BNA2017 Festival of Neuroscience

“Attending and contributing to meetings such as BNA2017 Festival of Neuroscience is core to a career in science. They provide the opportunity to discuss findings, discover fresh insights on your work, meet researchers from around the world and learn the latest developments in the field.”

“BNA2017 is one of the largest international neuroscience meetings in Europe in 2017, and presents the ideal opportunity for neuroscientists around the world to discuss their science and their ideas, across both discipline boundaries and national borders.”

John Isaac, Head of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The Wellcome Trust.

Visit the British Neuroscience Association website for more details.

Neuroscience of Happiness

Is happiness a skill? Modern neuroscientific research and the wisdom of ancient contemplative traditions converge in suggesting that happiness is the product of skills that can be enhanced through training and such training exemplifies how transforming the mind can change the brain. Kent Berridge, Richie Davidson, and Daniel Gilbert speak at the Aspen Ideas Festival.

Another article by the team at the Coaching Psychology Unit, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil and the Centre for Neuroscience, International Academy for Professional Development. The group undertook a systematic review of electroencephalographic findings in patients with major depressive disorder during cognitive or emotional tasks. The studies identified reveal the frontal cortex as an important brain structure involved in the
complex neural processes associated with MDD. Findings point to disorganization of right-hemisphere
activity and deficient cognitive processing in MDD. Depressed individuals tend to ruminate on negative
information and respond with a pattern of relatively higher right frontal activity to emotional stimuli
associated with withdrawal and isolation.

Take a look at the article, in press.

de Freitas, S.B., Marques, A.A., Bevilaqua, M. C., de Carvalho, M. R., Ribeiro, P., Palmer, S., Nardi, A. E. & Dias, G. P. (in press). Electroencephalographic findings in patients with major depressive disorder during cognitive or emotional tasks: a systematic review. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria. DOI: 10.1590/1516-4446-2015-1834.

Moving forward neuroscience research

Research Fellows at the Centre for Neuroscience, Dr Nollaig Heffernan and Prof Stephen Palmer have just had an article published titled: Moving forward neuroscience research in the fields of coaching psychology and sport psychology: Would Imagery Based Coaching be a useful area to research? 

In this discussion paper they briefly consider the problems that both coaching psychology and sport psychology researchers can encounter when undertaking neuroscience research. They propose that Imagery Based Coaching is an easier area to undertake neuroscience research, in contrast to conversational coaching.

The article can be read on the Centre website or downloaded from ResearchGate.