I received my Ph.D. degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Virginia in 2005 after completing a pre-doctoral internship in Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School. Before joining the Clinical Psychology faculty at UT Austin, I spent two years as a Dementia Research Fellow at Brown University, and a visiting research fellow at the Center for Neurological Imaging at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
My research examines the biological underpinnings of cognitive impairment associated with aging and dementia. As a clinical neuropsychologist, I am interested in studying the neural substrates of memory, language and executive function in clinical populations, in vivo, by utilizing functional neuroimaging (fMRI) and neurospectroscopy (1H MRS). I also conduct work to determine how disturbances in glucose metabolism, hormonal regulation, and cardiovascular functioning contribute to changes in cognition, brain morphology, and energy metabolism. My goal is to bridge knowledge from basic and clinical neuroscience with the aim of improving how we understand, predict, and treat age- and disease-related cognitive impairment.
Selected publications:
Irani, F., Sweet, L., Haley, A., Gunstad, J., Jerskey, B., Mulligan, R.C., Jefferson, A., Poppas, A., Cohen, R. An fMRI study of verbal working memory, cardiac output, and ejection fraction in elderly patients with cardiovascular disease. Brain Imaging and Behavior. (In Press).
McCaffery, J.M., Haley, A.P., Sweet, L.H., Phelan, S., Raynor, H.A., Del Parigi, A., Cohen, R., Wing, R.R. Differential fMRI response to food pictures among successful weight loss maintainers relative to normal weight and obese controls. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. (In Press).
Haley, A.P., Hoth, K.F., Gunstad, J, Paul, R.H., Jefferson, Tate, D.T., Ono, M., Jerskey, B.A., Poppas, A., Sweet, L.H., Cohen, R.A. Subjective cognitive complaints relate to white matter hyperintensities and future cognitive decline in patients with cardiovascular disease. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. (In Press).
Jerskey, B.A., Cohen, R.A., Jefferson, A.L., Hoth, K.F., Haley, A.P., Gunstad, J.J., Forman, D.E., Sweet, L.H., Poppas, A. Sustained attention is associated with systemic reduction of blood flow. (2009) Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 15(1), 137-141.
Cohen, R.A., Poppas, A., Forman, D.E., Hoth, K.F., Haley, A.P., Gunstad, J., Jefferson, A.L., Tate, D.F., Paul, R.H., Sweet, L.H., Ono, M., Jerskey, B., Gerhard-Herman, M. (2009) Vascular and cognitive functions associates with cardiovascular disease in the elderly. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology. 31(1), 96-110.
Haley, A.P., Gunstad, J., Cohen, R.A., Jerskey, B.A., Mullingan, R., Sweet, L.H. Neural correlates of visuospatial working memory in healthy young adults at risk for hypertension. (2008) Brain Imaging and Behavior, 2, 192-199
Hoth, K.F., Haley, A.P., Gunstad, J., Paul, R.H., Poppas, A., Jefferson, A.L., Tate, D.F., Ono, M., Jerskey, B.A., Cohen, R.A. (2008) Elevated C - reactive protein is related to cognitive decline in older adults with cardiovascular disease. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 56, 1898-1903.
Forman, D.E., Cohen, R.A., Hoth, K.F., Haley, A.P. Poppas, A., Moser, D.J., Gunstad, J., Paul, R.H., Jefferson, A.L., Tate, D.F., Ono, M., Wake, N., Gerhard-Herman, M. (2008) Vascular health and cognitive function in older adults with cardiovascular disease. Artery Research, 2(1), 35-43.
Haley, A.P., Forman, D.E., Poppas, A., Hoth, K.F., Gunstad, J., Jefferson, A.J., Paul, R.H., Sweet, L.H., Cohen, R.A. (2007) Carotid artery intima-media thickness and cognition in cardiovascular disease. International Journal of Cardiology, 121, 148-151.
Haley, A.P., Sweet, L.H., Gunstad, J., Forman, D.E., Poppas, A., Paul, R.H., Cohen, R.A. (2007) Atherosclerosis and verbal working memory in patients with cardiovascular disease: an fMRI study. Journal of Neuroimaging, 17, 227-233.
Hoth, K.F., Tate, D.F., Poppas, A., Forman, D.E., Gunstad, J., Moser, D.J., Paul, R.H., Jefferson, A.L., Haley, A.P., Cohen, R.A. (2007) Endothelial function and white matter hyperintensities in older adults with cardiovascular disease. Stroke, 38, 308-312
Haley, A.P., Knight-Scott, J., Simnad, V.I., Manning, C.A. (2006) Increased glucose concentration in the hippocampus in early Alzheimer’s Disease following oral ingestion of glucose. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 24(6), 715-720
Haley, A.P., Knight-Scott, J., Fuchs, K.L., Simnad, V.I., Manning, C.A. (2004). Shortening of hippocampal spin-spin relaxation time in probable Alzheimer’s Disease: A 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy study. Neuroscience Letters, 362, 167-170
