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Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience

Susan Resnick, PhD, Chief

The fundamental scientific paradigm guiding research in the Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience (LBN) is the study of individual differences and age-related changes in cognition, personality, brain structure and function, and their influences on age-related changes.

About the Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience

The Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience:

  1. Conducts basic and clinical research on individual differences in cognition, personality, and affect,
  2. Investigates the neural contributions to these individual differences,
  3. Investigates the influence of age on these traits and states and their reciprocal influence on cognitive and mental health, well-being, and adaptation,
  4. Examines predictors and modifiers of age-related neurodegenerative diseases and age-associated changes in behavior, predispositions, and brain-behavior associations,
  5. Identifies early markers of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline, and examines factors that promote the maintenance of cognitive health.

Laboratory investigators employ a variety of methods, including experimental, longitudinal, epidemiological, neuroimaging, biomarker, neuropathological, and genetic methods in the analyses of behavioral, psychological, and biological aspects of aging.

List of Portfolio/Research Areas

  • Cognitive and brain aging;
  • Neuroimaging biomarkers of cognitive decline, impairment and resilience;
  • Blood-based biomarkers of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's Disease using proteomic and metabolomic methods;
  • Systems-level analyses integrating multi-OMICs approaches to identify biological mechanisms and drug targets associated with Alzheimer’s disease
  • Molecular, cellular, anatomic and imaging approaches in animal models of cognitive aging and resilience;
  • Open data resource for research on neurocognitive reserve and resilience, Successful Trajectories of Aging: Reserve and Resilience in RatS (STARRRS)

Findings and Publications

Bilgel M, An Y, Zhou Y, Wong DF, Prince JL, Ferrucci L, Resnick SM. Individual estimates of age at detectable amyloid onset for risk factor assessment. Alzheimers Dement. 2016 Apr;12(4):373-9.

Armstrong NM, An Y, Beason-Held L, Doshi J, Erus G, Ferrucci L, Davatzikos C, Resnick SM. Predictors of neurodegeneration differ between cognitively normal and subsequently impaired older adults. Neurobiol Aging. 2019; Mar; 75:178-186.

An Y, Varma VR, Varma S, Casanova R, Dammer E, Pletnikova O, Chia CW, Egan JM, Ferrucci L, Troncoso J, Levey AI, Lah J, Seyfried NT, Legido-Quigley C, O’ Brien R, Thambisetty M. Evidence for Brain Glucose Dysregulation in Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer’s and Dementia. 2018 14(3):318-329 

Varma VR, Oommen AM, Varma S, Casanova F, An Y, Andrews RM, O’Brien R, Pletnikova O, Troncoso JC, Toledo J, Baillie R, Arnold M, Kastenmueller G, Nho K, Doraiswamy M, Saykin AJ, Kaddurah-Daouk R, Legido-Quigley C, Thambisetty M. Brain and Blood Metabolite Signatures of Pathology and Progression in Alzheimer’s Disease. PLOS Medicine. 2018 15(1): e1002482

Liang, X, Hsu, L-M, Ash, JA, Hanbing, L, Rapp, PR* Yang, Y.* (*co-corresponding). Functional connectivity of hippocampal CA3 predicts cognitive aging via CA1-frontal circuit. Cereb. Cortex, 2020. Jun 30;30(8):4297-4305

Weiler, M, Stieger, KC, Long, JM, Rapp, PR. Transcranial magnetic stimulation in Alzheimer’s disease: are we ready? eNeuro 7: ENEURO.0235-19.2019.

Units/Sections

Brain Aging and Behavior Section
Cognitive Testing Group
Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Section
Neurocognitive Aging Section
Multimodal Imaging of Neurodegenerative Disease (MIND) Unit
Multiscale Imaging and Integrative Biophysics (MiiB) Unit

Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience Staff

Name Title Email
Yang AN Statistician anya1@mail.nih.gov
Stephanie BARSOUM Post Baccalaureate IRTA stephanie.barsoum@nih.gov
Lori Beason-Held Senior Associate Scientist heldlo@mail.nih.gov
Dan BENJAMINI dan.benjamini@nih.gov
Murat BILGEL Associate Scientist bilgelm@mail.nih.gov
Cassandra BLEW Post Baccalaureate IRTA cassandra.blew@nih.gov
Elizabeth BURKE Psychologist burkee@mail.nih.gov
Diefei CHEN Student IRTA-Summer diefei.chen@nih.gov
Liam CHENG Post Baccalaureate liam.cheng@nih.gov
Jasmine COOPER Student IRTA-Summer cooper.jasmine@nih.gov
Ciana COOPER Staff Scientist coopercp@mail.nih.gov
Heather DARK Postdoc Fellow (IRTA) heather.dark@nih.gov
Nicholas DICOLA Postdoc Fellow (IRTA) nick.dicola@nih.gov
Shannon DROUIN Postdoc Fellow VF shannon.drouin@nih.gov
Michael DUGGAN Postdoc Fellow dugganmr@mail.nih.gov
Subhadeep DUTTA GUPTA Postdoc Visiting Fellow subhadeep.duttagupta@nih.gov
Wendy ELKINS Psychologist elkinswe@mail.nih.gov
Samuel ESSIG Post Baccalaureate IRTA sam.essig@nih.gov
Endia EVANS Student IRTA - Summer endia.evans@nih.gov
Katherine FALCON Student IRTA-Summer falconkg@mail.nih.gov
Anqi FENG Pre-doctoral Visiting Fellow anqi.feng@nih.gov
Alyssa GUTIERREZ Post Baccalaureate IRTA alyssa.gutierrez@nih.gov
Katheryn HUILLCA-JARA Post Baccalaureate IRTA katheryn.huillca-jara@nih.gov
Jessica JOHNSON Post Baccalaureate jessica.johnson3@nih.gov
Melissa KITNER TRIOLO Technical Laboratory Manager kitnertriolom@grc.nia.nih.gov

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