The clinical neuroscience of cognition has reached a level of precision that demands more than a working familiarity with brain anatomy. Today, functional neurologists, chiropractic neurologists, and advanced clinicians are expected to understand not just where cognitive functions live in the brain, but how large-scale networks generate, integrate, and break down across clinical presentations. This course meets that standard. It is built around the evidence base for brain networks and intelligence, cortical-subcortical circuitry, brain laterality, cerebellar cognition, and structured cognitive assessment, offering clinicians a framework they can carry directly into clinical reasoning.

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The course equips clinicians with a working command of cognitive neuroscience that moves well beyond foundational neuroanatomy. Participants gain a thorough understanding of the seven cortical networks identified through functional neuroimaging, including the frontoparietal, default mode, salience, and dorsal and ventral attention networks, and learn how each maps onto specific cognitive functions and clinical deficits. The biology of intelligence is examined through the lens of the g-factor, the Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory, and neuroimaging correlates of IQ, while the science of brain laterality and hemisity provides a biologically grounded framework for understanding individual differences in cognitive and behavioral style. The cerebellum's expanding role in language, executive function, and learning is explored in depth, including its topographic organization and its involvement in conditions ranging from developmental dyslexia to Schmahmann syndrome.

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This course is designed for licensed clinicians who are already applying neuroscience in practice and who want to operate at the leading edge of cognitive evaluation. It is particularly well suited for chiropractic neurologists, functional neurology practitioners, neurologists, and any clinician who evaluates patients with cognitive complaints, neurodegenerative presentations, or complex behavioral changes. Clinicians who want to conduct more sophisticated bedside assessments, interpret neuropsychological reports with greater authority, and explain cognitive neuroscience to patients and colleagues with confidence will find this training immediately applicable.

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Dr. David Traster holds a DC, MS, and DACNB, with additional board certifications and fellowships in functional neurology and related disciplines. He brings a rigorous academic foundation paired with deep clinical experience to every topic, covering the historical arc of cognitive neuroscience from ancient trepanning to modern network connectivity research. His teaching translates dense neuroscientific literature into clinically actionable insight, giving practitioners the conceptual and practical tools to lead at the intersection of brain science and patient care.