Visioning Sustainable Communities with focus on Brain and Neurocognitive System Health

This event took place on Thursday April 7, 2022 as a Zoom meeting. One of our three featured speakers is the award-winning Associate Teaching Professor Dr. Nancy Michael of the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Michael is the Director of Undergraduate tudies, Neuroscience and Behavior. The paragraph below from Notre Dame’s website (https://think.nd.edu/bq/tsl-2-3/) explains Dr. Michael’s approach:

Using neuroscience to build a healthy community

While it might sound strange at first, a child’s developing brain has certain expectations from its environment. Consistent and responsive care are important for a healthy child and later a healthy adult. Through responsive, consistent care, older humans become powerful protective factors to buffer the stresses of daily life for our younger citizens. The fields of neuroscience, epigenetics, adversity, and resilience teach us that “stress-dose” during early development can have tremendous impact on brain development, behavior and even life-long health. Delve into how brain development is bedrock to healthy communities. What can we all do differently to improve our overall health and the health of our communities and protect our most vulnerable?

Dr. Carroll Osgood MD and Dr. Lauren Jacobson provided perspective from their respective backgrounds and research. Dr. Osgood is an Altoona neurosurgeon. Dr. Jacobson is Assistant Teaching Professor, Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State Altoona. She has a PhD in health systems and policy.

Q&A followed the presentations.

This program was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of PA.

If you have any questions, please contact Heather Harr (heatherharr007@gmail.com) or Etta Albright (albrightel@aol.com).