EICC Live: Beautiful Brain

24/03/2022

Edinburgh International Conference Centre, 150 Morrison Street, Edinburgh EH3 8EE

Join the latest EICC Live, free public talk, where world-renowned brain health experts give a guided tour of the Beautiful Brain – revealing what we know about how brains develop, and what makes a healthy brain.

The human brain is one of the great frontiers of scientific knowledge. Huge strides have been made in our advancing knowledge of how our brains develop and work, but each new discovery raises a new question. What can we do with this knowledge? How can we use it to support people to thrive? And what do we even mean by a “healthy” brain?

Three speakers will walk the audience through how brains grow from infancy to adulthood, covering areas such as: how neuroscience can help us understand the minds of children; how our experiences, genes and environment shape our brains; and the potential applications of new knowledge about the brain in hospitals and schools.

Prof James Boardman | James is the Professor of Neonatal Medicine at the University of Edinburgh and a consultant neonatologist in the NHS. James uses brain scans to understand how maternal and infant factors can shape brain growth. His research reveals parental factors, premature birth, early life nutrition, and the socio-economic circumstances of families, as key drivers of brain development.

Dr Hilary Richardson | Hilary is a Lecturer in the School of Philosophy, Psychology, and Language Sciences at the University of Edinburgh, where she uses child-friendly neuroimaging studies to learn about children’s social development. In particular, her research asks: what social skills are available early versus learned or developed gradually? And how do our genes and experiences shape those skills?

Dr Heather Whalley | Heather is a Reader in Neuroimaging at the Division of Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh. She has a research focus on adolescent mental health and the developing brain. Her group uses brain imaging, along with other methods, to help understand what is happening in the brain in individuals who develop mental health problems.

Running Order: 18:00 Doors open and complimentary welcome refreshments. 18:30 EICC Live. 19:30 Finish.

EICC Live Beautiful Brain, takes place a year ahead of Salvesen Mindroom Centre’s ITAKOM (It Takes All Kinds Of Minds) conference.