Zach Kunicki (He/Him)

What is the state of published science in neuropsychology's journals? On which methods and content areas is the field focused? We took a mixed-methods deep dive into these questions, which you can read here: 10.1093/arclin/acaf122

@statszach.bsky.social

You can read the full paper here:
The Pace of Memory Decline in Older Adults without a Neurocognitive Disorder (Kunicki et al., 2025)
karger.com/ned/article-...

Thanks to my outstanding co-authors and collaborators who made this work possible!!

These benchmarks can help researchers and clinicians distinguish expected age-related change from signs of neurocognitive disorders — and can guide trials aiming to slow cognitive decline by setting realistic targets.

A simple way to interpret this: a clinically meaningful change (~0.5 SD) would take ~12.5 years at age 75, ~5 years at 85, and only ~3 years at 95. This pattern remained even after removing anyone who self-reported dementia.

What did we find?
Memory does decline with age — but the pace speeds up dramatically across older adulthood:

At age 75: ~0.04 SD/year

At age 85: ~0.10 SD/year

At age 95: ~0.15 SD/year

In other words: slow and subtle in the 70s, noticeable in the 80s, and more rapid in the 90s.

By focusing on adults who were all 67–74 at baseline and following them for over two decades, we were able to separate normal aging from cohort effects, survival bias, and early dementia.

Most research on “normal” cognitive aging mixes people of very different ages or relies on short follow-up, which makes it hard to estimate true age-related memory change. We used the HRS Children of the Depression Age (CODA) cohort — a nationally representative sample followed since 1998.

Excited to share a new paper just published in Neuroepidemiology! We used 22 years of longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study to answer a surprisingly unsettled question: How fast does memory decline in older adults without dementia? 🧵👇

We're very excited that our next AMPHIBIAN speaker will be Dr. Alessandro De Nadai, speaking about machine learning in mental health research and interventions on 12/3 at 12:30. Register here: brown.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

@rnjma.bsky.social @gemmawallace.bsky.social

Common methodological issues in observational epidemiological studies of older adults Expected trends in population ageing and the burden of age related chronic diseases underscore the need for high quality epidemiological studies of older adults (eg, people aged 60 years and older). H...

Looks like a great methods primer paper from Emma Nichols and Eleanor Hayes-Larson. @timead.bsky.social @g2aging.bsky.social
"Common methodological issues in observational epidemiological studies of older adults" bmjmedicine.bmj.com/content/4/1/...

a person is holding an origami fortune teller with the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 and 9 written on it ALT: a person is holding an origami fortune teller with the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 and 9 written on it

My first R01 goes to study section today, time to bust this out again to see what happens!

Contribution of Chronic Conditions to Mortality: Differences by Race and Ethnicity Racial and ethnic health disparities are persistent in the United States. The accumulation of chronic conditions and mortality are important contribut…

On behalf of the @istaart.bsky.social Design and Data Analytics PIA: New study estimates how chronic conditions contribute to mortality across racial/ethnic groups. #Dementia showed the strongest link to death across groups. Read more: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #ISTAART

Sorry if this seems precious, but as everyone at universities grapples w how to respond to multiple new, genuine crises, I think an underrated way we can help each other is to limit bullshit

Have a chance to act in a way that limits someone's emails & meetings abt something fairly trivial? Take it!

a muppet news anchor says " and now a muppet news flash " while holding a piece of paper ALT: a muppet news anchor says " and now a muppet news flash " while holding a piece of paper

I now have multiple sources that say at least one round of NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETINGS will now be announced in the Federal Register.

A flyer showing a headshot of Dr. Yang, the title of her talk, and the time (March 19 from 12-1pm) of her talk.

Next week, QSP will be hosting Dr. Mashu Yang to talk about MNAR data in EMA designs! Come distract yourself for an hour and learn about this important topic for EMA researchers -- register here: bit.ly/3XPShbx

Thank you thank you thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Yesterday was incredible. Thank you for showing up across the world. To our HUNDREDS of volunteers: WOW. You all are unbelievable. I am so proud to know you all and you should be so proud of what you’ve accomplished. To the core leadership team: you guys, we did it. I love you. I’m so proud of you. What’s next? We are going to take a damn nap and then figure out our next steps. Meanwhile, YOU are going to step up and be the change you want to see in the world. There is nothing stopping you from organizing at your school, work, hospital, state capital, etc. Yesterday was just the beginning, and YOU are what’s next. How will you rise up? Get up, dorks! You’ve got a world to change!

Thank you, all.

@standupforscience.bsky.social
@jpflores.bsky.social @samschuelstein.bsky.social @emmalovesscience.bsky.social @leslie-bern.bsky.social

#standupforscience2025
#scienceforall

GET IN DORKS!!!

Tomorrow we are protesting! All over the world! @standupforscience.bsky.social #standupforscience2025

poster for stand up for science RI rally on 3/7 from 12-4. bit.ly/RIregistration

1 week until we Stand Up for Science in RI!

🗓️ Friday, March 7, 12-4pm
📍 RI State House South lawn

@standupforscience.bsky.social

navy blue background with white text that says "3 days until we stand up for science"

On Friday, we Stand Up for Science in locations Nationwide (& internationally!) to support science as a public good that benefits everyone.

Join us! Visit www.standupforscience2025.org for more information & other ways to get involved ☀️

STAND UP FOR SCIENCE March 7, 2025. Washington DC and nationwide. Because science is for everyone.

Dear friends,

On Friday, March 7, I will not be attending my usual meetings. Instead, I will be in Washington, DC, participating in the #StandUpForScience (@standupforscience.bsky.social) rally on the National Mall (12–4 PM).

On behalf of @istaart.bsky.social Design and Data Analytics PIA: Learn valuable skills on March 24 10am CT when you join us for our webinar on how to carry out a meta-analysis in #dementia research with Mike Malek-Ahmadi, Heather Allore and Jet Vonk 🧠📊 Register today: alz-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Were you fired by President Trump? | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology

🚨Attention federal science employees in #RI01:

Given the Trump administration’s attacks on federal workers and science agencies, the Science, Space, and Technology Committee wants to hear from you!

Share your story through the survey link below ⬇️
democrats-science.house.gov/sciencefirings

We've launched registration for the Rhode Island Stand Up for Science Rally on 3/7 from 1-4 pm!

Register here if you'll be attending: www.eventbrite.com/e/stand-up-f...

This is a five-alarm fire 🔥 for US science 🧪.
(We keep saying that, but it keeps being true 😭.)

Trump and Musk are blocking *ALL* NIH grants ‼️ by "exploiting a loophole in the process"—stopping study sections & council meetings.

Every biomedical researcher in the country should be screaming. 1/

It is my understanding that when coffee is associated with good health outcomes, then that is a highly reliable causal study, but when coffee is associated with bad health outcomes there exists important confounding issues with the study.

TODAY at 11A US ET, #MELODEM brings you @relajoie.bsky.social and Ganna Blazhenets presenting:

"Harmonization of #amyloid-PET quantification for #ADRD research: putting #Centiloids to the test"

More deets on MELODEM & how to hop on the distribution list:
sites.bu.edu/melodem/

Maria Glymour on LinkedIn: Building on 90 Years of Progress: Approaches to Increase Efficiency of… #NIH #HealthResearch #Efficiency #Government

I'm frustrated with the messaging that indiscriminate firings at NIH and proposed decimation of research via changes to indirect rates are about increasing efficiency. Here are some thoughts on how to actually increase returns to NIH investments. shorturl.at/KnWU9

#EpiSky #ScienceSky

How Federal Funding Propels the SPH Research Making a Difference in People’s Lives With federal research funding cuts looming for academia and medical centers across the US, we take at look at how federally funded research at SPH has produced tangible results that benefit real lives...

We need to shout from the rooftops how and why NIH funded health research is important, and what is accomplished with this work: www.bu.edu/sph/news/art...
We're not just doing this because we secretly love reformatting our biosketches & spending weekends writing grants. #EpiSky

My bluesky is full of skyfall, but here's a bright spot: the advanced psychometric methods for cognitive aging workshop 2025 will be fantastic. Here's the info: psymca.org/2025-confere.... Apps due feb 28. #EpiSky #PsychSky

On behalf of the @istaart.bsky.social Design and Data Analytics PIA: Applications are now open for the ΨMCA 2025 Conference on data harmonization & synthetic data in cognitive aging research. 📅 Aug 10–15 2025, Tahoe City, CA. Apply by Feb 28: psymca.org #CognitiveAging #DataScience