Laura Beth Zahodne
Faculty Associate, SRC-Life Course Development
Assistant Professor, Psychology
- lzahodne@umich.edu
- 734-647-5081
- 5067 ISR-Thompson
- CV (PDF)
- Google Scholar Profile

BIO
Laura Zahodne's research examines how psychosocial experiences influence late-life cognitive trajectories and the expression of neurodegenerative disease. She is interested in the role of positive psychosocial factors in cognitive and brain aging, independent of negative affect, and seeks to understand how these psychosocial factors contribute to brain maintenance or reserve.
- Racial/Ethnic Disparities in ADRD Risk: The Impact of Social Relations. (Toni C. Antonucci, Kristine J. Ajrouch, Henry Paulson, Noah J. Webster, Mary Janevic, Jennifer A. Smith, Briana M. Ratliff, James W. McNally, James S. Jackson, Laura Beth Zahodne, Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz, Bruno J. Giordani) 2020-2025. NIA.
- Alzheimer's Disease Risk and Ethnic Factors: The Case of Arab Americans. (Kristine J. Ajrouch, Laura Beth Zahodne, Toni C. Antonucci) 2018-2023. NIA.
- Michigan Center for Contextual Factors in Alzheimer's Disease (MCCFAD). (Kristine J. Ajrouch, Kenneth M. Langa, Jacqui Smith, Carol Catherine Persad, Noah J. Webster, Carlos F. Mendes de Leon, Vicki A. Freedman, Laura Beth Zahodne, Barbara Anne Israel, David R. Weir, Henry Paulson, John Bound, Scott Roberts, Kira S. Birditt, Helen G. Levy, Toni C. Antonucci, Robert F. Schoeni, HwaJung Choi, Bruno J. Giordani, Roger L. Albin, Richard D. Gonzalez, Amy Jo Schulz, James S. Jackson, Neil Burton Alexander, Belinda L. Needham, Briana M. Ratliff) 2018-2023. NIA.
- Wei, Melissa Y., Deborah A. Levine, Laura Beth Zahodne, Mohammed U. Kabeto, and Kenneth M. Langa. 2020. "Multimorbidity and Cognitive Decline Over 14 Years in Older Americans." The Journals of Gerontology: Series A 75(6).
- Fieo, Robert, Laura Beth Zahodne, Ming X. Tang, Jennifer J. Manly, Ron Cohen, and Yaakov Stern. Forthcoming. "The Historical Progression From ADL Scrutiny to IADL to Advanced ADL: Assessing Functional Status in the Earliest Stages of Dementia." The Journals of Gerontology: Series A
- Zahodne, Laura Beth, Nicole Schupf, and Adam M. Brickman. Forthcoming. "Control beliefs are associated with preserved memory function in the face of low hippocampal volume among diverse older adults." Brain Imaging and Behavior
- Zahodne, Laura Beth, Ketlyne Sol, and Zarina Kraal. Forthcoming. "Psychosocial Pathways to Racial/Ethnic Inequalities in Late-Life Memory Trajectories." The Journals of Gerontology: Series B
- Zahodne, Laura Beth, A. Zarina Kraal, Neika Sharifian, Afsara B. Zaheed, and Ketlyne Sol. 2019. "Inflammatory mechanisms underlying the effects of everyday discrimination on age-related memory decline." Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 75: 149-154.
- Zaheed, Afsara B., Neika Sharifian, A. Zarina Kraal, Ketlyne Sol, Alyssia Hence, and Laura Beth Zahodne. Forthcoming. "Unique Effects of Perceived Neighborhood Physical Disorder and Social Cohesion on Episodic Memory and Semantic Fluency." Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology
- Sharifian, Neika, and Laura Beth Zahodne. Forthcoming. "Social Media Bytes: Daily Associations Between Social Media Use and Everyday Memory Failures Across the Adult Life Span." The Journals of Gerontology: Series B
- Zahodne, Laura Beth, Kristine J. Ajrouch, Neika Sharifian, and Toni C. Antonucci. 2019. "Social relations and age-related change in memory." Psychology and Aging 34(6): 751-765.
- Antonucci, Toni C., Kristine J. Ajrouch, Noah J. Webster, and Laura Beth Zahodne. 2019. "Social Relations Across the Life Span: Scientific Advances, Emerging Issues, and Future Challenges." Annual Review of Developmental Psychology 1: 313-336.
- Zahodne, Laura Beth, Caitlin W.-M. Watson, Sonia Seehra, and Michelle N. Martinez. 2018. "Positive Psychosocial Factors and Cognition in Ethnically Diverse Older Adults." Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 24(3): 294-304.
- Power, Melinda C., Laura Beth Zahodne, Elizabeth Mormino, Anja Soldan, Bryan D. James, Lei Yu, Nicole M. Armstrong, Katherine J. Bangen, et al. 2018. "Combined neuropathological pathways account for age-related risk of dementia." Annals of Neurology 84(1): 10-22.
- Zahodne, Laura Beth, A. Zarina Kraal, Afsara Zaheed, and Ketlyne Sol. 2018. "Subjective Social Status Predicts Late-Life Memory Trajectories through Both Mental and Physical Health Pathways." Gerontology 64: 466-474.
- Zahodne, Laura Beth, Jennifer J. Manly, Jacqui Smith, Teresa Seeman, and Margie E. Lachman. 2017. "Socioeconomic, health, and psychosocial mediators of racial disparities in cognition in early, middle, and late adulthood." Psychology and aging 32(2): 118-130. US: American Psychological Association.
- Zahodne, Laura Beth, Paola Gilsanz, M. Maria Glymour, Laura E. Gibbons, Paul Brewster, Jamie Hamilton, Jesse Mez, Jessica R. Marden, et al. 2017. "Comparing Variability, Severity, and Persistence of Depressive Symptoms as Predictors of Future Stroke Risk." American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 25(2): 120-128.
- Ajrouch, Kristine J., Laura Beth Zahodne, and Toni C. Antonucci. 2017. "Arab American Cognitive Aging: Opportunities for Advancing Research on Alzheimer's Disease Disparities." Innovation in Aging 1(3).
- Meyer, Oanh L., Shannon M. Sisco, Danielle Harvey, Laura Beth Zahodne, M. Maria Glymour, Jennifer J. Manly, and Michael Marsiske. 2017. "Neighborhood Predictors of Cognitive Training Outcomes and Trajectories in ACTIVE." Research on Aging 39(3): 443-467.
- Mez, Jesse, Laura Beth Zahodne, Jessica R. Marden, Shubhabrata Mukherjee, Stefan Walter, Laura E. Gibbons, Alden L. Gross, Paola Gilsanz, et al. 2017. "Alzheimer's disease genetic risk variants beyond APOE ε4 predict mortality." Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring 8: 188-195.
- Zahodne, Laura Beth, Jennifer J. Manly, Martina Azar, Adam M. Brickman, and M. M. Glymour. 2016. "Racial Disparities in Cognitive Performance in Mid- and Late Adulthood: Analyses of Two Cohort Studies." Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 64(5): 959-964.