1. Improve education, productivity and health via
brain enhancement

2. Sponsors
Welcome!

3. Welcome!

4. Improve education, productivity and health via
brain enhancement
Chaired by: Alexandra Morehouse,
Chief Marketing Officer,
Banner Health
Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman,
Founder & Chief Director,
Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas
Scott Pawson,
New Product Lead,
Cognitive & Neurobehavior Group,
Pearson Clinical Assessment
Dr. Kenneth Kosik,
Co-Director,
Neuroscience Research Institute,
University of California Santa Barbara

5. Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman,
Founder & Chief Director,
Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas

6. Consequences of low brain health:
poor performance, reduced
resilience and diminished mental
health

7. We each have immense
under-utilized potential and
mental fortitude ready to be
harnessed

8. Lifespan Doubles Brainspan
Hertzog et al., Psych. Science, 2009.Source: Indur M. Goklany. “The Improving State of our World”
Washington, DC Cato Institute, 2007. 36. France used as a proxy for
Developed Nations 1900 and earlier

9. Precision BrainHealth Focus
• Prime
• Pump up
• Potentiate
Utilize multi-
dimensional
approach

10. DETOX
Technology

11. DEEP
INTEGRATIVE
THINKING

12. High-Impact Frontal
Networks
ADAPTABILITY
(fronto-parietal
network)
STABILITY
(cingulo-opercular
network)
Chapman SB, Aslan S, et al, Frontiers in Human
Neuroscience, 2016.

13. Immense Potential
to Enhance Brain
Performance

14. Chapman, Aslan et al., 2015, Cerebral Cortex
Healthy Adults: 30.6% increase in neural
speed/synchrony frontal lobe networks

15. Individuals can prevent and regain losses
with strategic thinking tools
Up to 12% increase in
brain blood flow
Linked to cognitive gains

16. Complex problem solving
Novel thinking
Emotional intelligence
Judgment & decision making
Agility & flexibility
Strategic leadership
SMART brain builds strong frontal
networks. Top skills needed next
decade

18. Digital Assessment and Intervention in
Professional Settings
Scott Pawson
Sr. Product Manager
New Product Lead
Sharp Brains Summit, Dec. 2016

19. Pearson Clinical Assessment
 We work with education and health professionals in the
service of their students and clients
 We publish digital assessments used to assist in
understanding educational and clinical difficulties, diagnosis,
monitoring progress, illuminate challenges
 Q-interactive, Q-global platforms
 AIMSweb
 Quotient, Innerview
 Professionals also want help in answering the “so what”
question
 So what can we do, now that we know that?
 We are adding more and more interventions to our portfolio

20. The ‘New’ Pearson
 We are undergoing a significant transformation toward a
digital business
 Digital innovation is at the forefront of what we do
 A trial and error process and often very nascent
 Technology enables us to do more to meet the needs of
professionals – but also their clients, patients and
students
 Efficacy is at the core of what we do at Pearson. We
must demonstrate that our solutions work in the way
that they are intended to

21. Our Interest in Digital Brain Health
 We’ve been in the business since 1921!
 Helping people make progress through their lives is what we
do, and increasing their capacity to do so is critical to
success.
 There is more to healthcare than pharmaceutical treatments.
 Technology is quickly changing the way people do their work
everywhere, including of course education and healthcare.

22. Our Cognitive Intervention platforms
 We provide evidence based intervention tools that are
directed and supported by our professional customers
 Technology supports the work of clinicians and
educators
 Cogmed provides Working Memory Training for ages
4 and up and is used in education, healthcare and
private practice settings
 Targeting those with working memory constraints
 25-45 minutes per day, 3-5 days per week, 5-7
weeks
 RehaCom provides cognitive rehabilitation for patients
age 6 and up in inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation
from CVA, TBI, & degenerative diseases (eg. MS)
 20+ therapy modules in Attention, Memory,
Executive Functions and Visual Field

23. Our “treatment” approach
 Results from professional assessments provide insight into
the direction of treatment
 Digital treatment options provide for standardized, repeatable,
efficient and configurable training in core functions leading to
better outcomes
 Professional coaching and oversight is a CRITICAL
part of the model for both Cogmed and RehaCom
 Professionals can target specific training based on the
needs of the individual client
 “training” or “rehabilitation” is difficult and must be
encouraged and supported
 There must be significant, sustained effort to achieve
results

24. Opportunities
 Digital integration of assessments and interventions
and progress monitoring provides efficiency in the
practitioner’s workflow
 Highly engaging and effective assessments &
treatments that are targeted, individualized and
efficient
 Ability to provide value throughout the education and
healthcare journey thus improving overall outcomes

25. Channel Challenges
Digital adoption by the professional community can be
slow
Professionals don’t want to be replaced
Complex sales cycles in professional settings
 Difficult to work in paper and digital simultaneously

26. Efficacy Challenges
 Validity of digital assessments is becoming more known and understood
BUT
 In education cognitive training provides a foundation for educational
success
 But – what about reading and mathematics – no curriculum for
cognitive health
 ‘Far transfer’ is very complex and can be elusive
 In healthcare, evidence based practice is key
 Peer-reviewed evidence for cognitive training is strong in many areas
and relatively nascent in others
 Some want to have it all before they start
 Public and professional skepticism regarding the brain training
industry

27. What do we need to do?
Continue to invest in and encourage research
Limit claims to what we know we can do
 Cogmed claims based on evidence from 100+ peer-
reviewed articles
Embrace the unknowns…. There is still A LOT to
learn!
Contact details:
scott.pawson@pearson.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/scottpawson

28. Brain Repair and Enhancement:
Going Beyond the Brain
Kenneth S. Kosik, M.D.
Harriman Professor of Neuroscience
Co-Director,
Neuroscience Research Institute
University of California, Santa Barbara
Author of:
Outsmarting Alzheimer’s:
What you can do to reduce your risk
The Alzheimer’s Solution:
How Today's Care Is Failing Millions-
and How We Can Do Better

29. Enhancement by
delivering
drugs/stem cells
Enhancement by
extending brain
connectivity with devices
Making the Brain Sharper
Methylphenidate
Donepezil
Galantamine
Rivastigmine
Modafinil
•Internet
•Virtual Reality
•Augmented
Reality

30. Medical Risks
– Blood Pressure
– Lipid Profile
– Blood Sugar
Life Style Risks
– Sedentary behavior
– Poor Diet
– Stress
– Social Isolation
– Low level education
– Sleep Deprivation
The Sine Qua Non
of Brain Enhancement
Risk reduction

31. Enhancement by extending the brain
with smart devices & smart apps
FIXED: The Science/Fiction of Human
Enhancement
Apps implement complex functions:
Bank tellers—ATMs
Super market check out--scanners & bar codes
Toll booths—Ezpass
Parking Garages--automatic pay
Retail stores--web-based shopping
Accountants—on line taxes
Social life/bars—on line dating
Factory work--3D printers
Pilots-computerized cockpit (driverless cars)
Teachers—MOOCs
Navigation--GPS
Doctors—WebMD

32. Enhancement by
extending the brain with
artificial appendages
Haptic—pressure, texture
(touch + time), etc
motor
Javier Jaen, The New Yorker
Detaching an artificial limb
from the body = a robot

33. Input information to generate perceptions/ to make decisions
Point at which
information rises
to consciousness
•Automated devices must encode rare contingencies
•Ability to anticipate the future enhanced by a richer store of
information --Web-based compilation of data.
•How much information do we need to be conscious of?

34. Open Loop Closed Loop
Input contains all
necessary information
Input only contains initial information
and use feedback control

35. Memory Systems
Google glass --too slow Internet --too slow
Libraries
too slow

36. Making the Brain Sharper
TMS
DBS
Synthetic memory chips
Going Deep

37. Storage Retrieval
Separating memory
storage and retrieval
Memory allocation
consolidation
Re-consolidation

38. Josselyn SA et al., Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2015
Networks Involved in Consolidation and Reconsolidation

39. Spikes are the
Language of Neurons

40. Training data
Neuronal Circuitry at
High Temporal Resolution

41. AlphaGO Beats
Go Champion
Deep learning
Intuition
https://www.datarobot.com/blog/a-primer-on-deep-learning/
This research was sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory
and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under Cooperative
Agreement Number W911NF-15-2-0056. The views, opinions, and/or
findings contained in this material are those of the authors and should
not be interpreted as representing the official views or policies of the
Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.
Predicting neural activity

42. Q&A

43. Thank you to all Participants!

44. Sponsors
Thank you to all Speakers & Sponsors!

45. To learn more, visit sharpbrains.com