Lecture: 'The Brain in a World of Speed'. Public Talk

Can our brain adapt to the rapidly changing pace of modern life—or have we already lost this race of changes? Leading experts in neuroscience, such as psycholinguist Tatyana Chernigovskaya and neurophysiologist Alexander Kaplan, try to answer these questions. In their discussion, the following topics are raised: how speeding up the world affects our brain, does it make us more receptive or, conversely, dumber; how human consciousness reacts to increasing speeds in all areas of life; do we have the ability to slow down—for example through meditation, creativity, or religion; how self-isolation affected the speed of life and what we should expect in the future. Tatyana Chernigovskaya notes that we already live in a new civilization where changes happen rapidly, and stability is practically absent. Questions about how we—and our children—can survive in such a world and keep our sanity remain open, but our brain gives us the chance to think these through together with scientists. This will be a lively discussion with the participation of Tatyana Chernigovskaya, Doctor of Sciences and Professor at Saint Petersburg State University, and Alexander Kaplan, a psychophysiologist and Professor at Moscow State University.