Jenna L. Merenstein, Ph.D.

I obtained a B.S. in Psychology from Colorado State University and Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience from Dr. Lani Bennett's Laboratory of Aging and Neurocognitive Imaging at the University of California, Riverside. Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Scholar in Dr. Dave Madden's laboratory at Duke University Medical Center, funded by an F32 National Research Service Award from the National Institute on Aging (NIA). Starting July 2025, I will be an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah. My laboratory will investigate the neurobiological substrates of healthy cognitive aging and how they differ from Alzheimer's disease, as well as potential modifying factors of brain aging (e.g., environmental risk factors, genetics, cardiovascular health). More details about the goals of the lab and opportunties for students can be found on the lab website.

Most of us can readily bring to mind an older adult that we hold close to our hearts. We can all agree that we want these individuals to live a cognitively healthy life for as long as possible. This will become an increasing reality as future cohorts of older adults are expected to regularly survive into the ninth and tenth decades of life. An unfortunate side effect of this increase in longevity, however, is the increased prevalence of dementia and cognitive impairment. And it’s not just about dementia. Even healthy adults exhibit some degree of cognitive decline across the lifespan, with decline in attention and memory abilities being the most common complaint.

I aim to address this burgeoning global health concern by studying how age-related cognitive decline can be attributed to differences in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of brain structure and function. I characterize these properties in cognitively healthy older adults to help differentiate the normal aging process from age-related neurodegenerative processes, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). I take a multifaceted imaging approach, combining advanced MRI analyses of brain structure and function (e.g., graph theory) with experimental analyses of various cognitive domains (e.g., learning, memory, and visual attention).