Please join us for a special seminar presented by Vinod Menon.

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Social Sciences Seminar Series

3:00-4:00pm 

Thursday, November 16th, 2023 

Yang and Yamazaki Environment and Energy (Y2E2) Building, Room 299

Vinod Menon, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

Stanford University

Environment, Behavior and Brain Health: Progress, Research Gaps, and Opportunities

The interplay between environment, behavior, and brain health has garnered significant attention in recent years, yet gaps in our understanding persist. This talk will explore the progress made in this field, identify existing research gaps, and highlight opportunities for future work. I will outline the innovative methodologies, analytical tools, and computational models that we have developed over the past twenty years to deepen our understanding of human cognition and advance research in brain health. Building on recent advances in systems neuroscience and our understanding of human brain networks and their roles in brain disorders, I propose a multi-dimensional exposome framework for examining the impact of environmental and behavioral factors on brain health. I argue that dynamic network models, which have been instrumental in elucidating the neurobiological underpinnings of conditions such as autism, ADHD, and schizophrenia, can also enhance our understanding of how the environment and behavior influence brain health. These frameworks can integrate diverse cognitive and affective processes, offering a more comprehensive view of brain health. By examining how environmental factors and individual behaviors influence cognitive and affective control networks, we can gain a more complete understanding of their role in brain health, as well as their relation to psychopathology and neurodegeneration. These and other related approaches will not only help fill existing research gaps but also open new avenues for interdisciplinary collaborations, policy interventions, and public health campaigns aimed at improving brain health across the lifespan.

Menon Bio

Prof. Menon is the Rachel L. and Walter F. Nichols, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and, Professor, by courtesy, of Neurology and Education at Stanford University. He serves as director of Stanford Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, which is dedicated to the investigation of human brain function and dysfunction using a multidisciplinary approach that emphasizes a tight integration of cognitive, behavioral, neuroscience and computational methodologies. Dr. Menon’s lab is recognized as one of the world’s leading groups in human cognitive and clinical systems neuroscience.

More information can be found at:

Stanford Profile: https://profiles.stanford.edu/vinod-menon

Stanford Lab: http://med.stanford.edu/scsnl.html

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=QzqctJgAAAAJ

The seminar will be in-person in Y2E2, Room 299, Thursday, November 16, 2023 @ 3-4pm. There will not be a hybrid option.