Page 9 - Biobehavioral Resilence to Stress

viii Foreword

A potentially important adjunct to increased understanding of fac-
tors relevant to stress is the ability to measure and assess resilience. Cur-
rent knowledge provides an opportunity to expand existing instruments
to include putative biomarkers of resilience. Improved measurement tech-

niques would benefit the study of resilience as it is affected by stressors such

as sleep deprivation, nutritional compromise, and weight loss. Since military
personnel experience stress associated with the use of new military systems,
we should consider human factors in designing training techniques that may
help reduce such stress and thus improve operational performance. Research
and testing can help determine whether direct training in specifi c attributes
of resilience may be helpful to prevent or treat symptoms of stress-related

disorders. This research and testing may require comprehensive analysis and
review of existing experimental, occupational, and therapeutic resilience
training techniques.
This volume was initiated by the Military Operational Medicine Research

Directorate of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command
(USAMRMC) in response to recognized defense needs and was managed by
the Department of Defense Survivability/Vulnerability Information Analysis
Center (SURVIAC). Contributors to this book are uniquely qualifi ed military
and civilian experts from a variety of disciplines. Each chapter identifi es impor-
tant ideas for current practice and objectives for future research. Together, they

underscore our need to understand individual differences as they relate to the
neurobiological underpinnings of stress resilience. We hope that this volume
will inspire and guide future research toward new discoveries and break-
throughs in our understanding of biobehavioral resilience to stress.
We thank the many experts and thinkers whose contributions and par-
ticipation supported the development of a cohesive volume to demonstrate
the broad relevance of stress resilience to military and civilian concerns. Also,
we extend our thanks to Barbara Palmer and Dr. Victoria Tepe of SURVIAC
for their painstaking editorial work and skilled management of this project.

Dr. Robert E. Foster
Director, BioSystems

Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Science & Technology)

Ellen Embrey
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Health Protection
and Readiness

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