Contribution to Society
Impact of Our Research
The research strengths of TCIN ensure that it is ideally placed to contribute to society and to the future health and welfare of all individuals. The societal impact of our research themes can be summarised as follows:
- Research on Neural systems & Behaviour contributes to understanding the brain sufficiently to enable cures for neurological ailments associated with age, injury and disease.
- Research on Psychiatry & Clinical Neuroscience contributes to an understanding of neurodevelopmental, child and adolescent disorders; adult psychosis and affective disorders; disorders of brain aging and neurodegeneration; neuroimmunology; and addictions.
- Research on Neurodegeneration-Mechanisms & Interventions provides possible new therapeutic targets, as well as appropriate clinical samples to evaluate the potential of these novel targets.
- Advances in Platform Technologies Supporting Brain Imaging and Neural Engineering will lead to the development of specific neurodiagnostic systems of real clinical benefit for the study of aging, neurological and psychiatric disorders, and to the development of new methods for neural prostheses and therapeutic electrical stimulation.
Outreach & Public Engagement
TCIN’s outreach activities have ranged from engagement with young children in their views of the brain through a children’s art competition, through to the frequent involvement of its principal investigators with relevant public bodies, charities and our frequent engagement with the media. Recent outreach activities include the following:
- TCIN's also arranges a series of WellcomeTrust funded Neurohumanities Public Talks
- TCIN regularly participates in exhibitions at Trinity College Dublin’s Science Gallery. For example, The ‘Lab in the Gallery’ and the ‘LoveLab’ Exhibitions were very succesful examples where PIs Ian Robertson, Richard Reilly, and Fiona Newell were cocurators.
- NEUROSOC, the student neuroscience society promotes interest in all areas of neuroscience through the hosting of academic and social events for the undergraduate and graduate population of TCD.