{"id":624,"date":"2026-01-26T08:16:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T08:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/muncbiz.com\/mentalhealth\/?p=624"},"modified":"2026-01-26T08:16:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T08:16:40","slug":"the-science-of-mental-health-with-camilla-nord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/muncbiz.com\/mentalhealth\/?p=624","title":{"rendered":"The science of mental health &#8211; with Camilla Nord"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sIdjde38toI\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>How does the body affect our brain, and vice versa? Can exercise, psychedelics, or the gut biome improve your mental health? Find out with neuroscientist Camilla Nord.<\/p>\n<p>Watch the Q&amp;A here (exclusively for our YouTube channel members): https:\/\/youtu.be\/OP6_xnzIhuI<br \/>\nBuy Camilla&#8217;s book &#8216;The Balanced Brain: The Science of Mental Health&#8217; here: https:\/\/geni.us\/tBErOVE<\/p>\n<p>This talk was recorded at the Ri on 4 March 2024.<\/p>\n<p>In this talk, Camilla reframes mental health as an intricate, automated process that is different for all of us, relying on the way our bodily processes and our expectations of the world interact in our brains. She explains how our brain uses dopamine to learn what to expect, and how that can change the way we feel day to day. She looks at a variety of treatments, from therapy and medication to recreational drugs and electrical brain stimulation, to show how they work &#8211; and why they sometimes don&#8217;t. <\/p>\n<p>00:00 What is mental health?<br \/>\n7:03 Dopamine, the brain\u2019s learning system and expectations<br \/>\n16:00 The link between our bodies and brains<br \/>\n24:42 How do anti-depressants and therapy work?<br \/>\n30:43 Psychedelics and the placebo effect<br \/>\n33:01 Bodily treatments for mental health<br \/>\n33:25 Anti-inflammatory drugs for depression<br \/>\n34:36 Is exercise a panacea for treating mental health?<br \/>\n37:16 The role of the gut microbiome<br \/>\n39:06 Are we in a mental health crisis?<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>Camilla Nord leads the Mental Health Neuroscience Lab at the University of Cambridge. Her lab explores the brain, body, and cognitive changes that drive mental health and disorder. Her lab\u2019s s aim is to translate insights from neuroscience into improved treatments for mental health conditions, whether that\u2019s by making better use of our current treatment arsenal by targeting treatments to personalised brain or cognitive profiles, or inventing novel, neuroscience-based treatments that might be better able to treat disabling symptoms of mental health conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Camilla was named a Rising Star by the US Association for Psychological Science, received the Young Scientist Award from the European Society of Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, and has been awarded over \u00a314 million in research funding, including from Wellcome and the Medical Research Council (MRC). Her work has been widely featured in the media, including in the Sunday Times, BBC\u2019s The Naked Scientist, and the New Statesman. Her first book, The Balanced Brain (Allen Lane) was named one of the FT\u2019s \u2018Best books of the year\u2019 in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>The Ri is on Twitter: http:\/\/twitter.com\/ri_science<br \/>\nand Facebook: http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/royalinstitution<br \/>\nand TikTok: https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@ri_science<br \/>\nListen to the Ri podcast: https:\/\/podcasters.spotify.com\/pod\/show\/ri-science-podcast<br \/>\nDonate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: https:\/\/www.rigb.org\/support-us\/donate-ri<br \/>\nOur editorial policy: https:\/\/www.rigb.org\/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments<br \/>\nSubscribe for the latest science videos: http:\/\/bit.ly\/RiNewsletter<\/p>\n<p>Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won&#8217;t cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.<br \/>\n#MentalHealthScience, #CamillaNord, #UnderstandingMentalHealth, #BrainAndMentalWellness, #MentalHealthAwareness<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How does the body affect our brain, and vice versa? 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