Creative Brain Week 2026 | Dublin & Online
Event Details
Creative Brain Week is a Global Brain Health Institute innovation at Trinity College Dublin, presented in association with Creative Aging International and the Atlantic Institute.
Creative Brain Week 2026: Thinking. Better. Together.
In an increasingly complex and challenging world, how can we connect, collaborate and thrive—and what role do our senses play?
Join us at Creative Brain Week 2026 as we explore how people think and make decisions, what this means for health, care, community and the future of creative expression—and the transformative potential of Thinking. Better. Together.
In 2026, Creative Brain Week expands across Dublin in collaboration with renowned cultural spaces as we celebrate 10 years of the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) and 5 years of Creative Brain Week—elevating discussion, discovery, and developments where brain science and creativity converge.
Be part of Creative Brain Week 2026 from 2–6 March, online and in person at the Naughton Institute and Samuel Beckett Theatre in Trinity College Dublin, the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) and the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA).
Program At a Glance
A week of curiosity designed to stimulate creative brains featuring exhibitions and talks by world-leading neuroscientists, educationalists, health policymakers, artists and innovators:
Monday, March 2 | Opening Day
Online | In Person: Naughton Institute, Trinity College
Online and in-person audiences are invited to gather to:
- Celebrate 10 years of the Global Brain Health Institute’s growing impact around the world and 5 years of Creative Brain Week’s emerging network.
- Hear how “Thinking. Better. Together.” is improving brain health and reducing the impact of conditions like Alzheimer’s disease as ideas born in Dublin have impact on culture, commerce and care, all around the world.
- Learn the winner of this year’s Pratchett Prize.
Plus, we’ll launch this year's creative exhibition in the Naughton Gallery—a week‑long programme of music, performance, visual art exhibitions, interventions, and installations that demonstrate the creative brain in action. Featuring:
- Images from the ground‑breaking Lancet article Visualising relationships between the arts and health.
- Case studies celebrating the impact and achievements of Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health.
Tuesday, March 3 | Thinking. Better. Together
Online & In Person: Naughton Institute, Trinity College
How do people move from senses to systems and what systems support or hinder? A thought-provoking day of talks, online and in person in Trinity's Naughton Institute. Experts speakers from across disciplines and lived experiences lay out a rich landscape for exploration, using their expertise as transportation.
Wednesday, March 4 | Thinking Better Together Through the Senses: Sound
In Person: Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM)
Join us in person at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Ireland’s oldest conservatoire, to explore what we know about sound. Asking and answering questions in music. Does sound carry knowledge? Is music a poly-pill? Can new songs remake the world?
Thursday, March 5 | Thinking Better Together: Brains, Bodies, Stories, Systems
In Person: Samuel Beckett Theatre, Trinity College
Explore the interplay between cultures, creativity and health-making systems through case studies, reflections and workshops in person at Trinity's Samuel Beckett Theatre.
Friday, March 6 | Thinking Better Together: Unseen Senses
In Person: Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA)
With the gallery’s commitment to “Radical Hospitality” as a starting point, GBHI and IMMA invites audiences to assemble at Ireland’s National Cultural Institution for Modern and Contemporary Art to explore the rich complexities of Thinking, Better, Together as an art form.
View Full Program & Book Tickets
About Creative Brain Week
Creativity is everyone’s asset, a critical skill for the coming century, which can be nurtured and enhanced. Now entering its fifth year, Creative Brain Week has rapidly achieved local and international significance in its examination of how brain science and creativity collide.
Since 2022 Creative Brain Week has brought together world-leading neuroscientists, educationalists, health policy makers, artists and innovators to explore the brain and creativity. Each year examines what we know, how we know it, and how that knowledge is being applied. Its ambition is to inform and inspire. Our Dublin event has catalyzed and now mentors programs in Australia, Argentina, Botswana, Egypt, India and Singapore, and in 2026 Chile and Mexico City.
By showcasing innovation at the intersection of neuroscience and the arts, Creative Brain Week helps raise national and international awareness of the powerful relationship between brain health and creativity, and stimulates research into how creative practice might mitigate the negative effects of poverty, low education and disease on brain functioning and quality of life.
Learn More
Creative Brain Week 2025
- Event program and recordings
- Exploring the role of kindness in health, healthcare, and creativity at Creative Brain Week 2025
Creative Brain Week 2024
- Event program and recordings
- Brain science and creativity collide at Creative Brain Week 2024
- Creative Brain Week goes global with satellite events
Creative Brain Week 2023
- Event program and recordings
- Creative Brain Week returns to celebrate the relationship between creativity and the Brain
Creative Brain Week 2022
Contact
Any questions? Please get in touch through the Creative Brain Week contact form.
