Heather Bimonte-Nelson is a professor in the behavioral neuroscience program in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University. For more than two decades, Bimonte-Nelson has conducted preclinical evaluations of multiple domains of cognitive function as related to aging, with a special focus on transitional and surgical menopause, and exogenous and endogenous hormone exposures across the lifespan. She has published more than 70 peer reviewed manuscripts evaluating hormone effects on the brain and behavior from early development until old age, with her earlier work showing that female brain organization is actively feminized by estrogens, and that estrogen exposures across the lifespan impact the female phenotype. She has expertise in behavioral measurements and related neurobiological assays, especially as associated with aging and hormone milieu. She recently edited a book on rodent behavioral testing entitled, “The Maze Book: Theories, Practice, and Protocols for Testing Rodent Cognition.”
The overarching research goal of the Bimonte-Nelson laboratory is to optimize the trajectory of brain and cognitive changes as aging ensues with a translational eye to women’s health, taking a systems and interdisciplinary approach to elucidate the factors driving menopause- and hormone- related impacts. The Bimonte-Nelson laboratory has identified key variables that influence normal aging, and showing that factors such as menopause etiology, endogenous hormone changes associated with ovarian follicular depletion and ovariectomy, and exogenous hormone exposures can alter cognition. Their research includes testing contraceptive and hormone therapy hormones approved for use in women to determine effects on the brain and cognition during aging, to identify potential parameters of efficacy, and to address novel alternatives. They are steadfast toward the goal of discovering pathways to inform healthy brain aging. They attempt to do so by determining key variants in neurocognitive changes with a lifetime of endogenous and exogenous hormone exposures, and by performing rodent studies with a keen eye toward clinical translation. Their interests also incorporate these goals with relevance to Alzheimer's disease-related variables. In addition, one of their long-term goals is to apply these research questions to humans.
Research Projects
Summer 2022 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 799 | Dissertation |
Spring 2022 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 792 | Research |
PSY 799 | Dissertation |
Fall 2021 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 591 | Seminar |
PSY 599 | Thesis |
PSY 792 | Research |
PSY 799 | Dissertation |
Summer 2021 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 792 | Research |
Spring 2021 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 792 | Research |
Fall 2020 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 591 | Seminar |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 792 | Research |
Summer 2020 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 792 | Research |
Spring 2020 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 599 | Thesis |
PSY 792 | Research |
Fall 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 591 | Seminar |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 599 | Thesis |
Summer 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 599 | Thesis |
PSY 799 | Dissertation |
Spring 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
Fall 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 591 | Seminar |
Spring 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
Fall 2017 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |