The distinguished neuroscientist, Baroness Susan Greenfield, will be giving a public lecture on how the study of the brain is changing our understanding of human nature itself at Cambridge University next week.

The talk, entitled “Human Nature: A Neuroscientific Perspective” will take place at 4.30pm on Wednesday, April 21st, at the Michaelhouse Centre, Trinity Street, Cambridge and will be free and open to all.

It will be the final event in “A World To Believe In”, a successful programme of public debates, lectures and workshops which has been running since 2008 and looks at how faith can help us understand some of the most pressing challenges of our day.

Baroness Greenfield has been Professor of Synaptic Pharmacology at the University of Oxford since 1996. Her research has focused on the study of neuronal mechanisms in the brain and the future prevention of the degenerative effects of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

She is also a well-known populariser of science and has written widely for a public audience. Her many books cover issues such as how we can understand consciousness from a scientific perspective, and the changes and threats posed to human nature by the present “age of technology”. Her latest book, “ID: The Quest for Identity in the 21st Century”, explores what it means to be human in a world of rapid change.

Baroness Greenfield is also Director of the Institute for the Future of the Mind, which looks at parallels between the brains of the very young and very old and how they are vulnerable to technology, chemical manipulation and disease.

In addition to a Life Peerage she holds the CBE, the Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur, an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians and numerous honorary degrees. She has also been awarded the Michael Faraday medal by the Royal Society.

“A World To Believe In” is a series of faith-based presentations and discussions which was organised by the University of Cambridge to mark its 800th Anniversary in 2009. It has explored themes including human rights, religion and conflict and faith and public policy, with contributions from leading figures such as the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the former Guantanamo internee Moazzam Begg. Further information about the series can be found at: http://www.a-world-to-believe-in.org.uk
 

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