Putting Stress to the Test
Posted on: 09 June 2016
Why is it that some people react to emotional upsets – like failing an unimportant exam – with distress, while others power through life-changing tragedies showing barely any emotional upset whatsoever?
How do some people shine brilliantly at public speaking when others stumble with their words and seem on the verge of an anxiety attack?
The Stress Test, the new book by Trinity’s Professor of Psychology Ian Robertson, shows us how we can harness stress to our advantage and use it to make us not only stronger and more resilient but sharper too.
In The Stress Test Professor Robertson relies on four decades of research to illustrate how we can reshape our brain’s response to pressurised situations and ultimately see how stress can be a good thing; the right level of challenge and stress can help us to flourish and achieve more than they ever thought possible.
Professor Robinson’s previous books, Mind Sculpture, The Mind’s Eye and The Winner Effect have been translated into many languages and he is widely recognised as one of the world’s leading researchers in neuropsychology.
In addition to being Professor of Psychology, he also holds the Chair in Psychology at Trinity College and was the founding director of Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN), a multi-disciplinary research collaboration where psychologists, geneticists, biochemists, engineers, physicians, psychiatrists, physiologists and physicists work in close collaboration to solve some of the most pressing problems of human health.
Professor Robertson's research on the human brain's attention systems has led to a number of entirely new ways of measuring how humans pay, or fail to pay, attention. It has also resulted in novel methods for improving cognitive and emotional function in people with a range of psychological and neurological conditions including traumatic brain injury, stroke, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia and ageing.
The Stress Test will be officially launched at the Dalkey Book Festival on Saturday June 18.