The Queen’s Reading Room partners with The British Neuroscience Association for their International Festival of Neuroscience 2025

Special Public lecture to take place on Monday 28th April 2025, 18:30

The Queen’s Reading Room has announced an exciting partnership with The British Neuroscience Association for the International Festival of Neuroscience (BNA2025), the BNA’s flagship international conference.

As an official partner, The Queen’s Reading Room will play a prominent role at BNA2025, hosting a series of unique events including a plenary session where expert speakers Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology and DR Christelle Langley, Neuroscientist, both from Cambridge University, will explore our understanding of the benefits of reading for brain health, which include improved mood and long-term productivity.

The Queen’s Reading Room will also host a public lecture on the benefits of reading, with the valuable help of some brilliant friends of the Reading Room. These talented friends include authors, literature lovers and scientists and will explore how reading can influence not only the way we feel, but also the way we think, speak and sleep.

Conference delegates will also have the opportunity to take a break from the busy conference schedule at a live Queen’s Reading Room pop-up in the Reading Zone. There, they’ll be able to sit back, relax and lose themselves in the pages of a book to experience the positive effects of reading, which can be enjoyed anywhere. Books featured in The Queen’s Reading room pop-up will then be donated locally to The Brain Food Cafe, a wellness initiative supporting people with neurological conditions which is organised by The Brain Charity.

Members of the public are invited to attend the TQRR/BNA Public Lecture, an exclusive event featuring special guests discussing their favourite books and exploring how literature has played a crucial role in their own mental wellbeing.

CEO of The Queen’s Reading Room, Vicki Perrin said:

‘The Queen’s Reading Room is privileged to be partnering with The British Neuroscience Association on this landmark event in the scientific calendar.

As a Charity, we are passionate about promoting the health and wellbeing benefits associated with reading, and look forward to bringing neuroscience and literature closer together through a very special Public Lecture & plenary session which will highlight the transformative power of books.

And if that’s not enough – conference delegates will be able to immerse themselves in a specially curated pop-up Queen’s Reading Room, a place where users can take ten minutes to sit down, shut off from the busy world around and escape into the pages of a brilliant book leaving them feeling restored and invigorated… We can’t wait to see you there!’ 

This exciting partnership between the BNA and The Queen’s Reading Room promises to enhance BNA2025, bringing a unique blend of neuroscience and literature to both delegates and the broader public, while highlighting the powerful connection between science and the arts.