Scientific Evening “Stress in the Mind and Body: Memory, Burnout and Hormonal Responses”

How does stress affect what we remember and what we forget? This question will be at the centre of the scientific evening, which will take place online via Zoom on 1 October 2026 at 17.00.

Professor of Psychology at Ruhr University Bochum (Germany) and member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Prof. Dr Oliver T. Wolf, will give a guest lecture entitled “Memory Under Stress”. Drawing on experimental research, he will explain how stress hormones such as noradrenaline and cortisol affect brain regions associated with memory, including the amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. The lecture will examine why stressful experiences remain particularly vivid in memory, while information learned for an exam can become more difficult to recall. It will also address the adaptive role of the acute stress response and its potential costs, including an increased risk of mental health disorders in certain individuals.

Prof. Dr Ramūne Grikšienė from the Life Sciences Center of Vilnius University (Lithuania), in her presentation “Why Do We Experience Stress Differently? The Role of the Brain and Hormones”, will examine how stress hormones and sex hormones shape emotional, cognitive and behavioural responses to stressful situations, offering a neurobiological perspective on individual differences in stress perception and adaptation.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Arūnas Žiedelis from the Faculty of Philosophy of Vilnius University (Lithuania), in his presentation “Beyond the Buzzword: Burnout Research at Vilnius University”, will address employee burnout, focusing on its symptoms, prevalence and causes, as well as the role of the work environment and organisational factors. The presentation will also draw attention to common misconceptions that burnout affects everyone or that it is primarily caused by individual shortcomings.

The scientific evening will examine stress from several complementary perspectives: how it affects the brain and memory, why people respond to stress differently, and how prolonged stress in the workplace can contribute to burnout.

The event is organised in cooperation with the Institute of Psychology of the Faculty of Philosophy at Vilnius University.

Language: English
Participation: free of charge, with prior registration
Additional information about the event is available on the Baltic-German University Liaison Office website