When Dr. Melina Uncapher looks at the brain, she sees an organ constantly at work, learning and evolving. “Your brain is learning every second of every day,” she says with a tone of reverence. “Even when you’re sleeping, your brain is processing and sorting through the events of the day, deciding what’s important to keep and what’s okay to forget.”
Melina, founder and CEO of SETA-ED and a former professor with labs at Stanford and UC San Francisco, first became fascinated by the brain at the age of 13, during a time when her grandmother, Shirley, was her only source of emotional support and warmth. When Shirley began showing signs of dementia, Melina watched the very essence of who she was start to fade away. Over the next three years, Melina experienced the painful unraveling of her grandmother’s memory and sense of self. When Shirley passed away, Melina’s commitment to studying the brain and understanding how it shapes who we are was sparked, ultimately becoming the driving force behind Melina’s lifework.
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