Skip to content
Project Directory
  • Français
Donate Now
  • Français
  • About
    • What We Do
    • EDI Action Plan
    • Leadership
    • Team
    • Annual Report
    • Publications
    • Careers
  • Brain Conditions
    • One Brain
    • ALS
    • Autism (ASD)
    • Brain Cancer
    • Brain Injury
    • Dementia
    • Epilepsy
    • Mental Illness
    • Multiple Sclerosis
    • Parkinson’s
    • Stroke
    • More
  • Research
    • Programs
    • Funding Opportunities
    • Program Partners
    • Announcements
  • Impact
    • Research Impact Stories
    • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
    • Brain Health in Indigenous Communities
    • Women’s Brain Health
    • Mind Over Matter
  • How You Can Help
    • Ways to Give
    • Start a Fundraiser
    • Workplace Giving
    • The Great Minds

Funded Grants

Back to results

Exploring the complexities of dementia risk in females: role of pregnancy history and the gut-brain axis

Project Overview

Women have a higher lifetime risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and tend to show more Alzheimer’s-related changes in the brain. This increased risk seems to be linked to factors unique to females, like menopause and their reproductive history. For instance, the number of pregnancies a woman has had can affect her chances of developing AD after menopause. However, we still don’t understand the biological reasons why pregnancy history impacts brain function and AD risk.

We believe that gut health — which depends on the kinds of microbes living in our digestive system — may play a role in how past pregnancies affect brain health after menopause. Research shows that menopause and AD can both impact gut health by changing these microbes. So, we’re exploring whether a woman’s pregnancy history could influence brain health after menopause, especially in those at higher risk for AD, through changes in their gut.

We will study gut health by measuring the types of microbes in stool samples from 300 women with a family history of dementia already enrolled in a menopause study. Pregnancy history will be assessed by questionnaire. Brain health will be evaluated with thinking and memory tests and measuring brain blood flow during these tests. This is the first study to explore how factors unique to women, like pregnancy history, interact with brain and gut health.

By revealing how pregnancy history affects brain health in women at higher risk of Alzheimer’s, this research challenges the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to women’s brain health and dementia risk. These insights will help develop more effective, personalized lifestyle and medical interventions, potentially improving care and outcomes for females at risk of Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

Accurately identifying individuals at higher risk for dementia can lead to more targeted prevention and treatment efforts, benefiting both people living with dementia and their caregivers. This project aims to uncover how pregnancy history and gut health influence brain aging after menopause, allowing for a more personalized approach to healthy aging. By understanding their unique risk factors, individuals can adopt lifestyle and medical strategies that may improve brain health and delay the onset of dementia.

Principal Investigator

Cindy Barha , University of Calgary

Team Members

Raylene Reimer, University of Calgary

Partners and Donors

Alzheimer Society of Canada

Project Ongoing

Exploring the complexities of dementia risk in females: role of pregnancy history and the gut-brain axis

  • Grant Type

    Capacity building grants

  • Area of research

    Neurodegeneration

  • Disease Area

    Alzheimer’s

  • Competition

    Alzheimer Society Research Program (ASRP)

  • Province

    Alberta

  • Start Date

    2025

  • Total Grant Amount

    $100,000

  • Health Canada Contribution

    $50,000

Contact Us

1200 McGill College Avenue
Suite 1600, Montreal, Quebec
H3B 4G7

+1 (514) 989-2989 info@braincanada.ca

Please note all online donations will receive an electronic tax receipt, issued by Brain Canada Foundation.

Our Donors

Playing with Marbles Podcast

Join us and take a journey to the real last great frontier – the brain.

Listen

Subscribe to Brain News

Receive our monthly electronic newsletter with updates on funded projects, upcoming events and breakthroughs in brain research.

Sign Up

Territorial acknowledgement

The offices of Brain Canada Foundation are located on the traditional, ancestral territory of the Kanien'kehá:ka Peoples, a place which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst nations. We honour and pay respect to elders past, present and emerging, and dedicate ourselves to moving forward in the spirit of partnership, collaboration, and reconciliation. In our work, we focus our efforts on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, particularly those that pertain to improving health for Indigenous Peoples and that focus on advancing our own learning on Indigenous issues.

© 2025 Brain Canada Foundation

Registration number: 89105 2094 RR0001

  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Design by Field Trip & Co

  • About
    • What We Do
    • EDI Action Plan
    • Leadership
    • Team
    • Annual Report
    • Publications
    • Careers
  • Brain Conditions
    • One Brain
    • ALS
    • Autism (ASD)
    • Brain Cancer
    • Brain Injury
    • Dementia
    • Epilepsy
    • Mental Illness
    • Multiple Sclerosis
    • Parkinson’s
    • Stroke
    • More
  • Research
    • Programs
    • Funding Opportunities
    • Program Partners
    • Announcements
  • Impact
    • Research Impact Stories
    • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
    • Brain Health in Indigenous Communities
    • Women’s Brain Health
    • Mind Over Matter
  • How You Can Help
    • Ways to Give
    • Start a Fundraiser
    • Workplace Giving
    • The Great Minds
Project Directory
Donate Now