Topic: Lifestyle, For Good Mental & Brain Health

“Exercise is more effective than counselling or medication for depression”. “Enjoying the sun and nature can boost mental health”. Every week it seems like there is new headline with research suggesting a change to lifestyle that can improve mood and brain health, but what does the evidence really say? And how can we translate this into achievable changes we can implement in our own lives?

In this presentation, Dr Sophie Andrews will present the latest research investigating how lifestyle effects the brain, and how this in turn impacts on mental health. She will explain why these effects may differ across individuals, and how this knowledge can help you create your own personal action plan for manageable lifestyle change designed to optimise your mental and brain health.

Link to 2023 recorded Webinar

Dr Sophie Andrews – Lifestyle: for good mental and brain health

Bio: Dr Sophie Andrews

Dr Sophie Andrews is a Senior Research Fellow and Lead of the Healthy Brain Ageing Research Program in the Thompson Institute, at the University of the Sunshine Coast. She is a cognitive neuroscientist and registered clinical neuropsychologist. Sophie’s research is focused on how lifestyle can improve brain and mental health and reduce risk for dementia, and how best to support people to change their lifestyle habits. The Healthy Brain Ageing research program uses cutting-edge neuroscience techniques, including MRI and EEG, to investigate the effectiveness of multi-modal lifestyle interventions for dementia risk reduction and brain health in older people. Her research has received funding from the Australian Research Council, Dementia Australia Research Foundation, and the Huntington’s Disease Society of America. She has recently been named as a ”Superstar of STEM”, by Science and Technology Australia, which is a program designed to recognise Australia’s leading women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Topic: Toddlers, ‘Tweens’, Teens & Screens: How Screens are Altering the Minds of Young People

What are the most important things we can do to nurture the development of young minds and what might hinder that development?  The first part of that question has an extensive body of research to support it.  And while we do have insights into what can hinder development, the last decade has demonstrated that Intensive Early Screen Exposure (IESE) and overall time on screens appears to be having a range of detrimental impacts on child and adolescent development.  In this presentation, Dr Michael Nagel will present evidence and research that looks at how screens might literally be reshaping the brains of children.  He will also present the steps that can be taken to ensure children have the optimum environment to grow and develop in a world saturated in technology.

Link to 2023 recorded Webinar

Assoc Professor Michael Nagel – Toddlers, ‘tweens’, teens and screens: How screens are altering the minds of young people

Bio: Dr Michael Nagel

Dr Michael Nagel is an Associate Professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast where he teaches and researches in the areas of child and adolescent development, behaviour and learning.  He has authored twenty books focusing broadly on aspects of educational psychology and child development. His books are housed and read by parents, academics and students in libraries across more than 40 countries and in numerous universities including, but not limited to, University of California at Berkeley, Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, The Washington Library of Congress, University College London, Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University. Aside from his teaching and research activity, Dr Nagel has done more than 100 keynote addresses and has also conducted workshops and seminars for teachers and parents at over 200 schools in Australia and abroad. He has also appeared as an invited expert on ‘Sunrise’, ‘A Current Affair’, ‘The Project’, Canada AM and New Zealand TV’s Breakfast program.  Finally, Dr Nagel is a feature writer for the First Five Years Online Parenting Forum along with writing for Child and Jigsaw series of magazines offering parenting advice to more than one million Australian readers.

Queensland Mental Health Week (QMHW) encourages all of us to think about our mental health and wellbeing, regardless of whether we may have a lived experience of mental illness or not, and encourages help seeking behaviours, when needed. It provides a chance to promote activities and ideas that can have a positive impact on our daily lives and the lives of others. Each year, people across Queensland come together during QMHW through local events, conversations and activities.

Dr Kathryn Broadhouse researcher and physicist, will be live online, talking about brain health and the impact of stress. “We will take a brief dive into the world of neuroscience and neuro-imaging to understand:
1. How our brains learn new things
2. How stress impacts brain function and the way we learn and
3. How we can build resilience against stress.
This talk will show us how researchers use neuro-imaging to investigate brain health and how we can all stay mentally healthy.”