Neuroeducation focuses on understanding how learning and research affects the brain and how the knowledge can help make instruction and educational programmes more effective. The role of stress and its effect on cognition, health, and aging among research scholars. Importance of self-care for PhD scholars. Susceptibility of doctoral scholars to mental health issues and the predictors. How different parts of the human brain are affected by different activities & experiences; and how the knowledge can aid in promoting brain health among research scholars, thereby reducing mental health issues among PhDs. Self-care aa means of maintaining sanity in the lonely journey of doctoral research. Why research scholars must remember: done is better than perfect.

1. DR. BOSEDE EDWARDS
Research &
Your Sanity
A Neuroeducational Perspective

2. Welcome to life in the academia 2

3. Agenda
INTRODUCTION
THE BRAIN & COGNITION
COGNITION & STRESS
UNDERSTANDING STRESS
MANAGING YOUR SANITY
SUMMARY & CONCLUSION
3
presentation title

4. Introduction
• Neuroeducation or Educational neuroscience
is an emerging interdisciplinary scientific field
• It brings together researchers from:
• cognitive neuroscience
• developmental neuroscience
• educational psychology
• educational technology
4
presentation title

5. Focus of Neuroeducation or Educational
neuroscience:
• scientific approach to the study of
learning
• examines the traces that educational
processes leave in our brains
• seeks to visualize the relationships
between this data and our behavior.
5

6. Neuroeducation or Educational neuroscience is:
• The meeting point of brain science & education.
• It is about understanding how our brains learn
and process information
• It focus is to improve instruction based on that.
6
presentation title

7. E.g. of neuroeducation research questions:
• how does stress affect the brain's ability
to remember information?
• how can exercise boost brain activity and
improve concentration?
• how can we create more effective study
habits based on these findings?
7
presentation title

8. Important Terms
8
Neuroplasticity: ability of the nervous system to change its structure, functions, or connections (e.g in learning)

9. Important Terms
9
Neurodegeneration: How plasticity deteriorates with aging and certain diseases

10. Important Terms
10
Neurodiversity: Framework that recognizes intrinsic diversity in human brain function & cognition

11. What Learning Does
• Changes the physical structure of the brain
• Organizes and reorganizes the brain
• Different parts of the brain learn at different times
• New information creates new neurons & connections
• Existing neural pathways become stronger or weaker
11
https://vamospanish.com/discover/
unlock-your-brains-potential-the-
cognitive-benefits-of-learning-a-
new-language/

12. Summarily…learning is
good for your brain; it
keeps your brain alive.
12
https://vamospanish.com/discover/
unlock-your-brains-potential-the-
cognitive-benefits-of-learning-a-
new-language/

13. Unfortunately,
“Poor mental health amongst PhD
researchers is increasingly being
recognised as an issue in higher
education institutions”.
13
presentation title

14. • There remains many unanswered questions
-
14

15. Some Answers…
• Experimental group: 3,300 PhD students
• Control group: 1,200 matched working professionals
• 42% of PhD students believed having a mental health
problem during PhD is normal
• >40% have considered taking a break from PhD for
mental health reasons
• 14% have actually taken a mental health-related break.
• 35% of PhD students have considered ending their
studies altogether because of their mental health
- Hazell & Berryl (2022).
15
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/
news/network-to-help-end-isolation-of-
black-phd-students/2012208.article

16. Is PhD bad for your
mental health?
16
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%
2Ftwitter.com%2FProfsAreCrazy&psig=AOvVaw03gDz
cNo8xVREbWmuHTbhk&ust=1690501217575000&sour
ce=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBMQjhx
qFwoTCPi63fXFrYADFQAAAAAdAAAAABAS

17. The Benefits of PhD
• No. Not necessarily
• Incredibly positive experience
• Intellectually stimulating
• Personally satisfying/gratifying
• A sense of meaning and purpose
• Multiple opportunities for personal/career fulfillment
17

18. 18
A working
theory…
◦ “The reason for the findings is that
those with mental health difficulties are
more likely to continue their studies at
university to the doctoral level”
◦ ???

19. “PHD STUDENTS ARE
PARTICULARLY
VULNERABLE TO
EXPERIENCING MENTAL
HEALTH PROBLEMS.”
What’s the Answer?
19
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective

20. Predictors of PhD
Scholars’ Mental Health
• Absence of interests & relationships outside PhD
• Students’ perfectionism
• Impostor syndrome
• Supervisory relationship
• Isolation
• Financial insecurity
• Stressors outside of the PhD
20
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective

21. Stress Statistics…
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective 21
• 120,000 yearly deaths from work-related stress
• $190b/yr healthcare costs of work-related stress
• 1 in 4 full-time, working-class women with under 13yrs kids have the greatest
stress worldwide.
• 23% of women executives and professionals are 'super-stressed’ (cf. 19% of their
male peers).
• Stress level is NOT correlated with financial success or achievement

22. Signs You Might Be Stressed
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective 22
• You are short tempered or irritable
• You find it hard to concentrate
• You’re daydreaming
• You’re worrying…anxious
• You’re rambling…talking irrelevants.
• Your living space is messy
• You lack motivation

23. Are You Stressed?
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective 23
• Difficulty breathing…Panic attacks.
• Blurred eyesight or sore eyes.
• Sleep problems…Fatigue.
• Muscle aches and headaches.
• Chest pains and high blood pressure.
• Indigestion or heartburn.

24. Research Findings on Cognition & Stress
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective 24
• Participants under stress were significantly less
accurate in their professional judgments (2012)
• A chronically stressed person is more likely to
make unhealthy lifestyle choices.
• Such choices causes additional health problems.
• Stress slows you down, and ruins your health.

25. Age & Cognitive Functioning
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective 25
• Some cognitive abilities improve with age.
• Some others decline over time.
• Conceptual reasoning, long-term memory,
processing speed, etc. decline over time.
• These are required for learning & research
Neuroplasticity, Aging, and Cognitive Function; Handbook of
the Psychology of Aging (Seventh Edition) - ScienceDirect

26. Significance of Age: Some Findings
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective 26
• Age is a 1o cause of cognitive impairment
• 11.2% of adults aged ≥45 years, reported
subjective cognitive decline (SCD)
• 10.4% were aged 45–54 years.
• Only 45.4% of the 11.2% had seen a professional
Cognitive Changes With Aging – Biology of Aging
https://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-
Modules/PH/Aging/mobile_pages/Aging5.html

27. The Sum: Stress – A Necessary Evil
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective 27
• Academic demands increases stress
• An ideal dose of stress promotes
optimal performance.
• Both under-exposure & over-
exposure have negative effects.
• Lifetime exposure to high stress
accelerates aging.
How lifespan stress exposure affects the rate of biological aging

28. The White House Effect
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective 28
Proof that stress can increase the speed of aging
Mail Online (2011): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2022761/The-White-House-effect-Why-American-presidents-age-TWICE-fast-office.html

29. RESEARCH & YOUR SANITY: A NEUROEDUCATION PERSPECTIVE

30. The Chemistry of Stress
30
• Cortisol: The stress hormone?
• A steroid; Produced by the 2 adrenal glands

31. Your
Brain
@
Work
31
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective

32. CORTISOL & YOUR HEALTH
32
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective

33. Fatal Effects of Stress
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective 33
• Stress can ruin your heart
• Forces your heart to work harder
• Increases your blood pressure.
• Incidence rate of heart attacks and sudden
death increases after major stress-inducing
incidents.
- American Institute of Stress

34. RESEARCH & YOUR SANITY: A NEUROEDUCATION PERSPECTIVE

35. Happy chemicals & Your Brain
35
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective
The feel-good & concentration hormone
The love hormone
The calm hormone
The will-power hormone

36. How to Hack the Happy Chemicals
36
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective
https://www.lovethispic
.com/image/386774/h
appiness-chemicals-
and-how-to-hack-them

37. Exercise & Your Brain
37
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective

38. 38
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective

39. Brain care: Insights from Research studies
39
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective
• The brain is like a muscle
• The more workout you put in, the stronger and bigger it gets.
• Regular exercise can increase the size of the hippocampus
and prefrontal cortex
• Both are susceptible to neurodegenerative diseases like
dementia and Alzheimer's

40. First 3 Most Important Points About
Self-care for PhD Scholars
1. Your research won’t likely be a
global hit or one of a kind.
2. Your research won’t likely be a
global hit or one of a kind
3. Your research won’t likely be a
global hit or one of a kind
40
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective
…just learn;
that’s what
PhD is about.

41. Self-care for PhD Scholars
• Make time for yourself. Make Time for Hobbies.
• Don’t expect TOO MUCH of yourself. Treat your human side
• Working double-digit hours should be an exception, not the rule.
• Don’t compare yourself with others. This is not high school
• Don’t tie your abilities and self-worth to the success of your PhD
• Sleep. Yes. Sleep…and Eat Well.
• Take Time Away. Leave the PC. Have a good time; don’t feel guilty.
• Exercise. Keep your brain alive
• Spend time with friends & family.
• Ask for Help. Reflect and talk about how you feel with others.
41
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective

42. Self-care for PhD Scholars
• Do something outside research
• Volunteer to teach/tutor
• Visit orphanages
• Serve the Lord
• Meet people; help people
• Find opportunities to give
42
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective

43. Self-care for PhD Scholars
• Don’t be too serious
• Let your hair down!
• Let yourself go, have fun!! Relax!!!
• Let off steam, laugh
• Celebrate nothing
• Create/join an exercise ‘club’
• Go out…visit new places together
• Get-together with others
• Invest in activities that keep you on
your feet/away from your seat.
43
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective

44. Have some
coffee or tea
44
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective
Moderate amounts of coffee promotes:
• increased alertness.
• improved concentration and mood.
• limited depression
• Improved longevity…coffee is a top
source of antioxidants.
• reduced risk of liver disease.
- Journal Practical Neurology

45. 45
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective
• Coffee is good for your brain
• The caffein in coffee blocks
the action of adenosine
• Adenosine inhibits the
activities of neurons that are
responsible for making you
aroused and attentive

46. Positive correlation
found between lots of
coffee and brain
shrinkage and
dementia
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective 46
Watch Out!

47. SUMMARY
47
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective
❑ neuroeducation seeks to understand what happens in the brain
during learning/research to aid in designing more effective
programs.
❑ doctoral scholars are highly susceptible to mental health issues
for many reasons
❑ different parts of our brain are affected by different activities &
experiences;
❑ this knowledge can aid in promoting brain health among
research scholars, thereby reducing mental health issues among
PhDs
❑ self-care is the top way to go to maintain sanity in the lonely
journey of doctoral research
❑ research scholars must remember: done is better than perfect.

48. 48
presentation title
• PhD is not the end of life, it should be the start of
a better one. It doesn’t make sense to ruin your
health (and your future) with it.
• It is not high school, no need to impress anyone
or compare yourself to any.
• In the next few years, it wouldn’t matter if you
‘G-O-T’ or not, and the paper won’t mean
much either…you’ll be busy pursuing other
glamourous goals.
• So, LIVE NOW!
Closing

49. 49
Research & Your Sanity: A neuroeducation Perspective
– Sheryl Sandberg
“Done is better than perfect.”

50. Thank you
BOSEDE EDWARDS
BOSEDEEDWARDS@GMAIL.COM | WWW.BOSEDEEDWARDS.COM