Brain science, empowered by donors

Research is making a difference in the lives of the ones you love.

Scientists at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute (RRI) are discovering and exploring new potential predictors and targeted interventions for neurodegenerative diseases.
 
What’s a targeted intervention? It could be:

  • A fitness regimen or a brain training exercise such as learning a new language.

  • Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a non-invasive form of brain stimulation that transmits a very low-intensity current through the skull.

  • Cholinesterase inhibitors – a class of drug that is effective in slowing the progress of dementia in approximately 50 per cent of patients, although the effects only last six months to a year.

It’s a complex field of study, but the return on investment is enormous if we can figure out how to identify mild cognitive impairment earlier, and prevent or slow dementias that threaten the well-being of an aging population.
 
Your donations are crucial.
 
You enable us to purchase and maintain scanners for brain imaging; to recruit participants for studies and train the next generation of research professionals.
 
Thanks to you, our scientists are gaining knowledge about neuroplasticity and how to tap into the brain’s ability to make use of cognitive reserve or compensate after traumatic brain injury or the onset of memory concerns or disease.

  • 28 full-time scientists
  • 89 trainees
  • 6,900 research participant volunteer hours
  • More than 440 ongoing research studies
 

An estimated 564,000 Canadians have Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia. By 2031, this figure is expected to rise to 937,000, an increase of 66%.
 
The combined health-care system and out-of-pocket costs of dementia are estimated at $10.4 billion, and projected to rise to $16.6 billion by 2031.