–
Speakers
Ruchika Prakash, PhD – Professor of Clinical Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, The Ohio State University
Mind-Body Interventions for Cognitive and Brain Health
Mind-body interventions encompass a growing range of non-pharmacological approaches that are increasingly being used to support cognitive and brain health in older adults. Capitalizing on the reciprocal relationship between psychological and physiological processes, these interventions are designed to improve physical functioning through changes in in mental health and well-being, and vice versa. Mindfulness-based interventions represent one class of mind-body interventions and have been demonstrated to reduce stress, improve attentional control, and enhance overall quality of life. In this talk, Dr. Prakash will review evidence from Stage I and Stage II randomized controlled trials showcasing the effects of these interventions for reducing mind-wandering, improving attentional control and everyday cognition, and decreasing levels of tau pathology in preclinical stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Frontiers of BrainHealth is a hybrid speaker series. Register for the season, and you will get a link to the virtual talks as well as available recordings. If you are interested in attending any of the talks in person, please note that you can confirm attendance when we send you a reminder email a few days prior to each talk.
For more information, visit our FAQs or email brainhealthevents@utdallas.edu.
A College of Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor of Psychology at The Ohio State University (OSU), Dr. Prakash is director of the Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging, a state-of-the-art neuroimaging research facility housed in the Department of Psychology.
The goal of her research program is to develop and test the efficacy of various mind-body interventions in improving the cognitive and affective health of older adults and individuals with neurological disabilities. She employs neuroimaging and neuropsychological methods to better understand the efficacy and mechanisms of mind-body interventions and has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles with many of her papers published in top-tier psychology and neuroscience journals — such as Psychology and Aging, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, NeuroImage, Cerebral Cortex, and Journal of Neuroscience.
Dr. Prakash received the “Rising Star Designation” given by the Association for Psychological Science in 2013, the Springer Early Career Achievement in Research on Adult Development and Aging by the American Psychological Association in 2016, and the Diversity and Inclusivity Champion Award by the Organization for Human Brain Mapping in 2023. She is a fellow of the International Neuropsychological Society and the Academic of Behavioral Medicine Research. Her research program is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Watch select recordings below.
We are located at 2200 West Mockingbird Lane Dallas, TX 75235
The entrance to the surface parking lot is on Forest Park Road. The talks will be held in the Brain Performance Institute building, the second building when you enter through the gate.