Dr Sebastian McBride is a Liverpool (BSc.) and Edinburgh (PhD.) graduate who first took up a lectureship position at Aberystwyth University in 1996. In 2005 he extended his research interests in cognitive robotics in the Department of Computer Science and then cognitive neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. He has returned to Aberystwyth University in 2016 to take up an appointment as lecturer in Biosciences.
Seb is involved in a number of research projects based around cognition and the neurophysiological control of behaviour. In particular, he is currently working on: animal cognition markers of human neurodegenerative disease, neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning repetitive behavioural disorders and cognitive enrichment in farm and captive animal species.
In his talk, Seb will explore how dopamine is a key to happiness and how can be boost it ourselves. Human happiness is complex but linked to the sentient experience of reward that comes from activities like receiving money, shopping, eating and achieving goals. Often referred to as the ‘dopamine hit’, dopamine plays a critical role in mediating the reward value of these activities. But dopamine also has other key roles in the brain, mainly mediating mechanisms of motivation and learning. These are also linked to reward but also importantly, they are linked to avoiding adverse events. This talk examines the mechanisms of dopamine in the brain to see whether it can help our understanding in the eternal search for human happiness. Join us on 22nd February to find out more.
TEDxAberystwyth 