iRest Session
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MORE DATES AVAILABLE: SEE REGISTRATION PAGE. Integrative Restoration (iRest®) is a research-based, trauma-informed guided meditation. The practice can work to reduce stress and build resilience for meeting life’s persistent challenges. There is nothing to “do.” Just get comfortable and listen. Invite a sense of wholeness, the feeling of being rested and restored. iRest sessions at Center for BrainHealth are led by certified teachers through the Warrior Spirit Project.
Precision Neuromodulation for Addiction Treatment: Hopes and Challenges
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Addiction remains a leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality worldwide. In this talk, UT Southwestern's Hamed Ekhtiari, MD, PhD, builds on two decades of human neuroimaging, neuromodulation trials and biomarker development to review the scientific rationale for mechanism-informed brain stimulation approaches in addiction treatment.
Neural Substrates Underlying Effortful Behavior in Animal Models
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UTD neuroscience professor Puja K. Parekh, PhD, highlights recent work into how the brain processes information to inform goal-directed actions, decision-making and task disengagement, combining behavioral measurements with in vivo neurophysiological recordings to identify circuit mechanisms of effortful motivation and the effects of stress. The goal of these studies is to identify mechanisms to enhance therapeutic development for stress-related disorders.
NextGen Day
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BrainHealth Week kicks off at the main campus of UT Dallas with the Brain Health Prize award celebration — a dynamic event showcasing the creativity, resilience and ingenuity of UTD students reimagining what brain health looks like on college campuses. The event includes a reception and information about the newly established Brain Healthy Campus Collaborative. All are welcome. Please register to attend.
Designing Workplaces
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Join us for "Designing for the Future: Brain-Healthy Organizations" — focusing on human innovation and brain health in the workplace. This event features dynamic, interactive learning experiences with BrainHealth experts, Slalom’s HabLab specialists and other change makers, co-hosted by Slalom. Free with registration.
Level Up Conference & Tech Expo
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Get ready for a conference of fast-paced TEDx-style talks delivered by internationally recognized scientists and experts. "Enriching Longevity Through Brain Health" shares actionable brain health takeaways. Held at Center for BrainHealth, the day also includes a Tech Expo of cutting-edge biosensor technology enabling people to track and monitor brain health. Buy your tickets now.
Science Summit
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Discover "Breakthroughs in Precision Brain Health" with this lunchtime event, held at Center for BrainHealth in partnership with UT Dallas' School of Brain and Behavioral Sciences. Featuring discussions with leading scientists, talks explore recent research breakthroughs, like news from The BrainHealth Project and the recently established BrainHealth Network, a national collaborative led by Mark D'Esposito, MD. Please register to attend.
Family Fair
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Bring the whole brood to Family Fair 2026 as we welcome Daniel Tiger! Children of all ages enjoy BrainHealth Week with a whirlwind journey into the human brain with games, food, arts & crafts, and surprises. An annual favorite, this free community event offers short, interactive talks and unique family engagement activities. Explore the concept of cognitive control, a superpower that helps us behave, think and learn in different environments. Please register to attend.
Understanding the Importance of Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease and Supporting Brain Health
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Dr. Mary Sano, PhD, is professor of psychiatry and the director of the Alzheimer's disease research at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. A neuropsychologist by training, she has been involved in designing and conducting clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and mild cognitive impairment of aging. In 1989 she received the Florence and Herbert Irving Clinical Research Career Award to develop methodologies for the assessment of therapeutic agents in Alzheimer's disease.
An Entorhinal Cortex Circuit in Cocaine Memories
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Drug-associated memories can be a major driver of relapse in addiction. UTD neuroscience professor Dr. Andrew Eagle focuses on researching how the brain encodes and retrieves drug-cue memories that promote maladaptive behavior. He presents preliminary findings demonstrating that the entorhinal cortex (EC) plays a critical role in this process and explores the broader research goal of defining the neural mechanisms by which memory shapes motivation in addiction.
NEW DATE: From Data to Diagnosis: Computational Psychiatry and Brain Imaging in the Age of AI
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NEW DATE: Computational psychiatry is reshaping our understanding of mental illness by integrating data-driven modeling with neurobiological insights. Andrew Michael, PhD, of Duke University examines the evolving role of brain imaging and AI in computational psychiatry, emphasizing their transformative promise, pitfalls, and path forward.
MRI Biomarkers for Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia
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Brain imaging provides an important opportunity for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment monitoring in vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID). In this talk, Dr. Hanzhang Lu discusses a potential framework of biomarkers for the classification of vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID), specifically describing cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), an important physiological parameter of vascular health, as a candidate biomarker in small vessel disease related VCID.