Rate My Professor Cathryn McKenzie

Cathryn McKenzie, PhD, Ms, is a Lecturer in the School of Psychological Science at the University of Western Australia, where she also engages in casual teaching across multiple disciplines. A registered Clinical Neuropsychologist, she currently works at North Metropolitan Health Service in Older Adult Mental Health, having commenced in March 2024 following her tenure as Clinical Neuropsychologist Registrar from September 2021 to December 2023. McKenzie earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Psychological Science from the University of Western Australia on 14 November 2022. Her doctoral thesis, titled "Understanding the Moderating Role of Cognitive Reserve in Alzheimer’s Disease Using a Residual Approach," examines protective factors in cognitive decline. Her clinical role involves supporting multidisciplinary teams with diagnostic clarification, clinical care, and discharge planning for older adults facing significant mental health challenges.

McKenzie's research centers on cognitive ageing and dementia, with a focus on the relationships between brain health and cognition, and protective mechanisms including cognitive reserve and resilience. These factors are developed over a lifetime through activities that promote physical health, wellbeing, and mental stimulation, such as physical activity, social engagement, and acquiring new skills, thereby reducing the impact of brain pathology on cognitive function. She received the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference Travel Award in 2022. Her publications include "Self-reported mid- to late-life physical and recreational activities: Associations with late-life cognition" (Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 2024), co-authored with B. E. Gavett et al.; "Tau and amyloid biomarkers modify the degree to which cognitive reserve and brain reserve predict cognitive decline" (Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 2023), from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative; "Residual reserve index modifies the effect of amyloid pathology on fluorodeoxyglucose metabolism: Implications for efficiency and capacity in cognitive reserve" (Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2022); "Residual reserve index modifies the effect of amyloid pathology on FDG metabolism" (Alzheimer's & Dementia, 2022, conference paper); and "Cognitive reserve predicts future executive function decline in older adults with Alzheimer’s Disease pathology but not age-associated pathology" (2020). Additional research explores sleep disturbance's relation to cognition moderated by reserve (2019). McKenzie's integrated academic and clinical contributions advance knowledge in neuropsychology of ageing.