Dr. Sarah Duff Canning, PhD, C.Psych. Neuropsychologist
Dr. Sarah Duff Canning is a registered clinical neuropsychologist, practicing neuropsychology since 2003. She has extensive experience working with children, adolescents, adults and seniors through years of specialized training and employment in teaching hospitals renowned for diagnosis, treatment, and research of neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions. At Toronto Psychology Centre, Dr. Duff Canning is passionate about applying psychological assessment to improve the lives of her clients.
Dr. Duff Canning provides comprehensive neuropsychological assessments and addresses a variety of concerns such as changes in memory, concentration, processing speed, reasoning capacity or language, understanding the effects of a brain injury (e.g., concussion), or clarifying cognitive problems associated with a medical condition (e.g., cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, epilepsy, stroke). She conducts psychoeducational assessments to help identify Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), whether individuals are seeking support and accommodations in higher education or in their occupational role.
Dr. Duff Canning’s neuropsychological assessments are informed by evidence-based practice and guided by up-to-date research in the fields of neuropsychology, neuroscience, and neurology. She has a strong track record in research that provides an exceptional foundation to her expert knowledge and clinical skills. Dr. Duff Canning continues an active research program in neurodegenerative disorders with collaborators at Toronto Western Hospital and Sunnybrook Hospital and with projects supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Parkinson’s Foundation of Canada, and the National Cancer Institute of Canada.
Dr. Duff Canning is warm, empathic, and engaging in her approach to providing neuropsychological assessment. She is understanding and respectful of the unique backgrounds and individual needs of each client. Dr. Duff Canning has a wholistic approach to her evaluations, taking into consideration developmental, emotional, behavioural, medical, and social factors that may impact on cognitive functioning. She provides timely evaluations accompanied by detailed and understandable verbal feedback as well as comprehensive written reports.
Dr. Duff Canning was employed from 2002 to 2014 as a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Staff Scientist at Toronto Western Hospital (TWH), University Health Network consulting to the neurological and neurosurgical programs associated with the Morton and Gloria Shulman Movement Disorders Centre and the Memory Clinic. Here her clinical focus was on adult and senior outpatients and inpatients with a variety of neurological conditions including neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Corticobasal Degeneration, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, Frontotemporal dementia, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Huntington’s disease), stroke, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, metabolic and genetic disorders, Depressive Disorders, and Conversion Disorder. She also participated on a multidisciplinary team conducting pre-surgical screening and postsurgical follow-up of patients undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for treatment of motor symptoms (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, Dystonia).
Her research focus at TWH included understanding changes in cognition, behaviour, and brain activity in association with Parkinson’s disease (PD), and the cognitive and behavioural effects of DBS in patients with PD and PSP. She also collaborated on a large, longitudinal study examining the effects of Androgen Deprivation Therapy on cognitive, physical and emotional functioning in men with prostate cancer. From 2014-2017, Dr. Duff Canning was a visiting neuroscientist in the Neurology Departments of Shanghai First People’s Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital in association with Shanghai Jiao Tong University while her family accompanied her husband on a three-year job assignment in Shanghai, China.
Dr. Duff Canning is happy to be back in Toronto with her family where she is able to carry on rewarding research endeavours and clinical practice in neuropsychology.
Dr. Duff Canning has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed research publications in scientific journals including Neurology, Archives of Neurology, Brain, Movement Disorders, Parkinsonism and Related disorders, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, and Clinical Oncology. Dr. Duff Canning has acted as a reviewer for scientific journals including the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, Movement Disorders, Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, and Journal of Parkinson’s Disease. She has presented at local and international conferences in the field of neuropsychology of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease and has provided seminars and guest lectures to psychology, psychiatry and neurology students at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Duff Canning received her master’s and PhD from the University of Western Ontario, supported by scholarships from the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Her doctoral research examined effects of Estrogen Replacement Therapy on memory functioning in postmenopausal women. She was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to complete her training at Sunnybrook Hospital, where she undertook research in the neuropsychology of normal aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and other cortical and subcortical dementias, as well as additional specialized training in other neurological conditions (e.g., stroke, brain injury, Multiple Sclerosis).
Dr. Duff Canning is a member of the following professional organizations: