Faculty Visitor – ANST Research Talk: Non-pharmacologic cognitive enhancement in aging and dementia

Friday, January 17, 2020
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM ~ C1-4 Communicore Building

Benjamin M. Hampstead, Ph.D. ABPP/CN
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

There is increased interest in, and evidence supporting, non-pharmacologic approaches for cognitive enhancement across the dementia spectrum. This talk will first briefly review commonly used cognitive approaches before providing behavioral and neurophysiological (via functional magnetic resonance imaging – fMRI)  data supporting their use in older adults with and without cognitive deficits. Then, the discussion will shift focus to the cognitive and fMRI related effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in cognitively intact older adults, and those with mild cognitive impairment using spatial navigation as a model. Finally, data from case studies/series will be discussed.

Dr. Hampstead is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan, Staff Neuropsychologist in the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, and Clinical Core Leader of the NIA funded Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Dr. Hampstead’s research focuses on non-pharmacologic approaches to maximize cognitive functioning in older adults across the dementia spectrum. Specifically, he uses cognitively oriented treatments and non-invasive brain stimulation to enhance cognition. Dr. Hampstead integrates these techniques with functional and structural neuroimaging in order to predict treatment response, identify the neuroplastic changes following treatment, and plan/develop new interventions.