Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology Research
Our Behavioral Neurology Section engages in basic science research targeting amyloid, tau, inflammation, and synaptic alterations. Clinical research activities focus on Lewy body dementia, vascular cognitive impairment, abnormal behaviors, and COVID-related decline.
Faculty collaborate with the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute and other departments to improve their ability to measure the impact of vascular factors that contribute to a person’s risk and the progression of brain pathology in Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Our team is also engaged in studies to understand memory function and its role in PTSD and vascular factors in the initiation and spread of Alzheimer's disease & tau disorders. Our research interventions focus on diet, exercise, and cognitive activities as a critical component of total patient care.
Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology& Research
Steven Small, M.D., Ph.D.'s research encompasses:
Neurobiology of Language: Rather than a set of anatomically fixed brain regions, our new model views language regions of the brain as dynamic connectivity hubs coordinating whole-brain distributions of networks for processing the complexities of real-world language use. Our research from this naturalistic network perspective aims to develop more valid clinical explanations and neurobiologically robust therapeutic targets for language disorders in neurological disease.
Precision Medicine: Prevention of chronic disease in neurology requires both lifestyle adjustment and early pre-clinical diagnosis at a personal level. The Solodkin/Small Laboratory uses computational neuroscience methods to simulate brain network function based on personalized connectomic data. These precision simulations link large-scale (macroscopic) brain dynamics with biophysical parameters at the mesoscopic level, with inferred biophysical parameters that represent biomarkers of disease pathogenesis, and consequently targets for therapy. Current work focuses primarily on neurodegenerative diseases.
Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases (CAND)
Cognitive disorders are diverse in presentation and cause, which has implications for diagnosis and therapeutics. We have an integrated approach that incorporates new generations of molecular, biochemical, and imaging tests across multiple disciplines. The multidisciplinary group of investigators within CAND is working on identifying the earliest protein mechanisms of disease, including tau. This has led to many important advances, including anti-tau immunotherapy, in recent years. CAND research has also included cutting-edge efforts in understanding the structural biology of disease-causing proteins, cell and molecular biology aspects of disease mechanism, and how gene therapy may slow or stop advancing disease. CAND-affiliated faculty include experts focused on ultrasound, neuropathology, systems biology, machine learning, and biophysics.