Happy Brain Awareness Week!

I’ve always thought the brain is the coolest organ in the body—it is certainly the organ we know the least about, and unlike other organs in the body, the brain has the property of emergence: that means, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Unlike the other organs in our bodies, the brain cannot be understood by the sum of its individual components. For example, we cannot easily attribute one bodily function to one part of the brain. For most of our thoughts and actions, the combined work of multiple parts of our brain is required! Pretty amazing, right?

And can I blow your mind even more? We as neuroscientists use our brains to study . . . OUR BRAINS! There’s definitely no other organ that can study itself.

The brain is so special, we had to make a celebratory week about it!

Millions of Americans experience neurological disorders or mental illness. That’s why the American Brain Coalition and Congressional Neuroscience Caucus have dubbed this week Brain Awareness Week! We at the Ruvvy Resilience Lab are working to study how negative and positive experiences reshape developing brains, either putting us at risk for, or helping us being resilience in the face of things like posttraumatic stress and anxiety. The foundational research of our lab was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Research in animals and humans, supported by federal funding from agencies like the NIH, has helped other scientists like us develop tools and therapies such as deep brain stimulation and cognitive behavioral therapy to help Americans with neurological disorders and mental illness. Unfortunately, in the midst of our celebration of Brain Awareness Week and lifesaving neuroscientific research, we are facing massive cuts to federal investments in groundbreaking research and technology.

YOU CAN BE A CHAMPION FOR THE BRAIN!

This Brain Awareness Week, I (Dr. Ruvvy) am joining a coalition of neuroscientists across the country to call on members of Congress to:

1. Increase NIH base-level funding to at least $51.303 billion in fiscal year 2026 and restore BRAIN initiative funding to the fiscal year 2023 level of $680 million. While our government has divested in BRAIN funding, China has allocated that exact dollar amount ($680 million) to support neuroscientific research across the ocean. Let’s show that the US is also invested in brain health and join our friends across the globe in prioritizing health!

2. Encourage the Trump Administration to halt destabilizing activities that have disrupted the research enterprise. In our previous video, we talked about how recent executive orders have contributed to economic and job losses, as well as setbacks in progress for lifesaving biomedical research. Hurting science hurts all of us.

3. Support the ethical and responsible use of animals in biomedical research. The vital use of appropriate animal models, including nonhuman primates, has contributed to the most profound breakthroughs in the understanding and treatment of common neurological disorders and mental illnesses—including dementia. Without animal models, progress in understanding many diseases and conditions will severely be hampered if not outright halted.

I am meeting with Michigan’s federal Senators and Representatives today, and I hope you will join me by calling or writing to your lawmakers! Remember, your voice matters! Everyone can be a superhero for science.

Feeling overwhelmed? Let’s breathe together.

There’s a lot going on right now, and it can be really stressful. Remember, rest is RESTORATIVE! You deserve to take time to care for you.

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