It’s normal for age to bring subtle changes in memory and other cognitive abilities. The brain responds to this with a remarkable reorganization of neural function – building new neural circuits called “scaffolds” – visible through neuroimaging techniques. Park will discuss her pioneering research on this topic, as well as how to maintain a healthy brain.

Park is the T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Chair in Clinical Brain Science and a Regents’ Research Scholar at the University of Texas at Dallas. She’s a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association, the Gerontological Society of America, and the Association for Psychological Science. Park received the Distinguished Research Achievement Award from the APA’s Division of Adult Development & Aging, of which she is past president. She has served on the APS board of directors and chaired the APA board of scientific affairs, along with several National Institutes of Health study sections.

UCI’s Distinguished Lecture Series on Brain, Learning & Memory, which was founded and organized by the CNLM in 1995, comprises three public talks a year that typically attract capacity audiences of community members, professionals, and high school and college students. To learn more about the CNLM and its research, visit www.cnlm.uci.edu.