Center for BrainHealth Scores With Launch of Institute for Professional Athletes in Time for Super Bowl

DALLAS, Jan. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas, a leading scientific research institute dedicated to understanding, protecting, and healing the brain, today announced the launch of the BrainHealth Institute for Professional Athletes. The institute will comprehensively address brain health issues associated with sports-related concussions and traumatic brain injuries while providing long-term follow-up and brain repair training. The goal of the institute is to provide players with a personalized understanding of their current neurologic and cognitive status and manage treatments, if needed. The program will reduce fear and empower players to take control of their personal brain health.

"More than 20 years of brain injury study has led Center for BrainHealth researchers to develop a plan for professional athletes," said Dr. John Hart, medical science director at the Center for BrainHealth and one of the leaders of the BrainHealth Institute for Professional Athletes. "The Center for BrainHealth will employ an experienced team of multi-disciplinary brain scientists and specialists with expertise in cognitive neuroscience, neurology, neuropsychology, brain repair, biomedical engineering, and brain imaging to conduct this vital research into repercussions caused by brain injuries and how they affect the remainder of a player's life."

The institute "is a reflection of the way BrainHealth strives to improve the quality of life among those who face challenges," said UT Dallas President David E. Daniel. "We're pleased to see this partnership developing between the Center and the athletic community."

The BrainHealth Institute for Professional Athletes will monitor brain changes to trigger timely treatments, build resilience, and maximize brain repair to mitigate the long-term effects of concussions experienced by retired players. Former Dallas Cowboys Daryl "Moose" Johnston and Lee Roy Jordan, along with James B. Francis, Jr., are chairing the advisory board of the institute.

"Having played 11 years in the NFL and taking countless hits, I've heard about the struggles of the players that came before me and the challenges regarding their quality of life," said Daryl Johnston. "Through the BrainHealth Institute for Professional Athletes, former players can find out if there is an issue, and if you catch it early enough, there are things you can do to improve your condition. The brain is regenerative, and we can restore faculties that just a few years ago were thought to be lost forever."

The assessment and treatment plan for retired players will include a benchmark of cognitive abilities — including attention, memory, reasoning, problem-solving and speed of processing; MRI brain scans to document structural brain changes linked to injuries and changes associated with brain repair; brain training to restore as much cognitive function as possible; physical training to prevent cognitive decline and improve memory function in those with deficits; and remote monitoring to examine lasting effects of sports brain injury.

To find out more about the BrainHealth Institute for Professional Athletes, please visit www.centerforbrainhealth.org.  

About the Center for BrainHealth

The Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas is a research institute dedicated to developing and testing treatments to improve brain health. The Center was created to search for ways to promote brain health fitness across the entire human lifespan, encompassing every age, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic group. Life-improving studies at the Center for BrainHealth emphasize innovative brain research and practical clinical applications, concentrating on the healthy brain and all brain conditions, diseases, and disorders – from ADHD, autism, and dementia to stroke, traumatic brain injury, and working memory, and everything in between. For more information, visit www.centerforbrainhealth.org.

About UT Dallas

The University of Texas at Dallas is located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor.  With an enrollment of more than 17,000, the school's freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores.  The University offers a broad assortment of bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs.  For additional information about UT Dallas, please visit the University's website at www.utdallas.edu.

SOURCE Center for BrainHealth

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