OHSU: Brain Awareness-Jordan Grafman

The BRAIN and The MIND
What's on your mind? For all of us the answer is the same: a culmination of thoughts, memories and emotions.
During this year's OHSU Brain Awareness Season, discover how your brain uses these tools to formulate decisions, language, rational thought, empathy and self-awareness.
Join our quest to understand the single-most complex machine in the universe by learning firsthand from world-renowned neuroscientists whose research gives us insight into who we are as individuals. Hear for yourself how their discoveries also allow us to understand, diagnose and treat diseases of the brain, which affect millions of American lives.
Brought to you by the OHSU Brain Institute, one of the largest groups of neuroscientists and clinicians in the country... who provide the latest in breakthroughs, understanding and care for each and every Oregonian.
Jordan Grafman, PhD, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
The Executive Brain: The Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind
Can the characteristics of leadership be defined and mapped in the brain? Can we change our own brains to resemble those of outstanding leaders? Are there training programs for more "leader-like' brains? Is there such a thing as "executive intelligence"?
When we stimulate our brain by actively thinking, we are sculpting our own neural architecture," says Jordan Grafman, Ph.D., Chief of the Cognitive Neuroscience Section in the NINDS. How mental activity improves cognition (and reduces dementia risk in later life by setting up a cognitive reserve in the brain) is a central area of his research; denser synaptic connections equals more flexibility, adaptability and neuroprotection. When you put your brain to work, you make the science of cognitive fitness work for you. Putting it all together means enriching your brain... and your life... and increasing your chances of maintaining your mental edge and functional independence. Cognitive fitness is the next big thing; use it or lose it!
Season Patron ($210- reserved seats) and Season General Admission ($102.25) tickets are available for the entire lecture series.