Can our phones save our brains?

A woman walks past a display of a brain slice of patient "H.M." at the press preview for the MIT 150 Exhibition at the MIT Museum, celebrating Massachusetts Institute of Technology's 150 year anniversary, in Cambridge, Massachusetts January 7, 2011. Patient H.M. has been extensively studied because of his inability to form long term memories following brain surgery in 1953 for his epilepsy. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

A woman walks past a display of a brain slice of patient "H.M.". Image: REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Joe Myers
Writer, Forum Agenda

Have you ever misplaced your keys? Almost certainly, you have. But the bigger question is, should you be worried about little acts of forgetfulness like this? It’s hard to know if they’re normal, or the early sign of a more serious problem.

When we visit the doctor’s they conduct a variety of tests, from blood pressure to weight, but they don’t measure our brain, or cognitive, health.

For Corinna E. Lathan, Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Office of AnthroTronix Inc., it’s time we changed our focus when considering the brain. “We need a shift from diagnosis and treatment, to wellness and prevention,” she argues.

The CEO believes we have the data to enable this shift. Through our smartphones and wearable tech, we’re all generating more data in one day, than our doctor sees in a year.

The costs of ignoring the brain are significant, but what does the future of brain health look like?

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