Neuroscientist Emma Duerden is in schools a lot these days, using her expertise to help children who experience anxiety.  

“Anxiety is one of the most pressing mental health issues children and teens are facing today,” Emma points out, adding that one in eight children experience anxiety at levels that can negatively influence their ability to function.

And a big challenge with anxiety is that it's hard to detect.

“Part of the reason is that a lot of people don’t know what anxiety is. They think it’s just a feeling. So, in that way, it’s essentially invisible. And because of that, we often don’t see signs of anxiety until it becomes chronic.”

Emma’s earlier research at SickKids focused on brain development and helped her identify physiological roots of anxiety in an almond-shaped structure in the brain called the amygdala.

The amygdala is small but incredibly important: it’s responsible for processing our emotions.  

One of those emotions is our fight-or-flight response.

“You sense fear or danger and the amygdala sends messages throughout your body, causing your heart rate to increase, your palms to sweat and your pupils to dilate,” says Emma. “The amygdala is like a fire alarm in your brain.”  

But for some people, the amygdala works overtime, causing them to feel intense anxiety all the time.  

In her lab work, Emma learned about identifying biomarkers in the amygdala that related to increased anxiety.    

The research often informed clinical decisions around medication or surgery, which, as a non-clinician, Emma couldn't directly influence as a scientist—something she found limiting.

She sought a more comprehensive approach to supporting children with anxiety which led her to join Western’s Faculty of Education in 2018. There she is an associate professor in applied psychology and Canada Research Chair in Neuroscience and Learning Disorders. She’s also the associate director of the Western Institute for Neuroscience. 

With this new perspective, she collaborates with teams of specialists from the faculty, Western’s Mary J. Wright Child and Youth Development Clinic and schools to help children with a wide range of treatments.

“For children struggling with anxiety, medication can be an option. But there are also cognitive-based therapies, like mindfulness and meditation, that can have great benefits.”  

As a neuroscientist, Emma brings a deep understanding of brain development to her collaborations with educators. She values her role in sharing that expertise with teachers who work with children facing anxiety challenges.

“The most rewarding part is the opportunity to work directly with people in the community, telling them about the brain and neurodevelopmental disorders, hearing about children, understanding their needs and then going back and doing research and training the next generation of students.”