The University of Texas at Dallas Center for BrainHealth is presenting a series of lectures that share cutting-edge discoveries and address the latest directions in brain research from top scientists blazing the trail. All lectures are held at the Center for BrainHealth.

February 7—The Biology of Addiction
Eric Nestler, M.D., Ph.D.

Drug abuse disrupts and corrupts circuits in the brain that regulate responses to rewards, enabling a drug to progressively take control over a vulnerable individual’s life. Nestler will share how drugs affect the brain and how a better understanding of the life-changing effects could develop more effective treatments of addiction.

February 14—The Drive to Love and Who We Choose
Helen Fisher, Ph.D.

What is love? Why do we feel chemically drawn to one person rather than another? Fisher, an anthropologist, will discuss how three brain networks—sex drive, romantic love and attachment—interact in the brain. Learn about the joys and problems of marrying someone quite similar or different from one’s self and how to use biologically based patterns of personality to find and keep lasting love.

February 21—Stress and the Brain
Robert Sapolsky, Ph.D.

Few of us are destined to die of scarlet fever, malnutrition or childbirth. Instead, we die of diseases of slow accumulation of damage like heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes—diseases of Westernized lifestyle that can be caused or worsened by stress. Sapolsky explains  how stress affects your body, how your body’s reaction can save your life, why some individuals cope better with stress than others, and how can we improve our own coping skills.

February 28—Controlling the Brain With Light: New Technologies for Repairing Neural Circuits
Ed Boyden, Ph.D.

More than a billion people worldwide suffer from brain disorders. Because of the computer-like complexity of the brain, these disorders are difficult to treat. A new technology—the ability to turn neurons on and off with light—can be used to pinpoint specific brain cells involved with brain disorders, yielding new targets for pharmaceuticals and brain stimulation. Boyden will describe this innovative discovery.

Location: 2200 W. Mockingbird Ln., in Dallas. Reception begins at 6:15 p.m.; lecture begins at 7 p.m. Cost is $35 advance/$45 door/$130 all four. For more information call 214-905-3007 or visit Brainhealth.utdallas.edu.