The University of Texas at Dallas - Center for BrainHealth

Spotlight on Research

 

Center Enlisted in Fight Against Child Brain Injuries, Pushes for a Nationwide System of Care

Researchers and clinicians from The University of Texas at Dallas Center for BrainHealth are joining a nationwide effort to address the leading cause of death and disability for children and young adults in the United States — pediatric acquired brain injury.

“A brain injury in childhood is a life-long condition, rather than a single event, as it is currently treated,” said Sandi Chapman, Ph.D., chief director of the Center for BrainHealth and an expert on the recovery of cognitive brain function after brain injuries and diseases. “An earlier injury can exacerbate later cognitive development years after the injury, yet present health care fails to monitor or treat these children to restore cognitive and brain function at later stages of development.”

The Sarah Jane Brain Foundation
( Sarah Jane with her father, pictured) has selected BrainHealth as a lead center of excellence for the treatment and research of Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury (PABI). As a lead center, BrainHealth will oversee Texas services that provide PABI prevention, education, treatment, rehabilitation, and research.


SMART Program for Children with ADHD

Over the past two years researchers at the Center for BrainHealth have studied strategic learning abilities in children with ADHD/ADD. This research led to the discovery that more than 90% of the children tested were not performing strategic learning as well as their typically developing peers.


Study of Older Adults Measures Effect of Activities on Cognitive Function

Can taking up hobbies improve cognitive function as people get older? BrainHealth neuroscientist Dr. Denise Park, one of the nation’s leading experts on the aging brain, is conducting a National Institutes of Health-funded study to find out.