Join the University of Nevada, Reno Gerontology Academic Program for its Spring Brownbag Series featuring three amazing speakers on three different dates: Haosen Sun, PhD; Yun taek Oh, PhD MPP; and Jessica Yurtinus, DPT MS. All students and faculty welcome – no registration required. Bring your lunch!

In February, Haosen Sun will discuss: Bridging the educational gap: The role of early book-rich environment and current social networks in protecting cognitive health and building cognitive reserves.

Using insights from large-scale European data, this presentation will demonstrate how early exposure to books bolsters cognitive resilience, independent of early language and mathematical skills, and helps bridge educational gaps that have long-lasting cognitive impact as we age. Additionally, Dr. Sun will examine the pivotal role of diverse social networks in fostering domain-specific cognitive reserves. In particular, connections that span across varied social groups significantly enhance certain cognitive domains such as language, visuospatial skills, and episodic memory—effects that often surpass the traditionally recognized strong impact of educational attainment on cognitive reserve.