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More than 14 million Americans live with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, yet the availability of urgently needed treatment is completely inadequate. In Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health, author Thomas Insel offers a pathway towards wellness built around what he calls the three Ps—people, place, and purpose. A psychi...
What does the latest in neuroscience tell us about human health and consciousness? Aspen Ideas Festival speakers explore how biology is being integrated with technology in unprecedented ways; the science of creativity; nervous system hacks for better living; and tips for navigating mental health when our minds work against us.
Trillions of bacteria inhabit the human gut, working in close and complex symbiosis with our cells. Novel analytic methods offer new insights about those complex biochemical interactions, and help us understand how disturbances in their equilibrium can undermine well-being. Researchers are also learning how the gut microbiome responds to the food we eat, influencing obesit...
When voices rise together in song, dancers tango across the floor, or a painter takes to a canvas, they may be engaging in a hobby, a passion, or a career. Most likely, they aren’t thinking about their brain circuitry or the cascading biochemical responses being sparked by their artistic pursuits. But we now have imaging technology and wearable sensors that can capture tha...
For many women reaching middle age, menopause is a liberating signal that the childbearing years have come to an end. But with its characteristic hot flashes and complex effects on memory, sleep, sexual functioning, bones, and mental health, this inevitable part of aging is also marked by physical and emotional challenges. Misinformation, research gaps, cultural myths, and...
Once the domain of bohemian culture, psychedelics are now headed into mainstream medicine. As psychedelic therapy becomes easier to study, mounting evidence is informing new clinical models to treat depression, PTSD, and addiction, smooth the end-of-life passage, and make grief easier to handle. Oregon voters have approved the legalization of psilocybin, a “magic mushroom,...
Recent scientific research has shown that the human brain develops almost from conception to perform basic biological and cognitive functions, process emotions and memories, think and learn, and understand signals from the surrounding world. On the journey from fetus to young adult, the structures of the brain are altered by experience, attachments, trauma, and learning. T...
Aspen Ideas: Health is where the arts meet health. Ahead of the 10th annual event this summer, we're looking back at some of the innovative artists, musicians, actors, filmmakers, playwrights, and dancers who have shared their creative expressions of the mind, body, and spirit on our stages. Explore how the arts help expand our understanding of health and well-being.
Amazing discoveries are happening in the garages and high school science classes of young pioneers. A 17-year-old invented color-changing stitches, dyed with beet juice, to provide early warning signs of infection. A Time Magazine “Kid of the Year” is building a device to detect contaminants in the water supply and using AI to call out cyberbullying. Another teenager devel...
Anyone who has ever had a pet understands how deeply connected human beings are to the animals who serve as our companions, lessen our stress, and perhaps offer a buffer against cognitive decline. Puppy play date, anyone? Honeybees help to protect our food supply, vision-impaired people rely not only on seeing-eye dogs but also on seeing-eye horses, and animal research has...
The ability to endure is the essential trait in every extreme athletic endeavor. Hundred-mile races, Himalayan Mountain expeditions, and cross-continental treks all require humans to push harder and achieve more than we ever thought possible. How important is the delicate interplay between mind and body in the struggle to keep pushing despite an agonizing will to stop? Wha...
A technological future where our brain waves could be monitored and our thoughts decoded and analyzed — sometimes against our will — is not as far away as we think. But our existing legal protections and conception of human rights around cognitive liberty are trailing innovations in neurotechnology. Brain hacking tools and devices could bring massive benefits, for people s...
Since 2014, Aspen Ideas: Health has welcomed over 700 inspiring women leaders to our stages to share their bold approaches to better health. In honor of Women's History Month, we're taking a look back at some of the many highlights. From medical researchers and clinicians to entrepreneurs and activists, meet 12 change makers who are breaking barriers to reimagine a healthi...
Building on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, there are significant opportunities to expand the use of rapid testing to address many health challenges around the world- from infectious diseases like malaria and HIV to non-infectious health needs like prenatal care. Learn how Abbott is intentionally approaching product development to democratize, decentralize and...
Whether you love setting New Year’s resolutions or ignore them entirely, there’s still a certain mix of nostalgia and excitement over the ending of one year and the possibilities that lay ahead. We’ve gathered five big ideas that offer some food for thought as you head into 2024, including a new mindset for thinking about careers, a glimpse into the history of the cosmos,...
Rick Doblin wants to be a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. Learn about his work using MDMA, or ecstasy, to help people suffering from PTSD.
Musician Yoko Sen remembered listening to the beeping and the chaos when she was in the hospital and wondering if those were the last sounds she would ever hear.
Hospitals and health systems have a critical role to play in turning health equity talk into action. Learn how the field is using strategic investments to drive innovative solutions forward. Presented by the American Hospital Association.
For health researchers, space is proving to be a unique laboratory to explore stem cells, pharmaceuticals, 3D bioprinting, food science, and more. TRISH's Dorit Donoviel, an Aspen Ideas: Health 2023 speaker, explains how collaboration and open science can help advance these "out-of-this-world" discoveries for all mankind.
As new public health threats brew, we need to ensure there is capacity within our health systems to serve the people of this country. There is a strong business case for readiness, but it requires a paradigm shift in how we think about the intersection of routine care, unscheduled care, and the health of the populations we serve.