Word from the directors

Understanding the brain:

Resilience, prognosis and prevention

There’s no doubt that this past year has proven our ability to be resilient. On an individual, a societal and an international level. It has demonstrated just how easily we can adapt and how flexible we can be when a situation or moment in time demands it from us. But exactly how does our resilient mind and attitude work? What is resilience in terms of scientific definition? How does the human brain cope with circumstances, what is the basis of the brain’s resilience? Is neuronal plasticity involved, and does it protect against stress and disease? And when it comes to dealing with the concept of resilience in terms of health care: Is it activated by social interaction, determined by our genetics, essential for understanding psychiatric disease? Are there biomarkers that are indicative of resilience, for instance in brain imaging studies?

In this, the third, edition of the Amsterdam Neuroscience MAGAZINE, you’ll find a series of interviews with a selection of neuroscientists from our Amsterdam Neuroscience research institute. Each of them is studying resilience in some way — be it directly or indirectly — and they discuss the above-mentioned aspects in more detail. 

We hope you enjoy this online issue and that it will inform and inspire you. We are proud of all the great people working at Amsterdam Neuroscience, a place where networks are key: both in our study of the neuronal ones and in our connection as a team in Amsterdam. 

Arjen Brussaard, director of Amsterdam Neuroscience

Diederik van de Beek, co-director of Amsterdam Neuroscience