Publications by authors named "Michelle N Martinez"

Background: The progression of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRDs) from prodromal state to dementia syndrome prompts researchers to identify early markers of cognitive decline. One potential risk marker is subjective memory concerns (SMCs). Individuals with greater perceived stress often report more cognitive concerns.

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Objective: Being married may protect late-life cognition. Less is known about living arrangement among unmarried adults and mechanisms such as brain health (BH) and cognitive reserve (CR) across race and ethnicity or sex/gender. The current study examines (1) associations between marital status, BH, and CR among diverse older adults and (2) whether one's living arrangement is linked to BH and CR among unmarried adults.

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Objective: To introduce New2Neuropsychology (N2N), an organization that seeks to increase recruitment of historically underrepresented minoritized (URM) students, and to examine preliminary data on N2N's impact and effectiveness in increasing knowledge about neuropsychology for URM students.

Method: This paper reviews relevant literature on factors informing the development of N2N. We also present descriptive data on N2N's impact to date, and results of pre- and post- surveys for presentations about neuropsychology delivered to 90 college students (mean age = 24.

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Article Synopsis
  • Assessing depression in Hispanic/Latin American older adults is complex due to cultural differences in how symptoms are expressed, and there is limited research on existing assessment tools for this group.
  • A review identified only three depression measures (BDI, GDS, CES-D) suitable for older H/Ls, but the BDI lacks validity and the CES-D showed inconsistent validity across different cultural contexts.
  • While the GDS shows promise, its effectiveness can change depending on factors like race/ethnicity and whether it's used in research or clinical settings, suggesting that tailored cutoff scores could improve its application for diverse older populations.*
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Objective: To investigate whether illiteracy was associated with greater risk of prevalent and incident dementia and more rapid cognitive decline among older adults with low education.

Methods: Analyses included 983 adults (≥65 years old, ≤4 years of schooling) who participated in a longitudinal community aging study. Literacy was self-reported ("Did you ever learn to read or write?").

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Objectives: Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from largely non-Hispanic White cohorts suggests that positive psychosocial factors, particularly self-efficacy and social support, may protect against late-life cognitive decline. Identifying potentially protective factors in racial/ethnic minority elders is of high importance due to their increased risk of Alzheimer's disease. The overall goal of this study was to characterize cross-sectional associations between positive psychosocial factors and cognitive domains among Black, Hispanic, and White older adults.

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