Dr. Luciana Mascarenhas Fonseca to Explore Cognitive Vulnerability to Glucose Through a Blood Biomarker Perspective | 2026 KKARC Symposium
Metabolism and neurodegeneration are more deeply connected than we once thought. Dr. Luciana Mascarenhas Fonseca will introduce an innovative precision-aging framework linking glucose variability to Alzheimer’s disease risk at the Herbert and Jacqueline Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center (KKARC) 2026 Symposium on March 24, 2026. She proposes a novel measurable construct, Cognitive Vulnerability to Glucose fluctuations (CVG), defined as individual differences in sensitivity to dynamic glucose variation. This biomarker-informed approach integrates metabolic physiology with early indicators of neurodegeneration to advance precision aging strategies. Learn more and register for the symposium before registration closes on March 1.
Dr. Luciana Mascarenhas Fonseca
Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, RWJMS, BHI and KKARC core member
Dr. Fonseca is a Clinical Psychologist, Neuropsychologist, and Assistant Professor at the Rutgers Brain Health Institute and the Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center, Rutgers Health. Her work focuses on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ ADRD). She specializes in neuropsychological rehabilitation and psychogerontology. Dr. Fonseca earned her master’s degree in Death Studies and Palliative Care from the University of Padova, Italy, and her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, with a fellowship at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. Her research interests include innovative early cognitive markers of dementia, and brain aging in minority populations.
Talk title: “Cognitive Vulnerability to Glucose: A Blood Biomarker Perspective”
Abstract:
Understanding how metabolic dysfunction contributes to neurodegeneration is critical for improving early risk stratification and prevention in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Glucose is the brain’s primary energy substrate, and both hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia impair cognition. Yet beyond extreme values, the impact of dynamic glucose fluctuations on the aging brain remains poorly understood.
We propose that individual differences in sensitivity to momentary glucose variation, termed cognitive vulnerability to glucose fluctuations (CVG), represent a measurable expression of metabolic stress on neural systems. Leveraging high-frequency digital cognitive assessments synchronized with continuous glucose monitoring and circulating ATN plasma biomarkers (including pTau181, pTau217, GFAP, NfL, and β-amyloid 42/40), this framework integrates real-time physiology with blood-based markers of neurodegeneration.
Emerging evidence suggests that greater cognitive vulnerability to glucose fluctuations is associated with AD-related plasma biomarkers, supporting the hypothesis that moment-to-moment cognitive inefficiency may reflect early neurobiological susceptibility. Conceptualizing CVG as a digital phenotype offers a novel bridge between metabolic variability and molecular markers of neurodegeneration.
This biomarker-informed approach advances a precision aging framework that integrates blood-based indicators and dynamic cognitive measurement to identify metabolically mediated pathways of neurodegeneration and inform targeted intervention strategies.
Herbert and Jacqueline Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center 2026 Symposium
The Herbert and Jacqueline Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center Symposium (KKARC) in the Rutgers Brain Health Institute (BHI) will host its 2026 Symposium on March 24, 2026, at the Busch Student Center, Piscataway. Registration is limited to the first 140 attendees and will close on March 1.
