The Brain Economy: Advancing Brain Science to Better Understand the Modern Economy
Authors:   Brain Capital Alliance, San Francisco, California, USA, Eyre Harris A. ,   Center for Health and Biosciences, The Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, Texas,   Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, Dallas, Texas, USA,   Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association, Barcelona, Spain,   Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation (IMPACT), Deakin University and Barwon Health, Geelong, Victoria, Australia,   Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA,   Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Houston, Texas, USA,   Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California and Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland,   FondaMental Fondation, Paris, France,   Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile,   Houston Methodist Behavioral Health, Houston Methodist Academic Institute, Houston, Texas, USA,   Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, California, USA,   Frontier Technology Lab, School of Engineering and Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, California, USA, Hynes William ,   Brain Capital Alliance, San Francisco, California, USA,   Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association, Barcelona, Spain,   Rebuilding Macroeconomics, University College London, London, United Kingdom,   Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA,   School of Advanced International Studies Europe, Johns Hopkins University, Bologna, Italy, Ayadi Rym ,   Brain Capital Alliance, San Francisco, California, USA,   Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association, Barcelona, Spain,   Bayes Business School, City College London, London, United Kingdom,   Center for European Policy Studies, Brussels, Belgium, Swieboda Pawel ,   Brain Capital Alliance, San Francisco, California, USA,   Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association, Barcelona, Spain,   NeuroCentury, Brussels, Belgium,   European Policy Centre, Brussels, Belgium,   International Center for Future Generations, Brussels, Belgium, Berk Michael ,   Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation (IMPACT), Deakin University and Barwon Health, Geelong, Victoria, Australia,   Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Centre for Youth Mental Health, Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health and the Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, Ibanez Agustin ,   Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California and Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland,   Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago de Chile, Chile,   Laboratorio Interdisciplinario del Tiempo, Universidad de San Andrés-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Castelló María E. ,   Desarrollo y Evolución Neural, Departamento Neurociencias Integrativas y Computacionales, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable (MEC), Montevideo, Uruguay,   Programa de Desarrollo de las Ciencias Básicas (MEC-UdelaR), Montevideo, Uruguay,   Fibras, Montevideo, Uruguay, Jeste Dilip V. ,   Global Research Network on Social Determinants of Health and Exposomics, La Jolla, California, USA, Tempest Michelle ,   Candesic, London, United Kingdom, Abdullah Jafri Malin ,   Fellow, Academy of Sciences Malaysia, Menara Matrade, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,   Chairman of Medical and Health Sciences Cluster, The National Council of Professors, Malaysia (MPN), Selangor, Malaysia,   Professor of Neurosciences & Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon, Department of Neurosciences & Brain and Behaviour Cluster, School of Medical Sciences/Hospital USM, Universiti Sains Malaysia Health Campus, Kelantan, Malaysia, O’Brien Kelly ,   UsAgainstAlzhiemer’s, Washington DC, USA, Carnevale Steve ,   Dyslexia Center, UCSF, California, USA, Njamnshi Alfred K. ,   Brain Research Africa Initiative (BRAIN), Geneva, Switzerland & Yaoundé, Cameroon, Africa, Martino Michael ,   Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), South Carolina, USA, Mannix Dan ,   Brain Capital Alliance, San Francisco, California, USA, Maestri Katrina ,   Dyslexia Center, UCSF, California, USA, Yu Ruojuan ,   School of Management, Yale University, Connecticut, USA, Chen Shuo ,   Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, College of Engineering, University of California, California, USA, Ng Chee H. ,   Department of Psychiatry, The Melbourne Clinic and St. Vincent’s Hospital, University of Melbourne, Australia, Volmink Heinrich C. ,   School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, Africa,   Division of Health Systems and Public Health, Department of Global Health, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, Africa, Ahuja Rajiv ,   Milken Institute, Center for the Future of Aging, California, USA, Destrebecq Frederic ,   European Brain Council, Brussels, Belgium, Vradenburg George ,   UsAgainstAlzhiemer’s, Washington DC, USA,   Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative, Washington DC, USA, Schmied Astrid ,   Science of Learning in Education Center, Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Manes Facundo ,   : Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Platt Michael L. ,   Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA,   Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA,   Marketing Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA,   Wharton Neuroscience Initiative, Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
Published: March 2024

The coming years are likely to be turbulent due to a myriad of factors or polycrisis, including an escalation in climate extremes, emerging public health threats, weak productivity, increases in global economic instability and further weakening in the integrity of global democracy. These formidable challenges are not exogenous to the economy but are in some cases generated by the system itself. They can be overcome, but only with far-reaching changes to global economics. Our current socio-economic paradigm is insufficient for addressing these complex challenges, let alone sustaining human development, well-being and happiness. To support the flourishing of the global population in the age of polycrisis, we need a novel, person-centred and collective paradigm. The brain economy leverages insights from neuroscience to provide a novel way of centralising the human contribution to the economy, how the economy in turn shapes our lives and positive feedbacks between the two. The brain economy is primarily based on Brain Capital, an economic asset integrating brain health and brain skills, the social, emotional, and the diversity of cognitive brain resources of individuals and communities. People with healthy brains are essential to navigate increasingly complex systems. Policies and investments that improve brain health and hence citizens’ cognitive functions and boost brain performance can increase productivity, stimulate greater creativity and economic dynamism, utilise often underdeveloped intellectual resources, afford social cohesion, and create a more resilient, adaptable and sustainability-engaged population.