The Iowa Neurological Patient Registry is a large research database of people that have experienced an injury to their brain as a result of disease, illness, or surgery. It is housed and maintained at the University of Iowa, within the Department of Neurology at Carver College of Medicine. The data collected vary depending on the individual, but can include cognitive and behavioral testing, mood questionnaires, interviews, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and skin conductance response (SCR). Researchers at the University of Iowa use this registry to better understand whether injury to specific brain areas produce reliable cognitive or behavioral outcomes. This approach is called “lesion method neuroscience,” which is why the registry is sometimes nicknamed the “lesion registry.” Information from this registry is also used to study how people recover after a brain injury. In addition, data from participants without brain injury are collected for comparison purposes. Over four thousand people have volunteered to contribute data to the Iowa Neurological Patient Registry.

The registry was established by neurologists Antonio Damasio, MD, and Hanna Damasio, MD, in 1978. In 2005, they were succeeded in leadership by Daniel Tranel, PhD. The registry was initially funded through a National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Program Project Grant from 1983 until 2012. It is currently directly and indirectly supported by the following grants:

• Predicting Cognitive Outcomes from Stroke Based on Lesion Location (RO1 NS114405) 
• Cognitive Control Functions of the Human Thalamus (MH 122613)
• National Institutes of Health Predoctoral Training Grant (T32 NS007421)
• Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust