Psychology

Research Interests

My research focuses on cardiovascular risk factors in relation to cognitive functioning in non-demented individuals. Risk factors I have studied include hypertension, risk for future stroke, plasma homocysteine, ApoE-e4 genotype, diabetes mellitus, left ventricular mass, obesity, central adiposity, atrial fibrillation, angina, and depressed mood. My current interest is in relating pulse wave velocity (a measure of arterial stiffness) to cognition and relations between mild renal dysfunction and cognition. My studies, and those of my students, are done in a life-span developmental context and involve cross-sectional differences and longitudinal designs. Much of the data for my work, and the work of my students, comes from our own Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study (begun in 1975), the Framingham Heart Study and Framingham Offspring Study. My teaching interests are experimental design, biostatistics and epidemiological approaches to the study of cognitive functioning.

Selected Publications

Elias, M. F., Goodell, A. L., & Davey, A. (2020). The perils of automated wrist-cuff devices and dental chairs in opportunistic blood pressure screening. American Journal of Hypertension.  https://doi.org/10.1093/ajh/hpaa216

Elias, M. F. & Goodell, A. L. (2020). Human errors in automated office blood pressure measurement: Still room for improvement. Hypertension, 77(1), 6-15. doi:10.1161/hypertensionaha.120.16164

Ahmed, F. S., Wade, A. T., Guenther, B. A., Murphy, K. J., & Elias, M. F. (2020). Higher adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with lower blood pressure in a US population: Findings from the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study. Journal of Clinical Hypertension. Online ahead of print.  doi: 10.1111/jch.14068

Henderson, V. A. & Elias, M. F. (2020) Leisure activity for dementia prevention: More work to be done [Peer-Reviewed Editorial]. Neurology, 95(20), 895-896. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000010962.

Elias, M. F., & Goodell, A. L. (2020) The need for accurate data on blood pressure measurement in the dental office. American Journal of Hypertension, 33(4), 297-300. doi:10.1093/ajh/hpaa023

Wade, A. T., Elias, M. F., & Murphy, K. J. (2019). Adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with cognitive function in an older non-Mediterranean sample: Findings from the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study. Nutritional Neuroscience, Aug 21, 1-12. doi: 10.1080/1028415X.2019.1655201

Elias, M. F., & Goodell, A. L. (2019). Setting the record straight for two heroes in hypertension: John J. Hay and Paul Dudley White. Journal of Clinical Hypertension, 21, 1429-1431. doi:10.1111/jch.13650

Elias, M. F., & Goodell, A. L. (2019). Setting the record straight for two heroes in hypertension: John J. Hay and Paul Dudley White. Journal of Clinical Hypertension, 21, 1429-1431. doi:10.1111/jch.13650

Crichton, G. E., Bogucki, O. E., & Elias, M. F. (2019). Dairy food intake, diet patterns, and health: Findings from the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study. International Dairy Journal, 91, 64-70. doi.org/10.1016/j.idairyj.2018.12.009

Elias, M. F., Torres, R. V., & Davey, A. (2019). Carotid artery blood flow velocities and cognitive performance: Forecasting cognitive decline [Commentary]. American Journal of Hypertension, 32(3), 237-239. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajh/hpy184

Ahmed, F. S., Bogucki, O. E., Dearborn, P. J., & Elias, M. F. (2109). Obesity, cognitive functioning, and dementia: A lifespan prospective. In: Watson R. R. and Preedy V. R. (Eds.) Omega Fatty Acids in Brain and Neurological Health 2019. Elsevier Science.

Please see www.mslsperspectives.net for a complete set of references from 1975 to present.