A recent study led by Ronald M. Lazar, PhD, Director of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, found that while patients with severe narrowing of the carotid arteries often experience subtle cognitive deficits, restoring blood flow through surgical or minimally invasive procedures does not improve cognitive performance.
Kevin MD Publishes “Brain Capital, the $11.7 Trillion Case for Brain Health,” Authored by MBRF CEO, Alice Luo Clayton, PhD
As people are living longer in an increasingly digital economy shaped by AI and constant disruptions, human abilities like critical thinking, creativity, holistic planning, and empathy are no longer soft skills, but capital in the fullest economic sense. These resources compound when invested in and depreciate when neglected. McKnight Brain Research Foundation CEO, Dr. Alice Luo Clayton, recently shared her thoughts about this new era of “brain capital” in a bylined article published by KevinMD.com.
Why Do Some People Age Differently Than Others?
A large international study suggests that social and physical environmental conditions—from pollution and access to green space to poverty and inequality—may help shape differences in brain aging across populations.
How Cognition Changes Across the Lifespan
The perception most people have about brain aging generally goes something like this: over time, our brains slowly lose their edge. First come memory lapses, then the so-called “senior moments,” when an idea or a thought just drifts away, often following a momentary shift in attention. These lapses and moments gradually increase, so the story goes, along with a steady decline in our ability to think quickly, learn new things, handle complexity, and stay mentally flexible.
MBRF Trustee, Dr. Sharon Brangman featured in Health.com Article – Doing These Activities Just a Few Times a Year May Help Your Body Age More Slowly
A recent study published in Innovation in Aging linked participation in arts and cultural activities with slower biological aging.
Preserving Brain Health: Advances in Aging Research and Biotech Webinar Summary
On July 21, the McKnight Brain Research Foundation (MBRF) and American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) co-hosted a webinar bringing webinar together researchers, clinicians, and entrepreneurs to explore how our understanding of brain health and cognitive aging is changing. The discussion highlighted major advances in neuroscience, precision medicine, and artificial intelligence, emphasizing a shared goal of moving beyond treating disease to understanding, protecting, and promoting healthy brain function across the lifespan.
Top Cognitive Aging Research Scientists from the Four McKnight Brain Institutes Convened for the 17th Inter-Institutional Meeting
More than 100 researchers, trainees and students who study cognitive aging and age-related memory loss across the four McKnight Brain Institutes (MBI) – at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Arizona, University of Florida and University of Miami – came together in Tucson, Arizona from April 8-10 for the McKnight Brain Research Foundation’s (MBRF) 17th Inter-Institutional Meeting. New this year, ten current and past recipients of the MBRF’s Clinical Translational Research Scholarship and Innovator Awards also attended the meeting.
What Is Cognition? A Guide to How the Mind Works
We rely on the mind constantly, but rarely stop to consider how it works. As its demands change, understanding cognition is becoming increasingly important.
Meet 2024 Innovator Award Recipient – Sanaz Sedaghat, PhD, Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota
In this interview, Dr. Sedaghat discusses her project to use protein data from a large, long-term study of Black and White adults with the goal of developing “protein-based aging clocks” to measure biological age. With support from the McKnight Brain Research Foundation’s Innovator Award, Dr. Sedaghat is exploring how these clocks relate to different patterns of cognitive decline with the goal of better predicting who might experience faster cognitive aging.
Announcing the 2026 McKnight Brain Research Foundation Clinical Translational Research Scholars
The McKnight Brain Research Foundation recently named Maria Pia Campagna, PhD, University of California, San Francisco and Quentin Devignes, PhD, University of Michigan as the 2026 recipients of the McKnight Clinical Translational Research Scholarship in Cognitive Aging and Age-Related Memory Loss.