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Professor, Department of Neurology Phone: 631-444-2599 Location: Stony Brook University, 101 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY 11794 |
Area of ResearchMultisensory Integration (MSI); Sensory processing; Aging; Falls; Mobility; Gait; Balance & Postural Stability; Cognition; Executive Functioning; Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI); preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD). |
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Education and Training |
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Education:
Postgraduate Training/Fellowships: |
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| B .A. Psychology and Social Sciences Cum Laude |
Stony Brook University |
2002 | |
| M.A. Clinical Health Psychology | Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University | 2006 | |
| Ph.D. Clinical Health Psychology, Minor in Neuropsychology, Doctoral Dissertation: Spatial Processing in Multisensory Integration (Accepted without revisions) |
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University | 2008 | |
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Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine & Montefiore Medical Center, Division of Neuropsychology |
2011 |
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| Professional Interests: |
Multisensory integration (MSI) is an integral aspect of functioning and mobility in everyday life and ability to function well in the real world requires intact MSI. MSI is not fully understood in aging, and its relation to cognitive and motor function has not been comprehensively evaluated. The main objective of my research is to investigate the behavioral, functional, and structural correlates of MSI in older adults and to determine whether multisensory processes are associated with specific cognitive and motor outcomes. Our recent work in older adults has linked the magnitude of visual-somatosensory integration to important cognitive (attention) and motor (balance, gait, and falls) outcomes. We have highlighted the adverse effect of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia on these relationships, but the underlying functional and neuroanatomical networks remain unidentified. Growing evidence suggests that Alzheimer’s pathology manifests in sensory association areas well before appearing in neural regions involved in memory function. Identification of novel, non-cognitive, non-invasive markers of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are a national priority identified by the National Alzheimer Plan and the NIH. Our most recent NIA funding affords us an opportunity to determine whether visual-somatosensory integration is a novel marker for Alzheimer’s disease. The central hypothesis here is that preclinical Alzheimer’s disease is associated with neural disruptions in subcortical and cortical areas that concurrently modulate (multi)sensory, cognitive, and motor functions, resulting in mobility decline. Our proposed study, strategically designed to examine the interplay of multisensory, cognitive, and mobility processes, will: 1) provide a deeper understanding of the functional neural networks involved in multisensory integration processes in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease; 2) determine whether functional multisensory activation in prefrontal cortex predicts future mobility decline and falls in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease; 3) assess the validity of multisensory integration as an early marker for preclinical Alzheimer’s disease; and 4) provide insights into the neurobiology of Alzheimer’s disease. Results from this project will guide future multisensory-based interventions aimed to alleviate disability and maintain functional independence of older adults at-risk for Alzheimer’s disease that can significantly augment existing interventions. Although admittedly speculative, we believe that optimizing integration of visual-somatosensory inputs may ultimately provide the framework for successful interventions that will reduce falls, improve mobility, and help maintain functional independence in older adults. As well, we have made significant strides with regards to identifying a novel quantitative multisensory fall-risk screening tool called CatchU®… Before you Fall. Falls are a significant burden to the U.S. healthcare system with over $50B spent annually on fatal and non-fatal falls. Nearly 30% of Americans aged 65 years and over (~16M) experience a fall every year. Falls are the leading cause of injury and injury-related death in older adults. Alzheimer’s disease, the most-common cause of dementia, affects nearly 6M older Americans. Besides cognitive impairment, older adults with Alzheimer’s disease are at high-risk for mobility declines and falls. The main objective of our novel multisensory fall-risk screener is to assist healthcare professionals in predicting and preventing falls in older adults with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. Long-term goals include preventing serious injury and death in older adults, while offsetting the accelerating economic burden of falls in the United States. |
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| Grants: |
Visual-somatosensory integration as a novel marker of Alzheimer's disease Neurobiological Substrates of Visual-Somatosensory Integration in Aging Multisensory Integration in Aging |
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| Selected Publications |
Mahoney, J.R., Ayers, E. & Verghese, J. Visual-Somatosensory Integration as a novel behavioral marker of amyloid pathology. Alzheimer’s & Dementia (Accepted, December 2024). De Sanctis, P., Mahoney, J.R., Wagner, J., Blumen, H.M., Mowrey, W., Ayers, E., Schneider, C., Orellana, N., Molholm, S., & Verghese, J. Linking Dementia Pathology and Alteration in Brain Activation to Complex Daily Functional Decline During the Preclinical Dementia Stages: Protocol for a Prospective Observational Cohort Study. JMIR Res Protoc 13:e56726, 2024. PMID: 38842914 Mahoney, J.R., Lonczak, L., Zwerling, J., George, C., & Verghese, J. Digital Health Tool Offers Innovative Quantitative Fall Assessment Solution for Older Adults. NeurologyLive. 6 (4), 2023. Mahoney, J.R., Blumen, H.M, De Sanctis, P., Fleyscher, R., Frankini, C., Hoang, A., Hoptman, M., Jin, R., Lipton, M., Nunez, V., Twizer, L., Uy, N., Valdivia, A, Verghese, T., Wang, C., Weiss, E., Zwerling, J., & Verghese, J. Visual-Somatosensory Integration (VSI) as a novel marker of Alzheimer’s disease: A comprehensive overview of The VSI Study. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. 15:1125114, 2023. PMID: 37065459 Mahoney, J.R. Searching for a novel marker of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. Open Access Government, 035, 2022. https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/searching-for-a-novel-marker-of-preclinical-alzheimers-disease/ Mahoney, J.R., George, C.J., Verghese, J., Introducing CatchUTM: A Novel Multisensory Tool for Assessing Patients’ Risk of Falling. Journal of Perceptual Imaging, 4 (3), 2021. Mahoney, J.R. Multisensory integration, mobility, and risk of falls in older adults. Research Features. October 2021. Verghese, J., Mahoney, J.R., Ayers, E., Ambrose, A., Wang, C., & Holtzer, R. Computerised cognitive remediation to enhance mobility in older adults: a single-blind, single-centre, randomised trial. Lancet Healthy Longevity. 2(9): e571-e579, 2021. PMID: 34522910 Mahoney, J.R., Verghese, J., & George, C. The influence of diabetes on multisensory integration and mobility in Aging. BrainSciences, 11(3): 285, 2021. PMID: 33668979 Malcolm, B.R., Foxe, J.J., Joshi, S., Verghese, J., Mahoney, J.R., Molholm, S. & De Sanctis, P. Aging-related changes in cortical mechanisms supporting postural control during base support and optic flow manipulations. European Journal of Neuroscience, 2020. PMID: 33047390 Mahoney, J.R. & Verghese, J. Does Cognitive Impairment Influence Visual-Somatosensory Integration and Mobility in Older Adults? Journal of Gerontology, Medical Sciences, 75(3):581-588, 2020. PMID: 31111868 Mahoney, J.R. & Barnett-Cowan, M., Introduction to the Special Issue on Multisensory Processing and Aging: Links to Clinically Meaningful Outcomes. Multisensory Research 32(8):665-670, 2019. PMID: 31648200 Mahoney, J.R. & Verghese, J. Using the Race Model Inequality to Quantify Behavioral Multisensory Integration Effects. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 147: e59575, 2019. PMID: 31132070 Mahoney, J.R., Cotton, K., & Verghese, J. Multisensory Integration Predicts Balance and Falls in Older Adults. Journal of Gerontology, Medical Sciences, 74(9):1429-1435, 2019. PMID: 30357320 Mahoney, J.R. & Verghese, J. Visual-Somatosensory Integration and Quantitative Gait in Aging. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 10: 377, 2018. PMID: 30538628 Marusic, U., Verghese, J., & Mahoney, J.R. Cognitive Based Interventions to Improve Mobility: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. JAMDA, 19: 484-491, 2018. PMID: 29680203 Mahoney, J.R., Oh-Park, M., Ayers, E., & Verghese, J. Quantitative Trunk Sway and Prediction of Incident Falls in Older Adults. Gait and Posture, 58: 183-187, 2017. PMID: 28797962 Dumas, K., Holtzer, R., & Mahoney, J.R. Visual-Somatosensory Integration in Older Adults: Links to Sensory Acuity and Balance. Multisensory Research, 29 (4-5): 397-420, 2016. PMID: 29384609 Mahoney, J.R., Holtzer, R., Izzetoglu, M., Zemon, V., Verghese, J., & Allali, G. The role of the prefrontal cortex in postural control in Parkinsonian syndromes. Brain Research, 163: 126-138, 2015. PMID: 26551767 Mahoney, J.R., Molholm, S., Butler, J.S., Sehatpour, P., Gomez-Ramirez, M., Ritter, W. & Foxe, J.J. Keeping in Touch with the Visual System: Spatial Alignment and Multisensory Integration of Visual- Somatosensory Inputs. Frontiers in Psychology, 5 (6): 1068, 2015. PMID: 26300797 Mahoney, J.R., Verghese, J., Dumas, K. & Holtzer, R. Visual-Somatosensory Integration is linked to Physical Activity Level in Older Adults. Multisensory Research, 28 (1-2): 11-29, 2015. PMID: 26152050 Mahoney, J.R., Holtzer, R., Dumas, K., & Verghese, J. Visual-Somatosensory Integration & Balance: Evidence for Psychophysical Integrative Differences in Aging. Multisensory Research, 27(1): 17-42, 2014. PMID: 25102664 Mahoney, J.R., Verghese, J., Holtzer, R. & Allali, G. The evolution of mild parkinsonian signs in aging. Journal of Neurology, 261(10):1922-1928, 2014. PMID: 25047763 Mahoney, J.R., Verghese, J., Dumas, K., & Holtzer, R. Visual-Somatosensory Integration in Aging: Does Stimulus Location Really Matter? Visual Neuroscience, 31(3):275-83, 2014. PMID: 24698637 Mahoney, J.R., Verghese J, Dumas K, Wang C, Holtzer R. The effect of multisensory cues on attention in aging. Brain Res. 1472, 63-73, 2012. PMID: 22820295 Mahoney, J.R., Li, P., Oh-Park, M., Verghese, J., & Holtzer, R. Multisensory Integration Across the Senses in Young and Old Adults. Brain Research, 426, 43-53, 2011. PMID: 22024545 Mahoney, J.R., Verghese, J. Goldin, Y., Lipton, R. & Holtzer, R. Alerting, Orienting, and Executive Attention in Older Adults. J Int Neuropsychol Soc., 16(5), 877-889, 2010. PMID: 20663241 Complete List of Published Work available in SciENcv https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/jeannette.mahoney.1/bibliography/public/ Other Links https://einstein.elsevierpure.com/en/persons/jeannette-r-mahoney https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannette-r-mahoney-1b72a459/ Inventions https://www.linkedin.com/company/catchub4ufall/ In the News |
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