pixel Projet about the influence of stress on decision making wins Santander/NOVA Award | Universidade NOVA de Lisboa

Projet about the influence of stress on decision making wins Santander/NOVA Award

Award ceremony took place during NOVA Science Day. 

Prémio de Investigação Colaborativa Santander Totta/ Universidade NOVA de Lisboa 2017/18

Stress-induced neuroinflammation: mechanisms and implications for decision-making and performance” is the winning project of the 11th edition of Collaborative Research Award Santander Totta/ Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, in the area of Life Sciences. Researcher Raffaela Gozzelino (NOVA Medical School | Faculdade de Ciências Médicas), in collaboration with researchers Ana Margarida Grenho Ferreira (NOVA School of Sciences and Humanities) and Pedro Neves (NOVA School of Business and Economics), are the authors of the project. 

The award was granted today by the Rector of NOVA, Professor João Sàágua, and the Executive President of Santander, Dr. António Vieira Monteiro, in a ceremony within the first edition of NOVA Science Day

The project seeks to determine how neurological processes explain decision making, mainly in stressful situations, with a special focus on the influence of iron. The project started with laboratory studies with mice, in which it was confirmed that the animals get an agressive behaviour when stressed, having a accumulation of iron in the brain's prefrontal cortex, the area that controls behaviour and decision making.

The purpose now is to study the phenomenon in the human being, integrating biological and psychological processes to determine the way how the social dimension influences those decision making processes, in order to get a complete picture of the way people deal with stress. According to researcher Raffaela Gozzelino, «this is one of the first studies that manages to integrate all aspects. Santander Totta/ Universidade NOVA de Lisboa Collaborative Award favours the continuation of this study to enhance the results we already have and to start working on the social aspect». 

Get to know everything abou this research in the voice of the winning team:

 

 

 

Santander Totta and NOVA University Lisbon launched the Collaborative Research Award, that distinguishes projects from junior researchers from at least two schools of NOVA.

Check all projects distinguished in the 11 editions of this initiative.