Brain Resilience
For the INN, brain resilience is a holistic concept. We focus on the neurobiology that enables resilience, but consider it in a multiscale complex systems framework.
Resilience is usually thought of in terms of adversity. We take a broader perspective that encompasses all that we face as humans. We learn to walk, to talk, to make friends, and learn the skills that are needed for our environment. Resilience in this case is the ability to learn and adapt to new events, whether adverse or otherwise.
For the brain, this means resilience reflects the biological machinery that supports new learning without abolishing what we've already learned. And it’s more than that. Our brains interact with our bodies, so brain resilience is also determined by how it works with our cardiovascular, digestive, and immune systems to name a few. Our bodies are also embedded in a complicated personal and social environment that can support or impede resilience. This is the multisystem, multiscale approach we take.
Brain resilience is about all of us.