The following commentary was delivered by Dr Hayley Bennett, Barrister-at-Law, at the CPD Seminar, Thursday 5 December 2019.

View: Thinking with your brain and with your body: The neurobiology of decision making and implications for mental health and well-being slides.

Over the past few decades there has been an avalanche of research providing increasing insights into the neurobiological basis of decision making. One of those insights is that how we make decisions is not only determined by processes that occur within our brain, but that they are also guided, and sometimes determined, by bodily states and processes, as well.

This presentation will provide a summary of the neurobiological decision making findings, and will explore the implications of these findings in relation to the mental health and well-being of the decision makers: with barristers being a case in point. In this, it will be suggested that the natural extension of the neurobiological findings is that the quality of a barrister’s decision making will be enhanced, together with the barrister’s well-being, where the barrister’s bodily state (eg, physical and medical conditions) and mental health (depression, addictions, etc) have been given appropriate attention and care.

Presented by the BarCare Committee as part of the Wellness Series.