University of Arizona neuroscientist Carol Barnes elected to National Academy of Sciences

The University of Arizona’s Carol Barnes, a regents’ professor of psychology, neurology and neuroscience, has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Membership to the academy is one of the highest honors a scientist can receive. It is reserved for those with distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Barnes is a leading expert on how the aging brain influences memory and information processing. Her research has produced hundreds of journal articles and drawn continuous funding from the National Institute on Aging since 1982.

She’s also served as member and president of the Society for Neuroscience.

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“Her research literally established the field (of brain aging),” said Lee Ryan, professor and head of the UA department of psychology. “At a time when most people simply equated aging with deteriorating, Carol showed us that the aging brain is resilient — it’s constantly adapting, reshaping and rewiring.”

She is one of 84 new members and the only new member from Arizona.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private nonprofit that claims 2,382 active members in the United States and 484 nonvoting members from around the world.