People

Assistant Scientist, Gerontology Center
Assistant Professor, Psychology
785-864-0669
dkj@ku.edu

Related Links
Department of Psychology

Research Interests

My primary interest is in clinical research that identifies cognitive and emotional processes that characterize healthy aging and dementia. Although some age-related change may be part of healthy aging processes, there are certain changes in memory and cognition that are early markers of dementia pathology leading to profound intellectual decrements in individuals with dementia. My research explores neuropsychological changes in aging and how these changes impact thinking and emotion. I am motivated by a framework that suggests multiple, co-occurring factors that affect cognitive aging. I focus on understanding these diverse, and dissociable, brain changes in aging and dementia and how they affect cognition and emotion.

I am a licensed clinical psychologist with specialty training in Gerontology and Neuropsychology. I have considerable multidisciplinary experience and worked closely with Geriatricians, Neurologists, Neuropathologists, Psychiatrists, Nurse Practitioners, and Biostatisticians in medical and academic settings. I also received specialty training in longitudinal data analysis as a postdoctoral fellow in Neurology at the Washington University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, examining white matter disease, Alzheimer’s dementia, Lewy Body disease, and dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease. I am also adjunct faculty in Neurology at KU Medical Center and work closely with Dr. Jeff Burns of the Brain Aging Project and the Alzheimer Disease Center in Kansas City.

Selected Publications

Johnson, D. K., Storandt, M., & Balota, D. (2003).  A discourse analysis of Logical Memory recall in normal aging and in dementia of the Alzheimer type.  Neuropsychology, 17, 82-92.

Johnson, D. K., Morris, J. C., & Galvin, J. (2005). Verbal and visuospatial deficits in Lewy body dementia. Neurology, 65, 1232-1238.

Burns, J. M., Church, J., Johnson, D. K., Xiong, C. Marcus, D., Fotenos, A., Snyder, A., Morris, J. C., & Buckner, R. L. (2005). White matter lesions are equally present but differentially relate to cognition in aging and early Alzheimer disease.  Archives of Neurology, 62, 1870-1876.

Johnson, D. K., Wilkins, C., & Morris, J. C. (2006). Accelerated weight loss in Alzheimer’s disease precedes diagnosis. Archives of Neurology, 63, 1312-1317.

Galvin, J. E., Malcom, H., Johnson, D. K., & Morris, J. C. (2007). Personality traits distinguishing dementia with Lewy bodies from Alzheimer disease. Neurology, 68, 1895-1901.

Johnson, D. K., Storandt, M. S., Morris, J. C., Langford, Z. D., & Galvin, J.  (In Press). Cognitive Profiles in Dementia: Alzheimer Disease Versus Nondemented Aging. Neurology.

Johnson, D. K., Storandt, M. S., Morris, J. C., Langford, Z. D., & Galvin, J.  (Submitted). Longitudinal Cognitive Profiles in Dementia: Alzheimer Disease Versus Nondemented Aging. Annals of Neurology.