Paulina Skolasinska, MA, of Dr. Basak’s LiNC lab, received the 2021 Visionary Scientist Award from Friends of BrainHealth. With this generous award, Paulina and Dr. Basak (faculty mentor and sponsor) will conduct research on the efficacy of a novel behavioral intervention in older adults that will combine meditation with executive function training, and assess the impact of such training on large-scale brain networks engaged during rest and cognitive tasks.
Sep. 27, 2021
Dr. Basak is invited by Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI), Calcutta Chapter to speak at their “Know Dementia, Know Alzheimer’s” conference.
Sep. 1, 2021
Congratulations to Dr. Evan T. Smith for successfully defending his dissertation. He is moving to a coveted post-doctoral position in UT Dallas.
Aug. 20, 2021
Congratulations to Dr. Nicholas R. Ray for successfully defending his dissertation.
June 29, 2021
Evan Smith (first author) and Dr. Basak (corresponding author and PI) co-authored an article on chess expertise and visuo-spatial short-term memory in the journal, Memory and Cognition.
June 16, 2021
Dr. Basak’s manuscript on Chess Expertise and Visuo-Spatial Working Memory has been accepted for publication by Memory and Cognition. We are grateful to Jim Stallings of UT Dallas’ Chess Club and participants of this study. Email Dr. Basak about any queries on this paper, which is titled, “Are the Advantages of Chess Expertise on Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Capacity Domain Specific or Domain General?”
April 22, 2021
Evan Smith successfully defended his dissertation proposal today, titled “Cognitive and brain reserve as predictors of a working memory-based video game training: individual-level influences of learning and transfer”. Congratulations to Evan!
April 9, 2021
Congratulations to Dr. Qin and Dr. Basak on their latest manuscript being accepted for peer-reviewed publication at the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences. The manuscript is titled, “Comparing the effects of two cardiovascular health factors on working memory capacity in healthy aging: separate and combined effects of arterial elasticity and physical fitness.”
April 9, 2021
Paulina gave an excellent talk at UTD’s Psychology Lecture Series titled “Influence of Fitness on Age-Related Differences in Varieties of Cognitive Control: BOLD Modulations During Predictability, Switching, and Updating”.
Feb. 25, 2021
Brain Imaging Links Cardiovascular Health to Multitasking Ability (UT Dallas News Center)
October 30, 2020
Researchers’ Analysis Confirms Effects of Cognitive Training for Older Adults (UT Dallas News Center)
April 20, 2020
Dr. Basak was a guest on stand-up comedian Shane Mauss’ Stand Up Science show on Jan. 4 in Dallas. She talked about the science of cognitive enhancement in the elderly through cognitive training in a stand-up style to a packed house. “Funnier and more provocative than TED Talks, while smarter than traditional stand-up comedy, Stand Up Science combines the best of both worlds,” said Shane Mauss.
Congratulations to Dr. Shuo Qin for successfully defending her dissertation thesis, titled “The effects of cardiovascular health on tasks of executive functions and related brain activation in healthy older adults.”
August 14, 2019
Dr. Basak has received a grant from AWARE Fund (PDF, section in red). The title of this grant is ’Optimizing Neuro-cognitive Functions in Healthy Living’, and it will partially support funding for a post-doctoral research fellow to work in Dr. Basak’s lab on how the neurocognitive functions in older adults can be enhanced through a study of the role of physical fitness and cognitive training.
July 26, 2019
Congratulations to Dr. Chandramallika Basak for being selected the Chair of Intervention Prevention Special Interest Group (SIG), sponsored by APA Division 20’s Early Career Task Force. In addition to this position, Dr. Basak is also co-chairing Technology and Aging SIG with Dr. Theodore Cosco.
March 26, 2019
Shuo Qin defended her dissertation proposal. She is now a doctoral candidate. Congratulations Shuo!
February 6, 2019
Dr. Basak is invited to give a talk at the Department of Psychology and Special Education at Texas A & M University Commerce, Commerce, TX. The talk is titled, “Aging Brain and its Plasticity”.
December 7, 2018
Dr. Basak will be presenting at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society in New Orleans, Louisiana. She will speak on the topic — Are the Advantages of Chess Expertise on Visuo-spatial Working Memory Capacity Domain Specific or Domain General?
November 16, 2018
Congratulations to Dr. Margaret O’Connell for successfully defending her dissertation. Margaret O’Connell, a doctoral student of Dr. Basak, successfully defended her dissertation today, an important step to obtain her PhD from The University of Texas at Dallas. She is the first doctoral student of Dr. Basak, and therefore, the first PhD from the Basak lab. We are thrilled with Dr. O’Connell’s success!
November 6, 2018
Congratulations to Shuo Qin for receiving a travel award, for which she was nominated by Dr. Basak, to attend the NatureJobs Career Expo to be held in Houston, TX.
October 27, 2018
Dr. Basak and Evan Smith will be giving a presentation each on the LiNC lab’s research at the Dallas Austin Area Memory Meeting, Baylor University, Waco, TX. Evan will be presenting results from his first-year project, titled, “Cognitive and gray matter volume predictors of learning of two types of video-games in older adults”. Dr. Basak will be giving a talk on age-related differences in the attentional networks as evidenced by functional neuroimaging during working memory updating.
September 7, 2018
LiNC lab welcomes Paulina Skolsinska, a new PhD student in the cognition and neuroscience program. Paulina did her master’s in psychology from The University of Warsaw, and has an interest in cognitive neuroscience of the aging brain, especially how cognitive and physical training affect it. She likes to ride her longboard, looking for new places to eat in her spare time.
August 28, 2018
CVL Doctoral student awarded for mentoring high school students (Center for Vital Longevity)
June 13, 2018
Center Lab to Begin Study Using Form of Cognitive Training that Could Help Protect Against Alzheimer’s Disease (Center for Vital Longevity)
February 6, 2018
Genre may impact cognitive training using video games (Science Daily)
October 3, 2017
Video games: The Bad, the Ugly, and the (Potentially) Good (American Accociation for the Advancement of Science — AAAS — Science)
March 31, 2017
Strategy-Based Video Games May Improve Older Adults’ Brain Function (American Accociation for the Advancement of Science — AAAS)
March 22, 2017
STEM Mentoring Program for Women Grows with AT&T Support (UT Dallas News Center)
March 21, 2017
Cognitive Benefits of Chess (Chess Base)
March 10, 2017
Cognitive Benefits of Learning to Play Chess and Other Strategy Games
March 3, 2017 lecture by Dr. Basak (YouTube)
Professor Basak Receives Grants from Alzheimer’s Research Fund (UT Dallas News Center)
September 29, 2016
Mentoring Program Helps Kids Design Brain-Controlled Wheelchair (UT Dallas News Center)
April 14, 2016
Study Finds Training With Unpredictability Improves Memory Recall (UT Dallas News Center)
March 29, 2016
Psychology Professor: Cognitive Training Can Improve Brain Preservation (The Shorthorn)
March 4, 2016
Graduate Student Wins Funding for Research on Exercise, Memory (UT Dallas News Center)
September 19, 2014
