A decade ago in Davos, I spoke on a panel with Dr. Aki Hintsa, an orthopedic and trauma surgeon who was coaching Formula One drivers on brain health and performance. He was also working with Dr. Tommy Wood, a neuroscientist whose new book on brain health, The Stimulated Mind, comes out this month. In the ten years since, brain health has migrated to the mainstream, jumping from the pages of academic journals like JAMA to major book releases and hugely popular podcasts.

The common definition of brain health has also changed. Previously, brain health conversations focused on cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s. Now we see that brain health is a continuum that spans our whole life, from everyday mental wellbeing and cognitive performance to the long-term management of neurodegenerative disease. Perhaps the biggest change has been the compelling recent science that shows the most powerful tool we have to improve our brain health at every stage of life and mitigate cognitive decline is our daily habits. 

Plus, demand for breakthroughs in this field is high. Over 3 billion people live with a neurological condition, making it the leading cause of disability worldwide. This is why I believe brain health is the next major healthcare frontier. 

The impact of daily behaviors on brain health

There will no doubt be many new brain health drugs introduced in the next few years. If they work, of course, we should get them to everybody who needs them. But that’s only one kind of innovation, known as “de novo innovation,” or coming up with something completely new. “Synthetic innovation” is about taking known science and applying it in new ways. I would argue that synthetic innovation can be just as transformative because it can help us make dramatic improvements in our brain health right........

© Time