The Stress Zone is a themed zone funded by the Physiological Society, with five scientists studying different areas of stress and how it affects us. Livia is studying how we can prevent and treat mental illnesses, Laura is a part-time lecturer in physiology researching the bad effects of stress in the workplace and Kirsti is a PhD student studying how stress during pregnancy can affect the development of a baby. Georgina, the winner of the Zone, is researching the hormone cortisol and why it is released into the body when we are stressed and Chris is looking at how extreme environments can affect how humans perform during exercise or cognitive tasks.
This Zone was relatively quiet compared to the other Zones in November’s I’m a Scientist, although it was very on topic with some interesting and well thought out questions from students. There were lots of conversations about how stress can affect the students during exam times, for example, and all the scientists were good at dealing with sensitive subjects such as wellbeing and mental health, often relating their own experiences.
