Online Talks

Edinburgh Neuroscience routinely records our public talks and lectures and makes them available online on our YouTube channel, and we have a MindyerBrain social media latform that is full of entertaining and informative information about our brains. Currently available talks from our researchers are:

The Executive Brain: why concepts matter (2020) (62 min)

In our 2020 Christmas Public Lecture, Dr Thomas Bak asks What is the "executive brain"?: The brain of "executives"? The brain as the "executive" of the body? The parts of the brain which make decisions and implement them? His talk traces the way in which we think of the brain as a "decision maker", the concepts and the metaphors we use and the influence they have on science and its public understanding. Accompanied by Descartes, Montesquieu and the Japanese film director Kurosawa, we will move from bilingualism to business, from dementia to depression and from single case studies to big data, seeing how the time in lockdown can be used in a constructive manner to refresh our thinking and our research.

Inaugural Lecture: Brainworks: How are brains formed and how should we treat them, Professor David Lyons (2020) (63 min)

The human brain represents the most complex organisation of matter in our known universe. Therefore, understanding how it is formed, how it functions, and how we might treat it remain enormous challenges for the global research community. Given the burden to our society of neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, neuropsychiatric and mental health disorders, these challenges need to be addressed. In his inaugural lecture Professor David Lyons will discuss how understanding the fundamental dynamic biological mechanisms and principles that underpin brain formation, function and adaptation provide insights that help us understand its malformation, dysfunction and disease.

Inaugural Lecture: The Developing Human Brain, Professor James Boardman (2019) (67 min)

The first 1000 days of life – the time between conception and a child’s second birthday – set the foundation for healthy growth and development across the whole life course. In his Inaugural Lecture, Professor James Boardman will describe how magnetic resonance imaging and other technologies have deepened knowledge about ways in which problems during this period including premature birth, sub-optimal nutrition, and drug exposures affect brain development; and he will discuss new ways of measuring the impact of these events on childhood outcome.

Brain Health - a small matter of the blood vessels (2018) (44 min)

Edinburgh Neuroscience's 2018 annual Christmas Public Lecture explored why our blood vessels are so critical to the health of our brains. Professor Joanna Wardlaw is one of Edinburgh's pioneering neuroscientists and a Principal Investigator in the new UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Edinburgh.

Untangling resilience to depression (2016)

Many people talk about ‘resilience’, but what exactly is it? What factors make some people more resilient than others? Is it their brain or their environment? This series of 4 back-to-back talks explores this important issue, which affects every one of us.
'The Biology of Resilience' Prof Andrew McIntosh, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh (12 min)
'The Psychology of Resilience' Prof Andrew Gumley, University of Glasgow (9 min)
'The History of Mental Illness' Prof Matthew Smith, Historian at Centre for Social History of Health and Healthcare, Univeristy of Strathclyde (16 min)
'Environment and Mental Wellbeing' Dr Roger Hyam, Royal Botanical Gardens, Edinburgh (12 min)

Memory: why it matters and how it works (2016) (64 min)

2016 Brain Prize joint winner Professor Richard Morris CBE FRS, describes how neuroscientists are gradually getting a handle on the various types of memory and how, in particular, long-term memory requires the brain to change physically in response to experience – a capacity called plasticity.

Ages of the Brain (2015) (16 min)

A short community movie made by the members of Edinburgh Neuroscience for you to enjoy. An exploration of our lifecourse research in a day and a snapshot of our neuroscience community in Edinburgh.

The Global Story of Strokes (2015)

Jointly organised by Edinburgh Neuroscience and the Global Health Academy, University of Edinburgh, this series of 3 back-to-back talks explore the global burden of stroke and asks whether practice in Africa can inform treatment elsewhere.
'Impact of simple treatments on the global burden of stroke' by Dr Will Whiteley (24 min)
'Another good reason to lower blood pressure: stroke due to brain haemorrhage' by Professor Rustam Al Shahi Salman (27 min)
'Research on stroke knowledge & implementation of evidence-based practice in Abeokuta, Nigeria' by Dr Rufus Akinyemi (15 min)

Rethinking Mental Illness: broken genes that break conventions (2015) (54 min)

This public lecture, by Professor David Porteous, describes current research into schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder.

Do Our Genes Still Fit? The neuroscience of appetite and obesity (2014) (60 min)

Addressing some of the myths and misconceptions about obesity, this public lecture by Professor Gareth Leng, explains why losing weight is so difficult and why we still have no effective drug treatments for obesity

Mindfulness for Depression (2014)

Jointly organised by Edinburgh Neuroscience and the Global Health Academy, University of Edinburgh, this series of 3 back-to-back talks explore the current treatments for depression and whether mindfulness could provide a suitable treatment.
'Mindfulness for Depression: Theory and Practice'  (19 min)
'Acceptance & Commitment Therapy for Depression' (25min)
'The Promise of Mindfulness' (24 min)

Portrait of an Edinburgh Anatomist: George Romanes (2014) (62 min)

Dissecting the life and work of Edinburgh's colourful anatomist George John Ramones (1916 - 2014). A tribute lecture by Professor Tom Jessell of Columbia University.