Update: The Neurotech Revolution Could Lead To ‘Frankenstein’ Brains. Here’s How We Avoid It

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Time for Sharp­Brains’ August e‑newsletter, this time start­ing with a con­ver­sa­tion whose time has come…

New thinking:

Year 2030, your col­lege-age daugh­ter, who has nor­mal hear­ing, has been pound­ing on you to get the lat­est hear­ing aid that allows one to can­cel out noise on demand, ampli­fy select­ed ambi­ent con­ver­sa­tions at will, and can eas­i­ly con­nect to the music store. Should you buy one for her? Maybe you should buy one not only for her, but also for you as you enter your 60s? Keep read­ing The Neu­rotech Rev­o­lu­tion Could Lead To ‘Franken­stein’ Brains. Here’s How We Avoid It

• Exec­u­tive Func­tions in Health and Disease
• Why we need “low-cost mon­i­tor­ing tech­nolo­gies to track cog­ni­tive process­es at an indi­vid­ual lev­el”, “peo­ple-cen­tered well­ness solu­tions that inte­grate brain health fac­tors” and “inter­ven­tions for healthy fetus/ baby development”
• Would you–or should you–undergo med­ical treat­ments to improve your body and mind and your chances of employment?

New research:

• Large study high­lights the cog­ni­tive enhance­ment val­ue of both high­er edu­ca­tion and life­long learning
• Stud­ies rein­force the crit­i­cal impor­tance of ADHD treat­ment monitoring
• AARP sur­vey finds most com­mon bar­ri­er for adults to add more men­tal­ly-stim­u­lat­ing activ­i­ties: Know­ing where to start
• Opi­oid inhibitor nal­trex­one (often used to treat addic­tions) can reduce feel­ings of social connection

New tools:

• 16 Final­ists announced @ MIT Solve’s Brain Health Challenge
• Suzhou Insti­tute of Bio­med­ical Engi­neer­ing and Tech­nol­o­gy (SIBET) to host “brain-imag­ing factory”
• $3 mil­lion avail­able for inno­v­a­tive solu­tions aimed at old­er adults via The Cen­tre for Aging + Brain Health Inno­va­tion (CABHI)
• The Nation­al Sci­ence Foun­da­tion (NSF) funds Neu­rotech­nol­o­gy Hubs
• Brainy Inno­va­tion Tips from Edward Kli­phuis, Invest­ment Direc­tor with Mer­ck Ventures

Upcoming events (and discount codes):

• Sep­tem­ber 6–7th, Wash­ing­ton, DC: Brain­Fu­tures and The Future of Brain Health and Enhance­ment (“sharp­brains” = $100 off)
• Octo­ber 19–22nd, Los Ange­les: Brain Longevi­ty Ther­a­py Train­ing by the Alzheimer’s Research & Pre­ven­tion Foun­da­tion (“sharp­brains” = $75 off). Also avail­able as Livestream (“sharp­brainsLS” = $50 off)
• Decem­ber 5–7th, online: Pre­lim­i­nary Agen­da announced @ 2017 Sharp­Brains Vir­tu­al Sum­mit: Brain Enhance­ment in the Dig­i­tal Age (“sharp2017” = 10% off)

Have a great September!

The Sharp­Brains Team