Impact of genetic Alzheimer’s risk on episodic memory function in healthy older adults

Speaker: Sheida Rabipour

Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Douglas Institute & McGill University

Bio: Sheida Rabipour received her Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Neuroscience from McGill University, and her PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Ottawa. Her research investigates factors that influence cognitive function as well as cognitive enhancement interventions that may help optimize brain function throughout life. Her work has been supported by funding from agencies such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Fonds de Recherche Québec - Santé, and the Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music. Dr. Rabipour is also passionate about science communication and community outreach; her latest book, How (Not) To Train The Brain, was recently published by Oxford University Press.

Talk Abstract: Declines in the memory of past personal events in contextual detail (i.e., episodic memory) represent one of the earliest symptoms of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Older adults at higher risk for Alzheimer's (e.g., due to family history, genetic composition, and/or biological sex) may exhibit altered patterns of memory-related brain activity years prior to initial symptom onset. In this talk, I present data from the PRe-symptomatic EValuation of Experimental or Novel Treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease (PREVENT-AD) study in Montreal, Canada, which recruited healthy older adults with family history of Alzheimer's. We used multivariate partial least squares analyses to examine the effects of alipoprotein E ε4 and of biological sex on brain activity and the relationship between performance and brain activity in this cohort.