5YF Episode #19: Neuroscape Founder Dr. Adam Gazzaley

Future of the brain: Digital enhancements

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Today, we explore the future of cognitive therapies and new digital innovations enhancing our brain functions.

We need better treatments for our minds, and digital therapeutics are the frontier

It is remarkable that we are creating new forms of intelligence yet still lack a full understanding of how our own brains work. That might not be the case for much longer. Our understanding of the brain is evolving rapidly, and scientists are now seeking out ways to enhance its function. Like a computer, our minds can be optimized for better performance, issues debugged, and shelf life extended.

Benefiting from advances in sensors, computing power, and AI technology, researchers have developed sophisticated methods to track brain activity, deliver targeted digital therapies, and enhance brain performance. Modern techniques that are now being tested in combination with an ancient one, psychedelics.

To explore what this future could look like, I sat with someone who has pioneered the field and dedicated his career in pursuit of shaping our minds, Dr. Adam Gazzaley. An entrepreneur, investor, and distinguished professor of Neurology at UCSF, where he founded the groundbreaking Neuroscape Lab.

My 5 Year Outlook:

• AI brain trainers
• Psychedelic-enhanced digital therapies
• Sensory Computer Interfaces

Curious? Read on as I unpack each below 👇🏼

AI Brain Trainers

What can be measured can be improved. Our speed, fitness, and strength are the domains of our personal trainers, who create weekly routines to help us achieve our best physical selves. Just as we track our physical progress, we can monitor and improve our brain health, pushing the boundaries of our cognitive potential with the help of specialized AI trainers.

Our brains have this phenomenon known as plasticity, that it modifies itself, its structure, its chemistry, its function, all in response to experiences

The first generation of cognitive training emerged as well-researched online games, such as Lumosity, which reached over 100 million users. While these games helped raise awareness of using games to stimulate brain functions, they were similar to traditional puzzles like crosswords, essentially offering the same game with varying levels of difficulty.

Recent advancements have transformed cognitive training into rich digital experiences with highly adaptive content and closed-loop systems powered by algorithms. These algorithms adjust challenges and rewards in real-time, allowing games to continuously evolve and cater to the specific needs of users. These modern cognitive experiences immerse users and respond dynamically, often with minimal input cues.

The arrival of generative AI has accelerated this trend by enabling games to produce personalized content streams in real-time. This shift moves gameplay away from structured formats to more adaptive, AI-powered stimuli. Additionally, generative AI has facilitated the development of conversational formats and coaching, introducing the concept of AI brain trainers.

These advancements have culminated in the first cohort of games being clinically tested and released as FDA-approved digital therapies. Such therapies are clinically proven to be incredibly effective alternatives to pharmaceuticals, even in smaller doses. At a minimum, the future points to complementary digital companion treatments that enhance current medical practices. At its full potential, this technology could serve as a substitute for prescription drugs and introduce a new form of digital therapy.

Dr. Adam Gazzaley, Founder of Neuroscape

Dr. Adam Gazzaley, a Distinguished Professor of Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry at UC San Francisco and the Founder & Executive Director of Neuroscape, a neuroscience center engaged in technology creation and scientific research of novel brain assessment and optimization approaches. Adam is also co-founder of Akili, a company developing therapeutic video games, that brought the first FDA approved game to market. He is also a founder of JAZZ Venture Partners, a venture capital firm with close to $1B AUM investing in experiential technology to improve human performance. He has been a scientific advisor for dozens of companies including Apple, General Electric and PepsiCo. Adam has filed multiple patents and authored over 180 scientific articles.

Psychedelic-enhanced Digital Therapies

Dr. Gazzaley is dedicated to delivering the most visceral and immersive experiences to his patients to maximize the potential impact on the brain. In this pursuit, he created the world’s first Sensory Immersion Vessel, providing a unique multi-sensory experience. Virtual reality headsets and headphones deliver sight and sound, wind machines provide touch sensations, and scent dispensers perfume the air.

With all the senses activated, the user embarks on a journey while their brain activity is monitored. Computer models create and recreate visuals based on inputs received from the patient’s brainwaves. This powerful setting is highly attuned to create and adapt for maximum impact.

The future of digital medicine will involve AI, both on the interpretive side and the generative side, presented in a full multi-sensory, immersive environment

Amidst this high-tech backdrop, an ancient remedy is being reintroduced with great promise—psychedelics. These substances can heighten the sensory experience of the patient, making the program more compelling. Their physical impact on the brain is also prized, as psychedelics have been proven to increase brain plasticity, enhancing the brain’s receptiveness to structural changes and the creation of entirely new neural pathways.

This points to a future where digital therapeutic treatments could have a higher and longer-lasting impact. While also providing a safer and more controlled environment for medical professionals to guide patients seeking the benefits of psychedelics.

Regulation will play a key role in the industry’s acceptance of such combination treatments and dictate the trajectory of the field’s progress. What will be fascinating to watch over the years ahead is the wealth of unique data and insights derived from precisely monitoring these intense cognitive experiences, offering a deeper understanding of the mind’s workings.

Sensory Computer Interfaces

While it is clear that our ability to provide multi-sensory experiences is advancing rapidly, the field could also bring forward innovation on how humans interact with our digital environments. Dr. Gazzaley talks to a future where our communication with computers will be more implied rather than deliberate, and where our physiological system plays a bigger role.

Not using text prompts, but your physiology

Instead of using text prompts, our physiological states will communicate with our devices. For instance, if you’re feeling joy and relaxation, multimodal biosensing and real-time interpretive analysis will detect this. The system will understand what environment fosters these feelings and create more of that environment to maintain your positive state.

Unlike Brain-Machine Interfaces made famous by Elon Musk’s Neuralink, these interfaces will not require invasive surgery. Instead, simple EEGs and the sensors within our phones could provide enough input for computers to understand our mental states. The key will be sophisticated AI models that interpret what our minds and bodies are feeling and translate that into desired environments and actions.

Our engagement with technology could evolve to be more seamless and intuitive rather than command-driven. This approach, while at the frontier of current science, is the path that researchers like Dr. Gazzaley believe we are now on. Opening up a world where our intentions are better understood and acted upon by increasingly sophisticated forms of artificial intelligence, while making our interactions with technology more natural and responsive.

We may still be in the early stages of our quest to understand and influence the mind, but it is evident that this may not be the case for much longer.

Onwards!