Maiya R. Geddes, MD, FRCPC
Dr. Geddes is an FRSQ neurologist scientist and an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University. She directs a research program at The Neuro within the Cognitive Neuroscience Unit and Brain Imaging Centre that focuses on motivational neuromedicine in aging. The goal of this highly translational program is to understand the neurobiological mechanisms underlying motivational resilience and vulnerability in human aging and Alzheimer’s disease with the goal of helping older adults lead healthier and more fulfilling lives. Dr. Geddes’ research combines cutting-edge behavioural and multi-modal neuroimaging techniques including task-based and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). To translate her research findings, Dr. Geddes designs and leads novel intervention trials to enhance adherence to protective behaviours with the ultimate goal of dementia prevention. She leads a randomized controlled trial to enhance physical activity in older adults with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease that is jointly funded by the NIH and a 2023 Alzheimer Society Research Program New Investigator Award. Dr. Geddes is the recipient of the 2024 Brain Canada Future Leaders Award.
Dr. Geddes obtained an MD at the University of British Columbia, before completing a residency in adult neurology at McGill University. She completed a CIHR-funded postdoctoral research fellowship at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology supervised by John Gabrieli. Dr. Geddes obtained subspecialty UCSN clinical fellowship training in behavioural neurology and neuropsychiatry at Harvard where she then joined the faculty in 2017, before returning to McGill in 2019. Dr. Geddes’ research program was recognized with a Career Development Award from the American Neuropsychiatric Association and appointment as a Montreal Neurological Institute Killam Scholar. Her research program is funded by the National Institute of Aging, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Healthy Brains Healthy Lives, Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé, Brain Canada Foundation and the Alzheimer Society Research Program.
Preprints:
Walker C, Barnoin G, Bennett M, the PREVENT-AD Research Group, Villeneuve S, Geddes MR (2026). The neural basis of prosocial effort-based decision-making in older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Medrxiv. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.01.10.26343857
Tremblay SA, Tulsi J, Yang D, Alsibai Z, McDonald I, Aladeeb R, Novielli A, Wong M, Freitas JG, Dhir V, Rajah MN, Godard-Sebillotte C, Altuntur S, Karunananthan S, Geddes MR (2026). Review of current research practices in social and structural determinants of health data collection across Canadian longitudinal studies of aging and dementia. SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=6069186
Dhir V, Sarmiento I, McDonald I, Gélinas Faucher M, Tremblay SA, Mark J. Yaffe MJ, Andersson A, Geddes MR (2026). Gender-Related Facilitators and Barriers to Participation in Research on Aging using Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5510254
Clinical Decision-Making Tools and Clinical Guidance:
Geddes, M. R., O’Connell, M. E., Fisk, J. D., Gauthier, S., Camicioli, R., Ismail, Z., & Covid-19, for the A. S. of C. T. F. on D. C. B. P. for. (2020). Remote cognitive and behavioral assessment: Report of the Alzheimer Society of Canada Task Force on dementia care best practices for COVID-19. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, 12(1), e12111. https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.12111
Remote Cognitive Assessment Readiness Tool in partnership with the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging: https://ccna-ccnv.ca/remote-cognitive-assessment/ (2025)
Selected Publications:
Rajah NM, Dixon Epstein Stern Y, and the Brain Resilience and Diversity in Aging and Dementia Collaboratory (2026). Brain resilience and diversity in aging and dementia. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-025-01021-1
Mohammediyan B, Baril A, Fajardo-Valdez A, St-Onge F, Carrier J, Geddes MR, Ducharme S, Montembeault M, Soucy JP, Breitner JC, Poirier J, Villeneuve S (2026). Longitudinal association between sleep and Alzheimer pathology. Accepted, Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
Thovinakere N, Ghosh S, Iturria-Medina Y, Geddes MR (2025). Social determinants of health and functional brain connectivity predict long-term physical activity adherence after a new cardiovascular diagnosis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nexus. Vol 4, Issue 10, pgaf304, https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf304
Walker CS, Noriega de la Colina A, Li L, Boulanger C, Thovinakere N, Barnoin G, Bennett M, Caplan J, Côté L, Elbaz S, Fock Ka Bao S, Kara R, Lavoie N, Nguyen M, Otaner F, Pallett-Wiesel H, Johanie Piché J, Powers A, Ricciardelli S, Williams K, Déry D, Tremblay-Mercier J, The PREVENT-AD Research Group, Poirier J, Villeneuve S, Kramer AF, Geddes MR (2025). Protocol for an intergenerational intervention to enhance physical activity engagement in older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjpad.2024.100039
Friedman NHM, Hallot S, Itzhak I, Desmarais P, Henri-Bhargava A, Pettersen J, Lee L, Fisk JD, Camicioli R, McLaughlin P, Khanassov V, Chertkow H, Freedman M, O’Connell ME, Geddes MR (2025). Red flags for remote cognitive assessment: An expert consensus study using the Delphi method on behalf of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging. The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 106(2):527-536. https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877251338186
Babulal GM, Geddes MR, Germine LT (2025). From Algorithms to Zero-Shot Learning: How Artificial Intelligence Is Redefining Gerontological Research. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. 80(8). https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaf105
Villeneuve S, Poirier J, Breitner JCS, Tremblay-Mercier J, Remz J, Raoult JM, Yakoub Y, Gallego-Rudolf J, Qiu T, Fajardo Valdez A, Mohammediyan B, Javanray M, Metz A, Sanami S, Rudolf Wearn A, Pastor-Bernier A, Edde M, Gonneaud J, Strikwerda-Brown C, Leppert IR, Tardif CL, Gauthier CJ, Descoteaux M, Dadar M, Vachon-Presseau E, Baril AA, Ducharme S, Maxime Montembeault M, Geddes MR, Soucy JP, Rajah N, Laforce R, Bocti C, Davatzikos C, Bellec P, Rosa-Neto P, Baillet S, Evans AC, Collins DL, Chakravarty MM, Blennow K, Zetterberg H, Spreng RN, Pichet Binette A, & the PREVENT-AD Research Group (2025). The PREVENT-AD cohort: accelerating Alzheimer’s disease research and treatment in Canada and beyond. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 21:e70653 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/alz.70653
Yakoub Y, Gonzalez-Ortiz F, Ashton NJ, Dery C, Strikwerda-Brown C, St-Onge FF, Ourry V, Scholl M, Geddes MR, Ducharme S, Montembeault M, Rosa-Neto P, Soucy JP, Breitner JCS, Zetterberg H, Blennow K, Poirier J, Villeneuve S, PREVENT-AD Research Group (2025). Plasma p-tau217 identifies cognitive normal older adults who will develop cognitive impairment in a 10-year window. Alzheimer’s & Dementia https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.14537 DOI: 10.1002/alz.14537
Walker CS, Li L, Baracchini G, Tremblay-Mercier J, Villeneuve S, Spreng RN, The PREVENT-AD Research Group, Geddes MR (2024). Neurobehavioral mechanisms influencing the association between generativity, the desire to promote well-being of younger generations, and purpose in life in older adults at risk for Alzheimer’ disease. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Volume 79, Issue 6, June 2024, gbae060, https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbae060
Ai M, Morris TP, Noriega de la Colina A, Thovinakere N, Tremblay-Mercier J, Villeneuve S, Whitfield-Gabrieli, Kramer AF, Geddes MR (2024). Midlife physical activity engagement is associated with later-life cognition and brain health. Neurobiology of Aging, 134, 146-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2023.11.004
Thovinakere, N., Ai, M., Noriega de la Colina, A., Walker, C., Baracchini, G., Tremblay-Mercier, J., Villeneuve, S., Spreng, N., & Geddes, M. (2024). Ventromedial Frontoinsular Connectivity is Associated with Long-term Smoking Behavior Change in Aging. Imaging Neuroscience, 2. https://doi.org/10.1162/imag_a_00142
Walker, C. S., Li, L., Baracchini, G., Tremblay-Mercier, J., Spreng, R. N., The PREVENT-AD Research Group, & Geddes, M. R. (2024). Neurobehavioral mechanisms influencing the association between generativity, the desire to promote well-being of younger generations, and purpose in life in older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 79(6), gbae060. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbae060
Noriega de la Colina, A., Morris, T. P., Kramer, A. F., Kaushal, N., & Geddes, M. R. (2024). Your move: A precision medicine framework for physical activity in aging. Npj Aging, 10(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41514-024-00141-9
Ai M, Morris TP, Zhang J, Noriega de la Colina A, Tremblay-Mercier J, Villeneuve S, Whitfield-Gabrieli, Kramer AF, Geddes MR (2023). Resting-state MRI functional connectivity as a neural correlate of multidomain lifestyle adherence in older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Scientific Reports. 13, 7487. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-32714-1
Friedman NHM, Itzhak I, Desmarais P, Henri-Bhargava A, Pettersen J, Lee L, Fisk JD, Camicioli R, McLaughlin P, Khanassov V, Chertkow H, Freedman M, O’Connell ME, Geddes MR (2023). Remote Cognitive Assessment Readiness Tool for the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging. https://ccna-ccnv.ca/remote-cognitive-assessment/
Geddes MR, Fisk JD, Camicioli R, Ismail Z, O’Connell ME., C. Munro Cullum (2021). Remote Cognitive Assessment: Guiding Principles and Future Directions. World Alzheimer’s Report 2021: Journey through the diagnosis of dementia. London, England: Alzheimer's Disease International. https://www.alzint.org/resource/world-alzheimer-report-2021/
Ai M, Morris TP, Ordway C, Quinoñez E, D’Agostino F, Noriega de la Colina A, Whitfield-Gabrieli S, Hillman CH, Pindus DM, Kramer AF, Geddes MR (2021). The daily activity study of health (DASH): A pilot randomized controlled trial to enhance motivation and physical activity in sedentary older adults. Contemporary Clinical Trials. 106, 106405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2021.106405
Geddes, M. R., O’Connell, M. E., Fisk, J. D., Gauthier, S., Camicioli, R., Ismail, Z., & Covid-19, for the A. S. of C. T. F. on D. C. B. P. for. (2020). Remote cognitive and behavioral assessment: Report of the Alzheimer Society of Canada Task Force on dementia care best practices for COVID-19. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, 12(1), e12111. https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.12111
Geddes, M. R., Mattfeld, A. T., Angeles, C. de los, Keshavan, A., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2018). Human aging reduces the neurobehavioral influence of motivation on episodic memory. NeuroImage, 171, 296–310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.12.053
Arnold Anteraper, S., Guell, X., Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., Triantafyllou, C., Mattfeld, A. T., Gabrieli, J. D., & Geddes, M. R. (2018). Resting-state functional connectivity of the subthalamic nucleus to limbic, associative, and motor networks. Brain Connectivity, 8(1), 22–32. https://doi.org/10.1089/brain.2017.0535
