Raúl González Cuban neuropsychologist leads study on brain development in adolescents

August 30, 2020

Raúl González PhD in clinical psychology, was born in Cuba in 1975, arrived in the United States at age five, and today directs the team of 14 researchers at Florida International University (FIU) assigned to research on brain development in adolescence.

"All brains are different," Raúl González tells Efe, one of the principal researchers of a project on brain development in adolescence that has as its object of study almost 12,000 American children and will extend for at least 10 years.

The study, known by the acronym ABCD (Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development), began in 2015 and has just obtained the necessary funds to continue at least until the minors have reached 20 years of age.

In an interview with Efe, Raúl highlights the enormous possibilities that have opened up for science with a unique project in which, in addition to FIU, about twenty institutions from across the United States participate.

The National Institutes of Health have now awarded 290 million dollars to guarantee the continuity of ABCD for another seven years, of which 14 million dollars (11.8 million euros) will go to FIU.

The objective of ABCD is to understand how environmental, social, genetic and other factors affect a person's brain and cognitive development.