Early stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are associated with both tau pathology in the monoaminergic nuclei and subtle behavioral changes in affect, motivation, and cognition. My research combines in vivo assessments of monoamine systems and AD pathology with intensive longitudinal sampling of daily life activities, experiences, and cognition to better understand the relationships between the brain and behavior in aging and preclinical AD.
There has been increasing evidence that catecholamines are important for both cognitive and motivational function across the adult life span. In parallel, other work suggests that catecholaminergic nuclei are the earliest sites of Alzheimer’s disease pathology in the brain.
In general, people tend to avoid engaging in cognitively effortful activities. This tendency is often exacerbated in older adults despite the hypothesized benefits of cognitively effortful activities in helping to promote cognitive health and well-being in older age.
In recent years, there has been growing interest in characterizing how motivation interacts with cognitive control to promote goal-directed behavior. My work has examined how multiple incentive types (e.g., liquid, social, monetary) influence motivational processing and how this changes across the adult life span.