MIT Solve launches Brain Health Challenge: How can every person improve their brain health and mental resilience?

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As a Judge and mem­ber of the Chal­lenge’s Lead­er­ship Team, let me share some rel­e­vant news for sharp brains world­wide: MIT Solve (a recent MIT off­shoot to iden­ti­fy and accel­er­ate scal­able social solu­tions) has just launched a Brain Health Chal­lenge to address the key ques­tion: How can every per­son improve their brain health and men­tal resilience?

Sum­ma­ry: Brain and men­tal well-being are crit­i­cal to the health and hap­pi­ness of the 7.5 bil­lion peo­ple who inhab­it our plan­et. The way we feel, solve prob­lems, and inter­act with one anoth­er all depend on the health of our brains. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, brain dis­or­ders that com­pro­mise our men­tal and cog­ni­tive func­tion are strik­ing­ly com­mon, affect­ing 10 per­cent of the world’s pop­u­la­tion and 20 per­cent of chil­dren and ado­les­cents. These disorders—mental, neu­ro­log­i­cal, and sub­stance use—can occur at any stage of life, from ear­ly child­hood to adult­hood, and are increas­ing­ly com­mon. Treat­ment is inad­e­quate or nonex­is­tent in many parts of the world, espe­cial­ly in low-income countries…The Solve com­mu­ni­ty aims to unearth and sup­port inno­v­a­tive solu­tions to improve brain health and fit­ness for all. To do so, the Solve com­mu­ni­ty can pro­pose non-inva­sive, non-phar­ma­co­log­i­cal, scal­able tech­nol­o­gy solu­tions that:

  • Empow­er peo­ple to improve their over­all brain health and fit­ness, men­tal well-being, and men­tal resiliency
  • Enable ear­li­er, more-accu­rate diag­no­sis of problems
  • Increase access to and effi­ca­cy of treatments
  • Help build a pos­i­tive, stig­ma-free cul­ture in which all peo­ple feel empow­ered to proac­tive­ly seek bet­ter brain health and men­tal fitness

To learn more about the Brain Health Challenge: