Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD

Dr. Gazzaley is the Founding Director of Neuroscape at the University of California, San Francisco, a Professor in Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry, and Principal Investigator of a cognitive neuroscience laboratory.

His laboratory studies neural mechanisms of perception, attention and memory, with an emphasis on the impact of distraction and multitasking on these abilities. His unique research approach utilizes a powerful combination of human neurophysiological tools, including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). A major accomplishment of his research has been to expand our understanding of alterations in the aging brain that lead to cognitive decline. His most recent studies explore how we may enhance ur cognitive abilities, and/or prevent them from declining in various neuropsychiatric conditions, and he is a pre-eminent thought-leader on the use of interactive environments (including video games) to achieve cognitive enhancement.

Dr. Gazzaley has filed multiple patents for his inventions, authored over 100 scientific articles, and delivered over 500 invited presentations around the world. His research and perspectives have been consistently profiled in high-impact media, such as The New York Times, New York Times Magazine, TODAY show, New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, TIME, Discover, Wired, PBS, NPR, CNN and NBC Nightly News. He wrote and hosted the nationally-televised PBS special “The Distracted Mind with Dr. Adam Gazzaley”, and co-authored the 2016 MIT Press book “The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World”. Dr. Gazzaley has received many awards and honors, including the 2015 Society for Neuroscience – Science Educator Award.