Nikolaos Scarmeas, M.D.
Associate Professor of Neurology, Taub Institute
Division of Aging and Dementia, Department of Neurology
Taub Institute, PH 18th floor,
622 W 168th St
New York, NY 10032
Phone: 212-342-1350
Fax: 212-342-1838
Email: ns257@columbia.edu
Ongoing Research:
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Clinical. Neurological evaluation and care of patients with dementias and higher cognitive neurological dysfunction.
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Cognitive Reserve. Interested in understanding the variability of clinical response to brain pathology (Alzheimer's disease in particular) which is related to different inherent or acquired abilities. Such abilities, which are considered to affect each individual's cognitive reserve include IQ, education, and intellectual-social-physical life activities. These associations are explored with use of either epidemiological data or imaging resting and activation PET and fMRI studies.
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Multivariate analyses for clinical purposes. Investigation of the ability of multivariate methods (in resting and activation PET studies) to identify brain networks with differential expression in healthy elderly, Mild Cognitive Impairment subjects and Alzheimer's disease patients. Differential expression of these patterns may provide useful diagnostic or prognostic tools.
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APOE and neuroimaging. Certain APOE genotypes (carriers of the epsilon 4 allele) are associated with increased risk for Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease like PET patterns years before the clinical manifestations of the disease. Investigation of the association between APOE genotype and PET resting flow or activation during cognitive paradigms in young and elderly controls, Mild Cognitive Impairment subjects and Alzheimer's disease patients.
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Predictors of progression in Alzheimer's disease. Analyses of epidemiological data from prospective studies designed to explore individual differences in the rate of decline and cognitive, behavioral, psychiatric manifestations in Alzheimer's disease patients.
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Timing in the Elderly. The ability to reproduce short time intervals declines with age in a manner similar to that found in Parkinson's disease. Whether oral administration of L-Dopa reduces this deficit is currently under investigation. The outcome of all of this research is an understanding of the cognitive and neural basis of normal age-related cognitive deficits based on the Parkinson's disease Model.
- Lifestyle and Dementia. Beyond genetic factors, lifestyle including intellectual, social, physical and dietary habits may also play role in risk for developing Alzheimer's disease and cognitive impairment. Additionally, literature has so far focused on isolated elements (i.e. individual nutrients or foods), while in reality behavioral patterns (i.e. dietary patterns) is more representative of real life behavior and may offer methodological advantages (i.e. consideration of interactions etc). Our recent investigations confirm the above methodological approaches.
Representative Publications
Scarmeas N., Zarahn E., Anderson K.E., Honig L.S., Park A., Hilton J., Flynn J., Sackeim H., Stern Y. Cognitive reserve mediated modulation of Positron Emission Tomography activations during memory tasks in Alzheimer's disease. Archives of Neurology 2004; 61: 73-78.
Scarmeas N., Zarahn E., Anderson K.E., Hilton J., Flynn J., Van Heertum R., Sackeim H., Stern Y. Cognitive reserve modulates functional brain responses during memory tasks: a PET study in healthy young and elderly subjects. Neuroimage 2002; 2003; 19: 1215-1227.
Scarmeas N., Zarahn E., Anderson K., Habeck C., Hilton J., Flynn J., Marder K., Bell K., Sackeim H., Van Heertum R., Moeller J., Stern Y. Association of life activities with cerebral blood flow in Alzheimer's disease: Implications for the cognitive reserve hypothesis. Archives of Neurology 2002; 60: 359-365.
Scarmeas N., Brandt J., Albert M., Devanand D., Marder K., Bell K., Ciappa A., Tycko B., Stern Y. Association between APOE genotype and psychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Neurology 2002; 58:1182-1188.
Scarmeas N., Levy G., Tang M., Manly J., Stern Y. Influence of leisure activity on the incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Neurology 2001; 57: 2236-2242.
Scarmeas N., Stern Y., Tang MX. Mayeux R., Luchsinger JA. Mediterranean diet and risk for Alzheimer's disease. Annals of Neurology 2006; 59: 912-921.
Scarmeas N., Luchsinger J., Schupf N., Brickman A., Cosentino S., Tang M., Stern Y. Physical activity, diet and risk of Alzheimer’s disease. JAMA 2009; 302 (6): 627 – 637.