Biennial meeting of the WFN Aphasia, Dementia, and Cognitive Disorders Specialty Group in Japan.
By Dr. Aida Suárez-González, Prof. Morris Freedman, Prof. Manabu Ikeda, Dr. Yutaka Tanaka, Prof. Masaru Mimura, and Prof. Suvarna Alladi.
Attendees of the WFN Specialty Group ADCD biennial meeting at the entrance of the conference venue, Nara Kasugano International Forum at Nara Park.
The attendants for the 2024 biennial meeting of the WFN Aphasia, Dementia, and Cognitive Disorders Specialty Group (ADCD SG) arrived in Nara, Japan, about the same time as the sakura (Japanese cherry trees) reached full bloom. This served as a timely metaphor to usher in the four vibrant days of all things cognitive neurology that followed, elegantly wrapped in the most exquisite Japanese hospitality.
The venue of the meeting was the beautiful Nara Kasugano International Forum in Nara Park, surrounded by local deer and a short walk from the famous Todai-ji Buddhist temple. The activity was organized by ADCD chair Prof. Suvarna Alladi and local organizing chairs Prof. Manabu Ikeda and Dr. Yutaka Tanaka, in partnership with the Neuropsychology Association of Japan and the Japan Society for Higher Brain Function. This was a memorable meeting, with more than 50 attendees from around the world. (Most were also speakers at the various symposiums that built on the 54-year tradition of scientific meetings of the group.)
Panelists and attendees appreciated the opportunity to delve into the contributions of Japanese behavioral neurology, which was one of the highlights of the event. Other highlights included:
- Plenary sessions delivered by Prof. Etsuro Mori on innovation in dementia studies, and Prof. Manabu Ikeda on prodromal stages of dementia and primary psychiatric diseases.
- Symposiums on physiology and pathology of brain disease (Chair: Prof. Riki Matsumoto), Asian studies in posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) (Chair: Prof. Kyoko Suzuki), cerebral amyloid angiopathy (Chair: Prof. Akihiro Sindo), and PET imaging (Chair: Prof. Masaru Mimura).
Local organizers (left to right) Prof. Manabu Ikeda, Prof. Masaru Mimura, and Dr. Yutaka Tanaka with early career researchers and Dr. Boon Lead Tee (center), posters session chair, at the poster presentation.
Science Bridges Cultures
Learning from Japanese scientists in their homeland while immersed in their cultural heritage was a unique experience. It underscored the importance of the ADCD meetings to continue rotating around the world to favor multicultural exchange and inclusive and diverse behavioral neurology.
Diversity was indeed a central and transversal element with a tangible presence during the meeting. There were specific symposiums about cross-cultural investigations in frontotemporal dementia and primary progressive aphasia (PPA), chaired by Prof. Olivier Piguet, semantics in Alzheimer’s disease and PPA with strong emphasis on language diversity, chaired by Prof. Jet Vonk, and a symposium on diversity, disparity, and precision science in brain health, chaired by Prof. Suvarna Alladi. In this diverse context, we learned about the International Network for Cross-Linguistic Research on Brain Health (INCLUDE), which aims to foster cross-linguistic research on brain disorders to identify generalizable markers.
Attendees pose with Noh dancers after a performance (a classical Japanese dance drama) at the conference venue.
Prof. Carlo Semenza delivered the second day’s plenary talk on the contributions of the right hemisphere to calculation. Prof. Lisa Cipolotti chaired a symposium on recent research into executive function and reading, and Prof. Peter Nestor chaired sessions on PPA due to AD pathology. The latter symposium covered automated analysis of speech in biologically confirmed PPA, linguistic and imaging features in AD-related PPA, and core impairment of logogenic variant PPA.
The cerebral small vessel diseases (SVD) symposium — chaired by Dr. Masafumi Ihara and Prof. Raj Kalaria — covered the clinical, imaging, and physiopathology of SVD, CADASIL, CARASIL, and outcomes of young stroke survivors. Dr. Morris Freedman chaired the Virtual Behavioral Medicine Symposium in which his team presented the development and implementation by Baycrest Health Sciences of a novel model of care for neuropsychiatric symptoms in severe dementia in Ontario, Canada. Dr. Aida Suarez-Gonzalez and Prof. Peter Nestor, behavioral interventions and rehabilitation chairs, were featured in six talks on PCA, AD, aphasia, and behavioral and neuropsychiatric symptoms.
We also had a taste of noh dance and the art of ikebana alongside delicious Japanese gastronomy at the welcome dinner and throughout the conference. Many early career researchers presented, and on the last day, the poster session by young international researchers was a highlight. To quote Prof. Hitomi Sato from Tokyo, “Like the cherry blossoms, the conference was in full bloom with each passing day.”
(Left to right) Jagger Smith, Prof. Suvarna Alladi, Dr. Aida Suárez-González, Deb Galet, and Prof. Morris Freedman at the conference venue.
Fruitful scientific discussion and networking continued outside official conference hours in group walks around pagodas, zen gardens, and Shinto shrines. We know that the seeds of a few international collaborations were planted in those walks under vermillion torii gates.
During the business meeting, new chair Dr. Aida Suárez-González took over from Prof. Suvarna Alladi, Prof. Manabu Ikeda was appointed new co-chair, and the executive committee was renewed, including members from Southeast Asia, Western Pacific, Europe, North and South America, and Africa.
The location of the 2026 meeting is Australia. Thanks to Prof. Peter Nestor who has volunteered to organize the meeting in the Gold Coast. In December 2024, we will travel to Nairobi to support the activities of our colleagues at the African Dementia Consortium. We will return to Asia in the autumn of 2025 to celebrate the XXVII World Congress of Neurology in Seoul. •
Dr. Aida Suárez-González is principal research fellow and consultant clinical neuropsychologist at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UCL, in London, U.K. Morris Freedman is professor in the department of medicine (neurology) at University of Toronto, head of the division of neurology and medical director of the Pamela and Paul Austin Centre for Neurology and Behavioral Support at Baycrest in Toronto, Canada. Manabu Ikeda is professor of psychiatry and chair of the department of psychiatry at Osaka University in Osaka, Japan. Dr. Yutaka Tanaka is director of Tanka Clinic in Nara, Japan. Masaru Mimura is professor emeritus at Keio University and past chair of the department of neuropsychiatry in Japan. Prof. Suvarna Alladi is professor of neurology at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bangalore, India.
