Stephanie Cosentino, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Neuropsychology in Neurology
630 West 168th St, Box 16
New York, NY 10032
Phone: 212.342.0289
Fax: 212.342.1838
Email: scosentino@sergievsky.cpmc.columbia.edu
Ongoing Research:
Metacognition in Alzheimer's Disease: Disordered awareness of cognitive deficits is a striking yet variable symptom of early Alzheimer's disease (AD). Two patients with comparable memory loss may demonstrate vastly different levels of awareness regarding such impairment. The etiology, clinical correlates, and prognostic value of metacognitive disturbance are unclear, in part due to variable and subjective measurement of "awareness" across studies. I am developing an objective metacognitive task for implementation in patients with AD in an effort to deconstruct the construct of awareness into identifiable cognitive components. Ultimately, objective measurement of metacognitive abilities may facilitate investigation of disordered awareness as it relates to prognosis, neuropsychological profile, neuropathological distribution, psychiatric symptoms, and clinical course.
Are patterns of early neuropsychological impairment in Alzheimer's disease predictive of mortality? Although individuals with early Alzheimer's disease (AD) consistently demonstrate impaired memory, they frequently differ in terms of their language, visuospatial, and executive skills. These relative differences in neuropsychological functioning are believed to reflect heterogeneous distributions of neuropathology across individuals. However, the significance of these various clinical presentations for disease course and mortality is unclear. I am researching this issue as part of a large, longitudinal, population-based study assessing the course and outcomes of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in residents of Northern Manhattan. A unique advantage of studying this group is that many subjects were cognitively normal at the outset of the study and later developed AD. Unlike studying prevalent AD, time of disease onset in this group is known, and neuropsychological data is available to characterize the clinical presentation of AD at diagnosis.
Representative Publications
Cosentino, S., Metcalfe, J., Butterfield, B., & Stern, Y. Objective metamemory testing captures awareness of deficit in Alzheimer's disease. Cortex (In Press)
Cosentino, S., & Stern, Y. (in press). Metacognitive theory and assessment in dementia: Do we recognize our areas of weakness? Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.
Cosentino, S., Jefferson, A.L., Chute, D., Kaplan, E. & Libon, D.L. (2004). Clock drawing errors in dementia: Neuropsychological and neuroanatomical considerations. Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, 17(2), 74-84.
Cosentino, S., Jefferson, A.L., Carey, M., Price, C., Davis-Garrett, K., & Libon, D.J. (2004). The clinical diagnosis of cerebrovascular dementia: A comparison among four classification systems. The Clinical Neuropsychologist - Vascular Dementia Special Edition, 18(1), 6-21.
Jefferson, A. L., Cosentino, S. A., Ball, S. K., Bogdanoff, B., Leopold, N., Kaplan, E., & Libon, D. J. (2002). Errors produced on the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) and neuropsychological test performance among patients with Alzheimer's disease, Ischaemic Vascular Dementia, and Parkinson's disease. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry & Clinical Neuroscience, 14(3), 311-320.