In an increasingly fast-paced, digitally-connected society, we are well acquainted with stress and how it can adversely affect our health. Lately, of particular concern is the increased pressure experienced by children and teens, leading to an alarming rise in anxiety, sleeplessness, depression, and suicide. Today’s adolescents are subject to many stressors, including academic pressure, jam-packed schedules, cyberbullying, and a hyper-competitive college admissions process. While some stress acts as a motivating factor and helps build resilience, too much can lead to feelings of hopelessness and even depression. How can we help our children successfully navigate the stressors in the modern world? How can we distinguish the good stress from the bad? Ultimately, how much stress is too much?

On Thursday, March 9, 2017, Rockefeller scientist Bruce McEwen and Weill Cornell physician Richard Friedman will talk about their discoveries regarding the effects of stress on young people’s cognitive and emotional development.

Bruce McEwen is Rockefeller University’s Alfred E. Mirsky Professor, head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, and faculty advisor to Parents & Science. He has spent more than 40 years studying how hormones regulate the brain and nervous system, and he will discuss both the positive and negative aspects of stress on the development of the human brain. Dr. McEwen’s research has shown that stress hormones affect brain centers involved in learning, memory, emotion, and mood control. His work has led to the realization that stress hormone effects are biphasic — protective in the short-term and potentially damaging in the long-term.

Richard Friedman, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Director of the Psychopharmacology Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine, will consider the mental effects of stress on our youth, as well as coping mechanisms to counter the negative aspects of stress. He specializes in anxiety and mood disorders and the treatment of depression. Dr. Friedman is a contributing opinion and science writer at The New York Times, where he writes on mental health, addiction, human behavior, and neuroscience.

Rockefeller University President Richard P. Lifton, M.D., Ph.D. will host the program. Following presentations by Drs. McEwen and Friedman, Dr. Lifton will lead a panel discussion.

The 2016-2017 Parents & Science lecture series has been generously underwritten by the Mortimer D. Sackler Foundation.

For more information, please contact Sasha Benson at (212) 327-8697 or sbenson@rockefeller.edu.