Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

"Moderate to severe brain injury is a top environmental risk factor for development of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease. It has been discovered that even mild brain injuries, like concussions, can significantly increase the onset of Alzheimer's disease. An estimated 1.6 - 3.8 million sport and recreation-related concussions occur worldwide every year, with most symptoms of the injury resolving within a week of injury. While the short-term effects of mTBI are better understood, there is much less known about long-term effects of mTBI and its relationship to more severe neurodegenerative conditions. Adolescents and young adults have one of the highest incidences of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), so often thoughts of how mTBI impacts age-related dementias are not of immediate concern. Memory and attention deficits have been documented in middle-aged individuals with histories of repeated mTBI, but who have not been formally diagnosed with a neurodegenerative condition. Further, these deficits were not observed in the age-matched group without mTBI, nor younger subjects with histories of repeated mTBI, suggesting persistent effects of repeated mTBI that only appear as the aging process progresses. Our lab has evidence that neurocognitive training can persistently enhance cognitive function in elderly adults with subjective memory complaints, and so in addition to identifying any long-term neuropsychological effects of concussion, the proposed study will focus on determining if neurocognitive training has benefits for these individuals. We hope this study will help identify long-term effects of repeated mTBI and determine the utility of neurocognitive training as a therapeutic option for individuals with early neurocognitive decline. "