Jennifer Vega, PhD
Dr. Vega is a cognitive neuroscientist with an expertise in cancer survivorship. She received her doctorate in Neuroscience from Vanderbilt University in 2018. Her dissertation work focused on investigating nicotine as a treatment for cognitive impairment secondary to chemotherapy in lymphoma, breast, ovarian and colon cancer survivors. Dr. Vega's postdoctoral research has focused largely on developing and initiating a feasibility study looking at using a novel cognitive enhancement strategy to treat chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment in cancer survivors. Her scientific interests lie in translational research focused on pathologic cognitive aging in patient populations vulnerable to late-life cognitive impairment.
Research Information
Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment, Subjective Cognitive Decline, Chemobrain, Populations at Risk for Dementia, Cognitive Aging, Clinical Trials, Non-Pharmaceutical Cognitive Interventions , Cognitive Remediation
Representative Publications
Vega JN & Newhouse PA. (2014). Mild cognitive impairment: diagnosis, longitudinal course, and emerging treatments. Current Psychiatry Reports, 16(10): 490. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-014-0490-8
Vega JN, Hohman TJ, Pryweller JR, Dykens EM & Thornton-Wells TA. (2015). Resting State Functional Connectivity in Individuals with Down Syndrome and Williams Syndrome Compared to Typically Developing Controls. Brain Connectivity, 5(8): 461-475. http://doi.org/10.1089/brain.2014.0266
Vega JN, Zurkovsky L, Albert K, Melo A, Boyd BD, Dumas J, Woodward N, McDonald BC, Saykin AJ, Park JH, Naylor M, Newhouse PA. (2016). Altered Brain Connectivity In Early Postmenopausal Women with Subjective Cognitive Impairment. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 10, 433. http://doi:10.3389/fnins.2016.00433
Vega JN, Dumas J, Newhouse PA. (2017). Cognitive Effects Cancer and Cancer-Related Treatments in Older Adults. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 25(12): 1415-1426. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2017.04.001
Vega JN, Dumas J, Newhouse PA. (2018). Self-Reported Chemotherapy-Related Cognitive Impairment Compared with Cognitive Complaints following Menopause. Psycho-Oncology, 27: 2198–2205. http://doi.org/10.1002/pon.4796
Vega JN, Albert KM, Mayer IA, Taylor WD, Newhouse PA. (2019). Nicotinic Treatment of Post-Chemotherapy Subjective Cognitive Impairment: A Pilot Study. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, J Cancer Surviv. 13(5): 673-686. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-019-00786-6
Vega JN, Albert KM, Gandelman J, Boyd B, Newhouse PA, Taylor WD. (2020). Persistent Intrinsic Functional Network Connectivity Alterations in Middle-Aged and Older Women with Remitted Depression. Front psychiatry (2020) 11:62. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00062
Vega JN, Albert KM, Mayer IA, Taylor WD, Newhouse PA. (2021). Subjective Cognition and Mood in Chemotherapy-Related Cognitive Impairment. Journal of Cancer Survivorship: Research and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-021-01055-1