The Brain at Risk: Associations between Disease and Cognition

This important book describes the effects of a range of medical, psychological, and neurological conditions on brain functioning, specifically cognition. After a brief introduction  of brain anatomy and function focusing on neural systems and their complex role in cognition, this book covers common disorders across several medical specialties, as well as injuries that can damage a variety of neural networks. The authors review findings on associations between these conditions and cognitive domains such as executive function, memory, attention, and learning, and describe possible causal pathways between diseases and cognitive impairment. Later chapters describe potential strategies for prevention, improvement, and treatment.

 The book’s topics include

• Cognition in affective disorders
• Cerebrovascular disease and cognition
• Cognitive sequelae of sepsis
• Traumatic brain injury and cognition
• Cognitive deficits associated with drug use
• Obstructive sleep apnea and cognition
• Cognitive function in pulmonary disease

The Brain at Risk reflects the current interest in the links between body, mind, and brain, and will be of great value to researchers and practitioners interested in neuroscience, neuropsychology, and clinical research in the cognitive and behavioral consequences of brain injury and disease.

Dawson Hedges MD is a professor of psychology at the department of psychology and a faculty member in the neuroscience center at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He studies cognitive epidemiology. He has coauthored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles. 

Ramona Hopkins PhD is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University and a clinical research investigator in critical care medicine at Intermountain Medical Center. She a founding member of the Center for Humanizing Critical Care at Intermountain Health Care.  Her research focuses on understanding patient and family outcomes after critical illness including neuroimaging, cognitive and psychological outcomes, and quality of life. Dr. Hopkins has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on memory, outcomes after hypoxia and critical illness. 

Thomas J. Farrer PhD is currently an Assistant Professor in the Duke University Schoolof Medicine. His primary work is as a clinician in the Duke Clinical Neuropsychology Service. He obtained his PhD in clinical psychology from Brigham Young University in 2015, with a clinical neuropsychology internship completed at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University (2015) and clinical neuropsychology fellowship at Duke University Medical Center (2017). Dr. Farrer’s clinical and research interests are in traumatic brain injury, dementia, and neuroimaging. 

Erin Bigler PhD is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University. He is well known as a pioneer of functional neuroimaging applied to clinical neuropsychology, with a focus on traumatic brain injury and behavioral outcomes in adults in children. He has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles in various areas of neuropsychology such as brain injury, autism, and dementia.