The BrainHealth Project
Now is the time to refine an accurate, online measure of overall brain health. This is an important step to help us target living life to the fullest, with our best brain possible.
To accomplish this, we need to better understand what factors may influence brain outcomes over the long term, both positively and negatively. But current knowledge gaps regarding long-term healthy brain aging prevent us from understanding how to live life with a brain that can not only maintain, but can also improve over time.
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CO-LEADERS
Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD
Chief Director Dee Wyly Distinguished Professor, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences Co-Leader, The BrainHealth Project
Geoff Ling, MD, PhD
Jean Ann Brock Distinguished Chair Co-Leader BrainHealth Project
Ian Robertson, PhD
T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Chair Co-Leader, The BrainHealth Project
Mark D’Esposito, MD
Co-Leader, The BrainHealth Project
Vince Calhoun, PhD
Jane and Bud Smith Chair
Science and medicine currently focus on measuring brain decline and diagnosing brain injury and disease. Measuring holistic brain performance over time and understanding the brain’s upward potential is the next frontier.
Center for BrainHealth's BrainHealth Project can help fill the gaps and change the way the world looks at the true potential of the brain.
By looking at long-term data from a diverse group of people, The BrainHealth Project aims to identify patterns, associations and predictive markers that support optimal brain health outcomes. We invite you to help us better understand and realize a future with more brain gains and less brain decline.
The goal of The BrainHealth Project is to better improve brain health by identifying actionable strategies for optimizing it throughout life. Up to 100,000 healthy adults of all ages will be enrolled and tracked for at least ten years. You can complete the study entirely online through the BrainHealth app or your web browser.
A smaller group of local Dallas participants will also have the opportunity to complete a series of brain MRIs over time. Brain imaging data will be used with the online data to help understand the brain mechanisms driving individual differences in brain health changes over time.
Why Should I Participate?
The BrainHealth Project is a landmark study that aims to uncover the dynamic relationship between lifestyle factors, biological markers, brain training and cognitive performance. Additionally, researchers hope to identify more personalized proposals and practices for promoting brain health. Your involvement in this long-term study will help advance the future of brain health research in the coming years.
Who Is Eligible to Participate?
Adults of any age who are generally neurologically healthy and fluent in English are eligible. Participants must be able to clearly read information on their phone, tablet or computer and be able to adequately hear information that will be presented as sounds. Additional inclusion criteria may apply.
What Will Participants Do?
Most BrainHealth Project participants will complete study activities entirely online. A smaller group will also complete voluntary in-person tasks such as brain imaging. Study activities may include:
- The BrainHealth Index
- New research-related surveys
- Access to online training and education related to brain health
- Brain health coaching
- MRI brain scan (voluntary MRI Sub-Study, in the Dallas area)
- Heart rate variability
- Wearable devices
- Future study opportunities that may test new interventions and metrics
There is no fee associated with your participation.
If you are interested in participating in The BrainHealth Project, please complete the online screening tool through the BrainHealth® app or through your computer to see if you qualify.
Download the app or use a web browser from your computer to enroll and gain access to The BrainHealth Project platform.
In-Person MRI Sub-Study in Dallas, TX
In-person participation is available for those who are interested in receiving semiannual MRIs in the Dallas area, in addition to online cognitive training and coaching. There will be additional screening to ensure participant safety to undergo an MRI.
Visit the MRI Sub-Study webpage for more details.