Dr. Sandi Chapman asks a question during a live Frontiers of BrainHealth talk inside Center for BrainHealth's Brain Performance Institute.

Composite image of researchers Byron Johnson, PhD, and Matthew Lee, PhD.

Frontiers of BrainHealth

Headshot of Byron Johnson, PhD, in a library setting.

Our 2026 Frontiers season opens with Byron Johnson, PhD, and Matthew Lee, PhD, from Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion, delivering key insights from "The Global Flourishing Study" including analysis of sociodemographic patterns and predictors of flourishing across 20+ culturally and geographically diverse countries.

Wisdom About the Good Life from the Global Flourishing Study

Ryan Boyd PhD, UTD headshot, Frontiers 2026 speaker

The Words That Shape our Worlds: Ryan Boyd, PhD

The Words That Shape Our Worlds

Computational psychiatry is reshaping our understanding of mental illness by integrating data-driven modeling with neurobiological insights. At the heart of this transformation lies brain imaging, which enables noninvasive, in vivo exploration of the brain's structure and function. Increasingly, AI is amplifying these capabilities, enabling the discovery of patterns invisible to traditional analysis. After contextualizing the burden of mental illness and the urgent need for more precise diagnostic tools, this talk will examine the evolving role of brain imaging and AI in computational psychiatry, emphasizing their transformative promise, pitfalls, and path forward.

From Data to Diagnosis: Computational Psychiatry and Brain Imaging in the Age of AI

Photograph of neuroscientist Eti Ben Simon, PhD. in a lush outdoor setting

NEW DATE: Research from Dr. Eti Ben Simon suggests insufficient sleep may be an under-appreciated contributing factor. Even modest sleep loss can erode social connections, hamper altruistic behavior, and heighten subjective anxiety, revealing the transformative impact of insufficient sleep on healthy adults. Sleep is thus a critical and causal factor for sustaining emotional health, social connectedness, and broader societal well-being. 

Sleepless and Alone: The Impact of Sleep Loss on Human Social Behavior

Headshot of Puja K. Parekh, PhD, neuroscience professor from UT Dallas.

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.

Neural Substrates Underlying Effortful Behavior in Animal Models

Sandi Chapman, PhD, and Adam J. Woods, PhD, pictured at a BrainHealth Week event.

In partnership with UT Dallas' School of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Center for BrainHealth's 2026 Science Summit, Breakthroughs in Precision Brain Health, is a BrainHealth Week lunchtime event that is also part of our popular Frontiers of BrainHealth lecture series.

Science Summit: Breakthroughs in Precision Brain Health

TALK TITLE COMING SOON: Dr. Mary Sano, PhD

Dr. Mary Sano, PhD

Headshot of Andrew Eagle, PhD, in a lab setting.

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.

An Entorhinal Cortex Circuit in Cocaine Memories

Dr. Gagan Wig

Dr. Angela Shoup

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.

MRI Biomarkers for Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia

UTD Associate Professor Stacie Warren, PhD, investigates why rates of anxiety and depression are rising amid widely available evidence-based treatments, citing recent large-scale studies showing that “gold standard” therapies are not equally effective for everyone, especially youth. 

Rethinking Mental Health Across the Lifespan: Gaps and the Promise of Mechanistic Precision in Treatment

Jonathan Rosand, MD, is founder of the Global Brain Care Coalition (GBCC), an international learning health care system providing people with tools to take action in caring for their brains — making proactive, evidence-based brain care simple and accessible to communities worldwide. 

Brain Health Starts with Brain Care: A Scalable Solution to the Pandemic of Age-Related Brain Disease

CEO of Posit Science Dr. Henry Mahncke reveals insights into brain training from perspectives of cognitive science and neuroscience, and brain imaging results that show how speed training changes the brain, including new results documenting plastic changes in neuromodulatory systems. 

Faster Is Better: The Neural Basis of Cognitive Enhancement from Speed Training 

Nan Li, PhD, Assistant Professor at the Advanced Imaging Research Center, Neuroscience & Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, UT Southwestern. 

As director of the Li neuroimaging Lab (LNAB), Dr. Nan Li aims to develop novel whole-brain MRI imaging methods to integrate molecular and system neuroscience while solving brain science problems in health and diseases. She hopes that ultimately her work will broaden our capacity of functional brain imaging to better understand the fundamental mechanisms and develop treatments for better brain health. 

Visualizing Molecular Events in the Brain with Hemogenetic MRI

Bart Rypma PhD headshot 2022 in front of the Al G. Hill, Jr. Ellipse.

Bart Rypma, PhD, leads research aimed at exploring the cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of human memory and how these are affected by aging and disease, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to observe the activity of younger and older adults as they perform cognitive tasks. He has published extensively on the cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of human memory, including high-profile publications in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Nature Neuroscience, Cerebral Cortex and Neuroimage. 


Studying the Brain Basis of Age- and Disease-Related Cognitive Changes With fMRI

Directing a long-term study on the link between psychosocial factors and increasing cancer risks that could be mediated by cellular immune response, Dr. Massimo Bardi works with oncologists, geneticists, psychologists and neuroscientists to test the hypothesis that a more adaptive neuroendocrine physiological profile could be positively associated with a better cancer prognosis. Their main goal is to identify innovative and cost-effective methods to stimulate biopsychosocial enhancements in cancer patients to improve quality of life and reduce tremendous costs.

The Road to Recovery Among Cancer Patients: The Role of Resiliency and Neuroendocrine Profiles

Ian Robertson, PhD, speaks during BrainHealth Week 2025.

Do you often find yourself thinking about getting older? Do you believe that aging inevitably means losing independence — or do you think it’s possible to maintain a rich, purposeful life as you grow older? Renowned clinical psychologist Ian Robertson, PhD, explores the beliefs and behaviors that shape our confidence, and how, within the limits of illness or circumstance, we can age more actively, happily, and with greater purpose.

Confident Aging

“Sidewalk neuroscience” refers to gaining insights into the function of human behavior through simple observation; as a result, this form of scientific discovery is available to all and, if rigorously applied, can provide insights into human emotions and behavioral intent. In this presentation, political scientist Patrick A. Stewart, PhD, discusses how observing and coding the behavior of public figures by using the Ethological Coding System for Interviews (ECSI) and eye blink rates can provide insights into power relationships.

Using “Sidewalk Neuroscience” to Study Power Relationships

Dr. William "Jamie" Tyler and Dr. Cristin Welle.

Non-invasive stimulation of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve (taVNS) shows promise toward improving brain health and function, and human performance across a multitude of domains. William "Jamie" Tyler, PhD, and Cristin Welle, PhD, explore implications of new findings for neurorehabilitation in the context of pilot clinical investigations using reinforcement-based taVNS to improve fine motor ability in people with multiple sclerosis and executive function in people suffering from neuroinflammation.

Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Enhancing Plasticity and Brain Health

Mustafa Husain, MD, specializes in neurology, psychiatry and geriatric medicine, investigating research topics including general psychiatry, aging and geriatric issues, new applications of existing mental health interventions and novel treatments of major depressive disorder including magnetic seizure therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, deep brain stimulation, and vagus nerve stimulation.

Neuromodulation: The New Era for the Treatment of Depression

Despite advancements in generative AI and large language models, the holy grail of AGI (artificial general intelligence) — AI as good as humans — still seems elusive. Gopal Gupta, PhD, presents a goal-directed answer set programming system that automates human (commonsense) reasoning in order to discuss how AI systems to match human capabilities can be built by combining learning and reasoning, including several practical applications of this approach, e.g., reliable interactive chatbots and autonomous driving.

Toward AGI: Automating "Slow" Thinking in AI 

Aaron Tate, Director of Emerging Technology at Center for BrainHealth.

Charisma™ began as a research toolset built to deliver structured, game-based coaching and role-play to strengthen social cognition. Over a decade of iteration, from VRSCT (Virtual Reality Social Cognition Training) to Virtual Gemini to the current unified Charisma platform, the program has consistently facilitated measurable gains in emotion recognition, perspective-taking, and self-confidence. Aaron Tate discusses the software’s evolution and shares key learnings about what it takes to move from research to a scalable product, while staying true to the science behind it, highlighting how intellectual property and building for scale can preserve research integrity and extend real-world impact.

CANCELLED – Charisma: A Case Study in Measurable BrainHealth Outcomes at Scale

Brain Performance Institute building at dusk, exterior photo

Join us select Fridays for the latest insights on brain science innovations. For more information, visit our events FAQs or contact brainhealthevents@utdallas.edu.

WHERE ARE THE FRONTIERS OF BRAIN SCIENCE?

Take a Deep Dive with Leading Experts

Spring 2026 season starts Jan 16

For more information, contact brainhealthevents@utdallas.edu or visit our events FAQs.

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