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

Headshot of Ryan Boyd, PhD against a serene blue and white background.

Ryan Boyd PhD, UTD headshot, Frontiers 2026 speaker

UT Dallas Assistant Professor of Psychology Ryan Boyd, PhD, explores how everyday language — from tiny words like "the" and "me" to themes, narratives and expressions of self-belief — maps where attention is pointing. Highlighting recent studies, he shares how research into how communities adapt during turbulent periods and how shifts in language can foreshadow changes in well-being and mental health.

The Words That Shape Our Worlds

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

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

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