Audacious advances to discover new treatments for psychiatric brain disorders
New scientific breakthroughs in areas such as synthetic biology, gene editing, nanotechnology, pluripotent cells, understanding the impact of the microbiome, and many other fields will dramatically accelerate the pace of scientific progress, allowing new treatment approaches not previously imagined.
New technologies. An array of new technologies—such as biosensors, artificial intelligence and machine learning, augmented and virtual reality, and other digital health tools—will impact every step of the “patient journey.” These will enable earlier detection and diagnosis, ongoing real-time assessment of symptoms, and more objective assessments, and they will facilitate the delivery of, and assessment of adherence to, treatments such as pharmacotherapy, neuromodulation, video games, apps, or a combination of these modalities.
Until recently, the idea of a video game or augmented reality glasses being viewed as serious and validated treatment modalities would have been considered science fiction. New ways of assessing patients—including voice, typing, activity on smartphones, diurnal rhythm, etc.—have the potential to dramatically improve the information clinicians will have about patient functioning in the real world. Another area where new technologies may eventually have a huge impact is in facilitating the prediction of suicide attempts.3
New digital therapeutics companies. It is no coincidence that the digital therapeutics companies that have been making the news and obtaining FDA approvals, such as Proteus Digital Health, Pear Therapeutics, Akili, and Click Therapeutics, are all addressing brain disorders.
Patient empowerment. With these new tools, the patient can become a true partner in the therapeutic alliance more than ever before. Patients can have an active role in diagnosis and be active participants in many new treatment modalities. There will be many new ways for patients to share their data to improve their care and to advance the science of these tools. Utilizing blockchain protocols, patients will have more control over how and with whom their data is shared, and even be compensated for it.
