Neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky to explore causes of stress

Neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky to explore causes of stress November 18, 2002Patrick Farrellpmfarrel@syr.edu

Robert Sapolsky, considered one of today’s best scientist-writers and well known for his engaging presentations, will explore the links between society and stress for The University Lectures. “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: Stress, Disease and Coping” will be presented at Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel. The lecture is free and open to the public.

According to Sapolsky, “We live well enough to have the luxury to get ourselves sick with purely social, psychological stress.” Saplosky’s primary research on stress and neurological disease has been conducted in the laboratory, but for the last 23 years, he also has made annual trips to the Serengeti of East Africa. There, he has studied the relationship between personality and patterns of stress-related disease wild baboons. His latest book, “A Primate’s Memoir” (Simon & Schuster, 2002), details his life, experience and research in Africa.

Sapolsky is a MacArthur Genius Fellow, a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University, and a research associate with the Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya. Other publications by Sapolsky include “Stress, the Aging Brain, and the Mechanisms of Neuron Death,” (MIT, Press 1992) and two books for nonscientists, “The Trouble With Testosterone and Other Essays on the Biology of the Human Predicament” (Simon & Schuster, 1998) and “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: A Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases and Coping.” (Henry Holt and Co., 1998)

The University Lectures is a cross-disciplinary lecture series that brings to the University individuals of exceptional accomplishment in the areas of architecture and design; the humanities and the sciences; and public policy, management and communications. The series is supported by the generosity of the University’s Trustees, alumni and friends, and is consistent with an initiative in the University’s Academic Plan aimed at expanding multidisciplinary discourse for students.