Engineering Mental Health

In this episode, our guests delve into the intersection of neurotechnology and psychiatry, discussing innovative approaches to treating mental health disorders, the potential of machine learning models, and the challenges associated with obtaining and analyzing brain data. The discussion emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and the promising future of personalized therapies for psychiatric conditions. They also address the limitations of current diagnostic tools like the DSM and the need for scalable, real-world solutions.

Our guests are:

• Amit Etkin, Founder and CEO of Alto Neuroscience
• Maryam Shanechi, Dean's Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Neuroscience, Computer Science, and Biomedical Engineering at USC
• Prasad Shirvalkar, Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery, Neurology and Anesthesia at UC San Francisco

Show Notes:

00:00 | Welcome to Neurotech Pub

00:45 | Icebreaker: Unpopular Beliefs

05:36 | Non-surgical Brain Activity Recording and Diagnostics

13:32 | Understanding Pain: Subjective Reports vs. Physical Representations

16:33 | Rethinking Psychiatry and DSM Alignment

21:07 | Determining Brain Data Needs and Tool Validation

26:47 | The Need for Explainability in AI Algorithms

35:49 | Timescales in Mental Health Interventions

41:22 | Advice for Aspiring Neurotech Researchers

46:25 | Closing Thoughts

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