is president of the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association.

Rym Ayadi, PhD

Can we really solve the climate crisis without taking brain science into account? We say, no. 

Our brains are accelerating the climate catastrophe

Indeed, brain health is intertwined with climate change. This relationship often resembles a vicious cycle in which the climate crisis worsens brain skills and brain health, and diminished brain skills and brain health perpetuate climate inaction. Seen from this vantage point, existing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) approaches are incomplete to drive change. Agreeing on emissions targets and trying to stabilize the climate will not be enough if we do not understand how people fit into—and can affect—the system.

 when they take up the European Union Presidency next year.

 Therefore, they are well placed to drive this critical innovation, as fighting climate change is as much a psychological and neurological battle as it is a political or economic one.

Understanding climate change-related factors means one must accept and recognize them. But we know that science denialism is a 

 that blocks otherwise rational and intelligent people from accepting facts and issues.

 Likewise, greed and self-interest of entities and individuals (such as those profiting from carbon emitting industries) are 

 Understanding the neurological underpinnings of greed can help identify the neurocognitive mechanisms that explain selfish and reckless behavior at the expense of others, such as with climate change inaction and denialism.

Amplified by science denialism, a host of climate change-related factors will have devasting neurological effects. For example, air pollution is second only to carbon emissions in 

This is chilling to consider, but it also means our colleagues, companies, and organizations will 

 Furthermore, as climate leads to inevitable sea level risings, mass migration, and more extreme weather events, this will put incredible traumatic stress and pressure on all of us, further tanking our productivity and leading to 

severe mental and brain health conditions

 that may even be transmitted to later generations.

 In additions to rising rates of known neurological and psychiatric conditions, new connections between climatic events and mental health disorders have also emerged, and are known as eco-anxiety, eco-guilt, eco-psychology, ecological grief, solastalgia (distress caused by environmental change), biospheric concern, among others.

The brain science lens gives us a more complete picture of our roadmap out of the climate crisis. We can invest more in the neuroscience research to understand these issues as well as how to screen, diagnose, and treat these ecological mental health issues. For example, the 

 game can be employed to improve brain function and teach individuals about logical fallacies and critical thinking in the context of climate change.

 In the game, players must identify the form of science denial that matches the possible arguments of a climate denialist, such as “How can models predict climate 100 years out when they cannot get the forecast right next week?” and “Climate models are imperfect so they can’t be trusted.” Likewise, 

 was recently developed for addressing cognitive biases of climate change that can help develop solutions to depolarize climate beliefs and promote action to mitigate climate change.

 Overcoming cognitive biases and improving brain function will be key to equip us to prevent climate change, which conversely will help prevent significant harm to brain health.

Furthermore, the ability to creatively shift away from carbon emitting industries to renewable and green technologies requires the development of brain skills such as divergent thinking, resilience, and agility. These brain skills are additionally needed to navigate the complexity of social-ecological challenges of climate change, and they are 

 on how brain skills and brain health can boost economic productivity.

 is key to help the captains of industry, who seem to be hostage to revenues and taxation from carbon emitting industries, see into the long term and recognize their activities are running society into oblivion.

 for clinical mental health and neurological disorders,

 we must increase funding toward neuroscience-inspired approaches to address the climate crisis. We must also broaden stakeholder rights from just shareholders to our employees, communities, and ecosystems in a way that factors in the brain health of these various constituencies. Not doing so is disingenuous and woefully inept.

Existing ESG approaches have driven positive business and societal value; however, they are incomplete. Incorporating brain health into ESG frameworks—shifting to B-ESG—would provide a more comprehensive, robust approach to create long-term positive impacts for the economy, environment, and all stakeholders. Channeling even a small percentage of the existing 

 into neuroscience innovations and solutions as part of a B-ESG approach would have an unprecedented impact.

 A B-ESG approach would also let us leverage the financial and capital markets to clean up other brain-based “pollutants” (eg, workplace stress, toxic effects of social media and 

 leaching into our foodstuffs and water) exacerbating the climate crisis.

 A B-ESG approach would send a signal for more investment in venture capital-type vehicles to fund the scaling of science-backed solutions.

Without brains there is no capital, and without capital there are no brains. Come on COP-26 (

1. Ellsworth W, Smith E, Hynes W, et al. 

. April 5, 2021. Accessed October 27, 2021. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/our-brains-are-accelerating-the-climate-catastrophe

France to prioritise brain research when it takes on EU presidency next year

. 2021. Accessed October 27, 2021. https://sciencebusiness.net/news/france-prioritise-brain-research-when-it-takes-eu-presidency-next-year

A vaccination against the pandemic of misinformation.

. February 22, 2021. Accessed October 27, 2021. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-vaccination-against-the-pandemic-of-misinformation/#

A neural perspective on when and why trait greed comes at the expense of others

News Feature: How air pollution threatens brain health

June 2017. Accessed October 27, 2021. https://wol.iza.org/articles/air-pollution-and-worker-productivity/long.

The impact of climate change on mental health: a systematic descriptive review

Cranky Uncle game: building resilience against misinformation

A framework to address cognitive biases of climate change

 [published online ahead of print, 2021 Sep 14]. 

Applying the neuroscience of creativity to creativity training

Boosting brain health is key to a thriving economy

. August 12, 2021. Accessed October 27, 2021. https://www.ft.com/content/d202b1f3-0a69-4acd-bb1b-e2fa06b21df3

A partnership for transforming mental health globally

Global ESG-data driven assets hit $40.5 trillion. Pension & Investments

. Luettavissa:. Luettu. July 2, 2020. Accessed October 27, 2021. https://www. pionline.com/esg/global-esg-data-driven-assets-hit-405-trillion

The plastic brain: neurotoxicity of micro- and nanoplastics

Articles

As the COP-26 (Conference of the Parties) gets ready to convene to discuss climate change, it is crucial for them to consider brain science.

Brain Science Must Be on COP 26 Agenda

Since the 1980s, shareholder-value ideology (boosting profits above all other considerations) has led to a pattern of corporate behavior with troubling consequences. It has created employment instability, undermined productivity and innovation, exacerbated income inequality, and compromised the environment. The erosion of middle-class jobs has created enormous mental stress and uncertainty. Structural changes in employment help account for this, including the fissuring of the workplace, the end of the norm of a career with one company, and offshoring of employment to low-wage nations (driven by globalization and technological change).

Corporations have implemented these practices purely for financial gain, pursuing strategies to maximize returns to shareholders and high-level executives. This has encouraged an excessive focus on short-term returns and a decline in long-term investment. It has not sufficiently taken into account the human cost of such strategies. As an alternative, there are a number of efforts to advance stakeholder capitalism. Stakeholder capitalism would ensure that the broader interests of workers, local communities, and society are represented on corporate boards. The stakeholder value model thus builds a multi-bottom line approach, which goes beyond shareholder value creation to include a broader array of economic and societal values.

The Economic Burden of Brain Health Disorders

 emotional, behavioral, and cognitive health across the lifespan. In this context, compromised brain health greatly increases the risk of disorders (for example, depression, anxiety, substance misuse, dementias, neurodevelopmental disorders, and neurocognitive disorders).

 In total, brain health disorders cost the global economy more than $3 trillion per year in lost productivity.

In particular, mental health has been a growing concern among workers as the pandemic has worn on. According to data from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), roughly 41% of employees feel burnt out, drained, or exhausted from their work.

 In addition, nearly 1 in 4 employees report frequently feeling down, depressed, or hopeless—yet more than 1 in 3 employees reported having done nothing to cope with these feelings.

 Having a significant proportion of the workforce reporting such symptoms is particularly concerning, as depression is associated with acute changes in cognitive capacity that can persist as residual symptoms after pharmacological treatment.

 These changes in cognitive capacity can have a detrimental impact on problem solving, memory recall, and motivation.

 Given the implications of these effects on workforce productivity and overall well-being, mental health should be among companies most pressing concerns.

Looking beyond mood and psychiatric illness, companies should also consider the implications of dementia and Alzheimer disease. According to a study conducted in Spain, the costs related to loss of labor productivity due to informal caregiving for people with dementia amounted to $5370 per individual per year.

 These informal caregivers experienced partial absenteeism and burdens that disabled them from maximizing productivity. Furthermore, research shows that 23% of individuals who will eventually be diagnosed with Alzheimer disease show accelerated cognitive decline around 5 years before an official diagnosis.

 This accelerated cognitive decline can be clinically referred to as mild cognitive impairment, but it is critical to note that the deterioration in brain health is progressive. Prior to mild cognitive impairment, individuals likely experience a period of undiagnosed mild cognitive decline 6 to 7 years prior, though they may be able to remain in the workforce during this time. 

Notably, issues of mental health and cognitive health are often considered separately, although they are inextricably linked. Brain Capital provides a mechanism to consider these in a more integrated way. 

Brain Capital is a novel form of capital that puts a premium on brain health and brain skills.

 Brain skills are critical in a digitized economy and include self-control, emotional intelligence, creativity, compassion, altruism, systems thinking, collective intelligence, and cognitive flexibility. Brain health must be optimized to support the necessary brain skills to thrive.

We refer to a digitized economy that places a premium on cerebral rather than manual skills as a Brain Economy. Brain Capital is clearly critical in an already digitized economy, especially as automation replaces traditional jobs that relied on manual skill.

 In a Brain Economy, innovation is a tangible and increasingly pivotal measure of employee productivity, and innovation is channeled through employee thoughts, ideas, and creativity.

Innovative Approaches to Promoting Brain Capital in the Workplace

Several approaches can promote Brain Capital in the workplace. These range from multiorganization workplace initiatives (

), to novel accounting frameworks, to social impact investing, to venture capital investing, to novel indices for tracking and measuring issues over time.

Table 1. Examples of multi-organizational workplace initiatives in action

One example is emotional flexibility training for private sector knowledge workers. In 1 pilot study conducted to explore the effects of such a program, emotional flexibility advancement was found to be a highly effective treatment in clinical settings for depression, anxiety, and chronic pain.

 This approach—which had not previously been empirically explored with private sector, high-paced, high-demanding, and highly educated knowledge workers—demonstrated broad improvements in self-efficacy for those in the treatment group versus the control group. These results suggest that emotional flexibility boosts both well-being and performance.

Human capital can be a company’s greatest asset; it can make or break the business strategy and is a key differentiator. A company’s intangible assets, including human capital and culture, are now estimated to comprise on average 52% of a company’s market value.

 To date, given the intangible nature of strong corporate culture, stakeholder leadership, and employee well-being, companies have struggled to quantify the contribution of their human capital assets. But the principles of the Human Capital Accounting Framework, recently published by the World Economic Forum and Willis Towers Watson, could help firms measure Brain Capital effectively.

 A Human Capital Accounting Framework couldenable a company to monitor and assess the return on its investments in its employees in the same way that it measures returns on financial and intellectual capital.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has developed health metrics that include social impact in current sustainability indexes.

 Encouraged by the added measure of certainty and transparency surrounding their activities, investors large and small would allocate more capital to financing positive initiatives, and entrepreneurs would devise business models whose ambition and growth potential match investor and market demand. Continued refinement of these taxation and accounting practices that prioritize Brain Capital may support improved workplace and societal well-being.

Venture capital companies have recently made record-breaking investments in mental health, with $637 million invested in more than 60 different mental health companies, almost 23 times the investment observed in 2013.

 Lyra Health was just valued at more than $1 billion, making it the first unicorn in mental health.

 The company, which provides mental health benefits for large employers, offers an array of in-person and remote behavioral therapy that helps remove access barriers to high-quality mental health care. The demand for teletherapy services is soaring, particularly as employers look to support workers during the 

. The company has added more than 800,000 new members since the start of the pandemic.

Novel Indices for Tracking and Investing in Brain Capital

 The central components of Brain Capital need to be formalized and developed into an investment plan. Since one cannot manage what one does not measure, developing a Brain Capital Index (BCI) to track the progress of this approach is critical.

Such an index could help track the Brain Capital impacts of companies and governments. The index could also track the value of investments in this area. If such an index were investable—as is the case for mutual funds or exchange-traded fund—it would encourage investment in the entire space by opening it to the passive investor. Index-tracking funds have recently passed the $10 trillion mark of assets under management globally, surpassing assets under active management for the first time. Attracting even a small fraction of global passive investment using a BCI would transform the Brain Economy as a whole. Consequently, creating a well-defined and easily computed index is a key part of investing in a Brain Economy.

The BCI could be associated with a range of potential components. Health-related metrics could include incidence and prevalence metrics, access to care, and relapse rates. In particular, access to mental health care for child and youth populations is of paramount importance, so coverage for families and employees should be prioritized. As of September 9, 2020, the National Council for Behavioral Health stated on its website that the demand for mental healthcare is at an all-time high; however, the ratio of professionals to patients is incredibly low, suggesting it should be tracked. To improve access, more efforts toward training and incentivizing providers need to be made. A BCI could also track purpose at work, as it has been shown to have a range of brain health benefits, including reducing the likelihood of dementia and stroke.

 Created in partnership between Thrive Global, SAP SuccessFactors, Qualtrics, and Fortune, the Thrive XM Index aims to assess and quantify individual experiences to gauge how employee well-being is directly connected to business outcomes. According to the Thrive Global website, the Index will combine employee-reported experience information, HR-reported performance insights, and business performance data, allowing companies to receive a comprehensive view of the way experience metrics (X-data™) and HR metrics (O-data™) can collectively serve as leading indicators for business performance.

Refining the Return on Investment Analysis

An emphasis on returns on investment (ROI) is critical for tracking and investing in Brain Capital. According to a recent report by Deloitte Canada, a pioneering research initiative determined that positive ROI for workplace mental health initiatives are within reach for Canadian businesses.

 Companies with mental health programs in place for 1 year had a median annual ROI of $1.62 for every dollar invested, and the median annual ROI more than doubled for companies with programs in place for 3 or more years, valued at $2.18 for every dollar spent.

 Components of the research included determining and tracking key performance indicators, assessing the effectiveness of interventions with employees, and regularly calculating ROI. Though often overlooked, these elements are essential to demonstrating the financial and nonfinancial benefits of mental health programs. Robust performance measurement enables organizations to “achieve desired program impact, improve adoption rates, and enhance decision-making.”

 Deloitte’s work helps build a framework for determining the ROI of workplace mental health initiatives. However, for optimal, far-reaching impact, the framework must be expanded to include a wider span of issues that Brain Capital encapsulates, such as brain skill issues and aging brain health conditions.

Recommendations for Building Brain Capital at Work

To propel this field forward in the coming years, clear recommendations are required for all stakeholders. These stakeholders include human resource managers, employee benefit managers, social impact investors, and beyond. Recommendations are outlined in 

Table 2. Recommendations for stakeholders

Brain and mind issues must play a central role in measuring the sustainability and societal impact of investment in a workforce. A Brain Capital perspective needs to be integrated into existing frameworks, programs, and investment models to prevent or mitigate the profound effects and economic toll brain health disorders have on the workplace and society.

is a pre-medical human biology student at Stanford University.

is an MD candidate at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

is an associate with the PRODEO Institute and Thiel Fellow at Stanford University.

is head of the OECD New Approaches to Economic Challenges Unit and Senior Advisor to the OECD Secretary General.

is a neuroscientist and senior director at the Milken Institute Center for Strategic Philanthropy.

is the founding director of the Center for Brain Health at UT Dallas.

is a T. Boone Pickens Distinguished Scientist at the Center for BrainHealth, a co- director at Global Brain Health Institute, professor emeritus at Trinity College Dublin, and founding director of its Institute of Neuroscience.

is the global head of Science for Minds at Johnson & Johnson.

is a co-founder of the PRODEO Institute, adjunct associate professor with the Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Trials (IMPACT) at Deakin University, and an instructor with the Global Brain Health Institute.

1. Ternes K, Iyengar V, Lavretsky H, et al. 

Brain health INnovation diplomacy: a model binding diverse disciplines to manage the promise and perils of technological innovation

2. Patel V, Saxena S, Lund C, et al. The Lancet Commission on global mental health and sustainable development. 

3. Schiavo, A. ‘It’s a fool’s choice’ when employers ignore investments in mental health benefits. 

https://www.benefitnews.com/news/its-a-fools-choice-when-employers-ignore-invest-in-mental-health-benefits

4. Perini G, Ramusino MC, Sinforiani E, et al. Cognitive impairment in depression: recent advances and novel treatments. 

5. Farré M, Kostov B, Haro JM, et al. Costs and burden associated with loss of labor productivity in informal caregivers of people with dementia: results from Spain. 

6. Daley A. Productivity, GDP and Alzheimer’s. 

The American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research

https://www.theamericanconsumer.org/2016/05/productivity-gdp-alzheimers/

7. Smith E, Ali D, Wilkerson B, et al. A Brain Capital grand strategy: toward economic reimagination. 

8. Wilson M, Wilkerson B, Price T, et al. BRAIN Health + BRAIN Skills = BRAIN Capital. 2011. Accessed February 15, 2021. 

http://www.mentalhealthroundtable.ca/report/MHR_FinalReport.pdf

9. One Mind at Work. Transforming mental health on a global scale is within reach. Updated 2020. Accessed February 15, 2021. 

10. SHRM. SHRM Foundation, One Mind, Psych Hub launch mental health and wellness in the workplace initiative for employers. News release. July 15, 2020. 

https://www.shrm.org/about-shrm/press-room/press-releases/pages/shrm-foundation-one-mind-psych-hub-launch-mental-health-and-wellness-in-the-workplace-initiative-for-employers.aspx

11. PsychHub. Mental health & wellness in the workplace. Accessed February 15, 2021. 

https://psychhub.com/initiatives/mental-health-wellness-in-the-workplace/

12. American Psychiatric Assocation. Center for workplace mental health. Accessed February 15, 2021. 

"R U OK?": A meaningful question to foster a culture of caring at EY

http://workplacementalhealth.org/News-Events/News-Listing/R-U-OK-A-Meaningful-Question

14. UsAgainstAlzheimer's. The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer Disease (CEOi). Accessed February 15, 2021. 

https://www.usagainstalzheimers.org/our-enterprise/CEOi

15. Brassey J, van Witteloostuijn A, Huszka C, et al. Emotional flexibility and general self-efficacy: A pilot training intervention study with knowledge workers. 

16. Klemash S, Neill BM, Smith JC, et al. How and why human capital disclosures are evolving. 

Harvard Law School Forum on Coporate Governance

. November 15, 2019. Accessed February 15, 2021. 

https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2019/11/15/how-and-why-human-capital-disclosures-are-evolving/

17. World Economic Forum. Human capital as an asset: an accounting framework to reset the value of talent in the new world of work. August 19, 2020. Accessed February 15, 2021. 

https://www.weforum.org/reports/human-capital-as-an-asset-an-accounting-framework-to-reset-the-value-of-talent-in-the-new-world-of-work

18. Global Reporting Initiative. Catalyst for a sustainable world. Accessed February 15, 2021. 

https://www.globalreporting.org/about-gri/

19. Shah RN, Berry OO. The Rise of venture capital investing in mental health. 

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2770792

20. Landi H. Lyra Health gains unicorn status as demand for teletherapy soars. 

https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/lyra-health-lands-110m-funding-round-as-demand-for-teletherapy-soars

21. Dhingra N, Emmett J, Samo A, et al. Igniting individual purpose in times of crisis. 

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/igniting-individual-purpose-in-times-of-crisis

22. Deloitte. Realizing the positive ROI of supporting employees’ mental health. 

https://www2.deloitte.com/ca/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/mental-health-roi.html

23. Big Society Capital. Exploring the role for social impact investing in preventing and tackling mental ill health. November 6, 2019. Accessed February 15, 2021. 

https://bigsocietycapital.com/latest/exploring-role-social-impact-investing-preventing-and-tackling-mental-ill-health/

24. Karsh M, Kishan S, Marsh A, et al. From mental health to credit risk, here are next big ESG topics. 

. October 23, 2020. Accessed February 15, 2021. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-23/from-mental-health-to-credit-risk-here-are-next-big-esg-topics

25. Chapman J. Investors and entrepreneurs need to address the mental health crisis in startups. 

. December 30, 2018. Accessed February 15, 2021. 

https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/30/investors-and-entrepreneurs-need-to-address-the-mental-health-crisis-in-startup-culture/

Brain health disorders cost the global economy more than $3 trillion per year in lost productivity. What can we do about it?

Smart Growth: the Case for Measuring Brain Capital

In 2019, the software company Cloudflare made its initial public offering. Two of its 3 co-founders celebrated, while its third co-founder lived with a difficult diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia. A 

 chronicles his heart-wrenching decline, from a superstar programmer to a shell of his former self.

It is tragic to lose a brain with incredible aptitude. Countless others have suffered and will suffer the same fate: a brain robbed of its full potential.

Disruptions to brain health, such as mental health conditions and neurodegenerative diseases, are becoming increasingly prevalent. These disorders, many of which are preventable or at least treatable, carry heavy tolls on families and communities. Additionally, they cost the global economy trillions of dollars per year in lost productivity; in 2010, it was estimated that brain health disorders cost $2.5 to $8.5 trillion.

 This cost is expected to double by 2030.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the global decline in brain health. Not only does the COVID virus directly attack the brain (leading to symptoms ranging from brain fog to seizures), but the pandemic has also generated excessive fear, 

anxieties, sleep disturbances, and forced social isolation

 In addition to the personal toll, there is a concrete economic cost: McKinsey & Company suggest that roughly 90% of employers have noted declines in employee behavioral health during the pandemic (along with concomitant losses in productivity).

How will the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data influence these trends? Will they pose new dangers to brain health and the current economic order? Or could they be beneficial too?

The use of data is a double-edged sword; while AI can help us tackle tough problems in areas like climate change and healthcare, it also presents a risk to millions of individuals’ livelihoods. McKinsey estimates that automation threatens to displace “as many as 375 million workers—or roughly 14% of the global workforce” by 2030.

To manage this transition, business, civil society, and government leaders must initiate large-scale reskilling efforts. In these programs, brain skills will take center stage. Meta-cognition—that is, self-awareness of your own learning process—is central to this. Since any individual’s work skills will have a limited shelf life in a fast-changing world, the ability to understand and learn new things throughout one’s life is crucial.

Employees of the 21st century must continuously acquire knowledge, creativity, and flexibility to race with, and not against, machines. Doing so means re-imagining our brains and their value.

Brain Capital is a form of capital relevant to a complex, interconnected, and fragile global economy that puts a premium on brain skills and brain health.

 Brain skills include self-control, emotional intelligence, creativity, mindfulness, compassion, altruism, systems thinking, metacognition, critical thinking and cognitive flexibility; these skills are all dependent on brain health. Optimized Brain Capital creates flourishing, a state when people find fulfillment in their lives, social connectedness, and accomplishing meaningful and worthwhile tasks.

The growing role of artificial intelligence in the global economy has inspired the saying that “data is the new oil.”

 While the importance of data is hard to overstate, we believe that the convergence of several factors makes Brain Capital a resource essential for understanding and assessing the success of our modern economy and society.

The Brain Capital concept applies at the individual, organizational, national, and global levels. The individual certainly receives a massive payback from investing in Brain Capital. Similarly, organizations who can nurture and support Brain Capital will find performance and results significantly improving. At a national level, we believe that policymakers will increasingly recognize the importance of optimizing Brain Capital for national progress. If the nation takes care of Brain Capital, many things will then take care of themselves. At the global level, many of the immense challenges that can only be solved collectively—climate change, biodiversity loss, for example—require co-operative problem solving and associated skills emphasized by Brain Capital.

Improving Mental Toughness and Resilience

A focus on Brain Capital can help nurture key higher-level brain skills, like resilience, mindfulness, grit, adaptability, and confidence. Resilience is essential to navigating shocks of constant change, and the shocks of the 21st century are set to be of unprecedented magnitude. Climate change, nuclear weapons, biotechnology, cyber-terrorism, and advanced machine learning systems might all pose existential risks to humanity, as well as increasing stress at the individual level. To respond to the inevitable crises of this century, we must show extraordinary resilience, both collectively and individually. COVID-19 has shaken the global psyche and socio-economic systems. Renewed commitment to inventing new methods and approaches will be essential to help our economy and societies recover from the COVID-19 crisis and to transform it, hence enhancing its resilience to future shocks and crises. 

In recent years, misinformation and science denialism have played a large role in global politics and public opinion. Misinformation in the era of COVID-19 is directly harmful, encouraging unsafe practices based on false but popular beliefs (eg, masks can lead to oxygen deprivation).

 The President of the Red Cross even labeled the dissemination of fake news about vaccines a “second pandemic.”

 Strengthening brain skills can help people evaluate existing information, become better critical thinkers, and avoid the proliferation of dangerous fictions.

While we believe Brain Capital deserves to play a larger role in the global conversation and policy, the title of this piece does not intend to disparage the importance of data. On the contrary, we believe that the 2 resources are complementary and inextricably linked.

Data are needed to improve brain wellness: artificial intelligence is enabling automated mental health solutions and aiding in the early diagnosis of neurological diseases. Digitization of existing, proven techniques allows scaling of benefits (eg 

 with mindfulness meditation). The scaling of proven techniques is critical in low- and middle-income countries where there are not enough trained mental health care workers—hence e-health, m-health, and telemedicine are vital.

 More broadly, computational neuroscience is a burgeoning field. The 

 in the US, which seeks to map functional circuits in the brain, is leveraging the latest and greatest in computational techniques. In Europe, the 

 is using supercomputers to build a digital simulation of the brain. The 

 seeks to compile data on the connections between neurons in the brain. There is also growing interest in the development of brain-computer interfaces (such as Musk’s 

) which aim to further interweave minds with machines.

Similarly, Brain Capital is the key resource needed to improve the data ecosystem: investment in brain health and brain skills helps foster the growth of curious, intelligent, well-adjusted knowledge workers to extract and use data. Further, Brain Capital will help ensure that society can function at the intersection of intelligence and wisdom, instilling robust ethical frameworks into actions that ensure more equitable progress.

Despite the current planetary emergencies and challenges that await us, there are reasons to be hopeful. For instance, the economic importance of mental healthcare has inspired many business leaders to act. McKinsey & Company

 have both recently published reports on the importance of mental health in the workplace. The 

 (created in partnership between Thrive Global, SAP, Qualtrics, and Fortune) aims to quantify employee well-being and its impact on business goals. An article in the 

$4 is returned to the economy for every $1 spent caring for people with mental health issues

 As many have come to believe that mental healthcare is an important and underserved market, money has followed in suit. Venture capital funding for mental health startups has skyrocketed: a recent editorial in 

 notes that in 2019, VC firms “invested a record-breaking $637 million in more than 60 different mental health–oriented companies, which is more than 22.8 times the investment in 2013.”

All this initial evidence points to the immense benefits of optimizing Brain Capital at every level. We hypothesize that Brain Capital has enormous positive externalities and spillovers. If Brain Capital is optimized at the individual level, it has a strong positive effect on family, community, and co-workers. If my organization nurtures Brain Capital, it makes my work (and life) better, and contributes to the nation, including in reducing individual and economic losses from brain disorders. If the nation focuses on Brain Capital, individuals and organizations all benefit.

We also hypothesize that the constituent elements of Brain Health and Brain Skills are themselves highly synergistic. If my critical thinking improves, my creativity also goes up. If I emotional intelligence is strengthened, resilience, grit and confidence improve. If my mindfulness improves, the propensity for mental illness declines.

What consequences will big data and artificial intelligence have on brain health and economics? 

Rym Ayadi, PhD

Articles

Brain Science Must Be on COP 26 Agenda

Smart Growth: the Case for Measuring Brain Capital

Move Over Data, Brain Capital is the New Oil