Brain changes linked to Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) begin years before the onset of clinical symptoms. However, we lack sufficient tools to accurately identify individuals during preclinical stages of AD, which limits our ability to implement interventions that could prevent or slow disease progression. Although memory loss is one of the most common symptoms of AD, visual perceptual and attention can also be impacted at the early stages of the disease, and can be difficult to assess throughout disease progression. I will describe some of the ways in aging affects visual perception (including behavioural assessments and electrophysiological markers of face processing and contour integration), how those changes differ in healthy aging and neurodegeneration, and how tools from vision science can probe function in individuals living with dementia and beyond. The results of the work I will discuss are important for developing rapid, non-verbal assessments of visual function that could be used as early screening tools for AD, providing insights into how we can assess visual function in individuals with advanced cognitive impairment and enhance their quality of life, and serving as examples of the ways in which science and innovation intersect.

Dr. Allison Sekuler (FSEP, FPsyS, FAPS) is the Sandra A. Rotman Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and President and Chief Scientist of the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, and President and Chief Scientist of the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). A graduate of Pomona College (BA, Mathematics and Psychology) and the University of California, Berkeley (PhD, Psychology), Dr. Sekuler holds faculty positions in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto and the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University. Her research uses behavioural and neuroimaging approaches to understand how the brain processes visual information, with specific interests in face perception, motion processing, perceptual learning, neural plasticity, aging, and neurotechnology. Her research was the first to show conclusively that older brains “rewire” themselves to compensate for functional changes, and her clinical and translational research aims to develop methods to prevent, detect, and treat age-related sensory and cognitive decline. She Chairs the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council’s Public Impact Value Proposition committee and the Ontario Hospital Association Research & Innovation Committee; serves on the governing and advisory boards for Hamilton Health Sciences, VISTA, and BrainsCAN; and is a founding steering committee member of the Canadian Brain Research Strategy. Dr. Sekuler has won numerous national and international awards for research, teaching, and leadership -- including serving as the country’s first Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and recently being named one of WXN's Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada (2019). In her spare time, she is proving that you’re never too old to learn: she picked up her first drumsticks a few years ago, joined a band, and recently earned her Drum Professional Certificate from Berklee College of Music.