Mental health conditions are generally chronic– and some, like post-traumatic stress, can be devastating. The Center for Brain and Behavioral Health, established with funding from the Staglin Music Festival, fosters research and funds promising scientists to advance our understanding of brain health and improve lives.

About 1 in 3 Americans will suffer from an anxiety disorder at sometime in their life.  Severe anxiety disorders, such as those caused by post-traumatic stress, are extremely debilitating, imposing incredible suffering on the affected individuals and their loved ones. These anxiety disorders also come at a great financial cost to society.

Anxiety disorders are associated with changes in brain function.  To successfully treat anxiety disorders, we need to understand the nature and function of the brain circuits that serve fear and anxiety. Advancing that understanding, and using that understanding to develop better treatments, is our mission at the Staglin Center for Brain and Behavioral Health.

– Michael Fanselow, Director