The Center for Cognitive Neuroscience & Aging

Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Aging

Health CNSA

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI HEALTH SYSTEM Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Aging

Mission The mission of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Aging (CNSA) is to be national and international leaders in understanding the aging brain and a hub to develop and employ the most state-of-the art techniques for the study of brain disorders.

Vision The vision of the CNSA is to further develop the understanding of brain-behavior relations, to relate cognitive profiles to specific disorders of the brain and central nervous system, and to enhance the health and well-being of older adults.

About The CNSA was established in 2018 under the directorship of Dr. David Loewenstein. The Center is staffed by a highly regarded team of clinical investigators to provide innovative clinical trials as well as novel cognitive, behavioral and psychosocial interventions for patients and their families.

Our neurodegenerative disease experts at the CNSA make it a destination center for the evaluation, management, treatment and care for older individuals.

As part of a major academic medical center, the CNSA is committed to training the next generation of leaders in the fields of gerontology, geriatric psychiatry, clinical neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience. Our training program ensures research continues to evolve, and doctors are equipped to intervene and/or treat future generations with the best treatments and therapies for cognitive disorders.

Early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders is critical to the development of effective novel treatments and has become a global priority with the aging of the world’s population. These conditions have a tremendous adverse impact on the persons affected, their loved ones and society as a whole.

At the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Aging, we strive through our clinical research and clinical practice to prevent and effectively treat brain disorders that that affect cognition and healthy, independent functioning.

Alzheimer’s currently affects 5.7 million persons, is the 6th leading cause of death and is rapidly increasing.

12% of persons afflicted

by Alzheimer’s disease live in Florida and there are numerous others affected by other brain disorders affecting cognition in the elderly.

More than 15 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias.

Every 66 seconds someone in the U.S. develops Alzheimer’s disease.

African-Americans are about twice as likely to have Alzheimer’s or other dementias as older whites.

Hispanics are about one and one-half times as likely to have Alzheimer’s or other dementias as older whites.

Approximately, two-thirds of caregivers of Alzheimer’s are women, and 34% are age 65 or older.

Clinical and Research Programs The CNSA is proud to be part of many ongoing national and international collaborations that have resulted in leading scientific publications and breakthroughs in the field. The CNSA works closely with numerous departments in the medical school that are investigating the impact on disease states in cognition and function. l

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State-designated Memory Disorders Clinic (MDC): Led by Medical Director Elizabeth Crocco, MD, the MDC provides evaluation, diagnoses, and treatment of individuals with memory disorders.

The MDC also provides caregiver support and offers state-of-the art clinical trials.

1Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) collaboration: Co-led by CNSA Director Dr. David Loewenstein, 1Florida ADRC is a state-wide consortium of specialized institutions and the premier Center for Alzheimer’s disease research in Florida.

Detection of Preclinical Alzheimer’s disease: Drs. Loewenstein and Dr. Rosie Curiel Cid have been widely recognized for their innovative work in development of novel cognitive stress tests for the detection of cognitive decline in adults at-risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.

CNSA investigators are funded by the State of Florida Department of Elder Affairs, the Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Disease Research Program, the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Aging.

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

Meet the Director David Loewenstein, PhD, ABPP/CN, is the Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Aging and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences for the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and Director of the Division of Neuropsychology.

Previously, Dr. Loewenstein served as Director of Neuropsychology Laboratories and Research at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida and Chief of Psychology for Jackson Memorial Hospital. He has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health at the University of Miami for more than 25 years and has brought in over 18 million dollars in federal and state grants. His work is regularly published in top scientific journals and is considered cutting-edge.

Dr. Loewenstein’s laboratory has a long history in the development of innovative cognitive and neuropsychological instruments. Dr. Loewenstein developed the first scale for the direct assessment of functional capacity in Alzheimer’s disease which has been translated into numerous languages. Most recently, Dr. Loewenstein and associates developed the Loewenstein and Acevedo Scales for Semantic Interference and Learning (LASSI-L), a cognitive stress test to address the concern that current neuropsychological measures may not capture the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The LASSI-L is a sensitive marker of the early manifestations of AD and has been increasingly adapted by other laboratories.

Dr. Loewenstein states that, “Early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders is critical to early treatment and prevention efforts. I am delighted to be leading a center that is devoted to enhancing and optimizing the cognitive and functional abilities of older adults. We are committed to advancing brain aging science, developing state of the art diagnostic and treatment modalities and training the next generation of leaders in the field.”

CNSA Core Faculty David Loewenstein, PhD, ABPP/CN, Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Aging and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Elizabeth Crocco, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Director of the State of Florida Memory Disorders Center at UM and Chief of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry Rosie Curiel Cid, PsyD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Philip D. Harvey, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Chief of the Division of Psychology Daniel Jimenez, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Marcela Kitaigorodsky, PsyD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Dolores Perdomo, PhD, MSW, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Samir Sabbag, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Associate Program Director, Psychiatry Residency For general information about CNSA, please contact: Jose Guillermo Melo, MSPH Manager, Research Support JMelo@miami.edu | 305.355.9037 For information about the Memory Disorders Clinic, please contact: Lina Garcia Clinic Coordinator & Manager, Research Support LGarcia12@miami.edu | 305.355.9065

Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Aging

1695 NW 9th Avenue Suite 3208G Miami, Florida 33136 psychiatry@med.miami.edu