Faculty with Emeritus Status      Back to Main

Faculty Detail    
Name DANIEL C MARSON
Director Emeritus, Alzheimer's Disease Center		  
Campus Address SC 650N Zip 0017
Phone  (205) 934-2334
E-mail  dmarson@uabmc.edu
Other websites
     


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Primary  Neurology Chair Office  Neurology Chair Office Professor Emeritus

Biographical Sketch 
Daniel Marson, JD, PhD is a clinical neuropsychologist, licensed attorney, and Emeritus Professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He directed the Department’s Division of Neuropsychology from 1995 to 2016 and the UAB Alzheimer’s Disease Center from 2005 to 2015. Dr. Marson graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota (1976), and earned his JD at the University of Chicago Law School (1981) and his PhD in clinical psychology (specializations in geropsychology and neuropsychology) at Northwestern University Medical School (1990). Dr. Marson has lectured nationally regarding competency and other medical-legal and ethical issues in dementia and other neurocognitive disorders. He has published over 100 papers, handbooks, and book chapters on these topics. He has been principal investigator on multiple National Institute of Health (NIH) funded studies of decisional and functional capacity in Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, and traumatic brain injury. His work on financial capacity in older adults has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, BBC, Kiplinger Report, and NPR. At the national level, Dr. Marson is the past president and a fellow of the National Academy of Neuropsychology (NAN). He is a member and former chair of the Internal Ethics Committee of the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, an NIH funded clinical trials group. He has served as a chartered reviewer at the NIH Center for Scientific Review. Dr. Marson previously served on the Committee on Human Research of the American Psychological Association and chaired the committee in 2012. Dr. Marson often testifies as an expert witness in civil and criminal forensic matters. On a personal note, Dr. Marson has played the diatonic harmonica for many years and is a lover of blues and jazz. He has published in the jazz magazine Downbeat.

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study  Member  http://www.adcs.org/ 
American Psychological Association  Member  http://www.apa.org 
National Academy of Neuropsychology  Member, Past-President 2013, Member Board of Directors  http://www.nanonline.org 
 



Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Functional Change in Mild Cognitive Impairment
Description

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Marson, D., Triebel, K., Knight, A. (2011). Financial capacity. In Demakis, G. (Ed.), Civil Capacities in Clinical Neuropsychology. National Academy of Neuropsychology: Series on Evidence-Based Practices. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 39-68.   
Moye, J., Marson, D., Edelstein, B., Woods, S. (2011). Decision-making capacity. In Schaie, KW. and Willis, SL. (Eds.), Handbook of the Psychology of Aging. 7th Edition. London, UK: Elsevier, pp. 367-379.   
Marson, D., Hebert, T., Solomon, A. (2012). Civil competencies in older adults with dementia: Medical decision-making capacity, financial capacity, and testamentary capacity. In Larrabee, GJ. (Ed.), Forensic Neuropsychology: A Scientific Approach. 2nd Edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 401-437.   
Marson, D., Kerr, D., McLaren, D. (in press). Financial decision-making and capacity in older adults. In Schaie, W. and Willis, S., (Eds.), Handbook of the Psychology of Aging. 8th Edition. London: Academic Press, pp. xxx-xxx.   
Marson, D., McGovern, M., & Pomp, H. (1988). Psychiatric decision making in the emergency room: a research overview. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145:918 925.  3293473 
Marson, D., Schmitt, F., Ingram, K., & Harrell, L. (1994). Determining the competency of Alzheimer patients to consent to treatment and research. Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders. 8:(Suppl.4):5-18.  7695856 
Marson, D., Ingram, K., Cody, H., & Harrell, L. (1995). Assessing the competency of patients with Alzheimer’s disease under different legal standards: A prototype instrument. Archives of Neurology, 52(10):949-954.  7575221 
Marson, D., Chatterjee A., Ingram K., Harrell, L. (1996). Toward a neurologic model of competency: Cognitive predictors of capacity to consent in Alzheimer’s disease using three different legal standards. Neurology, 46:666-672.  8618664 
Marson, D., McInturff, B., Hawkins, L., Harrell, L. (1997). Consistency of physician judgments of capacity to consent in mild Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 45:453-457.  9100714 
Marson, D., Hawkins, L., McInturff, B., Harrell, L. (1997). Cognitive models that predict physician judgments of capacity to consent in mild Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 45:458-464.  9100715 
Marson, D., Annis, S., McInturff, B., Bartolucci, A. & Harrell, L. (1999). Error behaviors associated with loss of competency in Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology. 53:1983-1992.  10599769 
Marson, D., Sawrie, S., McInturff, B., Snyder, S., Chatterjee, A., Stalvey, T., Boothe, A. & Harrell, L. (2000). Assessing financial capacity in patients with Alzheimer’s disease: A conceptual model and prototype instrument. Archives of Neurology, 57:877-884.  10867786 
Marson, D., Earnst, K., Farruhk, J., Bartolucci, A. & Harrell, L. (2000). Consistency of physicians’ legal standard and personal judgments of competency in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 48:911-918.  10968294 
Earnst, K., Marson, D. & Harrell, L. (2000). Cognitive models of physicians’ legal standard and personal judgments of competency in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 48:919-927.  10968295 
Griffith, H.R., Belue, K., Sicola, A., Krzywanski, S., Zamrini, E., Harrell, L, and Marson, D. (2003). Impaired financial abilities in mild cognitive impairment: A direct assessment approach. Neurology. 60:449-457.  12578926 
Wadley, V., Harrell, L., and Marson, D. (2003). Self and informant report of financial abilities in patients with Alzheimer's disease: Reliable and valid? Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 51:1621-1626.  14687393 
Martin, R., Annis, S., Zebley, L., Wadley, V., Harrell, L., and Marson, D. (2003). Loss of calculation abilities in patients with mild and moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Archives of Neurology. 60:1585-1589.  14623731 
Marson, D., Huthwaite, J. and Hebert, K. (2004). Testamentary capacity and undue influence in the elderly: A jurisprudent therapy perspective. Law and Psychology Review. 28:71-96.   
Marson, D., Savage, R., Phillips, J. (2006). Financial capacity in persons with schizophrenia and serious mental illness: Clinical and research ethics aspects. Schizophrenia Bulletin. 32(1):81-91.  16293810 
Marson, D., Wheat, G. (2006). Howard Levy’s blues in 12 keys on C diatonic harmonica. Downbeat. Volume 73, Number 8 (August): 82-83.   
Moye, J. Marson, D.C. (2007). Assessment of decision-making capacity in older adults: an emerging area of practice and research. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences. 62:P3-P11.  17284555 
Marson, D.C., Moye, J. (2007). Empirical studies of capacity in older adults: finding clarity amidst complexity. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences. 62:P18-P19.  17284552 
Moye, J., Butz, S., Marson, D.C. Wood, E. (2007). A conceptual model and assessment template for capacity evaluation in adult guardianship. The Gerontologist, 47:591-603.  17989401 
Okonkwo, O., Griffith, H.R., Belue, K., Lanza, S., Zamrini, E., Harrell, L.E., Brockington, J.C., Clark, D., Raman, R., Marson, D.C. (2007). Medical decision-making capacity in patients with mild cognitive impairment. Neurology. 69:1528-1535.  17923615 
Martin, R., Griffith, R., Belue, K., Harrell, L., Zamrini, E., Anderson, B., Bartolucci, A. Marson, D. (2008). Declining financial capacity in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease: A one-year longitudinal study. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 16(3):209-219. On line publication—February 8, 2008.  18263665 
Okonkwo, O., Griffith, H.R., Belue, K., Lanza, S., Zamrini, E., Harrell, L.E., Brockington, J.C., Clark, D., Raman, R., Marson, D.C. (2008). Cognitive models of medical decision-making capacity in patients with mild cognitive impairment. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. 14:297-308.  18282327 
Martin, R.C., Okonkwo, O., Hill, J., Griffith, H.R., Triebel, K., Bartolucci, A., Nicholas, A. P., Watts, R. L., Stover, N., Harrell, L.E. , Clark, D., Marson, D.C.. (2008). Medical decision-making capacity in cognitively impaired Parkinson’s disease patients without dementia. Movement Disorders. 23(13):1867-1874  18759361 
Okonkwo, O., Wadley, V., Griffith, H.R., Belue, K., Zamrini, E., Harrell, L.E., Brockington, J.C., Clark, D., Marson, D.C. (2008). Awareness of deficits in financial abilities in patients with mild cognitive impairment: Going beyond self-informant discrepancy. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 16(8):650-659.  18669943 
Okonkwo, O., Griffith, H.R., Belue, K., Lanza, S., Zamrini, E., Harrell, L.E., Brockington, J.C., Clark, D., Raman, R., Marson, D.C. (2008). Medical decision-making capacity with mild cognitive impairment: A three year longitudinal study. Neurology. 71:1474-1480.  18981368 
Marson, D.C.. Martin, R.C., Wadley, V., Griffith, H.R., Snyder, S., Belue, K., Goode, P., Kinney, C., Nicholas, A., Steele, T., Anderson, B., Zamrini, E., Raman, R., Bartolucci, A., Harrell, L.E. (2009). Clinical interview assessment of financial capacity in older adults with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 57:806-814.  19453308 
Sherod, M.G., Griffith, H.R., Copeland, J., Belue K., Krzywanski, S., Zamrini E.Y., Harrell, L.E., Clark, D.G., Brockington, J.C., Powers, R.E., Marson, D.C. (2009). Neurocognitive predictors of financial capacity across the dementia spectrum: normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. 15(2):258-267.  19203439 
Triebel, K., Martin, R., Griffith, H.R., Marceaux, M.A., Okonkwo, O.C., Harrell, L., Clark, D., Brockington, J., Powers, R., Bartolucci, A. & Marson, D. (2009). Declining financial capacity with mild cognitive impairment: A one-year longitudinal study. Neurology. 73:928-934.  19770468 
Griffith, H.R., Stewart, C.C., Stoeckel, L.E., Okonkwo, O.C., den Hollander, J.A., Martin, R.C., Belue, K., Copeland, J.N., Harrell, L.E., Brockington, J.C., Clark, D.G., Marson, D.C. (2010). MRI volume of the angular gyri predicts financial skill deficits in people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 58:265-274.  20374402 
Marson, D., Martin, R., Triebel, K., Nabors, L.B. (2010). Capacity to consent to research participation in adults with malignant glioma. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 28(24):3844-3850.  20644102 
Triebel, K., Okonkwo, O.C., Martin, R., Griffith, H.R., Crowther, M. & Marson, D. (2010). Financial capacity of older African-Americans with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Alzheimer's Disease and Associated Disorders. 24(4):365–371.  20625268 
Widera, E., Steenpaas, V., Marson, D., Sudore, R. (2011). Finances in the older patient with cognitive impairment. Journal of the American Medical Association. 305(7):698–706.  21325186 
Dreer, L., DeVivo, M., Novack, T., Marson, D. (2012). Financial capacity following traumatic brain injury: A six-month longitudinal study. Rehabilitation Psychology. 57(1):5-12.  22369113 
Triebel, K., Martin, R., Novack, T., Dreer, L., Turner, C., Pritchard, P., Raman, R., Marson, D. (2012). Treatment consent capacity in patients with traumatic brain injury across a range of injury severity. Neurology. 78:1472-1478. Published online before print on April 11, 2012.  22496195 
Triebel, K., Marson, D. (2012). The warning signs of diminished financial capacity in older adults. Generations. Summer 2012; 36(2):39-45.   
Knight, A., Marson, D. (2012). The emerging neuroscience of financial capacity. Generations. Summer 2012; 36(2):46-52.   
Martin, R., Triebel, K., Dreer, L., Novack, T., Turner, C., Marson, D.(2012). Neurocognitive predictors of financial capacity in traumatic brain injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. 27(6):E81-E90.  23131973 
Marson, D. (2013). Clinical and ethical aspects of financial capacity in dementia: A commentary. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 21(4):382-390.  24078779 
Moye, J., Marson, D., Edelstein, B. (2013). Assessment of capacity in an aging society. American Psychologist. 68(3):158-171.  23586491 
Stewart, C.C., Stoeckel, L.E., Griffith, H.R., Triebel, K., Okonkwo, O.C., den Hollander, J.A., Martin, R.C., Belue, K., Copeland, J.N., Harrell, L.E., Brockington, J.C., Clark, D.G., Marson, D.C. (2013). MRI volume of the medial frontal cortex predicts financial capacity in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease. Brain Imaging and Behavior. March 17, 2013. [Epub ahead of print] 2013 Sep;7(3):282-92.  23504597 
Martin, R. C., Triebel, K., Kennedy, R., Nicholas, A. P., Watts, R. L., Stover, N., Brandon, M., Marson, D.C. (2013). Impaired financial abilities in Parkinson’s disease patients with mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Parkinsonism and Related Disorders. 19:986-990. Online publication July 27, 2013. DOI information: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2013.06.017  23899743 
Marson, D. (2015) Investigating functional impairment in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease: Potential measure characteristics and methodology. Journal of the Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease. 2(1):4-6.
 		  
 

Keywords
Neuropsychology, Alzheimer's disease, medical decision making capacity, cognitive impairment, functional change, forensics