Industry Insights presents Unlock Your Mind – Renata Coura

Resilience is a process of adaptation of our brain in the face of adversity. Multiple regions and circuitries in our brain are involved in this process, as the hippocampus, the ventral tegmental area and the nucleus accumbens, implicated in memory and reward circuit. Other factors and systems are also implicated, as genetic factors, immune system factors, gut microbiota and the blood-brain barrier.

It seems that resilience or susceptibility is about the capacity to recover faster from the neuron electro-chemical changes provoked by stress or trauma. Adversity experienced in childhood and during adolescence can profoundly impact individual trajectories. None or too much adversity in those life periods can lead to the development of susceptible traits. Moderate exposure to stress can, however, have pro-resilient effects.

The good news is that, no matter our genetic background or life experience, we can train resilience. The human brain is very plastic, that is, able to make new connections and unmake unnecessary ones. In other words, our brain is able to adapt and to learn whatever we want. It’s all about decision, purpose and training.

Our brain automatically interprets every situation as reward or threat. This automatic perception underlies emotional states and memory, and, therefore, our behavior. So, to train resilience, we need to consciously reappraisal. Other important tips to develop your resilience:

1. Train selective attention (to be able to focus on what you want): meditation is one of the best techniques for that, but it’s not the only one;
2. Focus on what you want to gain from each situation (to be able to reappraisal): train to be mono-task and to be focus on the present;
3. Be grateful: look to the facts objectively, look to yourself and the facts, as if you were an outsider, think about 3 positive things from the situation, what you learned from that, what can you change for that

Renata Coura is a Brazilian by birth and a French ‘by heart’. She has been living in Paris for almost 13 years and her love for France was legitimized by her naturalization 6 years ago.

Since the age of 5, she was already showing an impetus to understand human behavior and the brain. The meaning of her life has always been to develop as a person to be useful and to have a positive impact in the world around her. She has always been interested in our ability to improve as individuals, to change and to learn. She has always been passionate about human relationships, which constitute the basis of our existence and development. She knew intuitively that we could and should actively participate in building oneself, one way of being, acting, reacting and even feeling or managing what one feel.

Renata is a Doctor of Neuroscience with 20 years of research experience, including 12 years in neuroscience. Founder and consultant at Neurotelos, a neuro-management training and consulting organization. Renata quickly specialized in the study of behavior, learning and decision-making, connecting her passion for science and human issues. She develops a detailed understanding of human behavior, the management of emotions, the automatisms that unconsciously influence our actions and decisions, and this in particular in the context of business and people management. Aware of the growing need to renew management and work culture in a company, Renata uses her neuroscientist knowledge to train and support managers in their managerial issues and the development of their talents.