Telling the Stories of Neuroscientific Discovery to Schoolchildren and the Public Can Make an Impact
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Neuroscience research demands focused attention built upon a foundational knowledge that can encompass the full sweep of science and engineering including, among other disciplines, psychology, biology, chemistry, physics, and computer science.Neuroscience studies range from evolution of lifeforms to new innovations in computational modeling.Neuroscientists can look at the population-level behavior, activity of the human brain, or atomic-level resolution of essential molecules.And yet, within these depths of emerging knowledge, the neuroscience community has the capacity to share what we know with young people and the public at large.Even little actions of communicating science in a manner that is broadly accessible and fun can initiate that ripple effect that informs a young mind. The ChallengeTelevision and social media are dominated with advertisements for online shopping, insurance companies, and cell phone plans (Statista, 2022).Furthermore, a number of mental health advertising campaigns are on the rise.Mara Einstein noted that "having companies take an interest in mental health is better than the alternative" (Einstein, 2023).Chris Larson, writing for Behavioral Health Business (Larson, 2022), found that during the Super Bowl and the Olympics, programming with very large audiences, there was a high concentration of ads relating to mental health.The big business of mental health care in America, including self-help apps and video counseling, is becoming more prevalent in the wake of the coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic.But why is it so prominent?One reason is that consumers now care about mental health differently than in the past, especially among Gen Z (Brown, 2023).Amelia Henderson, writing for the consumer research organization GWI (Henderson, 2023), noted that their "data shows that consumers, particularly younger audiences, generally like [mental health awareness] campaigns: 73% of Gen Z support mental health messaging in ads."There is a deeper reason for all this advertising.Mental health challenges are rampant for all levels of the American population, from kids to seniors.Furthermore, it is becoming less stigmatizing to talk about one's mental health status.Consider that years ago, it was taboo to talk about one's cancer diagnosis.Cancer disease has largely lost its stigma because we now know that you cannot "catch" cancer from being near a cancer patient.It is also the case that there are many powerful therapies to treat cancer.Similarly, and however slowly, the message that mental health is health is beginning to find inroads into the national conversation.It seems that Gen Z (those born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s) are a motivating force for this new national conversation.As a generation, they grew up having a different collection of social traumatic experiences that have been amplified by social media: from school shootings, 911, political vitriol, the economic hardship of 2008/2009, and COVID-19.Yet even though the conversation is started, the social media advertisements and apps or services still leave a lot out of what mental health really is.Mental health is now being recognized as a global issue.The World Health Organization reported in 2022 that as many as one in eight people live with a mental disorder (WHO, 2022), and they recently released the Mental Health Gap Action Programme guidelines for
Source: eNeuro
Author: John A. Pollock
Institution: Duquesne University
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,925
OpenAlex ID: W4394597495