WISDOM EXCHANGE PROJECT
Speaker: Dr. Noelia Calvo, postdoctoral fellow from University of Toronto
Date: Friday May 12, 2023 at 11:00 AM EST
Women are more affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD) than men, but the reasons for this phenomenon are still unknown. In this sense, it is crucial to understand resilience mechanisms that may delay cognitive impairment in women. Resilience has been at the heart of health research over the past decades to study how people achieve normal or better than expected outcomes despite exposure to healthy aging, neurodegeneration or stroke. In this sense, resilience can explain individual differences in rates of cognitive impairment and why people show different outcomes despite facing the same neurological disorders. In this seminar, I will discuss how linguistic diversity together with molecular mechanisms may be related to neuroplasticity and women’s resilience against Alzheimer’s disease.
Noelia Calvo is a Linguist and PhD in Psychology from Argentina. She is now working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Einstein lab. Dr. Calvo researches risk and reserve proxies in dementia. She is particularly interested in the role of language, ethnicity and biological sex in Alzheimer’s disease. To understand the interactive effects of different social determinants of health, Dr. Calvo uses behavioral data (quantitative and qualitative) together with neuroimaging techniques, and multivariate analysis. The ultimate goal of her research is to facilitate and promote health equity in the study and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
ALL EVENTS
WEP Seminar #14
Date:
April 28th 2023 at 9:00 AM EST
Speaker:
Shauna Bowes, Emory University
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder defined by challenges with social communication and repetitive behaviours. Children with autism are often assumed to perform worse than neurotypical children across all domains. However, emerging evidence suggests that autistic children may have enhanced auditory perception, as their brain’s respond faster to sounds in their environment. This advantage in processing sounds may translate to other skills, such as music or languages, and points towards children with autism being different, not necessarily deficient. Erin is a doctoral candidate in School Psychology with a concentration in Neuroscience at Syracuse University.
Intergenerational event series #1
Date:
April 28th 2023 at 9:00 AM EST
Speaker:
Shauna Bowes, Emory University
Inaugural event of our Inter-generational Event Series organized by The Wisdom Exchange Project (WEP) in collaboration with The McGill Community for Lifelong Learning (MCLL). This event series is meant to bring together younger and older generations around topics of common interest. For our first event, tackled the topic of social isolation. We invited two speakers to talk about how social isolation impacts our brains, and how can art help us beat social isolation. See information below. "The effects of COVID-related worry on cognition and decision-making" - Kevin Da Silva Castanheira Kevin Da Silva Castanheira obtained his BSc in Neuroscience from McGill University in 2017 and is completing his PhD in cognitive psychology in the lab of Dr. Ross Otto. Kevin is also a behavioural scientist at Intact Insurance. He uses a variety of methods to understand and predict people's choices—from risk preferences to the decision to expend effort. His work on the relationship between COVID-19 stress and cognitive function has garnered significant media attention. Apart from his research, Kevin enjoys fashion, knitting, going to concerts, and arts in general. “An Artist’s Guide to Beating Loneliness” - Linda Beck Sidel Linda is a Montreal artist who specializes in acrylic paints and mediums. She combines her own photography in her work by using a technique known as Image Transfer. Her work may be interpretive or photorealistic, depending on what the photograph tells her to do. She has taught at the Dollard Centre for the Arts as well as the Cummings Centre and currently participates in study groups at MCLL. She shares her love of colour and teaching by leading a study group entitled “Blue Moon, Yellow Submarine, Lady in Red”. Her love of travel inspires her artwork, and her paintings can be a reflection of where she went and what she saw. Linda is also inspired by art challenges and can get caught up in painting bridges, hot chili peppers or even cigars. She is currently represented by Galerie 203 in Old Montreal and on Greene Avenue in Westmount. A sample of her work will also be on display at MCLL from April 17 - June 23, 2023.
WEP Seminar #15
Date:
April 28th 2023 at 9:00 AM EST
Speaker:
Shauna Bowes, Emory University
This talk will introduce and define intellectual humility. Results will be presented from three studies showing that intellectual humility is related to less political polarization and misinformation susceptibility. That is, intellectual humility may help people to not disparage political outgroup members, hold extreme political views, and turn to false information in times of uncertainty. In sum, intellectual humility is a compelling vehicle for understanding when, why, and how people form and hold certain beliefs over others. Shauna is a sixth-year Ph.D. student in Emory University’s clinical psychology doctoral program. She worked with the late Dr. Scott Lilienfeld and currently work with Dr. Arber Tasimi (Morality and Development Lab). Broadly, she is interested in how personality intersects with beliefs. Specifically, she focuses on intellectual humility and its potential implications for political polarization and misinformation susceptibility. In the long-term, she hopes to understand the building blocks of irrational thinking and leverage intervention science to help people make changes in their beliefs.
WEP Seminar #13
Date:
October 26th, 2022
Speaker:
Dr. Raheleh Saryazdi, KITE-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute
Every day we engage in spoken conversations with family, friends, colleagues, and sometimes even strangers. Communicating with others and staying connected has benefits that go beyond the exchange of information, benefits that directly affect our well-being. However, the ability to communicate and the quality of communication changes as we age and technology is changing the ways we communicate. In my research, I have been exploring ways to enhance communication in older adults, particularly through the latest technologies. In one line of research, I focus on factors that influence effective communication between older adults and social robots, as these agents are currently being developed to provide companionship and assistance. In another line of research, I study whether we could use virtual reality to elicit and enhance conversations between persons with dementia and their family caregivers, in turn improving their connectedness and quality of life. Together, the goal of these studies is to inform the design of future technologies and contribute to promoting positive and successful communication in older adults. Dr. Raheleh Saryazdi is a postdoctoral researcher at KITE-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network working with Dr. Jennifer Campos. She is also a trainee at the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA-Team 17). She received her PhD in Psychology in the Perception, Cognition, and Cognitive Neuroscience stream at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Craig Chambers.
WEP Seminar #12
Date:
August 23rd, 2022
Speaker:
Maria Bortot, University of Trento
Maria Bortot is a PhD student at CIMeC (University of Trento), under the supervision of Prof. Giorgio Vallortigara. In 2018 she obtained a master’s degree in Neuroscience and Neuropsychological Rehabilitation at the University of Padua with a final dissertation on the spontaneous use of absolute numerical rules in honeybees, based on the experiments conducted at the CRCA (Research Centre on Animal Cognition, University of Toulouse, France). In 2019, she obtained a research assistant position at the Animal Cognition Lab (CIMeC) to study the numerical abilities of bees. Using a behavioural perspective, she is currently investigating bees’ numerical and more general cognitive capacities. She is also studying different behavioural states, such as sleeping behaviour, investigating their possible links with bees’ learning and memory capacity.
WEP Seminar #11
Date:
July 28th, 2022
Speakers:
Isabelle Arseneau-Bruneau, McGill University
Isabelle Arseneau-Bruneau is a doctoral researcher in Neuroscience at McGill University - Montreal Neurological Institute. She works under the supervision of Robert Zatorre and aims to better understand how playing musical instruments may help enhance our brain functions and auditory perception. Her research examines how the quality of auditory processing is modified when the sounds we perceive are generated by movements (such as when we play an instrument). Better knowledge of these mechanisms will help orient interventions in the clinic and educational environments. Her research is supported by the Fonds Québécois de Recherche en Santé (FQRS). Before her studies at McGill, Isabelle completed a Master's in Music & Human Learning at the University of Texas at Austin (2017) and worked as a research assistant at the SoundBrain (Chandrasekaran) Lab. She is also a professional musician, classically trained on the trumpet. She earned Music degrees from the Conservatoires de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec (2009), Laval University (2015), and pursued graduate studies in performance at The Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto (2009–2010).
WEP Seminar #10
Date:
June 9th, 2022
Speaker:
Nicole Gervais, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
By acknowledging the importance of biological sex (whether someone is male or female), medical research has made life-saving discoveries identifying different symptom profiles and treatment responses between men and women for conditions like heart attack and stroke. While neuroscience research still lags behind, we are learning that brain aging in women is different than in men, due in part to female-specific factors, like menopause. Lifestyle factors affecting brain aging are also influenced by biological sex, including sleep. In her talk, Nicole will summarize her recent research relating to the effects of early hormone loss on sleep, cognition, and brain structure. She will also discuss what implications this work has for brain aging, and whether interventions exist that might help women age better.
WEP Seminar #09
Date:
February 17th, 2022
Speakers:
Magdelena Samulski, Trent University
Refilwe Mpai, McGill University
We are featuring a lineup of Wisdom Exchange Project Volunteers who will each be giving a short 15 minute showcase of their research, with opportunities to engage with studies for a discussion and Q&A period.
WEP Seminar #08
Date:
January 24, 2022
Speakers:
Sarah Campbell, Trent University
Noah Khan, York University
Natalie Slavat, X University
We are featuring a lineup of Wisdom Exchange Project Volunteers who will each be giving a short 15 minute showcase of their research, with opportunities to engage with studies for a discussion and Q&A period.
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2021
WEP Seminar #01
Date:
April 15th, 2021
Speaker:
Danielle D'Amico
Danielle D'Amico is a PhD student at X University in Psychological Science and one of the coordinators behind WEP. She will be presenting her research on the effects of stress on cognitive health, and how engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviours (like healthy eating, exercise, social engagement, sleep, and mindfulness practices) may be able to mitigate the harmful impacts of stress on the brain.
WEP Seminar #02
Date:
May 18, 2021
Speaker:
Sivaniya Subramaniapilai
This event is a joint collaboration between the Wisdom Exchange Project and McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging. Sivaniya Subramaniapillai will present her doctoral research on the role of protective lifestyle and social factors in promoting healthy living and the importance of investigating individual differences, such as sex/gender, for an individualized approach to healthy living. Make sure to tune in to have a lively discussion about the important role that individual differences and our environment have in shaping our cognitive health!
WEP Seminar #03
Date:
July 15, 2021
Speakers:
Dr. Floris Van Vugt
Rhona Achtman
In this session, we will explore how people can connect across generations. The session will be held by Floris Van Vugt, who is starting his career as a university professor, and Rhona Achtman, who is a retired physiotherapist. Both are actively practicing Authentic Relating. We will share our thoughts, experiences and challenges, and based on these, we offer a number of interactive exercises that all are invited to participate in.
WEP Seminar #04
Date:
August 13, 2021
Speaker:
Jamie Snytte,
Clinical Psychology Student, McGill University
Aging comes with changes in many of the ways we perceive the world, act and go through our lives. Our cognitive processes, the way we think, remember and make decisions, also tend to fluctuate as we get older. Jamie's talk will focus on specific parts of the brain, within an area called the medial temporal lobes, that supports episodic memory. Some of these brain regions get smaller as we age, but our brains are plastic enough to compensate for these structural changes. While some regions shrink, other regions can work harder to maintain our memory abilities.
WEP Seminar #05
Date:
September 22, 2021
Speaker:
Dr. Sam Biglieri, Assistant Professor, Ryerson University
There has been a call to expand research on people living with dementia (PLWD) from health and social sectors to urban planning. The World Health Organization projects the number of PLWD to increase from 47 to 132 million worldwide by 2050, with 60-80% of PLWD residing within the community (as opposed to congregate living settings). For PLWD, being supported by their neighbourhoods in terms of access has many benefits: more social interaction, sense of worth, dignity, and improved physical/mental health. Being able to access your neighbourhood is a right, and for PLWD – this makes it integral to investigate how neighbourhoods influence their mobility and access. This seminar discusses how the design of suburban neighbourhoods impacts the ability of people living with dementia to get around based on research done in Waterloo, Canada, and what can be done to make city planning dementia-inclusive.
WEP Seminar #06
Date:
October 7, 2021
Speaker:
Dr. Julie Chabot,
Geriatrician, St. Mary's Hospital Center
Before starting her medical studies, Dr. Chabot was a classical singer. In 2016, she launched the MUSIC Project, which combines her two passions: music and geriatrics. For her master's degree in psychology, she studied the effects of music on the health of hospitalized geriatric patients. In her presentation, Dr. Chabot will present a summary of the evidence for the use of music in hospitals; especially on pain and anxiety control. She will also present the results of the study she led evaluating the effects of music on the mood of geriatric patients admitted to St. Mary's Hospital
WEP Seminar #07
Date:
November 12, 2021
Speaker:
Dr. Mehrdad Golian
Dr. Mehrdad Golian, MD, is a cardiologist and invasive electrophysiologist at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. He completed his medical school training, internal medicine residencies and cardiology residencies at the University of Manitoba. Subsequently, Dr. Golian completed his fellowship training in electrophysiology at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto where he was highly regarded for his clinical and EP skills, as well as caring interactions with patients and staff. He completed a Master of Science in Healthcare Quality and patient Safety at Queen's University. He is currently the Deputy Quality Officer at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and the Director of the Atrial Fibrillation Clinic.