Zahra  Jafari, PhD

Bio

Dr. Zahra Jafari possesses a diverse academic background and engages in interdisciplinary research. Her research interests span a broad spectrum, primarily concentrating on healthy aging, modifiable risk factors for dementia, auditory aging, tinnitus, cognitive fatigue, multilingualism, music perception, and balance dysfunction. Her lab warmly welcomes those interested in graduate studies, research assistantships, and PDF positions, particularly individuals with expertise in Electrophysiology/EEG Signal Processing and Machine Learning-based Prediction Models.

Dr. Jafari accepts the supervision of graduate students in the PhD in Health program, the Interdisciplinary PhD program, and Master’s Theses in Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Education/Training

• PDF (Neuroscience), University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada
• PhD (Rehabilitation Sciences), Ottawa University, Ottawa, Canada
• PhD (Cognitive Neuroscience), Tabriz University, Tabriz, Iran
• BSc and MSc (Audiology), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Research Interests

• Cognitive neuroscience
• Healthy aging and modifiable risk factors for dementia
• Effortful listening, cognitive fatigue
• Bi/multilingualism
• Auditory aging, tinnitus, mental health, and frailty
• Music emotion and perception

Teaching

• CMSD 6420: Advanced Diagnostic Audiology
• CMSD 6070: Topics in Audiology Procedures

Selected Publications

• Jafari Z, Afrashteh N, Kolb BK, Mohajerani MH. 2023. Hearing loss and impaired short-term memory in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model of amyloid-beta pathology. Exp Neurol. 365, 114413.
• Jafari Z, Fitzpatrick EM, Schramm DR, Rouillon I, Koravand A. 2023. An umbrella review of cochlear implant outcomes in children with auditory neuropathy. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 30:1-17.
• Hossain SR, Karem H, Jafari Z, Kolb BK, Mohajerani MH. 2023. Tactile stimulation improves cognition, motor, and anxiety‐like behaviors and attenuates Alzheimer’s disease pathology in adult APP mice. Synapse. 77(2), e22257.
• Jafari Z, Villeneuve C, Thompson J, Koravand A. 2022. Evidence of subcortical plasticity and enhanced neural synchrony in multilinguals. Bilin: Lang Cogn. 26(2):307-16.
• Jafari Z, Baguley D, Kolb B, Mohajerani M. A systematic review and meta-analysis of extended high-frequency hearing thresholds in tinnitus with a normal audiogram. Ear Hear. 2022;43(6):1643-52.
• Jafari Z, Copps T, Hole G, Nyatepe-Coo F, Kolb BE, Mohajerani MH. 2022. Tinnitus, sound intolerance, and mental health in long-term noise exposure. Eur Arch Oto-Rhino-Laryngol. 279(11):5161-70.
• Jafari Z, Kolb BE, Mohajerani MH. 2022. Hearing loss, tinnitus, and dizziness in COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Can J Neurol Sci. 12:1-12.
• Jafari Z, Kolb BE, Mohajerani MH. 2021. Age-related hearing loss, and cognitive decline: MRI and cellular evidence. Ann N Y Acad Sci.1500(1):17-33.
• Jafari Z, Perani D, Kolb BE, Mohajerani MH. 2021. Bilingual experience and intrinsic functional connectivity in adults, aging, and Alzheimer's disease. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1505(1):8-22.
•  Nikravesh M, Aghajanzadeh M, Mehrpour M, Safarian A, Jafari Z. 2021. Working memory training in post-stroke aphasia: Near and far transfer effects. J Commun Disord. 89: 106077.
• Jafari Z, Kolb BE, Mohajerani MH. 2020. Neural oscillations and brain stimulation in Alzheimer's disease. Prog Neurobiol. 194: 101878.
• Jafari Z, Kolb BE, Mohajerani MH. 2020. Prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex and P50 gating in aging and Alzheimer's disease. Ageing Res Rev. 56: 101028.
• Jafari Z, Kolb BE, Mohajerani MH. 2020. Auditory dysfunction in Parkinson's disease. J Move Disord. 25(4):537-50.
• Jafari Z, Kolb BE, Mohajerani MH. 2019. Age-related hearing loss and tinnitus, dementia risk, and hearing amplification outcomes. Ageing Res Rev. 56. 100963.
• Jafari Z, Copps T, Hole G, Kolb BE, Mohajerani MH. 2020. Noise damage accelerates auditory aging and tinnitus: a Canadian population-based study. Otol Neurotol. 41(10):1316-26.
• Jafari Z, Kolb BE, Mohajerani MH. Noise exposure accelerates the risk of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: Adulthood, gestational, and prenatal mechanistic evidence from animal studies. Neuroscience Biobehavioral Reviews. 2020, 117: 110-28.
•  Jafari Z, Kolb BE, Mohajerani MH. 2020. Life-course contribution of prenatal stress in regulating the neural modulation network underlying the prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex in male Alzheimer disease mice. Cereb Cortex. 30(1):311-25.
• Jafari Z, Mehla J, Kolb BE, Mohajerani MH. 2020. Gestational stress augments postpartum β-amyloid pathology and cognitive decline in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Cereb Cortex. 29(9):3712-3724.
• Jafari Z, Okuma M, Karem H, Mehla J, Kolb BE, Mohajerani MH. 2019. Prenatal noise stress aggravates β-amyloid pathology and cognitive decline in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiol Aging. 77: 66-86.
• Omidvar S, Jafari Z. 2019. Association between tinnitus and temporomandibular joint disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 128(2):662-675.
• Jafari Z, Kolb BE, Mohajerani MH. 2018. Chronic traffic noise stress accelerates brain pathology and cognitive decline in mice. Exp Neurol. 308: 1-12.
•  Aghamolaei M, Jafari Z, Grimm S, Zarnowiec K, Najafi-Koopaie M, Escera E. 2018. Effects of aging on early stages of the auditory deviance detection system. Clin Neurophysiol. 129(11):2252-8.