As a testament to its world-wide reputation for excellence in care, research and teaching, Baycrest is regularly featured in local, national and international media. Here are examples from the past year:
National Attention
Empathy stays intact despite memory loss
The national media reported on a Baycrest study showing that people with a rare type of brain injury that wipes out most of their memories can still be sensitive to others’ feelings and intentions.
Improving a sluggish memory
Cognitive rehabilitation scientist Dr. Nicole Anderson shared strategies for optimizing memory as we age.
Never too late for the prom
The country’s major media outlets converged on Baycrest last spring to cover a remarkable event—a prom for Holocaust Survivors who never got to experience this milestone in their youth. The event gave Baycrest its biggest ever one-day splash of media coverage.
World Attention
Depression drug relieves dementia
National and international media reported on surprising findings from a drug study by Baycrest and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Researchers demonstrated that an anti-depressant may work as effectively as a traditionally prescribed anti-psychotic in alleviating psychosis and aggression in people with dementia—pointing to a possible new direction in drug treatment.
Head injuries result in widespread brain tissue loss
Reuters newswire and CTV.ca reported on a Baycrest study which found that a serious head injury can result in more widespread loss of brain tissue than previously thought.
Oprah Magazine
Midlife memory meltdown
Scientist Dr. Cheryl Grady was among the brain experts interviewed by Oprah magazine for a story on middle aged adults experiencing memory changes and what they can do about it. Dr. Grady led a study that identified changes in brain activity that begin gradually in middle age and which may explain why older adults find it difficult to concentrate.
CBC RADIO
Memory: The once and future past
The Ideas program aired a week-long series on this fascinating topic. It featured world-renowned cognitive psychologists including Baycrest’s Endel Tulving, Morris Moscovitch and Fergus Craik.
Fear and violence in nursing homes
In a series of nationwide interviews, Baycrest nursing director Rhonda Seidman-Carlson addressed dementia-related aggression in nursing homes and how best to manage the problem.
Los Angeles Times
Caring for traumatized seniors
Social worker Paula David was interviewed for a front-page story on the challenges of caring for aging Holocaust survivors, especially when many now suffer from dementia and traumatic flashbacks. Baycrest’s internationally-renowned practice manual, Caring for Aging Survivors, was promoted in a sidebar story.
Toronto Star
A disease that steals the self
The Toronto Star ran an exclusive feature on Baycrest’s unique day program for adults stricken with frontaltemporal dementia, many of them at the peak of their careers in middle age.
BBC Radio
Help for genocide survivors
The World program aired a story on Baycrest’s expertise caring for aging Holocaust Survivors and how this knowledge is vital to those caring for survivors of more recent genocides.
The Globe and Mail
Breaking new scientific ground
An article profiling leading researchers in Toronto who are breaking new ground included Baycrest scientist Dr. Randy McIntosh. Dr. McIntosh explores brain network flexibility in an effort to predict which people have the most potential for brain function recovery after an injury such as a stroke.
The National Post
Alzheimer’s screening raises ethical issue
A front-page report on Baycrest’s neuroimaging and dementia conference discussed the exciting brain imaging advancements that can detect “amyloid” plaque, brain shrinkage and other telltale signs of Alzheimer’s long before symptoms show. The conference also explored the ethical dilemma this powerful equipment poses for doctors: should they push for routine brain scans for their patients, despite the high costs of these scans and the limited usefulness of current Alzheimer’s drugs.
