21. Capturing complexity of the brain

Brain health cannot be easily measured by a single, straightforward test. Evaluations often involve multiple methods. One company which is on a mission to open brain health assessment to the wider public is Myndspan. Its approach integrates cognitive tests with MEG, or magnetoencephalography, analysis. MEG is an advanced brain scanning technique, which can provide a reading of brain activity at high  temporal and spatial resolution. It has the power to identify issues before symptoms emerge. In this episode of NeuroCentury, Paweł Świeboda talks to Caitlin Baltzer, Co-Founder and CEO of Myndspan. Caitlin moved into the brain health space from the world of finance and investment a few years ago, when the potential of MEG technology triggered her interest. Today, Myndspan offers brain health reports, combining an assessment of cognitive function and brain connectivity. It has the ambition of increasing the accessibility of this technology for better brain health. Experts such as Prof. Sylvain Baillett from McGill argue that early MEG brain scanning could be key to forecasting future memory and attention problems. This is because it could read the way amyloid-beta and tau affect brain activity early on, which can predict changes in brain activity when patients experience mild cognitive impairments and AD later in life. In this context, Pawel’s and Caitlin’s conversation explores how brain health assessment methods could be part of a paradigm shift towards early detection and prevention strategies, given that brain disorders tend to be addressed today once symptoms are severe. neurocentury.com Music for the NeuroCentury podcast is composed by Rafał Kulczycki