The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study has reached many families in the Ann Arbor, Michigan, area since its launch last year. The team at the University of Michigan, led by Drs. Mary Heitzeg and Robert Zucker, has enrolled over 250 participants from more than 50 participating schools. Our exceptionally hard-working staff and volunteers have dedicated themselves to making the ABCD Study a great experience for our participants. They can be found entertaining children over their breaks, getting families excited for the kids’ MRI scans, and helping our participants to feel part of the bigger ABCD family by giving them “Brain Breaks,” where they can create brain hemisphere hats (see photo) and other art to display on our new Brain Wall. During 1-year follow-up visits, participants can hunt and find the art they created a year earlier!
Dr. Heitzeg has also visited schools in the area to discuss the ABCD Study and answer parents’ questions on the research being conducted by our team. Students and research assistants have greatly enjoyed getting to know our participants over the last few months and are excited about the interest in ABCD that is being generated in the community. We extend our wholehearted thanks to all of the researchers, volunteers, and families who have come together to help advance our understanding of the brain and brain development!
Hundreds of southeast Michigan tweens needed to help U-M scientists explore the developing brain
Dr. Mary Heitzeg, Co-Principal Investigator of the ABCD Study at the University of Michigan, looks forward to advancing research on adolescent brain development. “This is a tremendous opportunity for us to work with families to seek answers to questions that our society has pondered for years,” Dr. Heitzeg said. Click here to read more (University of Michigan Health System, 9/13/16).
American Psychological Association features symposium about the ABCD Study at annual meeting
ABCD Study investigators from the University of California San Diego, University of Michigan, and Florida International University presented goals and methodologies of the ABCD Study at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA) that was held in Washington, DC, last month. Attendees were excited to learn about the assessment domains and technologies that make up the ABCD Study protocol and about the potential for scientific data to enrich our understanding of adolescent development, inform education and health practices, and support evidence-based policy. Click here to read more news from this year’s APA convention.
The parent of a participant created this cartoon (above) while waiting for his son’s MRI to finish.
Fruit flies taste with their feet! Butterflies do, too, but only to avoid poisonous plants. You can learn more about weird animal brains at Knowing Neurons.
Fun Fact about
Ann Arbor
Michigan Stadium, aka “The Big House,” is the largest college football stadium in the country, with a total seating capacity of 107,601.
Courtesy of the
University of Michigan.
Click here to read more “secrets” about the University of Michigan! (Travel+Leisure, 2/8/17)
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University of Michigan 
The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study has reached many families in the Ann Arbor, Michigan, area since its launch last year. The team at the University of Michigan, led by Drs. Mary Heitzeg and Robert Zucker, has enrolled over 250 participants from more than 50 participating schools. Our exceptionally hard-working staff and volunteers have dedicated themselves to making the ABCD Study a great experience for our participants. They can be found entertaining children over their breaks, getting families excited for the kids’ MRI scans, and helping our participants to feel part of the bigger ABCD family by giving them “Brain Breaks,” where they can create brain hemisphere hats (see photo) and other art to display on our new Brain Wall. During 1-year follow-up visits, participants can hunt and find the art they created a year earlier!
Dr. Heitzeg has also visited schools in the area to discuss the ABCD Study and answer parents’ questions on the research being conducted by our team. Students and research assistants have greatly enjoyed getting to know our participants over the last few months and are excited about the interest in ABCD that is being generated in the community. We extend our wholehearted thanks to all of the researchers, volunteers, and families who have come together to help advance our understanding of the brain and brain development! 
