For years, brain health has been a blind spot in personal wellness. Unlike blood pressure or cholesterol, there has been no simple way to check whether your brain is ageing well. But that is changing. A wave of new tools — from cheap EEG headsets to AI-powered brain scans — promises to give people unprecedented insight into what is happening inside their skulls.
Dr Hedley Emsley, a neurologist at Lancaster University, believes we are at the beginning of a cultural shift. 'I think we're probably at the beginning of a shift toward treating brain health more like physical health — something we monitor proactively rather than reactively,' he said. The field has exploded: in the early 2000s, fewer than a dozen studies referenced brain health each year; today more than 4,000 are published annually.
One of the most accessible options is genetic testing. The APOE4 gene variant, which increases Alzheimer's risk three- to four-fold, can be identified through commercial DNA tests. However, UK Alzheimer's organisations do not recommend such tests for the general public, because lifestyle factors play a major role in determining actual risk. Having a single copy of APOE4 does not make the disease inevitable.
More advanced options include brain imaging, which can reveal shrinkage, vascular damage and other age-related changes. But these scans remain expensive and are not yet standard for healthy individuals. Researchers are also developing blood tests that detect early markers of neurodegeneration, though these are still in the research phase and not widely available on the NHS.
The growing interest reflects broader unease: a survey by neuro-wearables company Muse found that 40 per cent of US adults believe they have an undiagnosed brain condition, with anxiety and depression topping concerns. Most said they would take a brain health test even if it revealed an untreatable disease. The findings, though from a US survey, are likely to resonate with UK audiences facing similar pressures on mental health services.