I grew up in North Royalton, Ohio and moved to Arizona in 2014 to pursue my BS in Psychology at ASU. There, I was involved in a behavioral neuroscience research lab investigating the interactions between aging, Alzheimer’s disease pathology, and estrogen in animal models of menopause. I started graduate school at the University of Arizona in 2018 with Dr. Lee Ryan in the Cognition and Neuroimaging Lab. My master’s project focused on understanding a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease using a continuous object recognition task, and this project was recently published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.  My dissertation work is to better understand the impacts of COVID-19 on cognitive function and brain structure using neuroimaging and blood-based biomarkers such as neurofilament light (NFL). I am pursuing a minor in neuropsychology, which emphasizes cognitive evaluations for dementia as well as for individuals with ADHD and other neurocognitive disorders. 

Research Interests:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).
• Empirically-based therapeutic tools to help individuals reach their goals and maximize their quality of life.
• Pattern separation ability between older and younger e4 carriers and noncarriers using neuroimaging methods.
• Clinical assessments and learning about neuropsychological evaluations among older adults.

Publications:

• Palmer, J. M., Grilli, M. D., Lawrence, A. V., & Ryan, L. (2022). The impact of context on pattern separation for objects among younger and older apolipoprotein ϵ4 carriers and noncarriers. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS, 1–11. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617722000455

Posters:

• Palmer, J.M., Guarena Espinosa, L. and Ryan, L. The Impact of Context on Memory for Short Stories Among Older and Younger Adults. Presented at Arizona Alzheimer’s Consortium, Phoenix, AZ, 22 September, 2022. Presented at The International Neuropsychological Society, San Diego, CA, 2 February, 2023.
• Palmer, J.M. & Ryan, L. How COVID-19 respiratory symptom severity and levels of NFL among older adults impact cognitive performance: Preliminary data. Presented at Cognitive Aging Conference, Atlanta, GA, 8 April, 2022. 
• Palmer, J.M., Lawrence, A.V., Grilli, M.D., Heuntelman, M.J., Talboom, J.S., and Ryan, L.  Context-dependent memory in cognitively normal older e4 carriers and non-carriers. Presented at Arizona Alzheimer’s Consortium, Phoenix, AZ, 16 May 2019. Presented at Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, IL, 23 October 2019. Presented at Arizona Alzheimer’s Consortium, Tucson, AZ, 9 October, 2021.

TA Experience:

• PSY 596T - Teaching of Psychology (2023)
• PSY 694A - Assessment Practicum

*Year listed indicates when this individual last taught the specified course

Updated 03/15/23