On July 26, the Tianqiao Brain Science Research Institute (TCCI), founded by Chen Tianqiao and Luo Qianqian, will donate 50 million yuan to cooperate with the Shanghai Mental Health Center to build an "Artificial Intelligence and Mental Health Laboratory", focusing on how to use artificial intelligence to carry out mental illness assessment and intervention to improve the level of people's mental health.
What is the new development in brain science research that TCCI has invested US$200 million (including 500 million yuan in China) so far? What is the new layout for brain science research in the future? TCCI founder Chen Tianqiao was interviewed by the media.
【The original intention of basic research on brain science remains unchanged】
"I've always had an 'ambition' to figure out the root causes of mental illness through basic research on the brain." Chen Tianqiao said he had panic disorder himself. This is one of the reasons why he founded TCCI in 2016.
He admitted that perhaps because he was a layman, he was particularly bold, so he went to the best university at that time, and cooperated with the California Institute of Technology to establish the TCCI California Institute of Technology, which set up brain-computer interfaces, social and decision-making neuroscience, systems neuroscience, molecular and cellular neuroscience, brain imaging, neuroscience education and other centers, focusing on basic brain research, and now more than 50 relevant professors are engaged in this aspect of research, and the newly built TCCI building is also the largest building in Caltech.
TCCI California Institute of Technology Building
"In philanthropy, there are very few people like us who privately invest in basic research. Over the years, I have met with more than 300 scientists and come to realize that it is difficult to make major breakthroughs in basic research on brain mechanisms in the short term, and it may take 10, 20, or even longer. Chen Tianqiao said.
Despite this, Chen Tianqiao said that in the future, half of the remaining 800 million US dollars will be used for basic research, which is also the original intention. "We don't know who will use this money better, who will have a breakthrough in brain research, and can only buy horse bones."
TCCI has continued to support 40 annual neuroscience conferences in China, Europe, Japan, the United States and other countries around the world, covering tens of thousands of scientists. An interactive platform for young scientists, "Follow-up", is also being developed to encourage discussion of fundamental issues in brain science.
[I hope more "Tao Hu" come to us]
After a more pragmatic understanding of basic science, In recent years, Chen Tianqiao has shifted his attention to translational research or clinical research, and announced that he will invest 500 million yuan to Chinese scientific research institutions, especially hospitals, to conduct related research, and this cooperation with the Shanghai Mental Health Center is actually not their first cooperation.
TCCI's first frontier laboratory for brain science, the Applied Neurotechnology Laboratory, was put into use in October last year in the Hongqiao Branch of Shanghai Huashan Hospital. Chen Tianqiao said in his speech at that time that this frontier laboratory of brain science is open to scientists across the country and provides all-round support such as funds, equipment and clinical practice.
TCCI's first frontier laboratory for brain science
"Brain science research is indeed more difficult than I thought, and artificial intelligence has given me new courage, and I hope to use it as an important breakthrough to carry out objective, long-term, large-scale research on mental illness, so that brain-like research can benefit from it." Chen Tianqiao said that whether people's eyes are god or sluggish, whether the gait of walking has changed, artificial intelligence can already identify these, and how to use artificial intelligence's big data to serve the assessment of mental health, "it is also necessary to break through this layer of paper." ”
In his view, the brain is like a gold mine, in Huashan Hospital to build a frontier laboratory of applied neurotechnology, that is, to produce shovels, hammers, and explore the brain; the joint construction of artificial intelligence and mental health laboratories with the Shanghai Mental Health Center is to find the map of mining.
"Although there are currently plans to invest 500 million yuan to support Chinese brain science research, there is no upper limit for me." Chen Tianqiao said that if the results can be produced within a few years, he is willing to invest more funds. "As long as there are good projects, we also want to use this money as soon as possible."
"Musk's brain-computer interface technology for monkeys is actually not new, Shanghai scientist Tao Hu team made a craniotomy minimally invasive implantable high-throughput flexible brain-computer interface, in terms of implantation trauma, long-term in vivo safety and other key indicators, has reached or even partially surpassed Musk's brain-computer interface company." Chen Tianqiao said that the research that won the highest award at the 2021 World Artificial Intelligence Conference was initially interested by many investors, but when they heard that "it will take 10 years to produce consumer-grade products", they were scared away, and TCCI not only funded it, Chen Tianqiao also told Tao Hu that "20 years is no problem".
The implantable high-throughput flexible brain-computer interface system developed by Tao Hu's team is used for rabbit experiments
Many artificial intelligence experts have entered the field of automatic driving, Chen Tianqiao called for more people to turn to brain science cross-research, and hope that more "Tao Hu" will come to the door. TCCI is planning scholarships for graduate students with dual backgrounds in artificial intelligence and brain science.
Exploring the Boundaries of Science by Asking Questions
How to explore more dimensions of information in the brain under the premise of protecting privacy?
"I now have three meetings a week, three hours at a time, to advance brain science research, and a lot of times I'm talking about ethical issues, which is data privacy." Chen Tianqiao said that on the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen the technical means to reduce privacy, on the other hand, when the technology is not perfect, it is more necessary to pick up the shortcomings of the policy.
Although there has been no major breakthrough in basic research on the brain since the creation of TCCI in 2016, Chen Tianqiao is more indifferent to this. "Failures in the lab happen every day, but they are also valuable, and science itself allows failure.
Socrates was known as the "midwife of thought", and he always helped others form their own ideas by asking questions. Chen Tianqiao highly praised this and hoped to use questioning to help brain science research. In October this year, TCCI will co-host an international cognitive science conference with science, an international authoritative academic journal, where the latest breakthroughs in the field of cognitive science will be discussed. More importantly, TCCI is building an Internet platform called "Follow-up", which is expected to be launched this year, with the purpose of encouraging young scientists to ask questions of industry leaders and encouraging non-professionals who love brain science, such as entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs, students, etc. to ask scientists and jointly explore the boundaries of brain science.
Signing ceremony for the joint construction of artificial intelligence and mental health laboratories
"The study of mental illness has a long way to go, and although humans have not yet been able to decode the mysteries of the brain in the short term, this does not mean that we cannot do anything about it." Chen Tianqiao said they are working with Tencent to develop games that can be used for cognitive assessment and training, explore how to treat through music, and study how to develop home sleep monitors.
"There's a lot of pressure to fund basic research in a private way, but my wife and I have been thinking about it for more than a decade and think that this is the best way for us to give back to society." Chen Tianqiao said.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Huang Haihua Text Editor: Huang Haihua Caption Source: Figureworm Creative Image Editor: Zi Xi
Source: Author: Huang Haihua