Rosemary Toomey

· Research Professor

Boston University · Psychology

Active 1989–2025

h-index60

Citations10.4k

Papers19134 last 5y

Funding—

Academic metrics are sourced from OpenAlex and public funding records; values may differ from Google Scholar.

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About

Professor Rosemary Toomey is involved in research focused on Gulf War Illness (GWI), a chronic health condition affecting veterans of the First Gulf War. Her work centers on addressing the cognitive symptoms of GWI, which include poor attention, concentration, and memory function—symptoms that significantly impact the quality of life of affected veterans. Recognizing the lack of effective treatments for these cognitive impairments, Professor Toomey is engaged in a pilot study investigating the use of d-cycloserine (DCS), a medication previously shown to improve memory, attention, and mood in other cognitive disorders. This study compares the effects of DCS treatment against a placebo over a four-week period, aiming to evaluate improvements in verbal memory, focused and sustained attention, and selective attention, alongside assessments of physical health and mood.

Research topics

Psychology
Medicine
Audiology
Psychiatry
Clinical psychology
Neuroscience
Gerontology
Environmental health
Internal medicine
Developmental psychology

Selected publications

MRI‐assessed locus coeruleus integrity is heritable and associated with multiple cognitive domains, mild cognitive impairment, and daytime dysfunction
Alzheimer s & Dementia · 2021 · 81 citations
INTRODUCTION: The locus coeruleus (LC) undergoes extensive neurodegeneration in early Alzheimer's disease (AD). The LC is implicated in regulating the sleep-wake cycle, modulating cognitive function, and AD progression. METHODS: , cognition, amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and daytime dysfunction. RESULTS: was associated with poorer episodic memory, general verbal fluency, semantic fluency, and processing speed, as well as increased odds of aMCI and greater daytime dysfunction. DISCUS…
Publisher DOI
Associations between depression and cardiometabolic health: A 27-year longitudinal study
Psychological Medicine · 2021 · 42 citations
BACKGROUND: Clarifying the relationship between depression symptoms and cardiometabolic and related health could clarify risk factors and treatment targets. The objective of this study was to assess whether depression symptoms in midlife are associated with the subsequent onset of cardiometabolic health problems. METHODS: The study sample comprised 787 male twin veterans with polygenic risk score data who participated in the Harvard Twin Study of Substance Abuse ('baseline') and the longitudinal…
DOI
Brain–Immune Interactions as the Basis of Gulf War Illness: Clinical Assessment and Deployment Profile of 1990–1991 Gulf War Veterans in the Gulf War Illness Consortium (GWIC) Multisite Case-Control Study
Brain Sciences · 2021-08-26 · 27 citations
articleOpen access
The Boston University-based Gulf War Illness Consortium (GWIC) is a multidisciplinary initiative developed to provide detailed understanding of brain and immune alterations that underlie Gulf War illness (GWI), the persistent multisymptom disorder associated with military service in the 1990–1991 Gulf War. The core GWIC case-control clinical study conducted in-depth brain and immune evaluation of 269 Gulf War veterans (223 GWI cases, 46 controls) at three U.S. sites that included clinical assess…
Publisher OA PDF DOI
Rostral-middle locus coeruleus integrity and subjective cognitive decline in early old age
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society · 2022-12-16 · 17 citations
articleOpen access
Abstract Objectives: Abnormal tau, a hallmark Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology, may appear in the locus coeruleus (LC) decades before AD symptom onset. Reports of subjective cognitive decline are also often present prior to formal diagnosis. Yet, the relationship between LC structural integrity and subjective cognitive decline has remained unexplored. Here, we aimed to explore these potential associations. Methods: We examined 381 community-dwelling men (mean age = 67.58; SD = 2.62) in the Vie…
Publisher OA PDF DOI
Long‐term associations of cigarette smoking in early mid‐life with predicted brain aging from mid‐ to late life
Addiction · 2021-10-05 · 16 citations
articleOpen access
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Smoking is associated with increased risk for brain aging/atrophy and dementia. Few studies have examined early associations with brain aging. This study aimed to measure whether adult men with a history of heavier smoking in early mid-life would have older than predicted brain age 16-28 years later. DESIGN: Prospective cohort observational study, utilizing smoking pack years data from average age 40 (early mid-life) predicting predicted brain age difference scores (PBAD) at…
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Frequent coauthors

Michael J. Lyons
Boston University
287 shared
William S. Kremen
University of California, San Diego
215 shared
Ming T. Tsuang
201 shared
Stephen V. Faraone
137 shared
Hong Xian
111 shared
Carol E. Franz
University of California, San Diego
109 shared
Matthew S. Panizzon
University of California, San Diego
105 shared
Larry J. Seidman
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
101 shared

Education

B.A., Psychology
Northwestern University
1985
M.A., Clinical Psychology
University of Montana
1989
Ph.D., Clinical Psychology
University of Montana
1992

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