Experts warn brain-health initiatives overlook mental illness

The authors – a professor at Oxford and Yale, the dean of Mount Sinai’s medical school, and a former U.S. congressman – argue that the surge in funding for neuroscience is being directed mainly toward neurodegenerative diseases, leaving mental illness on the sidelines.

They contend that this split between neurological disorders and mental health is both a scientific misstep and a strategic loss, reducing the potential benefits of a truly inclusive "brain health" agenda.

While governments, industry and philanthropies are investing heavily to extend healthy cognitive life, the authors call for the same early‑screening and preventive mindset that drives cancer and heart‑health programs to be applied to mental illness as well.

The piece warns that ignoring mental health in the brain‑health conversation risks wasting human potential and undermines the broader goal of reducing the overall burden of brain disease.