Profile
Scott Moffat
577-2297
moffat@wayne.edu
226 Knapp Bldg.
Scott D. Moffat, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Institute of Gerontology and Department of Psychology at Wayne State University .
Dr. Moffat is interested in cognitive and structural and functional brain changes associated with aging. Dr. Moffat's primary research interests are in the cognitive neuroscience of human spatial cognition and in human behavioral endocrinology. To that end, he has been utilizing virtual reality technology to understand the behavioral and neural mechanisms of age-related decline in human spatial cognition. Recently he as been assessing age changes in navigation and in the ability to develop "cognitive maps" of the environment. An important focus of this research is in understanding the neural mechanisms of human navigation by conducting functional MRI studies in which he examines brain activation patterns while participants solve virtual navigation tasks.
Dr. Moffat's other principal area of research is in human behavioral endocrinology. In men, testosterone levels decline over the lifespan and Dr. Moffat has been investigating the cognitive and neurological sequelae of androgen (testosterone) loss in older men. His current interests are in conducting placebo-controlled testosterone intervention studies in elderly men to examine the cognitive and neural effects of testosterone supplementation. He is also investigating the effects of the stress hormone, cortisol, on cognitive and brain function and risk for Alzheimer's disease.
Dr. Moffat received his B.S. from the University of Toronto in Toronto, and received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in biopsychology and clinical neuropsychology from The University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. His Ph.D. research focused on the effects of the steroid hormone testosterone on cognitive and brain function and neuroanatomy. Dr. Moffat completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institute on Aging (NIH) in Baltimore, Maryland where he was investigating the cognitive effects of testosterone loss in elderly men as well as age-related changes in spatial navigational skill.
Courses Taught
Psychology 8720: Cognitive Neuroscience
Psychology 3080: Cognitive Psychology
Psychology 3040: Sensation and Perception
CV
moffat_cv_sep_2008.docEducation
- Ph.D. (1993-1998). University of Western Ontario. Psychobiology & Clinical Neuropsychology.
- M.A. (1991-1993). University of Western Ontario. Psychobiology and Clinical Neuropsychology.
- B.Sc. (1987-1991). University of Toronto. Psychology.
Grants
- Principle Investigator: Cognitive and Neural Consequences of Long-Term Cortisol Exposure in Human Aging. National Institute on Aging Grant Number R01 AG028466-01. Amount: $1,793,349. 2007-2010.
- Co-Investigator: Testosterone Trial. National Institutes of Health: 1R01 AG030344-01. Amount $53,243,243 7/1/07-6/30/13. Status: Awaiting funding decsion
- Principal Investigator. Effects of Testosterone on Brain Function in Elderly Men. National Institute on Aging Grant Number R03 AG023898-01. Amount: $151,000. 9/31/2004-6/30/2007.
- Consultant: Planning Project for Testosterone Trials in Aging Men. National Institutes of Health: U01 AG027005-01, $700,000, 7/01/05-6/30/06.
- Consultant: The effects of 900 MHz GSM Wireless communication signals on subjective symptoms, physiological reactions, alertness, performance and sleep. Mobile Manufactures Forum (MMF),
Professional Associations
- Society for Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience Society
- Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology
Honors and Awards
2006-2007 Institute of Gerontology Eric Baron Award.
1998-2002 Visiting Scientist Fellowship, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health
1996-1997 Jack Catherall Scholarship,
1996-1997 Graduate Research Fellowship,
1996-1997 Special University Scholarship,
1995-1996 Ontario Graduate Scholarship,
1993-1995 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of
1993-1995 Faculty of Graduate Studies Admission Scholarship,
1992-1993 Ontario Graduate Scholarship,
1991-1992 Special University Scholarship,
1991 Graduate with Distinction, University of
1989 John Pounder Prize in Astronomy,
Publications
Moffat, S.D. (2009). Endogenous Testosterone Levels and Cognitive Aging in Men. To appear in E. Hogervorst & V. Henderson (Eds.), Hormones, Cognitive Function and Dementia . Cambridge University Press.
Wiholm,C., Lowden, A., Kuster, N., Hillert, L, Arnetz, B.B., Åkerstedt,T.& Moffat, S.D. (2009, in press). The effects of 884 MHz GSM wireless communication signals on spatial memory performance: An experimental provocation study. Bioelectromagnetics.
Hillert, L., Åkerstedt, T., Lowden, A., Wiholm, C., Kuster, N., Ebert, D., Moffat, S.D. Berg, M. & Arnetz, B.B.. (2008). The effects of 884 MHz GSM wireless communication signals on headache and other symptoms; an experimental provocation study. Bioelectromagnetics 29(3): 185-196.
Woodard, T.L., Collins, K., Balon,R. Tancer, M.E. Kruger, M., Moffat, S.D. & Diamond, M.P. (2008). What kind of erotic film clips should we use in female sex research? An exploratory study. Journal of Sexual Medicine 5(1): 146-154.
Moffat, S.D., Kennedy, K., Rodrigue, K. & Raz, N. (2007). Extra-hippocampal contributions to age differences in human spatial navigation. Cerebral Cortex 17(6): 1274-1282.
Moffat, S.D. & Resnick, S.M. (2007). Long-term free testosterone levels predict regional cerebral blood flow patterns in elderly men. Neurobiology of Aging 28: 914-920.
Moffat, S.D. (2006). Does testosterone mediate cognitive decline in elderly men? Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences: 61(5): 521.
Moffat, S.D., Elkins, W. & Resnick, S.M. (2006). Age differences in the neural systems supporting human allocentric navigation. Neurobiology of Aging.27(7): 965-972.
Hogervorst, E., Bandelow, S. & Moffat, S.D. (2005). Increasing testosterone levels and effects on cognitive functions in men and women: A review. Current Drug Targets: CNS and Neurological Disorders 4: 531-540.
Moffat, S.D. (2005). Effects of testosterone on cognitive and brain aging in elderly men. New York Academy of Sciences 1055: 80-92.
Moffat, S.D., Zonderman, A.B., Metter, E.J., Kawas, C., Blackman, M.R., Harman, S.M & Resnick, S.M. (2004). Free testosterone and risk for Alzheimer’s disease in older men. Neurology 62: 188-193.
Hampson, E. & Moffat, S.D. (2004). The psychobiology of gender: Cognitive effects of reproductive hormones in the adult nervous system. In Eagly, A, Beal, A. & Sternberg, R. (eds), The Psychology of Gender, 2nd Edition. Psychiatric Press
Berenbaum, S.A., Moffat, S.D., Wisniewski, A. & Resnick, S.M. (2003). Neuroendocrinology: Cognitive Effects of Sex Hormones. In de Haan, M. & Johnson, M. H. (eds.), The Cognitive Neuroscience of Development. Psychology Press.
Moffat, S.D., Metter, E.J., Blackman, M.R., Harman, S.M., & Resnick, S.M. (2002). Longitudinal assessment of endogenous bioavailable testosterone predicts memory performance and cognitive status in elderly men. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 87(11): 5001-5007.
Moffat, S.D. & Resnick, S.M. (2002). Effects of age on virtual environment place navigation and allocentric cognitive mapping. Behavioral Neuroscience 116(5): 851-859.
Shen, D. Moffat, S.D., Resnick, S.M. & Davatzikos, C. (2002). Measuring Size and Shape of the Hippocampus in MR Images Using a Deformable Shape Model. Neuroimage 15(2): 422-34
Moffat, S.D. & Resnick, S.M. (2002). Gonadal Steroid Influences on Adult Neuropsychological Function. In F. Lewis-Hall & J. Herrera (Eds), Psychiatric Illness in Women: Emerging Treatments and Research. American Psychiatric Press.
Moffat, S.D., Zonderman, A.B. & Resnick, S.M. (2001). Effects of age on spatial learning in a virtual reality navigation task. Neurobiology of Aging 22: 787-796.
Moffat, S.D., Szekely, C.A., Zonderman, A.B., Kabani, N., & Resnick, S.M. (2000). Longitudinal change in hippocampal volume as a function of apolipoprotein E genotype. Neurology 55: 134-136.
Moffat, S.D., Zonderman, A.B., Harman, S.M. Blackman, M.R., Kawas, C, & Resnick, S.M. (2000). The relationship between longitudinal decline in dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate concentrations and cognitive performance in older men. Archives of Internal Medicine 160: 2193-2198.
Black, S.E., Moffat, S.D., Yu, D., Parker, J., Stanchev, P. & Bronskill, M. (2000). Callosal Atrophy Correlates with Temporal Lobe Volume and Mental Status in Alzheimer's Disease. Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences 27: 204-209.
Moffat, S.D. & Hampson, E. (2000). Salivary testosterone concentrations in left-handers: An association with cerebral language lateralization? Neuropsychology 14: 71-81.
Moffat, S.D., Hampson, E. & Lee, D.H. (1998). Morphology of the planum temporale and corpus callosum in left-handers with evidence of left and right hemisphere speech representation. Brain 121: 2369-2379.
Moffat, S.D., Hampson, E. & Hatzipentalis, M (1998). Navigation in a virtual maze: Sex differences and correlation with psychometric measures of spatial ability in humans. Evolution and Human Behavior 19: 73-87.
Moffat, S.D., Hampson, E., Wickett, J.C. Vernon, P.A. & Lee, D.H. (1997). Testosterone is correlated with regional morphology of the human corpus callosum. Brain Research 767: 297-304.
Moffat, S.D. & Hampson, E. (1996). Salivary testosterone levels in left- and right-handed adults. Neuropsychologia 34(3): 225-233.
Moffat, S.D. & Hampson, E. (1996). A curvilinear relationship between testosterone and spatial cognition in humans: Possible influence of hand preference. Psychoneuroendocrinology 21(3): 323-337.
Hampson, E. & Moffat, S.D. (1994). Is testosterone related to spatial cognition and hand preference in humans? Brain and Cognition 26: 172-183.
Moffat, S.D., Suh, E.J. & Fleming, A.S. (1993). Noradrenergic involvement in the consolidation of maternal experience in post-partum rats. Physiology and Behavior 53: 805-811.