The Stress Test
Date and time
Location
Lecture Theatre 0.32, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin
24 D'Olier Street Dublin 2 IrelandDescription
The Stress Test: a public lecture by Ian H Robertson PhD: Co-Director Global Brain Health Institute and Professor Emeritus Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience
Stress can make you emotionally stronger and mentally sharper. We have all heard the expression “what doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger” and the remarkable fact is that this is true, within limits. This talk explains what these limits are and comes up with a dizzying conclusion about emotional resilience – too little stress can be as bad for you as too much stress. Stress acts like a drug that changes the chemistry of our brains, but like many drugs, it only works at the right dose – too little or too much, disrupts the brain. There is a ‘sweet spot’ of stress that “ups our game” not only emotionally, but also in terms of memory and focus. Older people who suffer certain types of stress, for instance, end up mentally sharper than those who don’t experience stress and children and teenagers who face moderate adversity in their lives end up much more emotionally robust than those who do not. But using stress for positive ends hangs on how we think about it and this books unravels the fascinating scientific and personal tale of how our minds can harness pressure to make us stronger and sharper.
Ian H Robertson: as an eminent cognitive neuroscientist and a trained clinical psychologist, Ian has a unique ability to bridge the gap between brain science, human psychology and the personal challenges that every single person on the planet faces from time to time. His multiply-translated popular books include The Stress Test, Mind Sculpture, The Mind’s Eye, Stay Sharp and The Winner Effect, which have been reviewed, excerpted or covered across the world from CBS News to The Times of India and The Washington Times to the Guardian. Ian Robertson is co-director of the Global Brain Health Institute (www.gbhi.org) and is a Visiting Professor at University College London. He is an international expert on mind-brain links in emotional and brain disorders. He also has held senior appointments at, Columbia, Cambridge, and Toronto universities.