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What is Health? Allostasis and the Evolution of Human Design

Author Talk

A discussion on how we can take part in making our life and the lives of all community members a little healthier.

Are you familiar with the term "homeostasis"? It's like a thermostat, to help keep our body in a certain health range. Allostasis is similar to homeostasis, but instead of responding to the environment to keep our body healthy, allostasis helps our bodies predict and prepare for what's coming, based on what we've learned before. 

Join us in a discussion with eminent neuroscientist Peter Sterling, who will take us on a journey of the early evolution of allostasis and how this early evolution continues to provide the foundations of brain and body function in the 21st century.  To understand medical, mental and social health challenges in the present day, Sterling explains that we must understand how early cellular processes resulted in the evolution of a human brain; a brain that relies heavily on brain circuits that deliver a brief reward for each positive surprise. We now seek reward in consumption: bigger burgers, more opioids, and innumerable activities that involve higher carbon emissions. The consequences include addiction, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and climate change.  There is hope though! We will discuss how we can all take part in making our lives and the lives of our community members just a little healthier.

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