Vojko Kavcic, PhD
Primary tabs
JAD profile
Associate Editor
Term Expiration:
12/31/2024
Affiliation(s):
Wayne State University; Institute of Gerontology
ORCID URL:
Areas of Interest:
early detection of AD, early detection of accelerated cognitive decline, EEG, resting state EEG, visual evoked potentials (VEP), event related potentials (ERP), spatial navigation, motion perception, cognitive training
Biography & Research:
Dr.Voyko Kavcic has been appointed to the research faculty at the Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University for the past fourteen years, having been promoted two years ago to the rank of Associate Professor. Dr. Kavcic received his doctoral degree from the University of North Texas in Experimental Psychology and received postdoctoral training at the University of Rochester. He is a renowned researcher involved in developing new approaches for the early identification of accelerated cognitive decline leading to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). His research has emphasized neuronal and cognitive mechanisms critical for visual perception of motion and navigation, with an emphasis on the effects of Alzheimer’s disease and aging. His research focuses on the early detection of cognitive decline, MCI, and ADRD by combining neuroelectric methods also with the addition of novel approaches to computerized cognitive testing. His laboratory uses resting-state EEG, visual evoked potentials (VEPs) to stimulus and motion onset, and virtual maze navigation paradigms. He has been a recipient of the Senator Mark Hatfield Award from Alzheimer’s Association and a R21 followed by a RO1 from NIH/NIA. Recently, Dr. Kavcic developed a novel neuroelectric marker for accelerated cognitive decline, the so-called resting-state EEG Task Aftereffect (rsEEG TA). This marker measures change in resting-state EEG (rsEEG) spectral power and network organization prior to and following a cognitive engagement task. Using this approach, Dr. Kavcic and his colleagues have shown that MCI subjects as compared to healthy controls (HC) have 1) greater decreases in spectral power (Kavcic et al., 2021; Martin et al., 2022) and 2) more integrated network connection topology (Pozar et al, 2023), both of which indicate a prolonged return to the baseline for the MCI group from the increased network topology seen during task performance (paper in preparation). This approach is now being applied by Dr. Kavcic and his colleagues to a number of different tasks across the lifespan.
