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It’s All About Your Connections: Rethinking Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Through Brain Networks — Frontiers of BrainHealth Lecture
Friday, March 27, 2026 12pm
Free Event
Friday, March 27, 2026 12pm
Free Event
Friday, March 27 @ 12:00 p.m. Central
Gagan Wig, PhD – Associate Professor, Center for Vital Longevity & Department of Psychology, UT Dallas
Our ability to think, remember, and make decisions depends on how different parts of the brain communicate with one another. In this talk, Dr. Wig describes how his lab uses network science to examine how these connections change across the adult lifespan, showing that alterations in brain network organization can predict future Alzheimer’s disease dementia beyond traditional biomarkers. His lab's work further demonstrates that life experiences matter: environmental exposures and cumulative stress shape trajectories of network decline, influencing vulnerability and resilience in brain aging. This talk also highlights development of non-human animal models of brain network aging, which are enabling researchers to identify causal biological mechanisms underlying large-scale network changes across species.
This research offers a new way of understanding healthy and pathological aging, shifting the focus from isolated brain regions to the brain’s rich set of connections, and advancing the development of a new generation of precision biomarkers grounded in large-scale brain network function.
Frontiers of BrainHealth is a hybrid speaker series. By registering for the season, you get a link to virtual talks as well as recordings. If you are interested in attending any talks in person, you can confirm in-person attendance when we send a reminder email a few days prior to each talk.
Center for BrainHealth, Al G. Hill, Jr. Ellipse (inside the Brain Performance Institute building, the second building when you enter through the gate) 2200 West Mockingbird Lane Dallas, TX 75235
Free, Hybrid Event
Undergraduate Students, Faculty & Staff, Alumni, General Public, Prospective Students, Graduate Students
UTD strives to create inclusive and accessible events in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you require an accommodation to fully participate in this event, please contact the event coordinator (listed above) at least 10 business days prior to the event. If you have any additional questions, please email ADACoordinator@utdallas.edu and the AccessAbility Resource Center at accessability@utdallas.edu.
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