Our Priorities

Leveraging the power of AI to accelerate research into brain function and how perceptions are formed.

We are committed to bringing together the world’s most talented researchers across biology, chemistry, technology, engineering, mathematics, physics, the humanities and the social sciences. Armed with sophisticated AI tools, they investigate the complex interactions governing sensation, perception and cognition. We have three core areas of interest:

Brain discovery

Supporting interdisciplinary research to understand the brain and mind. We support research that will deepen understanding of how the brain gathers, organizes and retains information, and translates perceptions into thoughts, emotions, decisions, actions and memories. Currently, limited understanding of these processes is a bottleneck for new discoveries in both brain treatment and development.

Brain treatment

We seek to translate improved understanding of brain mechanisms and processes into breakthroughs in the treatment of physical and psychological suffering. Our Chen Frontier Lab for AI & Mental Health, together with our partner Shanghai Mental Health Center, focus on two serious areas:

• The first area is mental disorders which can seriously impair cognitive abilities and affect one’s ability to cope with life. Such disorders include anxiety issues, mood disorders, chronic pain, schizophrenia and other psychotic problems.

• The second is neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s diseases, which are often debilitating and remain largely incurable due to inadequate knowledge of etiology and progression.

Brain Augmentation

An acute understanding of fundamental brain processes offers multiple windows of opportunity to leverage and enhance brain capacity, with three areas of focus:

• First, we are committed to studying the relationship and interaction between the brain and machines. We are interested in perfecting two-way neural communications via seamless, real-time brain machine interfaces that can record and decode intentions from neural patterns, with no side effects.

• Second, neural interfaces that can augment human capabilities. Technologies such as AR and VR, brain machine interfaces can enhance neurorehabilitation, create virtual sensations and push the boundaries of brain performance in learning, memory and concentration.

• Third, research into neural mechanisms, cognition architectures and brain machine interfaces can lead to new insights in artificial intelligence, helping us design novel learning models that mimic the layers of neuronal activity within our brains, training machines and robots to be more intelligent.