Marta Stojanovic, PhD

At its core, our research aims to characterize cognitive and brain changes associated with both healthy and pathological aging, such as Alzheimer disease. Specifically, our lab investigates how lifestyle factors, particularly exercise, contribute to healthy aging. We employ a multi-method approach to examining these questions, including in-lab experiments, neuroscientific methods (e.g., physiological measures, neuroimaging), wearables, and ecological momentary assessment. Our work is motivated by two key questions:

Is exercise beneficial for cognitive and brain health?

Engaging in regular physical activity or exercise can reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and alleviate depressive and anxiety symptoms in older adults. Additionally, exercise may improve cognitive performance and increase brain volume and connectivity. However, there is heterogeneity in the findings with respect to cognitive and brain outcomes. This line of research aims to examine potential moderators and mechanisms of the protective effects of exercising in older adults. One of our previous studies found that risk of cardiovascular disease moderates the association between exercise engagement and neuronal health.

How can we facilitate greater engagement in exercise and physical activity?

It is not only important to be able to provide recommendations on lifestyle behaviors to maintain cognitive and brain health, but also to include empirically supported information on how to engage consistently in those health behaviors. Despite multiple potential benefits of regular physical activity engagement for older adults, physical inactivity is highly prevalent. We conduct basic and translational research that provides information about mechanisms of physical activity promotion across the lifespan. For example, our research focuses on the affective response to exercise and its relation to physical activity behavior, with the goal of informing interventions that promote physical, mental, brain, and cognitive health.​

Selection of ongoing and future work:

• The role of sleep in the impact of exercise interventions on cognition and brain
• Examining cognitive and physiological mechanisms of affective response to exercise
• Affective mechanisms of the decline in physical activity in preclinical Alzheimer disease
• Digital intervention aimed at optimizing the affective response to exercise and increasing engagement in physical activity