Our research aims to build resilience in women with a lived experience of breast cancer.

Using a range of neuroscientific methods, BRiC conducts cutting edge research to reduce the psychological impact of diagnosis and treatment and boost resilience in women with a lived experience of breast cancer. From identifying the roots of cognitive and emotional vulnerability to developing sustainable interventions targeting cancer related cognitive impairments, and autonomic regulation using heart rate variability, BRiC’s research is empowering women with accessible tools for improving and maintaining emotional and cognitive health in survivorship.

BRiC’s research findings have been published in high impact factor international journals and have practical implications for health policy change. Our papers are listed below.

BRiC’s Research has shown that:

1. The mental health care gap including the extensive limitations in psychosocial support in survivorship, has serious implications for emotional well-being. Meanwhile, support from integrative oncology has the potential to close this gap and as such should have a central role in NHS oncology systems (read here)
2. Cognitive abilities such as cognitive control and deliberate rumination can explain the relationship between post-traumatic stress symptoms and post-traumatic growth, and can help us understand how we can facilitate the transition between stress and growth (read here)
3. Heart rate variability biofeedback training via paced breathing at a resonance frequency of 6 breaths per minute can reduce menopausal symptoms including night sweats and anxiety as well as improve sleep quality. Read our intervention study (read here)
4. The red flag Infographics educating signs and symptoms of metastatic breast cancer produced by abcdiagnosis can empower women with breast cancer diagnosis (read here)
5. Our adaptive cognitive training interventions have improved workability and reduced depression, our findings from a one year randomised control trial show this (read here)
6. Our cognitive health can play an important role in determining our levels of anxiety and depression (read here)
7. Women with a lived experience of breast cancer show impaired attentional control and cognitive efficiency. Our data shows that women need to recruit extra cognitive resources (i.e., compensatory effort), compared to non-cancer controls, to complete even simple tasks (read here).
8. Simple adaptive cognitive training exercises targeting cognitive efficiency can improve cognitive skills and reduce anxiety and depressive related symptoms longer term (read here; and on media page).
9. Mindfulness meditation practice and adaptive cognitive training exercises can reduce anxiety sustainably in women with breast cancer (read here).
10. The combined effect of both good cognitive function and social support is vital to protect against depression in secondary breast cancer (read here).
11. Cognitive impairments induce fatigue, lack of confidence and self-esteem and contribute to deficits in workability in women with a primary diagnosis of breast cancer beyond the extended period of ‘return to work’. Women report mixed feelings about current self-management strategies which are used and believe they can be problematic with little benefit (read here).
12. Adaptive cognitive training can improve cognitive abilities and improve workability in the workplace. Women reported that our intervention helped improve their self-confidence and general emotional well-being. These perceived improvements, in turn, decreased reliance on self-management methods for cognitive impairment and improved work efficiency, contributing to career development and progression (read here).
13. Collateral damage from COVID19 delaying breast cancer treatment and diagnosis has increased psychological trauma in women with breast cancer (read here; and in The Telegraph)
14. Women with breast cancer experiencing threats to job security due to COVID have an increased level of depression by 26% (read here).
15. Delays in accessing breast cancer treatment in Iranian women has increased risk of clinical levels of emotional disorder with younger women at greater risk (read here).