The Aging Mind Lab

Events

🌟 Celebrating Dr. Denise C. Park – CVL’s Woman of the Month
We’re thrilled to share that Dr. Denise C. Park, our incredible PI and mentor, has been named Woman of the Month by the Center for Vital Longevity (CVL) in celebration of Women’s History Month! Dr. Park’s visionary research has shaped the field of cognitive neuroscience and transformed how we understand the aging brain. As founder and Director of Research at CVL, her leadership continues to inspire both groundbreaking science and a strong, supportive research community. …
🧠 Upcoming Event: Declining Financial Capacity in Cognitive Aging and Dementia
Our lab is excited to be participating in the upcoming event, Declining Financial Capacity in Cognitive Aging and Dementia. We’ll be presenting a poster highlighting several recent developments from our team. First, the Dallas Lifespan Brain Study (DLBS) dataset is now publicly available on OpenNeuro, providing researchers around the world with access to this valuable longitudinal resource. Next, we’ll also be sharing the most recent update to the Scaffolding Theory of Aging and Cognition (STAC), …
🎉 Congratulations to Dr. Smith!
We’re thrilled to share that Dr. Smith will be joining the Psychology Department at Bradley University as an Assistant Professor starting in Fall 2025. This exciting next step marks a new chapter in Dr. Smith’s academic journey, and we can’t wait to see the impact of their teaching and research in this new role. Congratulations on this well-deserved opportunity!
🎓 Exciting Update from Dr. Ziwei Zhang!
Following her PhD graduation in December 2024, Dr. Zhang is currently preparing a manuscript based on her dissertation research. The study provides new insight into the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive reserve in Alzheimer’s disease. Her work demonstrates that resting-state system segregation helps explain the discrepancies often observed between Alzheimer’s pathology, structural brain changes, and cognitive performance in adults. Strikingly, individuals with amyloid-β (Aβ) accumulation who remain cognitively unimpaired exhibit higher system segregation than those who …
Park Lab at AAIC 2023
The Alzheimer's Association International Conference will be held in Amsterdam from July 16-20th. Park lab members Dr. Joseph Hennessee, Dr. Evan Smith, Sarah Monier, and Julia Bacci will present posters on their research at this renowned event. AAIC is where the world’s leading basic scientists, clinical researchers, early career investigators, clinicians, and the care research community will share breaking research discoveries that will lead to methods of prevention and treatment and improvements in diagnosis for …
Park & Smith Neurobiology of Aging Article
Dr. Denise C. Park & Dr. Evan T. Smith's article, "Longitudinal changes in gray matter correspond to changes in cognition across the lifespan: implications for theories of cognition," will appear in Volume 129 September 2023 edition of the Neurobiology of Aging. Congratulations!
News

Purpose of the Aging Mind Lab

How can we maintain a healthy mind for life?

This is one of the most urgent scientific issues confronting us in the 21st century. The cost of cognitive frailty to the aged, their families, and our medical system is staggering. A scientific understanding of how to slow the aging of the mind by five years would reduce the rate of diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. To address this issue, the Park Aging Mind Lab focuses on three goals:

How does the aging mind work?

Put simply, to understand neuropathology and the fundamental causes of Alzheimer’s disease, scientists must understand how a healthy mind works and is maintained. The study of the healthy aging mind is the bedrock upon which cures for neurologic diseases that occur with age will be built. The Dallas Lifespan Brain Study is focused on this goal and has yielded a wealth of information, with much more to come.

Can a vital , engaged life slow the rate at which the mind ages?

We think the answer to this question is “yes” based on our research. The Synapse Project is a breakthrough study of how engagement in mentally-challenging leisure activities improved cognitive function in older adults. The findings are very promising, but more work is needed to confirm and extend the original results.

Training the best new scientists

The Park Aging Mind Lab is committed to training top young scientists who are spread across the world and developing their own research. One of our mottos is “The sun never sets on Park Lab.”