Jenna N. Adams
Biography
Jenna N. Adams, Ph.D., is Assistant Professional Researcher in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of California, Irvine. Adams received a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied tau pathology in relation to neural activity and connectivity in aging and preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Her research uses multimodal neuroimaging approaches spanning molecular, structural, and functional imaging, combined with advanced statistical modeling and network neuroscience methodologies, to investigate mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology in older adults with preclinical disease.
Adams has authored 12 first-authored publications and 39 total publications examining relationships between Alzheimer's pathology, brain structure and function, and memory in aging. Her work has characterized how tau pathology spreads through functional connectivity networks, how regional vulnerability in the medial temporal lobe relates to pathology-related neurodegeneration, and how neural dysfunction across circuits contributes to memory impairment. She has received funding as principal investigator from the National Institutes on Aging, including a postdoctoral F32 fellowship and a predoctoral F31 fellowship, to investigate hippocampal tau pathology and CA1 dysfunction in aging and preclinical Alzheimer's disease.
Adams serves as Chair of the Medial Temporal Lobe Cortex Working Group and Vice Chair of the Hippocampal Subfields Group, an international collaborative research consortium focused on developing harmonized protocols for neuroimaging segmentation. She has mentored numerous graduate students, postbaccalaureate researchers, and undergraduate students, and serves on the board of Women in Research at UC Irvine. Adams received the Dean's Early Career Research Excellence Award from the School of Biological Sciences at UC Irvine in 2023.
Return to topEducation
- Ph.D. in Neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley, 2020
- B.A. in Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2013
Distinctions
- Society for Neuroscience Trainee Professional Development Award, 2021
- Fellow, Postdoctoral F32 NRSA from the National Institutes on Aging, 2021
- Fellow, Predoctoral F31 NRSA from the National Institutes on Aging, 2019
- Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, 2016-2017
- Honorable Mention, Alzheimer's Association Young Investigator Award, 2018
- Selected to the Charleston Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (top 15 ECR applicants selected), 2024
- Roger W. Russell Award in the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, UC Irvine, 2023
- Dean's Early Career Research Excellence Award, School of Biological Sciences, UC Irvine, 2023
Areas of Expertise
- Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging
- Tau Pathology Progression
- Medial Temporal Lobe Dysfunction
- Functional Connectivity Networks
- Hippocampal Subfield Hyperactivity
- Amyloid-Beta Biomarkers
- Mnemonic Discrimination Deficits
Recent Publications
- Vanderlip C, Taylor L, Kim S, Harris AL, Tuteja N, Meza N, Escalante YY, McMillan L, Yassa MA, Adams JN, “Amyloid-β deposition in basal frontotemporal cortex is associated with selective disruption of temporal mnemonic discrimination” (opens in new tab), The Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 45, pp. e1605242025, 2025.
- Escalante YY, Adams JN, Yassa MA, Janssen N, “Age-related constraints on the spatial geometry of the brain” (opens in new tab), Nature Communications, vol. 16, pp. 8613, 2025.
- Parker D, Adams JN, Kim S, McMillan L, Yassa MA, “NODDI-derived measures of microstructural integrity in medial temporal lobe white matter pathways associated with Alzheimer's disease pathology and cognitive outcomes” (opens in new tab), Imaging Neuroscience, vol. 3, pp. IMAG.a.950, 2025.
- Fischer L, Adams JN, Molloy EN, Tremblay-Mercier J, Remz J, Pichet Binette A, Rajah MN, Maass A, PREVENT-AD Research Group, Maass A, “Longitudinal functional connectivity during rest and task is differentially related to Alzheimer's pathology and episodic memory in older adults” (opens in new tab), Scientific Reports, vol. 15, pp. 38499, 2025.
- Bamford A, Adams JN, Kim S, McMillan L, Taylor L, Tuteja N, Chang E, Escalante YY, Harris AL, Meza N, Sattari N, Chappel-Farley M, Berisha D, Dave A, Mander BA, Yassa MA, Thomas EA, “Salivary levels of amyloid beta are positively correlated with brain amyloid beta burden in cognitively normal older adults” (opens in new tab), The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's disease, vol. 12, no. 7, pp. 100216, 2025.
- Chappel-Farley MG, Adams JN, Betzel RF, Janecek JC, Sattari NS, Berisha DE, Meza NJ, Niknazar H, Kim S, Dave A, Chen IY, Lui KK, Neikrug AB, Benca RM, Yassa MA, Mander BA, “Individual differences in medial temporal lobe functional network architecture predict the capacity for sleep-related consolidation of emotional memories in older adults” (opens in new tab), Sleep, vol. 48, no. 9, pp. zsaf117, 2025.
- Adams JN, Meegan-Kumar D, Male AG, “Empowering Postdoctoral Women Through Mentorship: A Spotlight on the UC Irvine Women in Research Program”, DiverseScholar, vol. 15, no. 2, 2025.
- Fischer L., Adams J.N., Molloy E.N., Vockert N., Tremblay-Mercier J., Remz J., Pichet Binette A., Villeneuve S., Maass A., “Differential effects of aging, Alzheimer's pathology, and APOE4 on longitudinal functional connectivity and episodic memory in older adults” (opens in new tab), Alzheimer S Research and Therapy, vol. 17, 2025.
- Bamford A, Adams JN, Kim S, Hitt BD, Malhas R, Mapstone M, Yassa MA, Thomas EA, “The Aβ42/Aβ38 ratio as a plasma biomarker of early memory deficits in cognitively normal older adults” (opens in new tab), Neurobiology of Aging, vol. 144, pp. 12-18, 2024.
- Canada KL, Mazloum-Farzaghi N, Rådman G, Adams JN, Bakker A, Berron D, Baumeister H, Berron D, Bocchetta M, Carr V, Dalton MA, de Florès R, Keresztes A, La Joie R, Mueller SG, Raz N, Santini T, Stark CEL, Tran T, Wang L, et al., “A (Sub)field Guide to Quality Control in Hippocampal Segmentation on High-resolution T2-weighted MRI” (opens in new tab), Human Brain Mapping, vol. 45, pp. e70004, 2024.
- Ziontz J, Harrison TM, Chen X, Giorgio J, Adams JN, Wang Z, Jagust WJ, “Behaviorally meaningful functional networks mediate the effect of Alzheimer's pathology on cognition” (opens in new tab), Cerebral Cortex, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. bhae134, 2024.
- Wüstefeld A, Baumeister H, Adams JN, De Flores R, Hodgetts CJ, Mazloum-Farzaghi N, Olsen RK, Puliyadi V, Tran TT, Bakker A, Canada KL, Dalton MA, Daugherty AM, La Joie R, Wang L, Bedard M, Buendia E, Chung E, Denning A, del Mar Arroyo-Jiménez M, et al., “Comparison of histological delineation of medial temporal lobe cortices by four independent neuroanatomy laboratories” (opens in new tab), Hippocampus, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 241-260, 2024.
Most Cited Publications
- Maass A, Berron D, Harrison TM, Adams JN, La Joie R, Baker S, Mellinger T, Bell RK, Swinnerton K, Inglis B, Rabinovici GD, Duzel E, Jagust WJ, “Alzheimer's pathology targets distinct memory networks in the ageing brain” (opens in new tab), Brain, vol. 142, pp. 2492-2509, 2019.
- Adams JN, Maass A, Harrison TM, Baker SL, Jagust WJ, “Cortical tau deposition follows patterns of entorhinal functional connectivity in aging” (opens in new tab), eLife, vol. 8, pp. e49132, 2019.
- Harrison TM, Maass A, Adams JN, Du R, Baker SL, Jagust WJ, “Tau deposition is associated with functional isolation of the hippocampus in aging” (opens in new tab), Nature Communications, vol. 10, pp. 4900, 2019.
- Giorgio J, Adams JN, Maass A, Jagust WJ, Breakspear M, “Amyloid induced hyperexcitability in default mode network drives medial temporal hyperactivity and early tau accumulation” (opens in new tab), Neuron, vol. 112, pp. 1-11, 2024.
- Johnson EL, Adams JN, Solbakk AK, Endestad T, Larsson PG, Ivanovic J, Meling TR, Lin JJ, Knight RT, “Dynamic frontotemporal systems process space and time in working memory” (opens in new tab), PLoS Biology, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. e2004274, 2018.
- Adams JN, Lockhart SN, Li L, Jagust WJ, “Relationships between tau and glucose metabolism reflect Alzheimer's disease pathology in cognitively normal older adults” (opens in new tab), Cerebral Cortex, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 1997-2009, 2019.
- Chen X, Cassady KE, Adams JN, Harrison TM, Baker SL, Jagust WJ, “Regional tau effects on prospective cognitive change in cognitively normal older adults” (opens in new tab), The Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 366-375, 2021.
- Cassady KE, Adams JN, Chen X, Maass A, Harrison TM, Landau S, Baker SL, Jagust WJ, “Alzheimer's pathology is associated with dedifferentiation of intrinsic functional memory networks in aging” (opens in new tab), Cerebral Cortex, vol. 31, no. 10, pp. 4781-4793, 2021.
- Loe IM, Adams JN, Feldman HM, “Executive function in relation to white matter in preterm and full term children” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Pediatrics, vol. 6, no. 418, 2019.
- Corriveau-Lecavalier N, Adams JN, Fischer L, Molloy EN, Maass A, “Cerebral hyperactivation across the Alzheimer's disease pathological cascade” (opens in new tab), Brain Communications, vol. 6, no. 6, pp. fcae376, 2024.
Contact Information
Email: jnadams@uci.edu
Phone: (949) 824-3919
Address: 1400 Biological Sciences III
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Last updated on 4/30/2026.