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What makes you tick? When do you feel at your best? Does work get you down or are you motivated by it? During our life, our emotional responses change, and the way we learn and think evolves. Sometimes these changes are positive – but not always.

We learn throughout life and in so-doing, we might uncover hidden talents that can take us in unexpected directions. Learning is not just studying books, but discovering how to do things like play the piano, cook, write a novel: things that enrich our lives, from infancy to old age.

Yet how often do we allow the routines at home or work to create a barrier to doing things that would make us happy and fulfilled? The challenges that confront us at work and the people we work with can be stressful. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

And when we feel overwhelmed, are there ways to intervene? Are ‘cognitive enhancers’ – drugs that boost the brain - a quick-fix solution or can they really help a person flourish?

Foresight, based in the Government Office for Science, has conducted a major study into Mental Capital and Wellbeing. Mental capital means the brain’s ability to process information, our emotional intelligence, our interaction with others and managing stress throughout life. Can investment in people’s mental capital and well-being help ward off mental illness? Our speakers will discuss how to make the most of ourselves in 21st Century.

Event organised by:
The European Dana Alliance for the Brain

Speakers

Philip Dewe, Professor of Organizational Behaviour, Birkbeck, University of London,
Bill Lucas, Co Director, Centre for Real World Learning
Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology, University of Cambridge
Ilina Singh, Wellcome Trust Lecturer, London School of Economics
Facilitator: Vivienne Parry, broadcaster, author and journalist

For further information about Foresight’s study into Mental Capital and Wellbeing, see here