Dr. Hayes graduated from Skidmore College (Biology, Psychology) and completed his doctoral work in Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology) at the University of Arizona. He completed an NRSA-funded cognitive neuroscience-clinical neuropsychology postdoctoral fellowship in the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University and the Bryan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Duke University Medical Center.  As a Department of Veterans Affairs Career Development Awardee, Dr. Hayes worked at the Boston University Memory Disorders Research Center and served as the Associate Director for the Neuroimaging Research for Veterans Center at VA Boston Healthcare System. At Ohio State, Dr. Hayes serves as the Director of The Buckeye Brain Aging Lab (B-BAL) and receives support from The Ohio State University Chronic Brain Injury Discovery Theme. Dr. Hayes works closely with  the OSU Center for Brain Health and Performance and the OSU Jameson Crane Center for Sports Medicine Institute. Using structural and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Dr. Hayes’ research examines 1) the relationships between physical activity, fitness, cognition and the brain,  2) the neural correlates of cognition, with an emphasis in memory, and 3) applies advanced MRI techniques to clinical populations with memory impairments (mild cognitive impairment, traumatic brain injury, medial temporal lobe amnesia).

Awards, Honors and Recognition

2024: Distinguished Teaching Award, The Ohio State University Department of Psychology
2017: Spivack Emerging Leader in the Neurosciences, Boston University School of Medicine
2010: Laird Cermak Award, Massachusetts Neuropsychological Society
2007 – 2009: Postdoctoral Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA)
2007 – 2009: National Institutes of Health Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program
2004: The Vivian Smith Advanced Studies Institute of the International Neuropsychological Society Summer Institute: The Human Frontal Lobes (declined)
2004: Student Travel Award, Organization of Human Brain Mapping 
2004: Summer Training on Aging Research Topics-Mental Health (START-MH) Fellowship, NIMH
2003: The Vivian Smith Advanced Studies Institute of the International Neuropsychological Society Summer Institute: Medial Temporal Lobes and Amnesia
2002: Graduate Research Fellowship: Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation 
2002: Imaging Fellowship, Prop. 301, University of Arizona 
2001: Pre-doctoral Research Grant, University of Arizona Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute
1998: Graduated cum laude with honors in Biology & Psychology, Skidmore College
1998: Awarded Best Senior Research Project, Skidmore Biology Department
1994 – 1998: Kettering-Williamson Scholarship Recipient, Skidmore College

Representative Publications:

Palombo, D. J., Hayes, S. M., Peterson, K. M., Keane, M. M., & Verfaellie, M. (2018). Medial Temporal Lobe Contributions to Episodic Future Thinking: Scene Construction or Future Projection? Cereb Cortex, 28(2), 447-458. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhw381

Williams, V. J., Hayes, J. P., Forman, D. E., Salat, D. H., Sperling, R. A., Verfaellie, M., & Hayes, S. M. (2017). Cardiorespiratory fitness is differentially associated with cortical thickness in young and older adults. Neuroimage, 146, 1084-1092. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.10.033

Miller, D. R., Hayes, S. M., Hayes, J. P., Spielberg, J. M., Lafleche, G., & Verfaellie, M. (2017). Default Mode Network Subsystems are Differentially Disrupted in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging, 2(4), 363-371.

Hayes, S. M., Hayes, J. P., Williams, V. J., Liu, H., & Verfaellie, M. (2017). FMRI activity during associative encoding is correlated with cardiorespiratory fitness and source memory performance in older adults. Cortex, 91, 208-220. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2017.01.002

Hayes, S. M., Forman, D. E., & Verfaellie, M. (2016). Cardiorespiratory Fitness Is Associated With Cognitive Performance in Older But Not Younger Adults. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci, 71(3), 474-482. doi:gbu167 [pii]10.1093/geronb/gbu167

Hayes, S. M., Salat, D. H., Forman, D. E., Sperling, R. A., & Verfaellie, M. (2015). Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with white matter integrity in aging. Ann Clin Transl Neurol, 2(6), 688-698. doi:10.1002/acn3.204

Hayes, S. M., Alosco, M. L., Hayes, J. P., Cadden, M., Peterson, K. M., Allsup, K., . . . Verfaellie, M. (2015). Physical activity is positively associated with episodic memory in aging. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 21(10), 780-790. doi:S1355617715000910 [pii]10.1017/S1355617715000910

Hayes, S. M., Alosco, M. L., & Forman, D. E. (2014). The Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Cognitive and Neural Decline in Aging and Cardiovascular Disease. Curr Geriatr Rep, 3(4), 282-290. doi:10.1007/s13670-014-0101-x

Hayes, S. M., Hayes, J. P., Cadden, M., & Verfaellie, M. (2013). A review of cardiorespiratory fitness-related neuroplasticity in the aging brain. Front Aging Neurosci, 5, 31. doi:10.3389/fnagi.2013.00031

Hayes, S. M., Salat, D. H., & Verfaellie, M. (2012). Default network connectivity in medial temporal lobe amnesia. J Neurosci, 32(42), 14622-14629. doi:32/42/14622 [pii] 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0700-12.2012