Dr. Luciana Mascarenhas Fonseca is a clinical psychologist, neuropsychologist, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Rutgers University, Rutgers Brain Health Institute and the Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center. Her research focuses on aging and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD), with an emphasis on individualized cognitive assessment, early dementia detection, and factors associated with resilience and resistance to neuropathology.
Her passion for Down syndrome (DS) and dementia research is deeply rooted in her clinical and personal experiences. She began working with aging adults with intellectual disabilities in Brazil and later expanded her research and clinical training in the United Kingdom and the United States. Early in her career, she worked at one of the largest organizations in Latin America serving individuals with intellectual disabilities, an experience she considers a turning point in both her personal and professional journey. There, she witnessed the remarkable diversity of human abilities, the unique emotional richness and individuality of people with Down syndrome, and the wide range of cognitive aging trajectories among adults with intellectual disabilities. This experience continues to shape her commitment to improving care, advancing research, and supporting individuals with Down syndrome and their families.
This clinical foundation inspired her doctoral research on aging and dementia in individuals with Down syndrome, including the validation of diagnostic tools in collaboration with the University of Cambridge Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Group. During her PhD at the University of São Paulo, she spent a year as a visiting researcher at the University of Cambridge. Since then, she has gained extensive experience in neuropsychological assessment, neuroimaging, and multisite cohort studies through projects funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Alzheimer’s Research UK.
Dr. Fonseca is the Principal Investigator of the New Jersey Down Syndrome Aging Project, funded by the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health. Through this project, she is grateful for the opportunity to work directly with individuals with Down syndrome and their families again, advancing research to improve brain health and quality of life across aging.
Selected publications
1. Fonseca LM, Eardi L, Beeri MS, Shojaie A, Chhatwal J, Forlenza OV, Head E, Mapstone M, Cohen AD, Christian BT, Handen B, Ances B, Grabowski T, Chaytor NS, Zaman S;
Alzheimer’s Biomarkers Consortium‐ Down Syndrome (ABC‐DS) Investigators. Intraindividual cognitive variability predicts amyloid beta, tau PET, and dementia conversion in Down syndrome: a potential marker of cognitive resilience. Alzheimers Dement. 2026 Jun;22(6):e71537. doi: 10.1002/alz.71537. PMID: 42251495; PMCID: PMC13242613.
2. Ogg J, Postupna N, Gibbons LE, Ariza J, Xiao M, Fonseca LM, Jayadev S, Keene CD, Bird TD, Latimer CS. Down syndrome and a presenilin 2 variant: dual genetic risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Acta Neuropathol. 2025 Sep 4;150(1):24. doi: 10.1007/s00401-025-02931-1. PMID: 40906048; PMCID: PMC12411319.
3. Fonseca LM, Queiroz UT, Queiroz MT, Forlenza OV. Inclusive research with individuals with Down syndrome at risk for dementia. Dement Neuropsychol. 2025 Nov 14;19(Suppl 1):e20240280. doi: 10.1590/1980-5764-DN-2024-0280. PMID: 41262771; PMCID: PMC12626224.
4. Sant’Ana LCFG, Conceição ASGG, Fonseca LM, Forlenza OV. Proxies of cognitive reserve and association with cognitive decline and dementia in aging adults with Down syndrome. J Policy Practice Intellect Disabil 2: e70059. https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.70059.
5. Conceição ASGG, Sant´Ana LFG, Mattar GP, Silva MFR, Ramos AR, Oliveira AM, Carvalho CL, Gonçalves OR, Varotto BLR, Martinez LD, Leduc V, Fonseca LM, Forlenza OV. Balance and Gait: Associations with Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in Individuals with Down Syndrome. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2023 Oct-Dec 01;37(4):349-356. doi: 10.1097/WAD.0000000000000580. Epub 2023 Oct 2. PMID: 37788381.
6. Prado Mattar G, Uchida RR, Haddad GG, Shiozawa P, Rebouças da Silva MF, Hoexter MQ, Busatto GF, de Campos Bottino CM, Fonseca LM, Forlenza OV. Screening for Dementia and Cognitive Decline in Adults With Down Syndrome: A Novel Approach Using the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2022 Apr-Jun 01;36(2):162-167. doi: 10.1097/WAD.0000000000000495. Epub 2022 Mar 16. PMID: 35293379.
7. Fonseca LM, Mattar GP, Haddad GG, Burduli E, McPherson SM, Guilhoto LM, Yassuda MS, Busatto GF, Bottino CMC, Hoexter MQ, Chaytor NS. Neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in Down syndrome and its impact on caregiver distress. J Alzheimers Dis. 81(1):137-154, 2021
8. Fonseca LM, Padilla C, Jones E, Neale N, Haddad GG, Mattar GP, Barros E, Clare ICH, Busatto GF, Bottino CMC, Hoexter MQ, Holland AJ, Zaman S. Amnestic and non-amnestic symptoms of dementia: An international study of Alzheimer’s disease in people with Down’s syndrome. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2020 Jun;35(6):650-661. doi: 10.1002/gps.5283. Epub 2020 Mar 15. PMID: 32100307.
9. Fonseca LM, Mattar GP, Haddad GG, Gonçalves AS, Miguel AQC, Guilhoto LM, Zaman S, Holland AJ, Bottino CMC, Hoexter MQ. Frontal-subcortical behaviors during Alzheimer’s
disease in individuals with Down syndrome. Neurobiol Aging. 2019 Jun;78:186-194. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2019.02.028. Epub 2019 Mar 11. PMID: 30947114.
10. Neale N, Padilla C, Fonseca LM, Holland T, Zaman S. Neuroimaging and other modalities to assess Alzheimer’s disease in Down syndrome. Neuroimage Clin. 2017 Nov 6;17:263-271. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2017.10.022. PMID: 29159043; PMCID: PMC5683343.
See complete list of publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1zIydqgBU2ooyi/bibliography/public/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1zIydqgBU2ooyi/bibliography/public/