Interview from Trinity College, Hartford with Dr. Susan Masino
Interview with Susan Masino, the Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of Applied Science at Trinity College. She is a neuroscientist, and her research into adenosine, the ketogenic diet, and their links to treating seizures as well as other disorders is well-known. Masino’s parallel work looks at brain health and natural areas, especially our current or future old-growth forests. This work might be lesser known but is critically important to climate stabilization and human health.
Article link: www.trincoll.edu/news/what-nature-can-do-for-your-brain-and-your-brain-can-do-for-nature/
What is the connection between human brains and wild forest ecosystems?
“There are reciprocal connections and some parallels. First, these are both incredibly dynamic and resilient systems, literally pinnacles of evolution. In the same way that we don’t even understand how one neuron works, and certainly not how a brain works, there are a lot of mysteries above and below ground and up in the canopy of old forests. Second, wild forest ecosystems are good for our brains. Older forests are cooler and wetter and rated as more beautiful.
Why are wild forest ecosystems so important?
I think of natural systems and the complex web of life as our common ecological lifeline.