Memory Clinic

4RTNI-2: 4-Repeat Tauopathy Neuroimaging Initiative – Cycle 2

This is an observational study which aims to determine the natural history of insoluble tau deposition as measured by PET scans in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD) patients as compared to age-matched normal elders, quantify the longitudinal changes in cerebrospinal fluid as compared with other fluid biomarkers of neurodegeneration, measure ocular neuronal injury markers over time and to determine the clinical, MRI and neuronal injury marker correlates of tau deposition measured by PET.

Participants and their caregivers are asked to come in for 3 visits every 6 months for baseline, 6-month and 12-month visits. A select group of participants (those diagnosed to have oligo variant PSP and healthy controls) will be asked to come back for a 24-month visit. Each visit will take 2-3 full days to complete and will involve the following assessments: MRI scan, PET scan, blood draw, clinical assessment, neuropsychological assessments, eye testing, study partner interview and an optional lumbar puncture.

For further information, please call Daniela Mora-Fisher, Clinical Research Study Assistant at 416 603 5800 ext. 5914 or email daniela.mora-fisher@uhn.ca.

CIHR-FTLD: Multimodal Assessment for Predicting Pathological Substrate in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration

This is an observational study which aims to establish diagnostic tools in order to make an accurate ante-mortem clinical and pathological diagnosis of patients with clinical FTLD syndromes. Eligible participants and their caregivers are asked to come in for one study visit which usually takes 2-3 full days during which the following assessments are performed: MRI scan, PET scan, blood draw, clinical assessment, neuropsychological testing, study partner interview and an optional lumbar puncture.

For further information, please call Daniela Mora-Fisher, Clinical Research Study Assistant at 416 603 5800 ext. 5914 or email daniela.mora-fisher@uhn.ca.

FOXY: A Phase 2 Clinical Trial of Intranasal Oxytocin for Frontotemporal Dementia

This is a double blind, placebo-controlled study which aims to test the hypothesis that intranasal oxytocin will reduce social apathy and empathy deficits as compared with placebo in patients with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). Three dose schedules of intranasal oxytocin (low, medium and high) will be tested on eligible participants. Patients and their caregivers will be asked to come in for a 1-day screening visit during which the following tests will be done: 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), blood draw, clinical assessments, neuropsychological testing and MRI (if no previous MRI scans are available). Upon successful screening, the participant and the study partner will be asked to come back for 4 more study visits (Baseline 1, End of Treatment 1, Baseline 2 and End of Treatment 2). Each of these study visits will take 1 day to complete and will involve the following common assessments: ECG, blood draw, clinical assessments and neuropsychological testing. The entire study will take approximately 22 weeks to complete.

For further information, please call Daniela Mora-Fisher, Clinical Research Study Assistant at 416 603 5800 ext. 5914 or email daniela.mora-fisher@uhn.ca.

ALLFTD: ARTFL LEFFTDS Longitudinal Frontotemporal Dementia Study

This is a 5-year observational study which aims to evaluate sporadic and familial frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) patients and asymptomatic family members of familial FTLD patients. The study has two arms: a "longitudinal arm" involving a comprehensive assessment of clinical, functional, imaging, and biofluid data collection, and a "biofluid focused arm" involving limited clinical data to accompany biospecimen collection. The Longitudinal arm takes 2-3 days to complete all study assessments (blood draw, clinical assessments, neuropsychological testing, MRI and optional lumbar puncture) and the Biofluid arm involves 1 day to complete limited assessments (blood draw, clinical assessments, neuropsychological testing and optional lumbar puncture). Participants in the Longitudinal arm will be asked to come back every year for 5 years to complete the same assessments while participants in the Biofluid arm will be followed up remotely by phone interview and online surveys. A reliable study partner who can report on the participant's recent behaviour​, cognitive and functional abilities will have to be available in order to be eligible for the study.

For further information, please call Daniela Mora-Fisher, Clinical Research Study Assistant at 416 603 5800 ext. 5914 or email daniela.mora-fisher@uhn.ca.

Empathy Study: A pilot study assessing the benefits of a dementia caregiver educational brochure on decreased empathy and emotion recognition in patients with neurodegenerative disease

This study is investigating the use of an educational booklet about emotion recognition changes in people with cognitive impairment, dementia, and neurodegenerative disease and is primarily measuring caregiver mood, emotions, and burden. The study involves a ~2-hour appointment at Toronto Western Hospital and you will be compensated $25 for this study visit to cover transportation/parking. There will be a task where both the caregiver and the patient (separately) guess the emotions of the people in a video, questionnaires for the caregiver, and time to read through the educational booklet and to evaluate it. One month from the appointment, we will call the caregiver again and complete some of the questionnaires over the phone (~20 min).

For further information, please call Daniela Mora-Fisher, Clinical Research Study Assistant at 416 603 5800 ext. 5914 or email daniela.mora-fisher@uhn.ca and specify Empathy Study.

Oculomotor Function Testing in Patients Who Suffered Concussion

This study is investigating the use self-paced saccades (and other oculomotor measures) in patients with acute concussion as a biomarker for detection and examine the change in self-paced saccades (and other oculomotor measures) over 6 months in patients who suffered a concussion (compared to controls).

Patients will be given questionnaires (10 minutes) and have oculomotor function testing (30 minutes) at baseline (i.e., within 7 days of concussion) and 3 follow-up visits (i.e., 1, 3, and 6 months after concussion).

For information, please contact Mozhgan Khodadadi at 416 603 5800 ext. 4025 or email mozhgan.khodadadi@uhn.ca.

Post-Concussion Syndrome in Professional Athletes: A Multidisciplinary Study

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between repeated concussions and late decline of brain function. For this research study, we are asking athletes some of whom suffer from the after-effects of repeated concussions to undergo a series of clinical, imaging and blood tests outlined below in order to examine the effects of repeated concussions on brain function and brain structure. In addition, all participants agreeing to participate in the study will be asked to will their brains to The Krembil Brain Institute Concussion Project at the Toronto Western Hospital with the consent and full knowledge of their families and doctors. However, it is possible to participate in the research without agreeing to a brain donation.

For information, please contact Mozhgan Khodadadi at 416 603 5800 ext. 4025 or email mozhgan.khodadadi@uhn.ca.

ANAVEX2-73 Study

This is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. This clinical trial will investigate the safety and potential efficacy (whether a drug works) of ANAVEX2-73 in patients aged 60 to 85 years of age with early Alzheimer's disease. The drug has shown in research studies that it may improve mental activities that are involved in learning, remembering and using general daily knowledge. It may protect brain neurons (brain nerve cells) that are usually damaged in Alzheimer's disease. It is thought that ANAVEX2-73 acts by attaching to and activating specific proteins called "survival receptors". This may enable ANAVEX2-73 to modify AD. This study will involve participation for approximately 52 weeks.

For further information, please call 416 603 5910 or email bghazanf@uhnresearch.ca.

CCNA: The Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging

Observation study of people with various types of dementia and/or cognitive complaints between the ages of 50-90. This study aims at determining who is at risk of developing dementia, which tests are most effective at detecting dementia, and helping with the understanding and diagnosis of the following forms of dementia: Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer's disease, Frontotemporal Dementia, Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson's Disease, as well as healthy controls. Study collects clinical, neuropsychological, and MRI imaging data from study participants.

For further information, please call 416 603 5910 or email bghazanf@uhnresearch.ca.

BEAM: Brain-Eye Amyloid Memory Study

Observation study to investigate how effective non-invasive eye measurements are at identifying participants aged 50-90 with various types of dementias including: Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer's Disease, Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Parkinson's Disease, Lewy Body Disease, and healthy controls. Study collects clinical, neuropsychological, MRI imaging data, PET imaging data, eye-tracking data, and ocular measurements.

For further information, please call 416 603 5910 or email bghazanf@uhnresearch.ca.