Ученая из Кембриджа приедет в Вильнюс, чтобы рассказать о развитии мозга в эпоху искусственного интеллекта

The scientist, science communicator and author, who works at the University of Cambridge, published her latest book, The 21st Century Brain, several months ago. In it, she examines what the human mind needs to function fully in a world where technological and societal change is accelerating. She will soon speak about this live in Lithuania as well. On 10–11 September, H. Critchlow, who lives in Australia, will come to Vilnius, where she will give a presentation at the HR Week Lithuania conference at the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre Litexpo. The scientist, who has studied brain function for many years, will discuss neuroplasticity, creativity and how to train the mind in an era when artificial intelligence is rapidly gaining ground. She will also share practical advice that helps the brain operate at full capacity. Ahead of her visit to Lithuania, H. Critchlow agreed to share her thoughts with Delfi readers. In this exclusive interview, she offers her insights into work–life balance, unlocking creative potential and why it is particularly important today not to forget one of our fundamental driving forces – the human mind. – Hannah, you titled your latest book The 21st Century Brain. What did you want to convey with this title? – Over the past ten, twenty or thirty years, a great many political, social and technological changes have taken place. Many people, myself included, sometimes feel overwhelmed – we do not know what we can do to keep our brains agile and flexible over the years, help them function optimally, enable us to adapt to all these changes and make good decisions, and feel calmer and happier in the process. I understand that change is a natural part of evolution; it is inevitable. The desire to change our environment and create new things – all of this drives us forward. If we look back a little, even just to the beginning of the twenty-first century, we can see how dramatically technology advanced in a short time and how much we ourselves grew as humanity. I wanted to write a book that would be useful to people of any age – both those who care for their own brains and those who worry about their loved ones. I wanted all of us to have tools grounded in contemporary neuroscience research that would help our brains function as well as possible in this century and beyond. – After the book was published, you mentioned in a BBC interview that you had partly written it for yourself as well. Did neuroscience research reveal anything unexpected, or did it instead confirm what we already know intuitively about brain health? While writing it, what did you come to understand about what our brains truly need in order to function well? – Yes, I was also thinking about my loved ones, about my parents, who are over 70, and considering what I could do to help maintain their brain function. In fact, current knowledge in neurobiology often confirms what we already know intuitively. For example, we know that we should move more because it benefits our physical health and helps us feel better. But physical activity is also extremely important for the brain: it benefits not only our physical and mental health, but also our cognitive abilities and brain flexibility. It promotes neurogenesis – the formation of new nerve cells in the hippocampus, the area of the brain associated with learning and memory. Movement helps strengthen this area, allowing us to orient ourselves better, learn new things more easily and respond more rationally to different situations. Sleep is no less important – we also know that intuitively from our own experience. Sleep helps us absorb information better and remember things more easily; it allows the brain to rest, reset and even remove certain toxins. Mitochondria need sleep too – after all, they are the cells’ own energy powerhouses! – and they must rest in order to function productively. Several fascinating studies examine how, to ensure "clean" energy production in our brains and to think clearly and precisely, we need to take care of our mitochondria. In other words, we must allow the body to get a good night’s sleep and remember to stay physically active. Whether the brain has enough energy determines how we see the world, how we approach problems, and whether we are productive and creative. – So clear thinking is also partly a question of energy. What daily habits help ensure that the brain does not run short of it? – Sleep and physical activity are not the only things that matter. We need to make sure that our food provides enough nutrients, especially protein and omega fatty acids – they help the mitochondria. It is also advisable to avoid processed, nutrient-poor food. Longer intervals without food – in other words, intermittent fasting – can also stimulate mitochondrial function. I practise it myself: I try not to eat after 7 p.m., and I do not have breakfast before 11 a.m. the next day. It is recommended that this fasting interval be even longer, but that is an individual matter. I think it becomes even more important with age, because going without food for longer helps the body remove more easily the unnecessary substances that accumulate in it over many years. This kind of intermittent fasting also gives the body energy and makes the mind a little sharper. Some people even believe that the ageing process is driven primarily by a lack of energy. Although, in general, younger people have healthier mitochondria. – From what you are saying, it becomes clear that it is important not only to direct energy properly, but also to remember more often where to obtain it and to consider more often whether we have enough resources for thinking itself. Our brains really are complicated! – They truly are – incredibly complex – but they evolved over hundreds of thousands of years. They enable us to think critically and solve complex problems effectively. Our brains contain remarkable mechanisms that allow us to collaborate with other people and harness and use the potential of their brains. Those electrical oscillations in our minds actually begin to synchronize with other people’s brainwaves. If our wave frequencies align, it becomes easier for us to communicate, understand one another and interpret the same things in similar ways. Such processes also make it easier for us to learn from one another, because we are able to draw not only on our own intelligence, but also on that of other people. And although today we have created new tools such as the internet, social media and artificial intelligence, all of them emerged from the same human mind. In fact, many of these technologies were inspired precisely by the operating principles of our own neural networks – it was knowledge about our brains that laid the foundations for developing artificial intelligence systems. That is why I think we should celebrate and elevate human intelligence rather than succumb to fear of technological progress or feel overwhelmed by it. We must appreciate and make use of this neuroscientific knowledge and then turn back and ask ourselves: how can we apply it not to create even more advanced artificial intelligence, but to make the best possible use of the incredible human mind we already have? We should use new technological tools strategically and intelligently. – You say that we should use artificial intelligence strategically and intelligently. Where would you draw the line: which mental tasks can we entrust to it, and which abilities should we not stop developing ourselves? – I do not think we should completely hand over any one of these abilities to artificial intelligence. On the contrary, we must continue developing all of them in our daily lives. Of course, we can use search engines to find information, but let us not forget to draw on other people’s wisdom too: visit a library, consult librarians, and speak with lecturers or scientists. Do not rely solely on Google searches. And when solving problems, first think a little for yourself and trust your intuition: how would you address this challenge yourself, instead of immediately handing it over to someone else? On the other hand, you can use this tool as one option in your arsenal; it can help you make the right decisions. But I do not think we can safely hand over any one of our functions to artificial intelligence and then stop using it ourselves. We must continue practising all these skills ourselves – both individually and collectively, as a society. – And what happens when we hand more and more routine tasks over to artificial intelligence? How does this affect our brains over time? Is it possible that our thinking becomes dulled, weakening our critical thinking and creativity? – Absolutely. If we hand all decision-making and thinking over to someone else – whether that is artificial intelligence or another person – we naturally become a little lazier ourselves. We therefore need to train not only our bodies, but also our brains. And if we do not, we will simply lose our fitness completely – we will become flabby both physically and mentally. That is why it is so important to think constantly about our health, both physical and mental. We must continually and actively exercise our brain muscles just as we exercise the muscles of our bodies at the gym – we cannot allow them to weaken simply because a tool has emerged that can do some of the work for us. – How do we draw the line between artificial intelligence helping us and thinking for us? How can we recognize that it is only a useful tool? – I have no doubt that artificial intelligence can be incredibly useful in solving biological problems. I have spoken with quite a few scientists in this field who have used it, for example, to develop new antibiotics that do not pose a risk of antimicrobial resistance. They are also discovering treatments for new rare diseases. For pharmaceutical companies, searching for such medicines is often financially unattractive – from a business perspective, it simply is not worthwhile because rare diseases affect a very small share of the population. Artificial intelligence, however, can sift through enormous databases, combine vast datasets and search for patterns, then identify specific features of disease mechanisms and potential therapeutic pathways. In fields like these, its value is undeniable. In fact, I use artificial intelligence myself when editing my writing. It helps me greatly in polishing the style, and sometimes I deliberately ask the program to suggest an entirely different angle – it is a tool that is useful in exactly the same way as a calculator. When calculators were introduced into general education curricula in the 1970s, people feared that students would simply become dull-witted – that they would no longer know how to calculate with their own brains and that this would completely destroy their mathematical abilities. But the opposite happened – the education system simply raised the bar and increased expectations of students: much more complex mathematical tasks appeared, while the calculator became merely a tool for solving them. I think we should view artificial intelligence in a similar way. – In the age of artificial intelligence, empathy, curiosity, creativity and emotional intelligence are often considered more important than ever before. Do you think these qualities can be developed, and how important is it to do so? – Yes, this is a very interesting subject. A great deal of research shows that emotional intelligence and empathy determine not only how satisfied we feel in our relationships with other people, but also our overall well-being and how well we perform academically. It is therefore important to develop these qualities not only in children and young people, but also in adults. They are not determined solely by genes – the heritability of emotional intelligence is relatively low, at less than 50 percent. This means that we can develop emotional intelligence and empathy. And this does not require complicated methods – more frequent direct eye contact and an effort to view a situation from another person’s perspective are enough. It is also worthwhile to read more fiction: by immersing ourselves in other people’s stories, we can imagine what their lives are like and better understand their thoughts and feelings. – And what about creativity – can we consciously develop that too? What does the brain need in order to connect different thoughts and generate new ideas? – To remain creative, it is very important to leave time for the mind to wander freely. We should not constantly burden the brain by listening to something – music, news, podcasts and so on. It is simply essential to find time during the day when we have no objective, when we do not have to think about anything and can allow our thoughts to wander freely – this state is the true incubator of new ideas. At such moments, the brain can jump freely from one thought to another and may drift, but that is beneficial! These are precisely the moments when brilliant new thoughts occur to us, when we discover unusual ways to solve problems and come up with something unexpected and interesting. Even something as simple as a walk in nature can strengthen alpha waves – slow, rhythmic electrical oscillations in the brain associated with creative and innovative thinking. We often notice this ourselves: when we are calm and relaxed and spend time in nature, creative thoughts arise more easily. That is probably why Archimedes had his famous "Eureka!" moment while he was relaxing in the bath. – So sometimes we need to do less for our brains to work better, correct? – Yes, exactly, absolutely right! The brain must rest in order to generate new ideas. We simply have a vital need to stop, relax and just rest from time to time. – Yet today we leave less and less calm for our brains: notifications, emails and new information reach us constantly. Is this why we increasingly experience so-called "brain fog" (the English term) – finding it harder to concentrate and retain information? – I think there is more than one cause. We live in a frantically fast-paced world in which something is constantly happening, so focusing on one specific task becomes a real challenge. Limiting notifications helps me a great deal. When I have to do work that requires deep concentration, I simply turn off my email and phone, silence all alerts and devote myself completely to the process for several hours. Sometimes I go running without any smart devices – that helps clear my mind and allows me to think calmly about the problem I am trying to solve. But information overload is not the only cause. We often fail to give our brains what they need to think clearly and precisely. We move too little and do not always eat properly, so the mitochondria that produce energy for the brain suffer as well. At James Cook University in Australia, I observed a large randomized controlled trial involving people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. These conditions can be characterized by highly chaotic and imprecise thinking. The researchers found that after twelve weeks on a strict ketogenic diet, the participants’ symptoms changed dramatically – they were able to think more clearly and precisely. This diet involved plenty of protein and fibre, very little sugar and no processed food. This shows that attention and clarity of thought are affected not only by the amount of information around us, but also by the fuel we give our brains. – When we experience problems with attention, we usually blame ourselves. But to what extent does the environment shape our habits? For example, we spend a third of the day at work, so it is probably fair to say that the workplace has an enormous influence on our ability to concentrate. How closely do you think the two are connected? – I think employers really can change a great deal. For example, it is extremely important to ensure that employees have as many opportunities as possible to spend time in green spaces. Meetings with colleagues can be held while walking in a park or outside on a bench, and people can be encouraged to go for a walk even when they need to think through a specific idea or find a solution to a problem. It is no less important to ensure that employees have time for quiet, completely undisturbed work, while also having as many opportunities as possible for face-to-face discussions with more experienced colleagues so that they can draw on their knowledge and experience. Organizations should also create an atmosphere in which every employee feels confident explaining what kind of structure and environment personally helps them think best. Completely different conditions may be needed for different tasks, projects and objectives – employers must take this into account. – Even in a properly organized work environment, it is impossible to avoid change and uncertainty completely. Why does not knowing what will happen next sometimes cause much more stress than a negative but at least clear outcome? – It is indeed a strange phenomenon. As human beings, we are biologically programmed to seek novelty – whenever we see something new, we experience a small surge of dopamine. At the same time, however, safeguards that counterbalance this need also operate in our brains. Essentially, our brains are like prediction devices that draw on previous experience. Creating a sense of reality out of the chaos surrounding us is an extraordinarily energy-intensive task for them. That is why the brain likes what can be predicted so much – it provides a kind of protection from exhausting "mental gymnastics." We enjoy the excitement created by novelty, but too much uncertainty is simply exhausting. When the environment becomes too unpredictable, the brain is forced to work "overtime," which is tiring. And that is not because it is lazy – the process simply requires enormous energy resources. – How can we distinguish between stress that mobilizes us and stress that is already beginning to harm the brain? – A small amount of short-term stress, experienced in small doses, is actually very beneficial to both the brain and the body. Chronic stress that recurs continuously over a long period, however, works entirely differently – it is highly damaging, has a toxic effect and can cause nerve cells to die directly. What counts as a "long period"? Of course, a great deal depends on the nature of the stress itself. We can usually withstand a few tense days without major consequences. Several stressful weeks are no longer optimal, but the body can probably still cope. However, if severe stress continues month after month, that is a serious signal that it is time to change something in your environment or life, because in the long run such strain will certainly do neither the body nor the brain any good. – If severe stress continues for months, what can the employee do, and what responsibilities should the employer assume? – First, we must take care of ourselves as individuals: as I said, we should move more, get quality sleep, eat a balanced diet and maintain social connections with others. Social interaction is immensely important not only to our mental health and well-being, but also to our intelligence. On the other hand, employees must ensure that they receive from their employer the right tools to perform the tasks assigned to them. If those tools are lacking or any problems arise, it is very important to communicate this clearly. That is when the employer’s responsibility comes into play. It is the employer’s duty to ensure the creation of an environment that helps those brains, those individuals, flourish and successfully perform the work required of them. Delfi previously reported that this year’s HR Week conference will bring together international scientists, business consultants, HR leaders and organizational development experts. – You will also speak about this at the HR Week conference to be held in Lithuania in September. What will attendees see in your presentation? – I will speak about our brains and what we can do to unlock their potential. During the presentation, we will also conduct several remarkable live experiments – right there on stage, we will observe one volunteer’s brainwaves in real time. This will help illustrate the different states of our thinking and allow us to discuss how they relate to various forms of work and to brain health. We will explore how we can help our minds operate at full capacity – both individually and when working in groups. I also want to draw attention to one of our most important yet still greatly undervalued needs today – live connection and interaction with one another. Studies conducted during the pandemic clearly show how the absence of human contact affected physical and mental health. A lack of social interaction even temporarily reduced people’s IQ, and these scores recovered only after they returned to their social circles. This shows that we have a vital need for one another not only so that we feel well, but also so that our intelligence can flourish. I have no doubt that this need will only grow stronger in the coming decades as technology increasingly takes over our space. Events where people gather to discuss things in person will therefore become invaluable. Ultimately, they reveal the different ways in which all of us think and allow us to learn from one another and work as a group – that is immensely important. – What is the single most important idea you would like HR managers and organizational leaders to take away from your presentation? – Take care of your brain. Its condition directly affects not only your personal life, but also your professional life. Sometimes we simply need to find time to enjoy simple things and rest so that we can accomplish far more in our daily lives. – This will be your first visit to Lithuania. What have you already heard about Vilnius, and what would you like to see there? – I am very much looking forward to this trip! I cannot wait to arrive in Vilnius, simply wander through the city’s streets, admire the architecture and lose myself in its history, without any particular objective. I have also heard about nearby Trakai and the wonderful castle on an island in the lake – I will certainly try to go there. I have been told that Vilnius is very welcoming and easy to explore on foot. Cities like this are exceptionally valuable because they help people form natural connections with one another. That is why so-called "15-minute cities," where everything can be reached on foot, are becoming so popular around the world. When residents walk more, they meet one another more often and build a community. Even something as simple as exchanging a daily greeting with someone you recognize but do not know on your way to work provides the emotional boost that has an enormously positive effect on our well-being. I am very much looking forward to experiencing that myself in Vilnius. HR Week Lithuania will take place on 10–11 September at the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre LITEXPO in Vilnius. Find more information about this year’s HR Week Lithuania conference speakers and topics here. The conference’s principal partner is Labbis, and its major partners are If Insurance and Work in Lithuania.