Resilience and the Brain: Reflections on neuroplasticity and mental health (New Publishers Series)

“Experiences mark your genes like scars. The warmth of affection, a hit of cocaine or the weight of stress can leave physical marks that affect how you behave and respond to experience. Epigenetics, literally ‘beyond’ genetics, describes how these ‘epi’, or additional marks, can arm you with emotional resilience or slide you into depression. How can experience re-write how you see the world?" - from Chapter 1, "A Bullied Mouse" In Resilience and the Brain, Jillian Lim narrates twelve stories about how the brain builds mental resilience through physical experience. Using neurological research from journals like Nature and Brain, Lim describes how every day actions like exercise, exposure to stress and the exchange of affection can combat depression, anxiety and negative moods.