ANA 'Lunchtime Brain Breaks' Celebrating Global Brains in the Brain Economy
Join The Applied Neuroscience Association for 10 Virtual Lunchtime Brain Breaks as we mark 3 celebrations in 1 week-long inspired event!
This special edition marks Brain Awareness Week, Neurodiversity Celebration Week, and International Women’s Day 2026.
16th to 20th March - sessions daily from 12:00-13:00 and 13:00-14:00 GMT.
Register once and use the same zoom link for all ten sessions.
Drop in and discover the talks that interest you the most in your lunch break:
16/03
12:00-13:00 The Body Budget Under Pressure: The Hidden Biology of Uncertain Times
13:00-14:00 Contributions of Childhood Adversity & Internal Distress in Adult Autism
17/03
12:00-13:00 Neuroleadership Model: PROWESS Focused on 'E' Emotional Intelligence
13:00-14:00 Cognitive Integrity: Protecting Decision Quality in an Overloaded World
18/03
12:00-13:00 A Peek into Neuroaesthetics: How Art Shapes the Brain and Mind
13:00-14:00 What the Research Won’t Tell You About AI and Mental Health
19/03
12:00-13:00 The Rosetta Stone of Inclusion: Neurodiversity-Translating Hidden Needs
13:00-14:00 Brain Development Across the Lifespan in the Brain Economy
20/03
12:00-13:00 The Neuroscience of Touch: Why and How Your Hands Can Change the Brain
13:00-14:00 Understanding the Benefits of Applying Neuroscience for Organisations
ANA Brain Breaks are designed to be accessible, thought-provoking, and practical — bridging the gap between neuroscience research and real-world applications, with actionable takeaways and tools from each session.
The Brain Economy is an important vehicle for advancing brain science to underpin the modern economy:
"The brain economy leverages insights from neuroscience to provide a novel way of centralising the human contribution to the economy, how the economy in turn shapes our lives and positive feedbacks between the two. The brain economy is primarily based on Brain Capital, an economic asset integrating brain health and brain skills, the social, emotional, and the diversity of cognitive brain resources of individuals and communities. People with healthy brains are essential to navigate increasingly complex systems."
(Eyre et al., 2024)
JOIN US on this virtual journey to celebrate global brains in the Brain Economy!
Join The Applied Neuroscience Association for 10 Virtual Lunchtime Brain Breaks as we mark 3 celebrations in 1 week-long inspired event!
This special edition marks Brain Awareness Week, Neurodiversity Celebration Week, and International Women’s Day 2026.
16th to 20th March - sessions daily from 12:00-13:00 and 13:00-14:00 GMT.
Register once and use the same zoom link for all ten sessions.
Drop in and discover the talks that interest you the most in your lunch break:
16/03
12:00-13:00 The Body Budget Under Pressure: The Hidden Biology of Uncertain Times
13:00-14:00 Contributions of Childhood Adversity & Internal Distress in Adult Autism
17/03
12:00-13:00 Neuroleadership Model: PROWESS Focused on 'E' Emotional Intelligence
13:00-14:00 Cognitive Integrity: Protecting Decision Quality in an Overloaded World
18/03
12:00-13:00 A Peek into Neuroaesthetics: How Art Shapes the Brain and Mind
13:00-14:00 What the Research Won’t Tell You About AI and Mental Health
19/03
12:00-13:00 The Rosetta Stone of Inclusion: Neurodiversity-Translating Hidden Needs
13:00-14:00 Brain Development Across the Lifespan in the Brain Economy
20/03
12:00-13:00 The Neuroscience of Touch: Why and How Your Hands Can Change the Brain
13:00-14:00 Understanding the Benefits of Applying Neuroscience for Organisations
ANA Brain Breaks are designed to be accessible, thought-provoking, and practical — bridging the gap between neuroscience research and real-world applications, with actionable takeaways and tools from each session.
The Brain Economy is an important vehicle for advancing brain science to underpin the modern economy:
"The brain economy leverages insights from neuroscience to provide a novel way of centralising the human contribution to the economy, how the economy in turn shapes our lives and positive feedbacks between the two. The brain economy is primarily based on Brain Capital, an economic asset integrating brain health and brain skills, the social, emotional, and the diversity of cognitive brain resources of individuals and communities. People with healthy brains are essential to navigate increasingly complex systems."
(Eyre et al., 2024)
JOIN US on this virtual journey to celebrate global brains in the Brain Economy!
Lineup
Maria Haggo
Howard Childs
Stephanie Wong
Gwen Bach
Laura Gallo
Aneta Herrenschmidt-Moller
Good to know
Highlights
- Online
Refund Policy
Location
Online event
Agenda
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16/03 The Body Budget Under Pressure: The Hidden Biology of Uncertain Times
When uncertainty rises, nervous systems respond before strategy does. This session introduces the "body budget" model as a powerful lens for understanding behaviour under stress. Designed for Leaders across sectors including business, HR, education and healthcare, participants will discover why exhaustion fuels overreaction, why depleted teams struggle with inclusion and trust, and how simple, science-backed regulation practices can restore cognitive flexibility and collective stability.
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16/03 Contributions of Childhood Adversity & Internal Distress in Adult Autism
Many adults seeking autism assessments score highly on questionnaires measuring autistic traits, but not all receive an autism diagnosis. This can feel invalidating and may leave people without support, especially when assessments focus more on checklists and observation than on lived experience. In our NHS adult autism service, adults’ complete questionnaires about autistic traits, anxiety, low mood, and childhood experiences such as bullying, family difficulties and sensory overwhelm. In this study, we used 245 assessment reports (average age 35 years, about half women) to explore how strongly experiencing autistic traits relates to diagnosis, emotional distress and difficult childhood experiences. This talk will discuss the findings.
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17/03 NEW Neuroleadership Model: PROWESS Focused on 'E' Emotional Intelligence
ANA Hong Kong Chapter has embarked on a meaningful journey since May 2025. With the unwavering passion in promoting and introducing brain skills into the Hong Kong community and workplace, the Founding Member – Stephanie Wong, has immersed in formulating the NeuroLeadership Model - PROWESS.PROWESS development and running of beta programme will continue to be the focus in 2026. As part of the programme development process, Stephanie has run some classes in a local university, co-chaired a leadership speaking forum and conducted corporate training sessions at her workplace. The majority of the participants/audience were interested in the 'E' of PROWESS: Emotional Intelligence or EI. Although this is not something unfamiliar among the leaders, awareness is not equivalent to mastery. One of the novel approaches in PROWESS compared to traditional leadership models, is that it places an essential focus on the profound connection between EI and Leadership. Join this talk to find out more!