Aron Keith Barbey (born January 6, 1977) is an American cognitive neuroscientist, who investigates the neural architecture of human intelligence and brain plasticity.

[3] He has used both classical lesion methods and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques to better understand neural architecture and its relationship to intelligence.

[8] His research group examines the effects of physical fitness,[9] nutrition[10][11][12][13] and cognitive neuroscience interventions (including TDCS)[6] on brain health and intelligence across the human lifespan.

[22] Barbey's research investigates the effects of human brain damage on intellectual and social functions, with particular emphasis on the prefrontal cortex.

[6][1] Studies of patients with frontal lobe damage have a long history in the neuroscience of intelligence and provide a direct way to test whether regions in the prefrontal cortex are necessary for specific intellectual abilities.

However, it was only recently that the limited applicability and specificity of small sample studies of focal brain damage were overcome by contemporary lesion mapping approaches.