What if we could slow - or even stop - the brain’s decline? Cognitive disorders like dementia affect millions of people worldwide. As Canada faces an increasingly aging population, and more people become caregivers for their elderly loved ones, healthy aging of both brain and body are top of mind for many. Luckily, researchers are revealing a far more hopeful picture as they explore how actions in early life can impact brain aging. They’re learning that cognitive decline has many faces: it's a constellation of biological breakdowns, many of which may be detectable - and even treatable - long before symptoms appear.

Featured guests:

Ina Anreiter, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

Peter Zhukovsky, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and Scientist at CAMH.

Julie Ottoy, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine Neurology at the University of Toronto and Scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute.

This work is supported by the Tavares Foundation, GJ Garden of Life, and CIHR’s Institute of Aging.

The Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Program is made possible thanks to an anchor gift from the Azrieli Foundation, and matched by Brain Canada through the Canada Brain Research Fund. It supports bold, early-career neuroscientists and helps bring their ideas to life.

Our host and executive producer is Fiona Sanderson. Our executive producers are Jillian Donnelly and Kate Shingler.

Our lead producer is Jess Schmidt, with editing by Morgane Chambrin.

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, we’d appreciate it if you could send it to a friend. If you want to learn more about Brain Canada and the amazing research we support, please visit our website at braincanada.ca.