NeuroCentury

It is inspiring to see forward-looking companies take an increasing interest in the #brain. Whether they are busy solving questions of mobility, industrial automation, or energy efficiency, the workings of the #brain are an unrivalled source of inspiration. There is the potential of brain-derived technologies, such as #neuromorphic computing, and the continuously untapped promise of integrating insights from #neuroscience in #AI. There is also the larger intellectual challenge of grappling with the mystery of the brain and setting one’s future priorities alongside what the brain really wants. It is in this vain that I was delighted to give a lecture to the research community of Bosch in Renningen last month, and share my insights in the company’s phenomenal annual Megatrend Report, impressively put together by the VP Andrej Heinke. Brain is the most complex data system. In a curious parallel with how the universe operates, the total length of fiber connections in the #brain is 2-3 million kilometers, while the diameter of the sun is 1.4 million km. As Jeff Hawkins has written “humans are defined by our intelligence, and our knowledge, not our genes”, meaning that our capacity to learn, reason, and understand the world comes from how our neocortex process information, rather than being pre-determined by our genetic code. This is where our ability to think abstractly, plan, create complex societies, and build technologies is rooted. Being at the cutting edge of #sensor technology, Bosch has a huge role to play in developing and scaling up personalized medicine approaches, with enormous benefits to #brainhealth. This may remain largely under the radar for the moment, but quantum sensors are likely to offer unprecedented precision in measuring brain signals. Bosch Quantum Sensing’s magnetic-field quantum sensors can be 1,000× more sensitive than today’s MEMS sensors. Next-generation brain-computer interfaces will benefit hugely from these developments, as will thousands of people suffering from paralysis or motor dysfunctions. There is so much more to come with the emerging platform-approaches putting data at the service of prevention and early diagnosis. Given that demography and socio-environmental factors will turn #brainhealth into the challenge of the century, innovation in this area should be seen by the life science technology community as a golden opportunity to do good and prosper at the same time.

Prevention is making big inroads, as growing scientific evidence emerges about risk factors, helping to guide interventions. This week’s Fondazione Prada conference on “Prevention of Neurodegenerative Diseases” in Milan, provided an excellent overview of the latest knowledge on the subject. A range of areas, from epidemiology, pollution, food, sleep, or genes was examined. In my contribution on making these insights actionable, I presented a #BrainEconomy Blueprint on Prevention, consisting of the following elements: 🔬Stepping up #research funding in areas where knowledge gaps persist. Although much spending is generic covering prevention in #health at large, domain-specific research priorities are important, given the specificity of the brain and brain disorders. 🔍 Accessibility of the reservoir of knowledge on #prevention should be improved, including agreeing on the methodology for scientifitic validation of risk factors, with more trials where necessary. 🛠️ Systemic investing in prevention needs to be adopted, involving collaboration amoung public, private, and philantropic funders, and deployment of capital in a cross-cutting fashion to catalyse transformations in critical areas. 🌍 Pursuing placed-based prevention, addressing the relevant factors where they strike and taking account of the substantial variability in risk factors: from genetic predispositions to environmental and socioeconomic factors. 🚀 Scaling up personalised prevention, with risk stratification and a brain health tracking system based on validated and optimised tools to be used for assessment and proactive risk reduction. 🏢 Boosting prevention-focused business models, from insurance-based ones incentivising engaging in preventive activities, onto models prioritising prevention-friendly workplace. 🧠 Supporting “good” brain health, building on growing public interest in brain health, and readiness to change lifestyle if required. We are only at the beginning of a profound shift towards #prevention. Its pace and scale will depend on the way scientific insights about modifiable risk factors are validated and translated into actionable plans for interventions. This is an opportunity that cannot be missed. Big kudos to Prof. Giancarlo Comi and the Fondazione Prada team for convening as well as huge 🙏 to an impressive range of speakers for contributing. #BrainHealth #Prevention #Innovation #Aging #Research #PublicHealth #SystemicInvesting

It is time we add "brain health" into climate discussions. I had the privilege of joining the NeuroCentury podcast's latest episode this week, where we explored the profound impact of climate change on brain health. We delved into how environmental factors like excessive heat and pollution contribute to neurological and mental disorders, exacerbating symptoms and impacting cognition, memory, and mental well-being. We also discussed why it is necessary to amplify the voices of patients and people with lived experiences and the significance of international collaboration in pushing the boundaries of our understanding and developing global strategies to mitigate these impacts. Tune in to learn about how neuroscience and climate change intersect and why addressing this issue is crucial for advancing global health. I also shared practical tips for maintaining brain health amidst these environmental challenges. You can listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gVeWNmZn Thank you Paweł Świeboda for hosting me on your podcast. EcoNeuro #NeuroClimateWorkingGroup #brainhealth #climatechange #mentalhealth

“The climate crisis is a health crisis, but for too long, health has been a footnote in climate discussions” – these words of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of World Health Organization hold true for #brainhealth as well. Neurons in the brain do not exist by themselves. Our brains talk to the #environment and work optimally at a certain temperature. Burcin Ikiz, PhD, an award-winning neuroscientist, founder and chair of the International Neuro Climate Working Group, is compiling a State of the Science report, with all #scientific evidence to date. She points out that #climate change affects brain health through direct and indirect #environmental factors such as increased exposure to heat, air #pollution, and extreme weather events linked to heightened risks of cognitive decline, #mentalhealth disorders, and #neurological diseases. In our recent podcast conversation, Burcin explains that everything that deviates from normal climatic conditions produces a stress response in the brain. This may result in oxidative stress, or mitochondrial dysfunction, leading to the inflammation in the brain. As a result, the brain-blood barrier gets more leaky allowing more toxins to enter to the brain. This affects our memory, cognition, our emotional regulation and wellbeing. The conversation addresses the importance of taking both outdoor and indoor #pollution into account, #patient-driven research, the data which is needed to study the impact of the environment and climate on the brain, evidence-based interventions that will significantly improve outcomes of environmentally related #mental illnesses, and the importance of international collaboration. You can listen to the conversation on Apple podcasts: https://lnkd.in/e3QCTq9x or Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eXQjunMy

More and more countries are setting out to develop their #braincapital or #braineconomy strategies. A project to work on one for the UK was announced today by Sir Norman Lamb, who hosted the Brain Capital UK Summit in London. The notion of brain capital can be helpful in finding solutions to some of the more systemic, and often intractable challenges. The point of departure should be to treat health as a national asset, as powerfully explained at the Summit by Harris Eyre MD PhD, and as recently argued by the Economist: https://lnkd.in/eAj6T5RU The brain capital approach can help to change the logic of investing from late-stage interventions to funding #prevention. When the resources are in short supply, the tendency tends to be to squeeze prevention, still seen as good-to-have but not always a must-have expenditure. Exposing the illusory nature of the cost-saving that this creates is important. Better still to design a cost-benefit approach to resource allocation in healthcare which rewards good health outcomes, as the panel masterfully chaired by Dan Mannix indicated. The most impactful approach to prevention would be to focus on areas where modifiable risk factors are strongest and evidence-based. Greater understanding of what goes on in the brain can certainly help. If we know that sleep is needed to remove toxins from the brain and consolidate memory, it will make us more, rather than less likely to get a good night’s rest. Taking place on the eve of the #WorldMentalHealthDay, a lot of attention was devoted to crafting a mentally healthier nation, as Centre for Mental Health puts it: https://lnkd.in/esnb6adV. In the UK, the proportion of younger workers reporting work limiting mental health conditions has nearly quadrupled in the last decade. Although a number of factors contribute to this outcome, the digital space has played a disproportionately strong role. Its harm, however, is not intrinsic to the digital space but comes from how products are designed. It is not impossible to fix it. In a sign of the times, a lot of emphasis was placed on systemic impact, with Jules Chappell OBE of Kokoro speaking of “radical collaboration” which is needed to bridge the gap in mental health, estimated at 200 bln USD annually: https://lnkd.in/eYQB9cnN There is much to look forward to in the UK’s Brain Capital Strategy, and a lot of sharing of ideas in Europe, and globally.

A week on from the #BrainEconomySummit in New York and I feel nothing but gratitude to all the fabulous speakers, participants as well as our hosts and partners, who made this unique gathering of #brain enthusiasts so special. The Summit gave us ample evidence for the centrality of the brain in the 21st century. It showed that insights from brain science can be valuable not only in #health, but also in education, architecture, design, and… in efforts to revitalize democracy. The learnings are manifold: 🧠 There is no #health without #brainhealth. Scientists and pharma shared excitement over recent breakthroughs, but the goals need to be set high, making the life-cycle approach dent the rising curve of prevalence.  🧠 New concepts are needed to capture the dynamic shaped by #technology and our relation to it. The further the tech moves, the more the question of human agency becomes relevant. We can only remain in control with the help of our #braincapital. 🧠 The brain is not an island. We are under a host of #environmental and social influences which we need to draw conclusions from it, as discussed in my podcast conversation with Agustin Ibanez: https://lnkd.in/eJNwRJhx 🧠 Interdisciplinarity and #systems thinking are an art without which it will be impossible to navigate the complexity of modern-day society. The idea of the #braineconomy is there to provide a blueprint.    🧠 Whatever the geopolitical fortunes or misfortunes of the day, global conversations make more sense than ever. There can be nothing more inspiring than hearing from Prof. Alfred K. NJAMNSHI his first-hand account of being one of the only two neurologists in his country, at some point in time. This is literally moving a mountain. To be tangible, attention needs to be directed to investing in the #braineconomy, as this is where the ultimate proof of concept will be found. What we said last week in this blueprint https://lnkd.in/eG9nHbxn remains a call to action. A huge thank you 🙏 to all our 45 speakers and moderators, participants, wonderful hosts at Steelcase with Ron Martere and impressive partners who have made the event possible: Lundbeck, Mental Health Services Oversight & Accountability Commission and Hazel Health. Special thanks to the co-conveners Harris Eyre MD PhD and Rym Ayadi as well as the impeccable support of Christine de Visser. Paul Cherukuri Shiva Dustdar Kana Enomoto Devora Kestel Annika Sten Pärson Claudia Chwalisz Upali Nanda, PhD Joel Rosenthal Jonathan Behr Eric W. Bennett Ronel Golden Marco Mohwinckel Tarek Samad Allison Sekuler A/Professor Jo-An Occhipinti (née Atkinson)Burcin Ikiz, PhD Steve Carnevale Julie Hiromoto, FAIA Jie Z. Tina Hjortlund Isabel Cerdá Marcos Mika Pyykkö Orla Galvin BSc PhD Anna Hemlin Michael Platt Tim Foxx cinzia alcidi Diana Saville Frédéric Destrebecq Quazi Haque

Neurotechnology is an essential part of #brainhealth given that some brain conditions cannot be treated by sending a molecule towards the target. Recent developments in the field are nothing short of revolutionary. However, to make sure #neurotechnology serves public good, strong #governance is needed. At the heart of it lies the need to protect #brain #data, which is a special category of personal data, due to its highly sensitive and intimate nature. Advent of neurotechnology creates an avalanche of data and inevitably puts pressures on the existing data protection regimes. AI tools make this even more challenging, as they allow for inferences to be made from brain data with respect to people’s observed behavior. I was delighted to speak at the joint The International Center for Future Generations - ICFG Institute of Neuroethics (IoNx) panel earlier today on “Neurotechnology for Good: Moving Forward Together”, as part of the Neuroscience & Society conference of the UN Science Summit 2024. Our focus was on tensions within #neurotechnology. One of them is the blurred line between medical and non-medical neurotechnology devices. The use of the latter is spreading fast, with different types of headsets offering neurofeedback. The challenge is that they are governed by very different sets of rules. Another tension has to do with the tension between empowerment and vulnerability. When employees wear a neurotechnology device, their abilities can be enhanced but at the expense of risks to privacy and autonomy. Together with my excellent co-panelists, Karen Rommelfanger Virginia Mahieu Arleen Salles, PhD Darrell Porcello and Lucy Tournas, J.D., we agreed that participatory approaches are key. They involve engaging different stakeholders – researchers, technologists, patients, scientists, clinicians, ethicists and clinical practitioners – in a joint debate that can help incorporate a diverse range of perspectives into the shaping of the rules and norms that will govern the future of neurotechnology. Thank you to European Brain Council Brain Capital Alliance for hosting us. Stay tuned for a forthcoming ICFG-IoNx report on the issue in the coming weeks.

We’re proud to be presenting the solutions to move us closer to a more sustainable future at Brain Days during the Science Summit 2024 at the 79th United Nations General Assembly 🌎 🧠 💡 This week, we will be joining discussions that will focus on how we co-create an actionable policy agenda that centers on brain health as the top global priority. We’ll be sharing more updates throughout the week! 🔗 Register for the livestream now:  https://lnkd.in/etwMxf2J European Brain Council | Brain Capital Alliance | Paweł Świeboda | Harris Eyre MD PhD | Andrew Post | Travis Gayles MD, PhD | Stephanie Kramer | Kevin Winters | Frédéric Destrebecq | Josh Golomb | #braineconomy #brainhealth

On the eve of the #BrainEconomySummit in New York, we are proud to present a Discussion Paper on Systemic Investing in the Brain Economy, which draws on several discussions of a group of funders, investors and experts, and builds on the growing international commitment, reflected in the Yaoundé Declaration, as well as forward-looking actions of a number of nations, including Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. You can read the Discussion Paper here: https://lnkd.in/eG9nHbxn Brain Economy is an economy that places prime emphasis on people’s cognitive, emotional and social #skills, proactive and anticipatory approach to #health, as well as respect for planetary boundaries. It is an expression of the systemic nature of the processes behind wellbeing in the 21st century. It therefore extends to policies and practices that cultivate #braincapital in an interconnected fashion in several disciplines, from health to #education and training, as well as #climate policy. We are proposing to pursue the Systemic Initiative as a Public-Private-Philantropic initiative, pooling resources and collaborating on management and execution, or by setting up a new entity, the Brain Economy Institute, and endowing it with resources to pursue the systemic investing approach. Actions to be pursued in the first phase of the Initiative would include: 🧠 Establishment of a Policy Lab, focused on economic, social, and health policy, which is instrumental in creating environments that nurture brain health and brain skills 🧠 Building the Case for Brain Economy Interventions through rigorous data collection and analysis 🧠 Launch of Pilot Projects to showcase the value of anticipatory and preventive actions A stellar panel chaired by Shiva Dustdar will explore the case for systemic investment at the Brain Economy Summit on Wednesday. Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion over the past few weeks. Brain Capital Alliance Harris Eyre MD PhD Rym Ayadi A/Professor Jo-An Occhipinti (née Atkinson) Kacie Kelly Jules Chappell OBE Mark Schoeberl Mika Pyykkö Mikele Epperly Peter Varnum Sarbani Chakraborty Shekhar Saxena Tina Hjortlund William Heisel Indrit Bègue Mitchell Elkind Paul Spencer Steve Carnevale Professor Miranda Wolpert Natasha Müller Kris V. Kana Enomoto Brain Capital Alliance

In the run-up to the #BrainEconomySummit in New York this Wednesday, I reached out to Michael Platt, Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative and Professor of Marketing, Psychology, and Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania. You can listen to our conversation with Michael here: https://lnkd.in/ePvdFTQH Michael’s work is focused on understanding decision-making and social interactions. He is author of “The Leader’s Brain”, a book on enhancing #leadership skills and building stronger teams. One of the ideas that we will discuss in New York is that of #brainskills, which is about how we apply our brains in the real world to solve problems, to work together and make good decisions, but also how we need to equip ourselves for the transition from the muscle economy, via the information economy, to the relationship economy. “We should think of our brains like of a Swiss army knife”, says Platt. “We have toolkits to support specific jobs. This is where brain skills come in, especially social and emotional #skills, which potentially can be foundational to how we interact with #AI”. Michael admits that for neuroscientists, the advent of #AI is more advanced than anticipated. At the same time, “we are dealing with the very worst AI that we will ever encounter for the rest of our lives”. AI will just keep improving. We can reach an equilibrium with technology, only if we are involved in the conversation. When you are interacting with someone that you are psychologically close to, patterns of activity in your brains will be more closely aligned, Platt discovered in his work on the synchrony matrix. This will lead to higher likelihood of engaging in collective action. When our brains begin to synchronize, it percolates to our bodies (https://lnkd.in/eMc3UeUC). We now have a biomarker for closeness. What increases physiological synchrony is conversation. In an op-ed in the New York Times in February, Aneesh Raman, Vice President of LinkedIN and Maria Flynn, President of Jobs for the Future, argued that “A moment like this compels us to think differently about how we are training our workers”. By this they meant that prioritization of technical skills, in their view, had to change. “Today the knowledge economy is giving way to a relationship economy.” Michael Platt will be speaking in a panel on #brainskills, chaired by Rym Ayadi. Program of the #BrainEconomySummit is available here: https://neurocentury.com Brain Capital Alliance Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association - EMEA NeuroCentury Baker Institute Center for Health and Biosciences Mental Health Services Oversight & Accountability Commission Lundbeck Hazel Health