#48 Sarah Ayash: What Can Mice Teach Us About Stress Resilience?

#48 Sarah Ayash: What Can Mice Teach Us About Stress Resilience?

From #AskDifferent by Einstein Stiftung Berlin

January 29, 2026 · 25 min · Episode 48

About this episode

Dr. Sarah Ayash discusses her research on how mice respond differently to stress and the implications for understanding resilience.

Exposure to stress affects us in remarkably different ways — and neuroscientist Dr Sarah Ayash, Einstein Independent Researcher at Charité – Universitätsmedizin, is on a mission to find out why. Her research with mice reveals how individuals can respond very differently to the same social stressor: some become vulnerable, others remain resilient, and a surprising third group fails to learn to recognise threat at all. By uncovering the brain mechanisms behind these responses, Ayash shows that resilience is not a fixed trait but an active, learnable process. She also emphasises that mild, manageable stress is essential for strengthening our “psychological immune system” — and that avoiding stress altogether is counterproductive. ___ #AskDifferent, the Einstein Foundation’s podcast series https://www.einsteinfoundation.de/en/podcast

People in this episode

Host: Einstein Stiftung Berlin

Guest: Dr Sarah Ayash

Topics covered

  • stress resilience
  • neuroscience
  • psychological immune system
  • social stressors
  • brain mechanisms

Keywords

  • stress
  • resilience
  • neuroscience
  • mice
  • psychological immune system
  • social stressors
  • brain mechanisms

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Charité – Universitätsmedizin

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