I am pleased to welcome you to the Vanderbilt Center for Cognitive Medicine. We are an interdisciplinary center focused on understanding the cognitive basis for neuropsychiatric disorders and developing therapeutic strategies to enhance brain and cognitive function and improve quality of life.

Scientists in the Center study disorders ranging from autism to Alzheimer's disease with a focus on understanding the brain mechanisms that lead to disordered thinking and which may be core elements of these brain disorders. investigators focus on studies of patients and normal individuals that lead to insights on brain systems, how they work under normal conditions and what goes wrong in disease.

VCCM investigators have made major contributions to our understanding of brain illness and its consequences and treatments in disorders such as schizophrenia, posttraumatic stress disorder, late life depression, and Alzheimer's disease.

A major focus of the VCCM is on the development of therapeutic treatments for brain disorders including efforts that range from the development of novel small molecules for Alzheimer's disease to the utilization of theater training to improve functioning in adolescents with autism.

I encourage you to learn more about our Center and if appropriate, consider participating in our work as a research volunteer or trial participant. We are also excited to collaborate with outside investigators to invigorate our research and improve the lives of those with cognitive disorders.