Research summary
Traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are extremely common. People with these issues also often suffer from sleep disorders, leading to more adverse cognitive outcomes. Whether or not a person is predisposed to these adverse outcomes depends on age, the presence of comorbidities and a variety of social equity factors, including gender. This makes it challenging to treat these diseases.
Dr. Tatyana Mollayeva, Canada Research Chair in Neurological Disorders and Brain Health, aims to address this challenge by focusing on the role sleep disorders and brain injuries play in newly developed dementia, cognitive rehabilitation and disability. She and her research team are using analytical methods, such as data mining, to determine the risk and protective factors that can interact across an individual’s lifespan to influence health outcomes. Ultimately, their research will lead to frameworks to prevent and treat sleep disorders, traumatic brain injury and dementia.