A call to action: We need the right incentives to guide ethical innovation in neurotech and healthcare

_______________ Ana Maiques, CEO and founder of neu­rotech com­pa­ny Neu­ro­electrics, writes up a com­pelling case in her recent arti­cle, sum­ma­rized thus: “I strong­ly believe that Neu­rotech entre­pre­neurs can not afford not to be involved in neu­roethics. It is sim­ply not an option any­more.” I share that belief and would like to take it one step further:…

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European tech initiative zooms in on digital biomarkers and mental health

EIT Health focus­ing on dig­i­tal bio­mark­ers and men­tal & brain health (Health Europa): “Announc­ing the sec­ond year of their inno­va­tion pro­gramme, Wild Card, EIT Health, a net­work of best-in-class inno­va­tors backed by the EU, are look­ing to chal­lenge tal­ent to deliv­er real solu­tions to the health­care mar­ket. This year, Wild Card will focus on two chal­lenges: mental…

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On Mental Health and the advent of Digital Phenotyping

___ Build­ing the Ther­mome­ter for Men­tal Health (The Dana Foun­da­tion): “Imag­ine that you vis­it your physi­cian com­plain­ing of a fever and, rather than tak­ing out a ther­mome­ter, they begin hov­er­ing their “edu­cat­ed hands” over you. Grad­u­al­ly, they press down against your arm to gain a full impres­sion of your skin’s tem­per­a­ture and the “deep­er seated…

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Update: Large study highlights the limited role of genetics in mental health and the importance of effective early interventions

___ Dear read­er, Time for Sharp­Brains month­ly e‑newsletter, dis­cussing the lat­est inno­va­tions for brain health and men­tal health, and open­ing in this occa­sion with a fas­ci­nat­ing study track­ing 2,232 twins over 10+ years. New research: Large study with twins high­lights the lim­it­ed role of genet­ics in men­tal health and the impor­tance of effec­tive ear­ly inter­ven­tions for ADHD How…

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Welcoming “Como Investir no Seu Cérebro?”

It is a plea­sure to announce the pub­li­ca­tion of the Por­tuguese edi­tion of The Sharp­Brains Guide to Brain Fit­ness, by Edições Sílabo, and with a beau­ti­ful pref­ace by Dr. Alexan­dre Cas­tro Cal­das, Direc­tor of the Health Sci­ences Insti­tute in Lis­bon! If you speak Por­tuguese here’s a great book on brain health and brain fit­ness (lit­er­al­ly, the title…

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Update: Only 5% of US children ages 8–11 follow guidelines recommended for brain development

___ Dear read­er, Time for Sharp­Brains month­ly e‑newsletter, dis­cussing the lat­est inno­va­tions for brain health and men­tal health, and open­ing in this occa­sion with an impor­tant wake-up call. New research: Only 5% of US chil­dren ages 8–11 fol­low screen time, sleep and exer­cise guide­lines rec­om­mend­ed for brain devel­op­ment Neu­ro­feed­back or med­ica­tion to treat ADHD? New study reinforces…

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