Brianne Bettcher, PhD

Research Interests

I oversee the Colorado Aging Brain Laboratory, which focuses on healthy brain aging and the role of immune dysregulation in Alzheimer's-disease related outcomes. I lead neuropsychology research at the CU Alzheimer's and Cognition Center

Publications

• Jensen AM, DeWitt P, Bettcher BM, Wrobel J, Kechris K, Ghosh D. Kernel machine tests of association using extrinsic and intrinsic cluster evaluation metrics. PLoS Comput Biol. 2024 Nov;20(11):e1012524. PubMed PMID: 39527632
• Tanabe J, Lim MF, Dash S, Pattee J, Steach B, Pressman P, Bettcher BM, Honce JM, Potigailo VA, Colantoni W, Zander D, Thaker AA. Automated Volumetric Software in Dementia: Help or Hindrance to the Neuroradiologist?. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2024 Nov 7;45(11):1737-1744. PubMed PMID: 39362700
• Bettcher BM, Lopez Paniagua D, Wang Y, McConnell BV, Coughlan C, Carlisle TC, Thaker AA, Lippitt W, Filley CM, Pelak VS, Shapiro ALB, Heffernan KS, Potter H, Solano A, Boyd J, Carlson NE. Synergistic effects of GFAP and Aß42: Implications for white matter integrity and verbal memory across the cognitive spectrum. Brain Behav Immun Health. 2024 Oct;40:100834. PubMed PMID: 39206431
• Shapiro ALB, Coughlan C, Bettcher BM, Pauley ME, Kim J, Bjornstad P, Rajic B, Truong J, Bell C, Choi YJ, Walker KA, Potter H, Liese AD, Dabelea D, Whitlow CT. Biomarkers of Neurodegeneration and Alzheimer's Disease Neuropathology in Adolescents and Young Adults with Youth-Onset Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes: A Proof-of-Concept Study. Endocrines. 2024 Jun;5(2):197-213. PubMed PMID: 38764894
• Pelak VS, Krishnan V, Serva S, Pressman P, Mahmood A, Noteboom L, Bettcher BM, Sillau SH, Callen AL, Thaker AA. Lobar Microbleeds in the Posterior Cortical Atrophy Syndrome: A Comparison to Typical Alzheimer's Disease. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 2024 Feb;24(2):27-33. PubMed PMID: 38261145
• Pulver RL, Kronberg E, Medenblik LM, Kheyfets VO, Ramos AR, Holtzman DM, Morris JC, Toedebusch CD, Sillau SH, Bettcher BM, Lucey BP, McConnell BV. Mapping sleep's oscillatory events as a biomarker of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimers Dement. 2024 Jan;20(1):301-315. PubMed PMID: 37610059
• Pulver RL, Kronberg E, Medenblik LM, Kheyfets VO, Ramos AR, Holtzman DM, Morris JC, Toedebusch CD, Sillau SH, Bettcher BM, Lucey BP, McConnell BV. Mapping sleep's oscillatory events as a biomarker of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimers Dement. 2023 Aug 23. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 37610059
• Thaker AA, McConnell BV, Rogers DM, Carlson NE, Coughlan C, Jensen AM, Lopez-Paniagua D, Holden SK, Pressman PS, Pelak VS, Filley CM, Potter H, Solano DA, Heffernan KS, Bettcher BM. Astrogliosis, neuritic microstructure, and sex effects: GFAP is an indicator of neuritic orientation in women. Brain Behav Immun. 2023 Oct;113:124-135. PubMed PMID: 37394144
• Arce Rentería M, Mobley TM, Evangelista ND, Medina LD, Deters KD, Fox-Fuller JT, Minto LR, Avila-Rieger J, Bettcher BM. Representativeness of samples enrolled in Alzheimer's disease research centers. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). 2023 Apr-Jun;15(2):e12450. PubMed PMID: 37287650
• Walker KA, Le Page LM, Terrando N, Duggan MR, Heneka MT, Bettcher BM. The role of peripheral inflammatory insults in Alzheimer's disease: a review and research roadmap. Mol Neurodegener. 2023 Jun 5;18(1):37. PubMed PMID: 37277738
• Holden SK, Bettcher BM, Filley CM, Lopez-Paniagua D, Pelak VS. Posterior white matter integrity and self-reported posterior cortical symptoms using the Colorado Posterior Cortical Questionnaire. Front Neurol. 2023;14:1072938. PubMed PMID: 36816576
• Abraham AG, Hong C, Deal JA, Bettcher BM, Pelak VS, Gross A, Jiang K, Swenor B, Wittich W. Are cognitive researchers ignoring their senses? The problem of sensory deficit in cognitive aging research. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2023 May;71(5):1369-1377. PubMed PMID: 36680402
• Holden SK, Pelak VS, Sooy T, Heffernan KS, McConnell BV, Pressman PS, Bettcher BM. Development of the Colorado posterior cortical questionnaire within an Alzheimer's disease study cohort. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2022 Apr;44(3):226-236. PubMed PMID: 35913095
• McConnell BV, Kronberg E, Medenblik LM, Kheyfets VO, Ramos AR, Sillau SH, Pulver RL, Bettcher BM. The Rise and Fall of Slow Wave Tides: Vacillations in Coupled Slow Wave/Spindle Pairing Shift the Composition of Slow Wave Activity in Accordance With Depth of Sleep. Front Neurosci. 2022;16:915934. PubMed PMID: 35812239
• Daddato AE, Staton EW, Bettcher BM, Shanbhag P, Lum HD. Human-Centered Design of an Advance Care Planning Group Visit for Mild Cognitive Impairment. Gerontologist. 2022 Sep 7;62(8):1226-1237. PubMed PMID: 34940855
• Bettcher BM, Tansey MG, Dorothée G, Heneka MT. Peripheral and central immune system crosstalk in Alzheimer disease - a research prospectus. Nat Rev Neurol. 2021 Sep 14. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 34522039
• McConnell BV, Kronberg E, Teale PD, Sillau SH, Fishback GM, Kaplan RI, Fought AJ, Dhanasekaran AR, Berman BD, Ramos AR, McClure RL, Bettcher BM. The Aging Slow Wave: A Shifting Amalgam of Distinct Slow Wave and Spindle Coupling Subtypes Define Slow Wave Sleep Across the Human Lifespan. Sleep. 2021 May 17. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 33999194
• Bettcher BM, Olson KE, Carlson NE, McConnell BV, Boyd T, Adame V, Solano DA, Anton P, Markham N, Thaker AA, Jensen AM, Dallmann EN, Potter H, Coughlan C. Astrogliosis and episodic memory in late life: higher GFAP is related to worse memory and white matter microstructure in healthy aging and Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiol Aging. 2021 Jul;103:68-77. PubMed PMID: 33845398
• Memel M, Staffaroni AM, Cobigo Y, Casaletto KB, Fonseca C, Bettcher BM, Yassa MA, Elahi FM, Wolf A, Rosen HJ, Kramer JH. APOE moderates the effect of hippocampal blood flow on memory pattern separation in clinically normal older adults. Hippocampus. 2021 Aug;31(8):845-857. PubMed PMID: 33835624
• Medina LD, Heffernan K, Holden S, Simpson A, Bettcher BM. Neural correlates of daily function: A pilot study of the white matter retrogenesis hypothesis and three separate performance-based functional assessments. Neuropsychology. 2021 Jan;35(1):103-110. PubMed PMID: 33393804
• Altendahl M, Cotter DL, Staffaroni AM, Wolf A, Mumford P, Cobigo Y, Casaletto K, Elahi F, Ruoff L, Javed S, Bettcher BM, Fox E, You M, Saloner R, Neylan TC, Kramer JH, Walsh CM. REM sleep is associated with white matter integrity in cognitively healthy, older adults. PLoS One. 2020;15(7):e0235395. PubMed PMID: 32645032
• Coughlan C, Bruce KD, Burgy O, Boyd TD, Michel CR, Garcia-Perez JE, Adame V, Anton P, Bettcher BM, Chial HJ, Königshoff M, Hsieh EWY, Graner M, Potter H. Exosome Isolation by Ultracentrifugation and Precipitation and Techniques for Downstream Analyses. Curr Protoc Cell Biol. 2020 Sep;88(1):e110. PubMed PMID: 32633898
• Shdo SM, Ranasinghe KG, Sturm VE, Possin KL, Bettcher BM, Stephens ML, Foley JM, You SC, Rosen HJ, Miller BL, Kramer JH, Rankin KP. Depressive Symptom Profiles Predict Specific Neurodegenerative Disease Syndromes in Early Stages. Front Neurol. 2020;11:446. PubMed PMID: 32547476
• Suemoto CK, Gibbons LE, Thacker EL, Jackson JD, Satizabal CL, Bettcher BM, Launer L, Phillips C, White LR, Power MC. Incident prolonged QT interval in midlife and late-life cognitive performance. PLoS One. 2020;15(2):e0229519. PubMed PMID: 32097438
• Holden SK, Bettcher BM, Pelak VS. Update on posterior cortical atrophy. Curr Opin Neurol. 2020 Feb;33(1):68-73. PubMed PMID: 31688098
• Bettcher BM, Gross AL, Gavett BE, Widaman KF, Fletcher E, Dowling NM, Buckley RF, Arenaza-Urquijo EM, Zahodne LB, Hohman TJ, Vonk JMJ, Rentz DM, Mungas D. Dynamic change of cognitive reserve: associations with changes in brain, cognition, and diagnosis. Neurobiol Aging. 2019 Aug 21;83:95-104. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31585371
• Munoz E, Filshtein T, Bettcher BM, McLaren D, Hedden T, Tommet D, Mungas D, Therneau T. Cognitive function and neuropathological outcomes: a forward-looking approach. J Neurol. 2019 Aug 21. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31435771
• Bateman JR, Filley CM, Kaplan RI, Heffernan KS, Bettcher BM. Lifetime surgical exposure, episodic memory, and forniceal microstructure in older adults. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2019 Dec;41(10):1048-1059. PubMed PMID: 31370773
• Bateman JR, Filley CM, Ross ED, Bettcher BM, Hubbard HI, Babiak M, Pressman PS. Aprosodia and prosoplegia with right frontal neurodegeneration. Neurocase. 2019 Oct;25(5):187-194. PubMed PMID: 31335278
• Bettcher BM, Neuhaus J, Wynn MJ, Elahi FM, Casaletto KB, Saloner R, Fitch R, Karydas A, Kramer JH. Increases in a Pro-inflammatory Chemokine, MCP-1, Are Related to Decreases in Memory Over Time. Front Aging Neurosci. 2019;11:25. PubMed PMID: 30814948
• Holden SK, Bettcher BM, Pelak VS. Update on posterior cortical atrophy. Curr Opin Neurol. 2019 Nov 4. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31688098
• Casaletto KB, Staffaroni AM, Elahi F, Fox E, Crittenden PA, You M, Neuhaus J, Glymour M, Bettcher BM, Yaffe K, Kramer JH. Perceived Stress is Associated with Accelerated Monocyte/Macrophage Aging Trajectories in Clinically Normal Adults. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2018 Sep;26(9):952-963. PubMed PMID: 30017239
• Casaletto KB, Elahi FM, Fitch R, Walters S, Fox E, Staffaroni AM, Bettcher B, Zetterberg H, Karydas A, Rojas JC, Boxer AL, Kramer JH. A comparison of biofluid cytokine markers across platform technologies: Correspondence or divergence?. Cytokine. 2018 Nov;111:481-489. PubMed PMID: 29908923
• Bettcher BM, Johnson SC, Fitch R, Casaletto KB, Heffernan KS, Asthana S, Zetterberg H, Blennow K, Carlsson CM, Neuhaus J, Bendlin BB, Kramer JH. Cerebrospinal Fluid and Plasma Levels of Inflammation Differentially Relate to CNS Markers of Alzheimer's Disease Pathology and Neuronal Damage. J Alzheimers Dis. 2018;62(1):385-397. PubMed PMID: 29439331
• Hamlett ED, Ledreux A, Potter H, Chial HJ, Patterson D, Espinosa JM, Bettcher BM, Granholm AC. Exosomal biomarkers in Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease. Free Radic Biol Med. 2018 Jan;114:110-121. PubMed PMID: 28882786
• Casaletto KB, Elahi FM, Bettcher BM, Neuhaus J, Bendlin BB, Asthana S, Johnson SC, Yaffe K, Carlsson C, Blennow K, Zetterberg H, Kramer JH. Neurogranin, a synaptic protein, is associated with memory independent of Alzheimer biomarkers. Neurology. 2017 Oct 24;89(17):1782-1788. PubMed PMID: 28939668
• Hamlett ED, Ledreux A, Potter H, Chial HJ, Patterson D, Espinosa JM, Bettcher BM, Granholm AC. Exosomal biomarkers in Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease. Free Radic Biol Med. 2017 Sep 5. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 28882786
• Bettcher BM, Ard MC, Reed BR, Benitez A, Simmons A, Larson EB, Sonnen JA, Montine TJ, Li G, Keene CD, Crane PK, Mungas D. Association between Cholesterol Exposure and Neuropathological Findings: The ACT Study. J Alzheimers Dis. 2017;59(4):1307-1315. PubMed PMID: 28731431
• Parthasarathy V, Frazier DT, Bettcher BM, Jastrzab L, Chao L, Reed B, Mungas D, Weiner M, DeCarli C, Chui H, Kramer JH. Triglycerides are negatively correlated with cognitive function in nondemented aging adults. Neuropsychology. 2017 Sep;31(6):682-688. PubMed PMID: 28604016
• Bott NT, Bettcher BM, Yokoyama JS, Frazier DT, Wynn M, Karydas A, Yaffe K, Kramer JH. Youthful Processing Speed in Older Adults: Genetic, Biological, and Behavioral Predictors of Cognitive Processing Speed Trajectories in Aging. Front Aging Neurosci. 2017;9:55. PubMed PMID: 28344553
• Casaletto KB, Ward ME, Baker NS, Bettcher BM, Gelfand JM, Li Y, Chen R, Dutt S, Miller B, Kramer JH, Green AJ. Retinal thinning is uniquely associated with medial temporal lobe atrophy in neurologically normal older adults. Neurobiol Aging. 2017 Mar;51:141-147. PubMed PMID: 28068565
• Casaletto KB, Ward ME, Baker NS, Bettcher BM, Gelfand JM, Li Y, Chen R, Dutt S, Miller B, Kramer JH, Green AJ. Retinal thinning is uniquely associated with medial temporal lobe atrophy in neurologically normal older adults. Neurobiol Aging. 2017 Mar;51:141-147. PubMed PMID: 28068565
• Bertoux M, Sarazin M, Pasquier F, Bottlaender M, de Souza LC, Mioshi E, Hornberger M, Ranasinghe KG, Rankin KP, Lobach IV, Kramer JH, Sturm VE, Bettcher BM, Possin K, You SC, Lamarre AK, Shany-Ur T, Stephens ML, Perry DC, Lee SE, Miller ZA, Gorno-Tempini ML, Rosen HJ, Boxer A, Seeley WW, Rabinovici GD, Vossel KA, Miller BL. Cognition and neuropsychiatry in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia by disease stage. Neurology. 2016 Oct 4;87(14):1523. PubMed PMID: 27698154
• Bettcher BM, Fitch R, Wynn MJ, Lalli MA, Elofson J, Jastrzab L, Mitic L, Miller ZA, Rabinovici GD, Miller BL, Kao AW, Kosik KS, Kramer JH. MCP-1 and eotaxin-1 selectively and negatively associate with memory in MCI and Alzheimer's disease dementia phenotypes. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). 2016 Jun 22;3:91-7. PubMed PMID: 27453930
• Ranasinghe KG, Rankin KP, Pressman PS, Perry DC, Lobach IV, Seeley WW, Coppola G, Karydas AM, Grinberg LT, Shany-Ur T, Lee SE, Rabinovici GD, Rosen HJ, Gorno-Tempini ML, Boxer AL, Miller ZA, Chiong W, DeMay M, Kramer JH, Possin KL, Sturm VE, Bettcher BM, Neylan M, Zackey DD, Nguyen LA, Ketelle R, Block N, Wu TQ, Dallich A, Russek N, Caplan A, Geschwind DH, Vossel KA, Miller BL. Distinct Subtypes of Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia Based on Patterns of Network Degeneration. JAMA Neurol. 2016 Sep 1;73(9):1078-88. PubMed PMID: 27429218
• Ossenkoppele R, Schonhaut DR, Schöll M, Lockhart SN, Ayakta N, Baker SL, O'Neil JP, Janabi M, Lazaris A, Cantwell A, Vogel J, Santos M, Miller ZA, Bettcher BM, Vossel KA, Kramer JH, Gorno-Tempini ML, Miller BL, Jagust WJ, Rabinovici GD. Tau PET patterns mirror clinical and neuroanatomical variability in Alzheimer's disease. Brain. 2016 May;139(Pt 5):1551-67. PubMed PMID: 26962052
• Bettcher BM, Mungas D, Patel N, Elofson J, Dutt S, Wynn M, Watson CL, Stephens M, Walsh CM, Kramer JH. Neuroanatomical substrates of executive functions: Beyond prefrontal structures. Neuropsychologia. 2016 May;85:100-9. PubMed PMID: 26948072
• Ranasinghe KG, Rankin KP, Lobach IV, Kramer JH, Sturm VE, Bettcher BM, Possin K, Christine You S, Lamarre AK, Shany-Ur T, Stephens ML, Perry DC, Lee SE, Miller ZA, Gorno-Tempini ML, Rosen HJ, Boxer A, Seeley WW, Rabinovici GD, Vossel KA, Miller BL. Cognition and neuropsychiatry in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia by disease stage. Neurology. 2016 Feb 16;86(7):600-10. PubMed PMID: 26802093
• Ossenkoppele R, Schonhaut DR, Baker SL, O'Neil JP, Janabi M, Ghosh PM, Santos M, Miller ZA, Bettcher BM, Gorno-Tempini ML, Miller BL, Jagust WJ, Rabinovici GD. Tau, amyloid, and hypometabolism in a patient with posterior cortical atrophy. Ann Neurol. 2015 Feb;77(2):338-42. PubMed PMID: 25448043
• Bettcher BM, Yaffe K, Boudreau RM, Neuhaus J, Aizenstein H, Ding J, Kritchevsky SB, Launer LJ, Liu Y, Satterfield S, Rosano C. Declines in inflammation predict greater white matter microstructure in older adults. Neurobiol Aging. 2015 Feb;36(2):948-54. PubMed PMID: 25554492
• Forner SA, Takada LT, Bettcher BM, Lobach IV, Tartaglia MC, Torres-Chae C, Haman A, Thai J, Vitali P, Neuhaus J, Bostrom A, Miller BL, Rosen HJ, Geschwind MD. Comparing CSF biomarkers and brain MRI in the diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Neurol Clin Pract. 2015 Apr;5(2):116-125. PubMed PMID: 26137420
• Frazier DT, Bettcher BM, Dutt S, Patel N, Mungas D, Miller J, Green R, Kramer JH. Relationship between Insulin-Resistance Processing Speed and Specific Executive Function Profiles in Neurologically Intact Older Adults. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2015 Sep;21(8):622-8. PubMed PMID: 26272269
• Lalli MA, Bettcher BM, Arcila ML, Garcia G, Guzman C, Madrigal L, Ramirez L, Acosta-Uribe J, Baena A, Wojta KJ, Coppola G, Fitch R, de Both MD, Huentelman MJ, Reiman EM, Brunkow ME, Glusman G, Roach JC, Kao AW, Lopera F, Kosik KS. Whole-genome sequencing suggests a chemokine gene cluster that modifies age at onset in familial Alzheimer's disease. Mol Psychiatry. 2015 Nov;20(11):1294-300. PubMed PMID: 26324103
• Medina, L. D., Heffernan, K., Holden, S., Simpson, A., & Bettcher, B. M. (In Press). The white matter retrogenesis hypothesis and daily function: Neural correlates of three performance-based functional assessments. Neuropsychology.

Professional Memberships

• International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART), Member

Practice Locations

UCHealth Neurosciences Center - Anschutz Medical Campus
1635 Aurora Ct
4th Floor
Aurora, CO 80045
720-848-2080

CU Memory Disorders Clinic - Central Park
3055 Roslyn Street
Suite 120
Denver, CO 80238
720-848-2080

Hospital Affiliation

• University of Colorado Hospital

Center Affiliations

• Alzheimer's Disease Research and Clinical Center

Specialty Information

Specialties

• Neuropsychology
• Behavioral Neurology