Maryam Ghahremani

(MENAFN- The Conversation)

• Research Data Scientist at Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary

Profile Articles Activity

I am a PhD-trained neuroscientist with research expertise in dementia and neurodegenerative disease, with a particular focus on identifying non-cognitive markers that emerge early in the disease course. My work aims to move beyond traditional cognition-centric models of dementia by highlighting behavioural and functional changes that can signal vulnerability long before a clinical diagnosis is reached.

A central focus of my research is mild behavioural impairment (MBI), a validated syndrome capturing later-life, sustained neuropsychiatric symptoms that persist for at least six months. MBI can arise in the earliest stages of neurodegenerative disease and, in some individuals, precedes measurable cognitive decline. Importantly, research shows that neuropsychiatric symptoms assessed through the MBI framework-rather than as transient or cross-sectional symptoms-offer greater sensitivity for identifying individuals at elevated risk of dementia.

More recently, my work has expanded to daily function, challenging the conventional view of functional impairment as merely a diagnostic threshold for dementia. I study how subtle, persistent changes in everyday functioning can emerge well before overt cognitive impairment and may serve as an early clinical marker of neurodegenerative disease, much like MBI. By accounting for the natural history of functional symptoms-distinguishing transient difficulties from persistent ones-this work aims to improve early detection and risk stratification.

Across these domains, my research examines the biological underpinnings of early behavioural and functional change using Alzheimer's disease biofluid biomarkers, including high-sensitivity blood-based markers, alongside neuroimaging measures such as PET and structural and functional MRI. Together, this work seeks to refine how we identify early disease-related change and to inform more timely intervention strategies.

Experience

• 2023–present Research Data Scientist, Hotchkiss Brain Institute
• 2020–2023 Postdoctoral associate, Hotchkiss Brain Institute

Education

• 2020 Western University, PhD in Neuroscience

Publications

• 2025 Exploring the association between mild behavioral impairment and plasma p‐tau217: Implications for early detection of Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimers & Dementia
• 2025 Persistent functional impairment as an early indicator of cognitive decline and dementia in cognitively normal older adults, Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
• 2025 Persistent Functional Impairment as an Early Indicator of Alzheimer Disease Pathology and Progression, American Geriatrics Society
• 2025 Biomarkers of Neurodegenerative Disorders - Mild Behavioral Impairment and Alzheimer Disease Biomarkers: Sample Enrichment for Clinical Trial Screening and Recruitment, Springer Cham
• 2024 Improving dementia prognostication in cognitively normal older adults: conventional versus novel approaches to modelling risk associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms, British Journal of Psychiatry
• 2023 A longitudinal study of late-life psychosis and incident dementia and the potential effects of race and cognition, Nature Mental Health
• 2023 Effects of race, baseline cognition, and APOE on the association of affective dysregulation with incident dementia: A longitudinal study of dementia-free older adults, Journal of Affective Disorders
• 2023 Vitamin D supplementation and incident dementia: Effects of sex, APOE, and baseline cognitive status, Alzheimers Dementia
• 2022 Plasma Phosphorylated Tau at Threonine 181 and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Preclinical and Prodromal Alzheimer Disease, Neurology
• 2022 Apathy and APOE in mild behavioral impairment, and risk for incident dementia, Alzheimers Dementia

Professional Memberships

• Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART)

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