2025 a2 National Symposium Plenary Talk: Martin Sliwinski, PhD — Cognition-on-th-Go: Mobile Tools for Cognition Monitoring and Dementia Prevention

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Early detection of cognitive decline is critical for effective intervention in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Traditional neuropsychological assessments, while useful for diagnosing impairment, are limited in their ability to detect subtle, preclinical changes. Dr. Martin Sliwinski and colleagues propose a novel approach using ultra-brief, mobile cognitive assessments embedded in daily life through ecological momentary assessment (EMA). This method captures high-frequency, real-world data on cognitive performance, enabling the detection of short-term variability and long-term trends. By integrating these assessments with contextual data (e.g., stress, social engagement, physical activity), researchers can model dynamic cognitive processes and identify early signs of decline.

Continue Reading2025 a2 National Symposium Plenary Talk: Martin Sliwinski, PhD — Cognition-on-th-Go: Mobile Tools for Cognition Monitoring and Dementia Prevention

2025 a2 National Symposium Keynote Speech: Jianying Hu, PhD– Harnessing AI for Advancing Neurodegenerative Disease Therapeutics

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The drug discovery process remains protracted, costly, and inefficient, particularly in the context of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Huntington's, where therapeutic development has seen limited success. In this keynote, Dr. Jianying Hu presents a comprehensive overview of how artificial intelligence (AI), including classical machine learning and emerging foundation models, is transforming the landscape of drug discovery. She outlines AI-driven strategies across the drug development pipeline—from target identification and molecular generation to disease progression modeling and clinical trial optimization. Highlighted applications include the use of hidden Markov models to construct integrated disease progression models for Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases, enabling nuanced patient stratification and improved trial design.

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2025 a2 National Symposium Keynote Speech: Pattie Maes, PhD– Opportunities for AI and Wearables to Support Healthy Aging

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As the global population ages, cognitive decline and social isolation pose significant challenges to independent living and well-being. In this keynote, Dr. Pattie Maes presents a series of innovative research initiatives from the MIT Media Lab’s Fluid Interfaces group that explore how artificial intelligence (AI) and wearable technologies can support healthy aging. Through participatory design workshops with older adults (ages 70–94), her team identified key areas of need, including memory support, communication assistance, health monitoring, and social connection. Prototypes such as MemPal, a wearable memory assistant using multimodal AI to track daily activities and locate lost objects, and a voice-based memory augmentation system were developed and tested in real-world settings. Additional systems include real-time speech simplification tools and AI-enhanced social agents designed to reduce loneliness by promoting and supporting human relationships.

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Past Webinar – Technological Advancements in Functional Assessments and Fall Prevention, John Ralston and Hamed Tabkhi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37KcJYSMRHE Overview: This webinar gives an overview of two of the MassAITC pilot projects.  John Ralston, from Neursantys describes their work on bioelectronic restoration of the body’s aging balance system.  In addition, Hamed Tabkhi of ForesightCares discusses their product, AVA, which is an AI-powered, video-based mobile app designed to enable clinically grounded fall risk assessments directly in the home. Abstracts: Wearable diagnostic sensors and personalized bioelectronic therapeutics for the treatment of neurophysiological conditions Bioelectronics has been an important component of modern medicine for more than half a century, because of the ability to provide functional recovery for conditions with limited pharmaceutical treatment options. Bioelectronic devices have now received regulatory approval for a growing range of medical conditions and have been shown to provide effective treatment for a growing range of neurological conditions.In this talk we will review the…

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Past Webinar – The Impact of Light Exposure on Sleep: A Pilot Study, Erik Page (Blue Iris Labs)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcBlsqpNYeg Abstract: Light exposure is the primary regulator of human circadian rhythms, influencing many aspects of our physiology and behavior, including sleep, alertness, and mood, as well as many neuroendocrine and cognitive functions. While we have evolved experiencing “bright days and dark nights,” most of us now experience significantly darker days and brighter nights than our pre-modern ancestors, likely resulting in widespread circadian disruption. And as we age, the relationship between light exposure, circadian rhythms, and sleep can be further compromised both through normal aging (e.g., less light reaching the retina due to clouding of the lens) and age-related risk factors, such as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), which is known to damage the brain’s master clock. This webinar will review the current science related to light exposure, circadian rhythms, and sleep, looking at aging and AD…

Continue ReadingPast Webinar – The Impact of Light Exposure on Sleep: A Pilot Study, Erik Page (Blue Iris Labs)

Publication: Returning Individualized Wearable Sensor Results to Older Adult Research Participants: A Pilot Study

Authors: Shelby L Bachman, Krista S Leonard-Corzo, Jennifer M Blankenship, Michael A Busa, Corinna Serviente, Matthew W Limoges, Robert T Marcotte, Ieuan Clay, Kate Lyden Abstract Background: Wearable sensors that monitor physical behaviors are increasingly adopted in clinical research. Older adult research participants have expressed interest in tracking and receiving feedback on their physical behaviors. Simultaneously, researchers and clinical trial sponsors are interested in returning results to participants, but the question of how to return individual study results derived from research-grade wearable sensors remains unanswered. In this study, we (1) assessed the feasibility of returning individual physical behavior results to older adult research participants and (2) obtained participant feedback on the returned results. Methods: Older adult participants (N = 20; ages 67-96) underwent 14 days of remote monitoring with 2 wearable sensors. We then used a semiautomated…

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