Congratulations to our 2024 TDRA Seed Fund Awardees

In 2024, we launched the inaugural TDRA Seed Fund Competition. From 2021 to 2023, we co-funded a series of research fellowships and seed competitions as part of the broader Temerty-Tanz-TDRA Initiative, which aimed to explore the connections between depression and dementia. The TDRA 2024 Seed Fund Competition builds on this work by providing ongoing support for innovative new projects focused on dementia and related neurodegenerative diseases.

Seed funding is important because it helps researchers get their projects started before they can secure more long-term funding. Our Seed Fund Competition gave researchers in our community the opportunity to apply for up to $70,000 CAD to help with the early stages of their studies. To qualify, projects had to be collaborative across at least two TDRA partner sites, or, combine lab-based and clinical science.

We are thrilled to announce that three projects were funded in this year’s competition. See project descriptions below:

Does CPAP improve cognition in vascular cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease?

Principal Applicants: Mark Boulos (Sunnybrook), Paul Verhoeff (Baycrest)

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common in people with vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), and can make cognitive problems worse. Previous studies suggest that treating OSA with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) may help improve attention and executive function. However, these studies have had limitations, such as small sample sizes and inconsistent follow-up.

The study team is currently conducting a study comparing two methods for diagnosing OSA in patients with cognitive impairment: in-laboratory polysomnography (iPSG) and home sleep apnea testing (HSAT). With the TDRA Seed Fund, the project will expand to include a sub-study that will track cognitive changes in patients using CPAP after six months. This sub-study will help determine if treating OSA with CPAP can improve cognitive outcomes in patients with VCI/AD. It will also explore whether CPAP affects sleep quality, mood, daily functioning, and caregiver burden—key factors that impact quality of life.

Digital phenotyping of circadian rhythm using location data in long-term care

Principal Applicants: Andrea Iaboni (UHN), Andrew Lim (Sunnybrook)

Changes in sleep and daily activity patterns, such as excessive daytime sleepiness or “sundowning” (increased agitation and confusion in the evening), are common in dementia and can significantly impact both quality of life and caregiver burden. In long-term care (LTC) settings, disrupted sleep can hinder residents' participation in activities, and compromise their safety by increasing the risk of falls or the use of sedative medications.

This study will use data from existing safety systems in LTC homes to monitor for circadian rhythm disruptions and improve diagnosis and care. These safety systems track residents' movements with real-time location technology, which gathers valuable information about residents’ rest and activity patterns. The study team has shown this data is effective for tracking rest-activity rhythms in people living with dementia. The next step is to analyze these patterns in a larger group of LTC residents over the course of a year, using machine learning to identify common disruptions, and leveraging this data to enhance care and sleep management strategies moving forward.

Prefrontal cortical plasticity in mild cognitive impairment: Implications for eye movement and language processing

Principal Applicants: Hamed Azami (CAMH), Jennifer Ryan (Baycrest)

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) can affect eye movement and language processing, both of which are controlled by the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC)—a part of the brain involved in higher-level functions like memory, attention, and decision-making. This study will explore how changes in the DLPFC impact these abilities in older adults.

Researchers will use two types of tasks: a "preferential viewing task" to assess eye movements and memory, and language tasks to evaluate language processing, while recording brain activity using Electroencephalography (EEG). In the preferential viewing task, participants will look at images of familiar and new items. Normally, people spend more time looking at new items because their brain recognizes them as unfamiliar. In people with MCI, this ability may be weaker. Eye movements and brain activity, particularly theta waves—which are brain signals linked to memory and attention—will be measured. For language tasks, participants will practice understanding and producing sentences, while beta waves, which are important for language processing, are recorded. The study will compare how well older adults with MCI perform these tasks against healthy adults. The goal is to identify brain activity patterns to better detect and track eye movement, memory, and language issues in MCI, ultimately improving early diagnosis of conditions like Alzheimer's.