 years, with an estimated economic burden of over $150 billion. There is a clear need to identify brain changes that predict the onset of AD as early as possible. Developing early indicators of AD will broaden the treatment window for intervention and potentially lessen the impact of the disease. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) research suggests that patterns of connectivity amongst various brain regions may be different in people who go on to develop AD versus those who do not. Our research program will investigate this possibility in two separate studies. First, we will measure how different brain regions interact in healthy older adult as compared to older adults with AD. We have secured access to one of the most comprehensive collections of fMRI scans of AD patients, the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. This dataset contains longitudinal brain and behavioural data on over 500 AD, pre-clinical AD and healthy older adults. Data from this cohort will be analyzed to identify the specific patterns of functional brain activity that are predictive of AD onset. Second, we will investigate whether these patterns of brain activity are malleable in older adults using a task-based intervention. Using brain activity to predict AD onset and training the brain to improve its function may lead to the discovery of valuable markers of brain-health and crucial measures of treatment efficacy. If successful, this research will open opportunities for novel brain-based interventions to slow the trajectory of cognitive decline in aging and neurodegenerative disease. In a rapidly aging population, this may benefit the quality of life of millions of Canadians and countless people worldwide.