How we age can differ considerably, but more of it is in our hands than we often realise. To start with, we need to get to know ourselves better, learn how to rely on the gist of information that is available as memory loss progresses, and develop an ability to turn off the situations that distract us. Scientifically, there is an emerging body of knowledge about modifiable risk factors for brain disorders, many of which are more prevalent in older age. There are also age-tech solutions to empower people to live the lives they choose.

Dr. Allison Sekuler – Paweł Świeboda’s guest on this episode of NeuroCentury - is passionate about preventing, detecting and treating age-related sensory and cognitive decline. Her research was the first to show that older brains “rewire” themselves to compensate for functional changes. They form new connections, although naturally on a much smaller scale than before the age of 25. They also recruit new brain regions to fill the gaps.

Allison is Sandra A. Rotman Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and Vice-President for Research at Baycrest Health Sciences. She holds faculty positions at University of Toronto and McMaster University. She also has scientific and industry collaborations across North America, the EU, and Asia, and is President and Chief Scientist at CABHI, Center for Ageing and Brain Health Innovation at Baycrest, a solution accelerator established in 2015 with funding of 124 million CAD. CABHI is a unique collaboration of health care organisations, science, industry, not-for-profit and government partners. The centre helps innovators get access to user groups, test and validate their projects.

Music can stretch our cognitive and sensory abilities. Allison plays the drums, has earned her Drum Professional Certificate, and she explains in the podcast why “drumming is the mother of all ageing interventions”.

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Music for the NeuroCentury podcast is composed by Rafał Kulczycki

To measure the strength of a wellbeing economy, governments should adopt the notion of mental wealth, which goes beyond the monetised value of goods and services. Jo-An Occhipinti is the global champion of this concept. She is an epidemiologist and systems scientist, focused on improving the health and wellbeing of populations through systems modelling research. Jo-An is co-director of the Mental Wealth Initiative and head of systems modelling, simulation and data science at the Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney.

This episode of NeuroCentury comes from Sydney, where Paweł Świeboda discusses with Jo-An Occhipinti how to recognise the value of people’s contributions to the informal economy. It is the latter, or “social production”, that strengthens the social fabric and wellbeing of communities and nations. GDP, combined with social production, produces the Mental Wealth of nations. “In essence, Mental Wealth is a macroeconomic measure of the strength of a Wellbeing Economy”, Jo-An says.

If economic structures and policies are optimised only for growing GDP, insufficient attention is paid to impacts on environmental, social, and psychological health. In turn, these undermine economic performance, leading to further narrowing of the focus of economic policy on GDP growth. “Unless our economic models evolve, starting with reconfiguring GDP to account for social production, we will continue to face these pervasive and worsening challenges”.

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Music for the NeuroCentury podcast is composed by Rafał Kulczycki

“Surpassing yourself, so that people can surpass the disease” – this is the motto of Hassan Fadli, Founder of “5 Ironman’s Beat Alzheimer’s” non-profit, aiming to promote awareness, prevention and research in the field of dementia (https://www.5ironmansbeatalzheimer.com/en). Hassan is an engineer by training and profession. A couple of years ago, he decided to honour his father, who has recently died of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), and contribute to the community. Each Ironman race involves 3.86 km of swimming, 180,25 km cycling and 42,20 km of running. It is an exceptional effort, made for an exceptional cause.

In this episode of NeuroCentury, Paweł Świeboda discusses with Hassan Fadli what lies ahead in the brain health campaign. The need for awareness-raising is shown by the recent data from the World Alzheimer Report 2024 (see: https://www.alzint.org/resource/world-alzheimer-report-2024/), which says that 88% of people living with dementia indicate experiencing discrimination. Also, 80% of the general public believes dementia is a normal part of ageing, which it is not (it is a disease).

More is known about the importance of prevention with the latest Lancet Commission report raising to 45% the share of dementia cases worldwide, which could potentilly be prevened or delayed by addressing a range of modifiable risk factors. However, prevention still needs to be translated into a lasting change in lifestyles.

Research in the neuro space is sinigificantly underfunded compared to other disciplines. As a result, only 2 disease-modifying drugs for AD have been authorised by the US FDA since 2000 as well as 9 symtomatic drugs. In comparison, there have been 573 drugs in oncology. Hassan’s non-profit is conducting a pilot phase of a longitudinal multi-case clinical research study with endurance athletes who are at risk for dementia related diseases focusing on their physical health, mental health, and resilience during sports training and competitions. Endurance is what the fight against AD will need with future cure offering the ultimate reward.

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Music for the NeuroCentury podcast is composed by Rafał Kulczycki

Brain health cannot be easily measured by a single, straightforward test. Evaluations often involve multiple methods. One company which is on a mission to open brain health assessment to the wider public is Myndspan. Its approach integrates cognitive tests with MEG, or magnetoencephalography, analysis. MEG is an advanced brain scanning technique, which can provide a reading of brain activity at high temporal and spatial resolution. It has the power to identify issues before symptoms emerge.

In this episode of NeuroCentury, Paweł Świeboda talks to Caitlin Baltzer, Co-Founder and CEO of Myndspan. Caitlin moved into the brain health space from the world of finance and investment a few years ago, when the potential of MEG technology triggered her interest. Today, Myndspan offers brain health reports, combining an assessment of cognitive function and brain connectivity. It has the ambition of increasing the accessibility of this technology for better brain health.

Experts such as Prof. Sylvain Baillett from McGill argue that early MEG brain scanning could be key to forecasting future memory and attention problems. This is because it could read the way amyloid-beta and tau affect brain activity early on, which can predict changes in brain activity when patients experience mild cognitive impairments and AD later in life. In this context, Pawel’s and Caitlin’s conversation explores how brain health assessment methods could be part of a paradigm shift towards early detection and prevention strategies, given that brain disorders tend to be addressed today once symptoms are severe.

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Music for the NeuroCentury podcast is composed by Rafał Kulczycki

The challenge of mental health continues to intensify across various demographics and regions. A recent report by Orygen, Australia's Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, highlights a "global crisis" in youth mental health, describing it as unprecedented and urgent. Delivery of care is where large part of the problem lies. United for Global Mental Health assesses the annual mental health financing gap at the level of USD 200 billion.

In this episode of NeuroCentury, Paweł Świeboda talks to JULES CHAPPELL, CEO of Kokoro (www.kokorochange.com), organization devoted to building coalitions to create a mentally healthy world. Jules is a former UK diplomat who served in Jordan, Iraq, the US, Ethiopia and Guatemala. She now leads a major philanthropic effort to build a people’s component to the world’s socio-economic transition. Jules and Kokoro are advocates of radical collaboration for mental health with a global network of allies, partners and funders.

The conversation explores factors that contribute to the mental health crisis, ranging from the influence of social media, insecure employment, reduced access to affordable housing and fears around climate change. It is also about positive developments such as how mental health is beginning to be treated in the workplace, with many companies offering mental health days, flexible working hours, on-site counseling, and comprehensive mental health benefits. Jules argues that we often have a blind spot for mental health and this needs to change. Just as most leaders know what they need to do on climate, they need to know the same for mental health.

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Music for the NeuroCentury podcast is composed by Rafał Kulczycki

“The climate crisis is a health crisis, but for too long, health has been a footnote in climate discussions” – these words of the WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hold true for brain health as well. However, we are only beginning to understand how the changing climate is negatively impacting the human brain. Emerging evidence suggests that excessive heat can be severely damaging. Heat stress often leads to neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, brain ischemia or neuronal damage. This can result in the worsening of the neurological disease symptoms, increased mental distress, or cognitive dysfunction.

Burcin Ikiz, who is Paweł Świeboda’s guest in this episode of the NeuroCentury podcast, is an award-winning neuroscientist working on neurodegenerative diseases, a founder and chair of the International Neuro Climate Working Group. As of 2023, she leads EcoNeuro, a research initiative dedicated to exploring the intersection of neuroscience and climate change for global health advancement. She leads many global initiatives aimed at addressing the link between climate change and brain health.

The conversation addresses the existing evidence with respect to the impact of climate and environmental pollution on the brain, as well as gaps in our understanding which require further research. It explores the mechanisms of action when pollutants enter the brain, 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.

At the end of the exchange, Burcin shares a few great tips for a brain health routine.

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Music for the NeuroCentury podcast is composed by Rafał Kulczycki

The brain does not function in isolation and there is a growing body of knowledge about the impact of environmental and social challenges on brain health. Air and water pollution, and exposure to plastics, heavy metals, and other toxic substances have a bearing on the brain. Similarly, the impact of inequality and disparity in income, education, and access to healthcare is significant. There is merit in studying the exposome, that is all exposures individuals encounter throughout their lifetime.

In this episode of NeuroCentury, Paweł Świeboda talks to Prof. Agustin Ibáñez, Director of the Latin American Brain Health Institute at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and Professor in Global Brain Health at Trinity College Dublin. Agustin is the main author of a recent paper in Neuron on “Neuroecological links of the exposome and One Health” He is founder and codirector of the ReDLat consortium aimed at fighting dementia collaboratively.

The conversation explores Agustin’s work on the environmental and social exposome, including how it can accelerate brain aging. The brain clock does not tick in a universal, linear fashion but instead captures the entropic, transient nature of time, Agustin says. It ages differently depending on the environment in which it is embedded. Interventions need to be tailored accordingly, but they inevitably have to be long-term and multi-level, given the interrelationship between impacts.

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Music for the NeuroCentury podcast is composed by Rafał Kulczycki

Understanding how we make decisions and what this means for our social interactions is invaluable in fractured societies. Neuroscience has recently offered fresh insights on what drives joy and engagement and where chemistry between people comes from. This allows us to conceptualise “brain skills”, which are focused on our cognitive, emotional and social capabilities.

In this episode of NeuroCentury, Paweł Świeboda talks to Prof. Michael Platt, Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative and Professor of Marketing, Psychology, and Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania. Michael works on applying insights and technology from brain science to business and performance. He is the author of the book “The Leader’s Brain” on enhancing leadership skills and building stronger teams. He has also served as the President of the Society for Neuroeconomics.

The conversation explores Michael Platt’s work on the synchrony matrix, which is based on the realization that in certain situations brain activity becomes synchronized. Michael argues that with more synchrony in the group, one arrives at better decisions. Every conversation we have is part of our brain gym, daily routine which does good to our brain and our societies.

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Music for the NeuroCentury podcast is composed by Rafał Kulczycki