The renowned neuroscientist and author shares her groundbreaking insights on Alzheimer's research, digital wellness, and the surprisingly simple practices that can safeguard our brain health

In an era where our minds are constantly pulled between notifications, multitasking, and digital overwhelm, few voices carry as much authority on brain health as Baroness Susan Greenfield CBE. With over 200 published papers in peer-reviewed journals, 32 honorary degrees, and a remarkable career spanning Oxford University, the BBC, and the House of Lords, she has become one of the world's most influential voices on neuroscience and human consciousness.

Now, as founder and CEO of Neuro-Bio, a pioneering biotech company based at Oxford University, Greenfield stands at the forefront of two critical battles that define our age: developing breakthrough treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and helping us understand how our technology-saturated world is reshaping our neural pathways. Her company's novel approach to Alzheimer's treatment, focused on a groundbreaking mechanism she identified over three decades ago, recently achieved a significant milestone with peer-reviewed publications showing promising results in preclinical trials.

The author of bestselling books including "Mind Change: How Digital Technologies Are Leaving Their Mark on Our Brains" and "The Private Life of the Brain," she brings both scientific rigor and accessible wisdom to questions that touch every aspect of modern life. Her work represents more than academic curiosity—it's driven by the urgent recognition that Alzheimer's presents "the biggest unmet clinical need of our time," while our digital habits may be fundamentally altering how our brains develop and function.

In this revealing conversation, Baroness Susan Greenfield shares the breakthrough insights that have emerged from her lifelong research journey, offers surprisingly simple strategies for maintaining mental balance in our digital world, and reveals why the most powerful protection for our aging brains might be as fundamental as sharing a meal with someone we care about—engaging all five senses in the three-dimensional world that shaped our evolution.

Q: After decades in academic research, you founded NeuroBio to develop treatments for conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. What drives your passion for this work, and what gives you hope that we can make a real difference in people's lives who are facing these challenging conditions?

Alzheimer’s disease presents the biggest unmet clinical need of our time. I feel very privileged to be in a position to perhaps make a difference. The idea I had some 30 years ago is now proving to be correct and inspiring a range of experiments that could lead for the first time to an effective treatment. It’s a bit like doing a jigsaw puzzle, slow at first as you work out the edges, but speeding up as you make progress towards the complete picture. Anyone interested could check out our website: www.neuro-bio.com

Q: You've researched how technology affects our brains. With so many people feeling overwhelmed by screens, social media, and constant connectivity, what practical advice would you give to someone who wants to maintain better mental balance in our digital age?

I suggest three low-cost activities that restore a sense of equilibrium: physical exercise, eating together, cooking, playing music and gardening. All these involve sequencing in a way that arguably reflects sequences in our thought processes and mitigates against the perils of multi-tasking. Reading, ideally from a book, also involves sequencing plus has the added benefit of exercising your imagination, one of the most powerful properties of the human brain and why we usually say the book is better than the film. Can you imagine Jane Austen as a video game!

3. Many people worry when they notice changes in their memory or thinking as they age. Based on your research and work with NeuroBio, what are the most important things people can do now to protect their brain health and reduce their risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases later in life?

Interacting with other people as much as possible, ideally in three dimensions with all five senses being stimulated! Irrespective of its effects on brain health or otherwise, surely that’s in any event the best way to live life.