At the Multidisciplinary Center for Brain Research at Bar-Ilan University, researchers investigate, among other things, the effect of age, brain injuries or neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease on memory
What is the connection between memory and the brain and how do brain changes affect memory? In Prof. Eli Vakil's laboratory for brain research, memory and amnesia at the Multidisciplinary Center for Brain Research at Bar-Ilan University, they study, among other things, the effect of age, brain injuries or neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease on memory. The laboratory has devices for monitoring eye movements (eye trackers) through which the laboratory team tests the effect of context on memory as well as skill learning processes.
In addition to his laboratory work, Prof. Vakil is also a rehabilitation neuropsychologist who, among other things, treats the post-traumatic brain population, including disabled IDF soldiers with head injuries. "It is important for me to study the consequences of the injury on the various memory processes," he explains. "These studies are of theoretical importance since they contribute to the understanding of the various components of memory and their relationship to different brain regions. In addition to this, these studies have a clinical and rehabilitation contribution because they help characterize the head injured population, allowing the advancement of diagnostic tools and tools to optimize the damaged memory processes."
Prof. Vakil (today emeritus) has published over 160 articles and book chapters in scientific journals, and mentored close to 100 graduate students. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Neuropsychological Society INS and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Rehabilitation Psychologists in Israel.
Among his positions in the academy, Prof. Vakil served as the head of the psychology department at Bar Ilan and as a member of the university senate, he was a member of the executive committee of the International Neuropsychological Organization INS and organized international conferences in neuropsychology in Israel and abroad, served as assistant editor of the journal Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society – JINS, and for about 20 years headed the rehabilitation center for the disabled head of the IDF in Jaffa (a joint project for Bar-Ilan and the rehabilitation department at the Ministry of Defense).
"The study of the brain is a fascinating and magical field, still shrouded in mystery, the field of meeting between body and mind," Prof. Vakil testifies to his attraction to the world of his research. "I believe that understanding the function of the brain is the key to solving many different diseases on the one hand and to a better understanding of human behavior on the other hand." In recent years he has been thinking and writing about the relationship between insights in brain research and between faith in general and Judaism in particular.
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