Program

Vote for the best poster award:

Link to survey for Poster session 1: to be provided 

Link to survey for Poster session 2: to be provided

• In each poster session you should choose the best 3 posters. 

Thursday Feb 8th, 2024

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: Registration desk open (Hotel check-in)

1:00-1:15 pm: Opening remarks

1:15 pm - 2:15 pm: Jessica Damoiseaux, Wayne State University

2:15-3:45 pm: Coffee break and posters I

3:45-4:45 pm: Ewa Niechwiej-Szwedo, University of Waterloo

4:45-5:15 pm: Break 

5:15-6:15 pm: Amy Finn, University of Toronto

6:15-8:15 pm: Dinner

8:15 pm - 1:00 am: L.O.V.E. Affair

Friday Feb 9th, 2024

9:00 am - 10:30 am: Registration desk open, Posters II and coffee

11:00 am - 12:00 am:Gunnar Blohm, Queens University

12:00 pm - 1:30 pm: Lunch

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm: Jennifer Heisz, McMaster University

2:30-2:45 pm: Closing Remarks and Poster Award

Invited Speakers (2023) - to be updated soon:

Abstract

Individual differences in brain aging – typical or pathological? 

Typical aging is accompanied by changes in brain structure and function and an overall cognitive decline. However, even from personal experience we know that not everyone ages similarly. In this talk I will highlight some of my lab’s work that examines individual differences in brain aging, such as our research examining cognitive and brain changes in individuals with subjective cognitive decline. Here, we found that cognitively unimpaired older adults with more subjective cognitive decline showed differences in brain structure and function in similar brain regions as observed in patients with early stages of dementia of the Alzheimer’s type. In addition, we found that some of these differences were more prominent in individuals who had vascular and/or genetic risk factors, such as high blood pressure and APOE-e4 carriership. 

Another line of research I will discuss is on the role of biomarkers in detecting atypical changes. Specifically, the role of plasma Neurofilament Light (NfL) as a neurodegenerative marker for Alzheimer’s disease. Our research supports the potential of NfL as a risk/susceptibility biomarker, as indicated by its association with white matter microstructure.

Bio

Dr. Jessica Damoiseaux is an Associate Professor in the Institute of Gerontology and Department of Psychology at Wayne State University. Dr. Damoiseaux received her PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from VU University Amsterdam, where she focused on resting state brain network connectivity in aging and Alzheimer’s disease. She continued this line of research during her postdoctoral training at Stanford University. She currently heads the Connect Lab. Her research investigates individual differences in typical cognitive and brain aging, and early detection of neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Damoiseaux’s lab uses MRI-based neuroimaging, with an emphasis on brain network approaches, to examine brain aging. Her research goals include the identification of risk factors for cognitive decline, biomarkers for early detection and possible lifestyle interventions to maintain cognitive and brain health.

Abstract 

Visuomotor coordination in the ‘wild’: application of eye tracking towards clinical and occupational assessments of motor skills.  

The only way to interact with our environment is through action: making eye movements while reading or looking for relevant objects, performing goal-directed reaching and grasping movements with our hands, and navigating to a target destination. Indeed, eye-hand coordination is essential for skillful performance of most daily activities and occupational tasks. Phylogenetic adaptations have led to an exquisite human sensorimotor system that provides the capacity for complex upper limb control featuring a remarkable number of degrees of freedom to achieve even the simplest of movements. Because vision provides the most accurate and precise exteroceptive information about the 3D layout of our environment, spatiotemporal coordination between the eyes and hand movements (i.e., visuomotor control) is essential for successful and efficient performance of skilled motor behaviours. This presentation will highlight the utility and application of eye and limb motion tracking in advancing our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the development and learning of complex visuomotor behaviours. Two lines of research will be discussed: 1) maturation of upper limb movement control and eye-hand coordination profile in typically developing children, and how these processes are affected by neurodevelopmental disorders and aging; 2) changes in gaze behaviour and visuomotor coordination during skill learning in adults. This research adds to the fundamental understanding of sensorimotor control and learning, and provides foundational knowledge for developing evidence-based assessments and training programs to facilitate motor skill acquisition.                                                                                                       

Bio

Dr. Ewa Niechwiej-Szwedo is an Associate Professor at the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo. Her research is focused on three areas: 1) investigating the neuroplastic adaptation of oculomotor and upper limb movement control in individuals with abnormal binocular vision due amblyopia and strabismus; 2) mapping out the typical and atypical maturation trajectory of visuomotor skills in children; 3) investigating eye tracking as a behavioural marker of skill development and proficiency. This research provides novel insights about the capacity of the sensorimotor system to adapt when normal visual experience is disrupted during childhood. The ultimate goal of this research program is to inform the development of assessment tools and targeted rehabilitation regimens for children with neurodevelopmental disorders who might be at risk of poor visuomotor outcomes. 

Abstract

A sweet spot? When children’s ongoing cognitive and brain development allow them to learn better than adults 

Cognitive development is marked by age-related improvements across a number of domains, as young children perform worse than their older counterparts on most tasks. However, there are cases in which young children, and even infants, outperform older children and adults. Why? In this talk, I will go over work characterizing instances in which children are able to learn more than adults and link this to ongoing changes in brain and cognitive development. I will focus especially on ongoing changes in the ability to sustain attention over time. I will end by delving more deeply into the link between neural and cognitive development, and present my framework for thinking about how brain development can facilitate and constrain learning across domains. I will discuss how this framework may help to answer open questions about how learning interacts with development and plasticity

Bio

Dr. Amy Finn is an Associate Professor in Psychology and director of the Learning and Neural Development lab at the University of Toronto. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, working with Drs. Mark D’Esposito and Carla Hudson Kam and postdoctoral training at MIT, working with Dr. John Gabrieli. Her research explores how the developing brain influences learning, either facilitating gains in learning or constraining them. To answer these questions, she studies domain-general aspects of development (focusing heavily on memory) and uses a variety of experimental, training, and neuroimaging techniques; these include for example making up new languages and fMRI in children.

Abstract 

Decoding cortical movement planning computations from magnetoencephalography (MEG)

To plan a visually guided movement, the brain must choose an effector, calculate an extrinsic movement vector, then convert this into intrinsic muscle commands for current posture. These processes have been studied extensively using neurophysiology and fMRI, but the whole-brain temporal dynamics are unclear. Here, we exploited the spatiotemporal resolution of MEG. Human participants performed a delayed pro-/anti wrist pointing task with the left or right hand and 3 different forearm postures. We then computed cortical source activity in 16 previously identified bilateral cortical areas (Alikhanian, et al., 2013) and carried out three analyses: (1) We compared pro/anti trials to identify brain areas coding for stimulus direction vs. movement direction. Sensory activity in α / β bands progressed from posterior to anterior cortical areas, culminating in a β-band movement plan in primary motor cortex. During the delay, movement codes then retroactively replaced the sensory code in more posterior areas (Blohm, et al., 2019). (2) We then asked how effector information (left vs. right hand) was coded and integrated into the movement plan. We found overlapping but distinct networks coding hand use vs. hand-specific motor plans (Blohm, et al., 2022). (3) Last, we contrasted opposing wrist postures to test when and where the extrinsic-to-intrinsic transformation occurred. We found another distinct pair of overlapping networks coding for posture (in γ band) vs. posture-specific movement plans (β). Overall, these results demonstrate several overlapping but distinct cortical networks that carry out different spatiotemporal computations for movement planning.

Bio

Gunnar Blohm (PhD in Engineering & Neuroscience; http://compneurosci.com/) is a Professor for Computational Neuroscience at Queen’s University and Vice-Director of the CFREF program “Connected Minds”. He is best known for his ground-breaking research in sensory-motor control investigation arm movement planning and the coordination of different oculomotor systems as well as related perceptual phenomena. In his lab, he uses computational modeling and machine learning approaches in conjunction with behavioural measures, psychophysics, brain imaging, brain stimulation and patient work. As an award-winning teaching innovator, he has co-founded (2020) and is co-directing Neuromatch Academy, offering accessible hands-on courses in Computational Neuroscience, Deep Learning and Computational Climate Science."

Abstract

Exercise for Brain Health 

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are among the world's greatest health challenges for which there is no cure. As the population ages and global dementia rates rise, there is an urgent need for interventions that reduce that risk in healthy older adults. Exercise is a promising intervention; however, exercise prescriptions for optimizing brain health are lacking and this may undermine the perceived clinical utility of exercise. My talk will describe research linking sedentary behaviour to dementia, how to break up sedentary time with exercise breaks, and the types of exercises that benefit brain health. The audience will also learn practical evidence-based solutions for how to incorporate more movement into their everyday life.

Bio

Jennifer J. Heisz, Ph.D., is an expert in brain health and author of Move the Body, Heal the Mind. She is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Brain Health and Aging in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University where she directs the NeuroFit lab (www.neurofitlab.ca). Her award-winning research examines the effects of physical activity on brain function to promote mental health and cognition in young adults, older adults, and individuals with Alzheimer’s disease.

Financial Contributors