Dr. Thayer joined the UCCS Psychology Department in Fall of 2019. She completed her dual doctoral training in clinical psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder, and her predoctoral clinical internship at the UCSD/VA San Diego Healthcare System Internship Training Program specializing in neuropsychological assessment and cognitive rehabilitation. Her research has focused on using neuroimaging techniques to examine relationships among cognition, brain structural and functional connectivity, and substance use across lifespan development, with recent focus on cannabis use among older adults.

Neuropsychology, aging, alcohol and cannabis use

• Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, University of Colorado Boulder, 2018
• Ph.D. Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, 2018
• B.S. Psychology, University of California, San Diego, 2009

• PSY 3650 - Clinical Neuropsychology
• PSY 6870 - Clinical Neuropsychology Seminar
• PSY 6880 - Clinical Neuropsychology Lab

• Thayer, R.E., YorkWilliams, S.L., Hutchison, K.E., & Bryan, A.D. (2019). Preliminary results from a pilot study examining brain structure in older adult cannabis users and nonusers. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 285, 58-63.
• Thayer, R.E., YorkWilliams, S., Karoly, H.C., Sabbineni, A., Feldstein Ewing, S.W., Bryan, A.D., & Hutchison, K.E. (2017). Structural neuroimaging correlates of alcohol and marijuana use in adolescents and adults. Addiction, 112(12), 2144-2154.
• Thayer, R.E., Hagerty, S.L., Sabbineni, A., Claus, E.D., Hutchison, K.E., & Weiland, B.J. (2016). Negative and interactive effects of sex, aging, and alcohol abuse on gray matter morphometry. Human Brain Mapping, 37(6), 2276-2292.

Rachel E. Thayer, PhD