Lori Beason-Held

Title: Senior Associate Scientist

Office(s): Brain Aging and Behavior Section (BABS)

Phone Number: 410-558-8655

Email Address: heldlo@mail.nih.gov

Research Interests/Portfolio

Research Interests

My research involves determining functional changes that occur in the brain as older individuals continue to age. Much of my work concerns characterizing changes that occur in normal aging during memory processes and while the brain is at rest, and examining factors that may modify these patterns of change. I am particularly interested in how disease modifies brain function in aging, and have investigated the effects of common age-related health conditions. Studies of this nature are of great importance, as disease is often related to changes in brain areas critical for cognition. This suggests that poor health may make individuals more vulnerable to cognitive decline and dementia with advancing age.

My work involves positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and structural MRI.

Representative Publications

Beason-Held LL, Kraut MA, Resnick SM. I. Longitudinal changes in aging brain function. Neurobiol Aging 2008; 29(4):483-96. PMC2535938.

Beason-Held LL, Kraut MA, Resnick SM. II. Temporal patterns of longitudinal change in aging brain function. Neurobiol Aging 2008; 29(4):497-513. PMC2409150.

Beason-Held LL, Moghekar A, Zonderman AB, Kraut MA, Resnick SM. Longitudinal changes in cerebral blood flow in the older hypertensive brain. Stroke 2007; 38(6):1766-73. PMID: 17510458.

Beason-Held LL, Kraut, MA, Resnick, SM. Stability of default-mode network activity in the aging brain. Brain Imaging & Behavior 2009; 3(2):123-131. PMC2703608.

Beason-Held LL, Thambisetty M, Deib G, Sojkova J, Landman BA, Zonderman AB, Ferrucci L, Kraut MA, Resnick SM. Baseline cardiovascular risk predicts subsequent changes in resting brain function. Stroke 2012; 43:1542-7. PMID:22492519.

Thambisetty M, Beason-Held LL, An Y, Kraut M, Metter J, Egan J, Ferrucci L, O’Brien R, Resnick SM. Impaired glucose tolerance in midlife and longitudinal changes in brain function during aging. Neurobiology of Aging 2013; 34(10):2271-6. PMID: 23608110.

Beason-Held LL, Goh JO, An Y, Kraut MA, O’Brien RJ, Ferrucci L, Resnick SM. Changes in brain function occur years before the onset of cognitive impairment. Journal of Neuroscience 2013; 33(46):18008-14. PMID:24227712.

Gonzalez CE, Pacheco J, Beason-Held LL, Resnick SM. Longitudinal changes in cortical thinning associated with hypertension. Journal of Hypertension 2015; 33(6): 1242-8. PMID:25693060. [Abs]

PubMed Search for listing of Dr. Beason-Held's publications.