Brain Awareness Night Highlights Importance of Childhood Resilience

This year’s Brain Awareness Night, hosted in Memphis by the Urban Child Institute and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s Neuroscience Institute, featured speakers Dr. Pat Levitt and Dr. Eraina Schauss. They presented on the topic of childhood resilience, which is defined by the American Psychological Association as the ability to adapt well to adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of stress. Resilient children can thrive despite being exposed to risk factors such as poverty. Resilience is not a trait an individual is born with, it is a skill that can be developed.