Our Research Centers

CERCF

Strengthening Cognitive Functions

Disorders of Memory & Behavior

Alterations in Brain Regulations

Emeritus Faculty

Postdoctoral Fellows

Center Scholars

Our Research Studies

Grants and Research Office

Center for Enhancement and Restoration of Cognitive Function (CERCF)

Each year, millions of Americans experience severe cognitive impairment resulting from disease, injury, or stress. More than fifty million Americans are affected by brain disorders which alter ability to think and cope. Nervous system difficulties result in more hospitalization and chronic care than any other group of health problems. Estimates of treatment, rehabilitation, and related economic costs exceed $300 billion annually. There is no way to measure the tremendous burden experienced by afflicted individuals and their families.

At the University of Michigan, we have successfully targeted educational, clinical, and research initiatives over the past years to achieve nationally recognized prominence in the study and management of various kinds of cognitive function and dysfunction. Now we have taken further decisive action toward promoting the health and well-being of these patients and their families. By instituting the Center for Enhancement and Restoration of Cognitive Function, we have launched important new collaborative research endeavors and entrepreneurial initiatives in education and clinical practice. In collaboration with one another and our colleagues in related fields, we reaffirm our collective effort to combat the costs and burdens of cognitive dysfunction. We are forging clinical care with education and research in a Center of Excellence to meet today's critical challenges.

Research areas at the Center include:

Strengthening Cognitive Functions: self schema, cognitive maps, concentration, decision making
Disorders of Memory and Behavior: wandering, dementia and falls, disorientation, disruptive behavior
Alterations in Brain Regulations: hormonal influences, nutrition, sleep disorders, depression

For further information about the work of the Center of Excellence, as well as background on specific project and opportunities for donors, please contact:

Barbara Therrien, Director
Center for Enhancement and Restoration of Cognitive Function
University of Michigan School of Nursing
400 North Ingalls Building
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5482
(734) 936-9792
e-mail address: kuhnke@umich.edu