Dr. M. Natasha Rajah

Biography: 

Professor M. Natasha Rajah is a Full Professor in the Department of Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Sex, Gender and Diversity in Brain Health, Memory and Aging. She is also an Adjunct Faculty at the Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Adjunct Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, and CIHR Sex and Gender Research Chair in Neuroscience, Mental Health and Addiction. Dr. Rajah received her PhD in Experimental Psychology at University of Toronto (St. George Campus) and did her postdoctoral training at The Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California (Berkeley).

Prior to joining the Psychology Department in Fall 2023, Natasha was a Full Professor with tenure in the Department of Psychiatry, and Associate Member of the Department of Psychology at McGill University (2005-2023). Dr. Rajah also held senior administrative roles at McGill University, including as Director of the Douglas Brain Imaging Centre (2011-2021) and Assistant Dean (Academic Affairs), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) (2022-2023). She received her PhD in Experimental Psychology at University of Toronto (St. George Campus) and did her postdoctoral training at The Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California (Berkeley). 

In her Brain Health Equity in Aging and Memory (BHEAM) Lab at TMU, she conducts cognitive and clinical neuroscience research on memory, aging, and dementia prevention. She uses structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in combination with behavioral, neuropsychological, blood-based endocrine and protein analysis, and genetic methods to advance knowledge about: 1) The cognitive neuroscience of episodic memory 2) How biological sex and sociocultural gender affect cognitive brain aging and AD risk – with a focus on midlife and the effect of menopause 3) How social determinants of health and lifestyle factors affect cognitive brain aging in diverse samples. The goal of her research program is to identify the biological, environmental, and social factors that support the maintenance of normative memory across the adult lifespan, and, to determine what factors negatively affect cognitive and brain aging and place individuals at greater risk of developing AD. To learn more about her research please visit her lab website (link above). Dr. Rajah's research program is supported by the CIHR, NSERC, CFI-JELF, Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada and other national and international funders. To learn more about her research please visit her lab website (link above). 

Dr. Rajah is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Member of the Memory Disorders Research Society and International Behavioral Neuroscience Society and Co-Chair of the CIHR Institute of Aging Advisory Board. She is the EDI Lead for Phase III of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA); and the Brain Resilience, Lead PI of the Diversity in Aging and Dementia (BReDAD) Collaboratory (https://resilienceandaging.com/ (external link, opens in new window) ); Co Editor-in-Chief of Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition; and, Reviewing Editor for eNeuro. 

Selected Publications

Rajah, M. N., Dixon, R., Einstein, G., Y. Stern and the BReDAD Collaboratory (2026). A roadmap for conducting more inclusive brain resilience research on aging and dementia, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2026/1/23, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-025-01021 (external link) 

Lissaman, R., Anjum, S., Quaiattini, A., and M. N. Rajah (2025). APOE ε4-related differences in brain structure, function, and connectivity at midlife: A scoping review. Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease, 12 (9), 100364, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjpad.2025.100364 (external link) 

Kearley, J., Lissaman, R., Langier, A., and M. N. Rajah (2025). Association Between CAIDE Risk Score and Episodic Memory in Middle-Aged Females: The Impact of Natural Menopause, Hormones and Behavior, 171, 105739

Velez Largo, G., Elshiekh, A., Rajagopal, S., Pasvanis, S., and Rajah, M. N. (2025). Slower post-encoding stimulus reaction time predicts poorer subsequent source memory and increased midline cortical activity. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_02312 (external link) 

Mooraj, Z., Salami, A., Campbell, K. L.,Dahl, M. J., Kosciessa, J. Q., Nassar,  M.R., Werkle-Bergner, M., Craik, F. I. M., Lindenberger, U., Mayr, U., Rajah, M. N., Raz, N., Nyberg, L., and D. D. Garrett (2025). Toward a functional future for the cognitive neuroscience of human aging. Neuron, 113 (1), 154-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2024.12.008 (external link) 

Kaur, A., Ricciardelli, S., Rajah, N., and Pilote, L., (2025). Sex differences in the association between hypertension, cerebral small vessel disease and cognitive decline: a narrative review. Journal of Hypertension, 10, 1097,  DOI: 10.1097/HJH.0000000000003997.

Lissaman, R., Rajagopal, S., Kearley, J., Pasvanis, S. and M. N. Rajah (2024). Menopause status- and sex-related differences in age associations with spatial context memory and white matter microstructure at midlife. Neurobiology of Aging, 141, 151-159, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2024.05.017 (external link) 

Duval, A., Beatty-Martínez, A. L., Pasvanis, S., Crestol, A., Snytte, J., Rajah, M. N., & Titone, D. A. (2024). Language diversity across home and work contexts differentially impacts age- and menopause-related declines in cognitive control in healthy females. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Advance online publication. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0001564 (external link) 

Crestol, A., Rajagopal, S., Lissaman, R., LaPlume, A., Pasvanis, S., Olsen, R., Einstein, G., Jacobs, E., and Rajah, M. N (2023). Menopause status and within group differences in chronological age affect the functional neural correlates of spatial context memory in middle-aged females. J. Neuroscience, 43 (50), 8756 – 8768.

Samson, A. D., Rajagopal, S., Pasvanis, S., Villeneuve, S., The PREVENT-AD Research Group, A. R. McIntosh, and M. N. Rajah (2023). Sex differences in longitudinal changes of episodic memory-related brain activity and cognition in cognitively unimpaired older adults with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease. NeuroImage: Clinical, 40, 103532, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103532 (external link)