Brainworks - mind blowing new talks from an award-winning scientist in Brighton

Award-winning neuropsychologist Dr Ashok Jansari led a team in developing a new memory test, known as VALMT, that can more accurately predict early cognitive decline than standard clinical dementia testing. He began the series with a talk entitled "Why do we know less about the brain than the dark side of the moon", on how much is currently unknown about the brain, and how that is being addressed by researchers in his field.

This was the first in-person public talk by Dr Jansari, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Goldsmiths University, London. A previous series had been planned for 2020, which were postponed and then, with help from technically savvy friends, moved online. They attracted many hundreds of attendees from all over the world. "The only continent not represented was Antarctica," he said.

Ashok is a highly engaging and approachable speaker and one of his passions is to puncture the many myths that abound in this field and fill the space with neuro-facts rather than neuro-fiction. The session was followed by an informal Q and A in which a number of very interesting questions from the audience were addressed.

This introductory session covered a range of topics, including memory, dementia, mindfulness, prosopagnosia, super-recognisers and more, that will be covered in more detail in the later sessions. Talks will be held each Tuesday during August, from 7-9pm at the same venue.

Dr Ashok Jansari can be found online via social media on a number of platforms and members of the public are invited to take part in the VALMT memory by signing up at https://forgettingtest.org/

Tickets for the remaining talks can be booked in advance via https://neurotalk.eventcube.io/ and may be available on the door.