Filippo Cieri, PhD, PsyD
Assistant Staff
Location:
Cleveland Clinic Nevada
Research
Dr. Cieri’s research program integrates cognitive neuroscience, neuroimaging, and lifespan environmental exposures to understand resistance and vulnerability to cognitive aging and neurodegenerative disease. Dr. Cieri developed the dynamic Neurocognitive Adaptation (dNA) framework to quantify cognitive, physical, creative and social engagement across the lifespan. He leads complementary work on olfaction and multisensory memory as early markers and modulators of brain health. A distinctive feature of his work is the integration of systems neuroscience with a psychodynamic lens, aiming to bridge brain networks, lived experience and adaptive behavior.
Biography
Filippo Cieri, PhD, PsyD, is a cognitive neuroscientist and assistant professor of Neurology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, with a primary appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.
His research incorporates neuropsychological assessment, multimodal neuroimaging—including resting-state and task-based fMRI—network-level analyses and biomarker-informed approaches. Dr. Cieri also examines how sensory loss interacts with memory systems and large-scale brain networks through studies of olfaction and multisensory memory.
His long-term goal is to develop integrative, mechanistic models of brain health that inform prevention, early detection and personalized interventions.
Education & Professional Highlights
Education and Professional Highlights
- BS, Psychological Sciences
- MS, Clinical Psychology
- PhD, Cognitive Neuroscience and Functional Neuroimaging
- PsyD, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Academic and Professional Appointments
- Assistant Professor of Neurology, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
- Research Scientist, Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health
Professional Memberships (current)
- Alzheimer’s Association ISTAART
- British Society of Gerontology
- European Academy of Neurology
- International Neuropsychological Society
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Editorial and Review Activities
- Editorial Board Member, Neuroscience
- Editorial Board Member, Scientific Reports
- Editor and ad hoc reviewer for leading journals in cognitive neuroscience, neuroimaging, psychology, clinical psychology, neurology, and psychoanalysis
Research
Overview
Dr. Cieri’s research examines how lifelong environmental engagement and sensory experience shape brain adaptation, resistance and vulnerability to neurodegeneration and cognitive decline. His research focuses on why individuals with similar biological brain changes can show very different cognitive outcomes, particularly in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.
A distinctive aspect of Dr. Cieri’s research is the integration of cognitive neuroscience with a psychodynamic perspective, sometimes referred to as psychodynamic neuroscience. This approach links brain network organization with subjective experience, emotional meaning and adaptive behavior across the lifespan. Dr. Cieri’s work aims to develop integrative, biologically grounded models of brain health that connect neural systems, lived experience and long-term adaptation.
Dr. Cieri combines cognitive and psychodynamic neuroscience with neuroimaging, neuropsychological assessment and biomarker research to examine how lived experience shapes resistance and adaptation to neurodegeneration. His work proposes that the brain is not only affected by disease but continuously shaped by interaction with the environment. Lifelong activities, habits and sensory experiences contribute to neurocognitive adaptation — the capacity of the brain to reorganize and respond to pathology. This approach draws on biological principles of adaptation and is conceptually informed by dual-aspect monism, viewing mental experience and brain function as complementary expressions of the same adaptive process.
Dynamic neurocognitive adaptation (dNA)
The Dynamic Neurocognitive Adaptation (dNA) scale is a validated lifespan instrument developed by Dr. Cieri’s lab to quantify environmental engagement across life. It measures cognitive, physical, creative and social activities from childhood through late adulthood across multiple developmental stages. Unlike traditional, static and correlational proxies of reserve such as education, dNA provides a practical tool for studying how experiential history — including specific life periods and sensitive developmental windows — relates to cognition, brain structure, brain network organization and adaptation.
Olfaction and multisensory brain research
Humans interact with and adapt to the environment through behavior, while their experience of it is mediated by the sensory systems. Complementing the dNA framework, Dr. Cieri’s multisensory research examines how the brain processes environmental perception, with a particular focus on olfaction. Olfaction directly interfaces with limbic and memory systems that are affected early in dementia and neurodegeneration. Using behavioral paradigms and functional MRI with controlled odor stimulation, this research investigates odor–memory associations, multisensory processing and brain plasticity.
Together, the dNA and sensory research programs address complementary dimensions of the same adaptive process — environmental engagement and environmental perception — and how both influence vulnerability to neurodegenerative disease.
Unique tools and methods
Unique tools and methods include:
- Dynamic Neurocognitive Adaptation (dNA) lifespan assessment framework
- Olfaction, Multisensory Memory, and Biomarkers
- Multimodal neuroimaging, including resting-state and task-based fMRI
- Network-level, dynamic functional connectivity, and graph-theory analyses Integration of behavioral, imaging, and biomarker data