Investing in the 21st Century Brain

‘Investment’ in the brain can be viewed in two ways: personal development and professional profit. We all have a personal interest in the brain, since it is the basis of our unique minds. The wonderful thing about being a human being is that although we are born with a full complement of brain cells, it is the growth of connections between the cells that accounts for the growth of the brain after birth. These connections reflect the unique sequence, a life-story, of individual experiences and interactions with the outside world: a phenomenon known as ‘plasticity’ that leads to the personalisation of the physical brain, amounting to a ‘mind’. Given the unprecedented challenges posed by the digital world to thinking, emotions and well-being, we need to devise the best ways for optimising fulfilment of each individual’s potential, as well evaluating the best possible investments arising from digital technologies and AI. The other significant factor for the well being of the 21st Century brain, and indeed in the opportunity for high return investment, is the increase in prevalence of Alzheimer’s Disease. The global market for AD treatment will more than double in value from $4.9 billion in 2013, to reach an estimated $13.3 billion in 2023. However, the challenge is to devise a treatment that tackles not the consequence of neurodegeneration i.e., amyloid plaques, but the actual cause. We shall explore a disruptive approach based on the pivotal mechanism of degeneration, leading to a possible pre-symptomatic lateral flow test for Alzheimer’s as well as a first-in-class therapeutic with proven efficacy in a living animal model. The combination of a presymptomatic screen coupled with an drug treatment that halted cell loss, would amount to an effective ‘cure’. This would surely be a great investment, both on a personal as well as a professional level!

Baroness Susan Greenfield

CBE, FRCP (Hon)

Baroness Greenfield, Founder and CEO of Neuro-Bio Ltd is a neuroscientist, writer and broadcaster. She has published over 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals, based mainly at Oxford University but has held research fellowships at the College de France Paris, NYU Medical Center New York and Melbourne University. She holds 32 honorary degrees from UK and foreign universities, has received numerous honours including the Legion d’Honneur from the French Government, an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians, The American Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award, and The Australian Medical Research Society Medal. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

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