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2026 Benjamin Lecture

Kelly Lambert, PhD

Neuroplasticity Across the Neuroverse
Brain Sculpting Through the Lenses of History, Habitat, and Hope

Save the Date: May 15, 2025

The Cummings Center for the History of Psychology is pleased to announce that Kelly Lambert, PhD will be our Featured Speaker for the 2025 Ludy T. Benjamin, Jr. Distinguished Lecture in the History of Psychology. Lambert is an acclaimed behavioral neuroscientist interested in experience-based neuroplasticity.

The 2026 Benjamin Lecture will be held on Thursday, May 14. More information, including registration details, will be available soon.

Abstract

Dr. Lambert will expand the topic of neuroplasticity beyond selectively bred rodent models and restricted laboratory cages to diverse species, brains, and habitats across the 鈥渘euroverse.鈥� After briefly revisiting historical foundations that shaped early thinking about brain plasticity, Lambert will examine how habitat and experience 鈥� from artificial laboratory settings to complex natural environments 鈥� sculpt healthy neural circuits across the lifespan. Finally, the impact of hopeful and optimistic cognitive/emotional strategies on plasticity-based neurobehavioral outcomes in both preclinical models and human lives will be considered, with implications for public policy---particularly in the contexts of poverty and incarceration.