Laboratories

Stern Lab

This lab explores cognitive changes throughout aging and their neural basis, with a strong focus on state-of-the-art cognitive approaches and multi-modal imaging. We deal with two main themes: understanding cognitive aging and understanding individual differences in susceptibility to aging and Alzheimer's disease. We are also conducting other studies, including a study of the natural history of Alzheimer’s disease, and cognitive intervention trials in healthy elders that focus on both exercise and cognitive stimulation.

Brickman Lab

Our laboratory integrates neuropsychology, neuroimaging, basic science, and epidemiology to understand the determinants and cognitive consequences of aging and neurodegenerative disease. With a special focus on neuroimaging and other biomarkers, we have been particularly interested in the role of white matter and cerebrovascular factors in cognitive aging in general and in Alzheimer’s disease specifically.

Cosentino Lab

The overarching goal of our lab has been to elucidate the effects of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related disorders on cognitive and metacognitive functions. Our lab investigates the neuropsychological profiles of AD, frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia, and other age-related neurodegenerative diseases, with the goal of improving early detection and differential diagnosis. Against this backdrop, our lab has examined variability in the subjective experience of memory loss (i.e., metamemory) in AD, and is currently focused on investigating the utility of Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) as a marker of pre-clinical AD.

Gu Lab

The primary mission of our lab is to leverage advanced epidemiological approaches to elucidate how modifiable lifestyle determinants promote resilient neurocognitive aging and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders. We aim to systematically identify both risk and protective factors—including, but not limited to, dietary patterns and nutrient profiles, physical activity, cognitive and social engagement, sleep quality and quantity, and environmental exposures. Beyond epidemiological characterization, our ongoing research integrates state-of-the-art methodologies—including longitudinal biomarker profiling (inflammatory and metabolic signatures, biological aging clocks, multimodal neuroimaging, metabolomics, and blood-based Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers)—to uncover the mechanistic pathways (e.g., neuroinflammation, accelerated biological aging, and structural and functional brain alterations) through which lifestyle influences trajectories of neurodegeneration.

Habeck Lab

Our lab focuses on development and application of multivariate analytic techniques, for understanding the functional MRI activation and connectivity patterns to understand basic cognitive processes across the life course. These functional activation patterns further our understanding of the interaction of brain areas that are involved in cognitive information processing. Our analytic framework probes the activation patterns for (1) crucial points of topographic reorganization in the life course, (2) their relationship of the patterns to demographic, genetic, occupational, and brain-structural factors, and (3) their predictive utility for future cognitive function.

Leavitt Lab

Our lab conducts translational research to understand and treat cognitive decline secondary to neurologic disorders of adulthood, aging, and dementia. Based on a strong bioevolutionary framework, we develop and test digital health technologies to measure and monitor fundamental aspects of brain health, as well as novel non-digital tools to measure patient-reported outcomes. Cross-cultural acceptability of these tools is a key priority: measurement tools developed in the Leavitt Lab have been translated into 8 languages and tested in 12 countries across 5 continents. Funding support for the Leavitt Lab comes from the National Institutes of Health, the United States Department of Defense, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Manly Lab

Disparities in cognitive aging and risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are well-established, but the mechanisms that maintain these disparities are not well-understood. The Disparities in Cognitive Aging and Dementia Research Laboratory aims to identify causal relationships between sociocultural, economic, educational, linguistic, biological, and genetic factors and cognitive function and cognitive decline among racially and ethnically diverse older adults. This is accomplished through careful examination of brain health and neuropsychological function among diverse individuals, and assessment of potential mechanisms throughout the lifecourse using longitudinal data from prospectively followed cohorts. One focus of this work is to identify factors that promote cognitive resilience in populations with early life disadvantage. The goal of this work is to identify potential interventions for promoting brain health among diverse people, and reducing disparities in cognitive aging and dementia.