Carolyn Fredericks, MD
Cards
About
Titles
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Biography
Dr. Fredericks’ research focuses on preclinical Alzheimer’s disease and on less common Alzheimer’s variants, using advanced imaging tools to better understand how Alzheimer’s disease progresses through functional networks in the brain. She is a member of Yale’s Clinical Neuroscience Imaging Center (CNIC), a multidisciplinary group applying innovative imaging methods to the study of brain disease. Clinically, Dr. Fredericks sees patients with a variety of cognitive and behavioral concerns. She specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.
Appointments
Neurology
Assistant ProfessorPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC)
- Center for Brain & Mind Health
- Center for Neuroepidemiology and Clinical Neurological Research
- Clinical Neurosciences Imaging Center (CNIC)
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program
- Janeway Society
- Memory Disorders & Cognitive Neurology
- Neurology
- Neuroscience Track
- WHRY Pilot Project Program Investigators
- Women's Health Research at Yale
- Yale Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS)
- Yale Medicine
Education & Training
- Fellow
- Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco (2016)
- Resident
- University of California, San Francisco (2014)
- Resident
- Johns Hopkins Hospital (2012)
- Intern
- Stanford University Hospital (2011)
- MD
- Stanford University School of Medicine (2010)
- BA
- Brown University, Classics (2004)
- BS
- Brown University, Neuroscience (2004)
Research
Clinical Care
Overview
Carolyn Fredericks, MD, is a neurologist who specializes in diagnosing and treating patients with cognitive and behavioral concerns, including Alzheimer’s disease, memory disorders, and frontotemporal disease. She also sees patients with rarer brain disorders, such as posterior cortical atrophy, logopenic progressive aphasia, corticobasal syndrome, and progressive supranuclear palsy.
At initial evaluation visits, Dr. Fredericks encourages patients to bring a loved one, friend, or caregiver who knows them very well. “Often, as you can imagine, the patient may not see the entire picture of what has been going on,” she says. During the first visit, Dr. Fredericks asks detailed questions around medical history and does cognitive testing to test memory, language, attention, and spatial functions. She also conducts a neurological exam that checks a range of abilities, including a patient’s motor system, reflexes, and coordination.
“I get a deep satisfaction from walking through the treatment process with a family, offering resources and medications that can help the patient feel better, even though it won’t make the illness go away,” Dr. Fredericks says. “Of course, I love it when I’m able to reverse a process for someone. Sometimes, we will learn that a patient’s thyroid is not working well or that they have an autoimmune condition we can treat. Those kinds of catches are amazing to be a part of.”
Dr. Fredericks dedicates time outside of treating patients to research focused on understanding what the brain looks like before symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease begin to appear by comparing them with the brains of people who are aging in a healthy way. She also investigates more rare forms of Alzheimer’s disease that affect primarily affect a person’s ability to use language and spatial perception. As a member of Yale’s Clinical Neuroscience Imaging Center, she uses advanced imaging tools to map out how proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease spread throughout functional networks in the brain.
“Dementia is never a normal part of aging,” Dr. Fredericks says. “This research will help us develop better treatment targets and earlier interventions for the future.”
Clinical Specialties
Fact Sheets
Dementia
Learn More on Yale MedicineAlzheimer's Disease
Learn More on Yale MedicineParkinson's Disease
Learn More on Yale MedicineNormal Pressure Hydrocephalus
Learn More on Yale Medicine
Board Certifications
Behavioral Neurology & Neuropsychiatry
- Certification Organization
- United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties
- Original Certification Date
- 2018
Neurology
- Certification Organization
- AB of Psychiatry & Neurology
- Original Certification Date
- 2014
Yale Medicine News
Links & Media
News
- January 31, 2024Source: Yale Medicine
How to Stay Connected with a Loved One With Alzheimer’s Disease
- June 01, 2023
Center for Brain and Mind Health First Annual Symposium
- March 22, 2023
There’s No Better Source than the Scientist
- January 29, 2023
Symposium Highlights Importance of Biomedical Imaging for Understanding Neurological Disease