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ANA's formal partnerships, affiliations, and alumni connections are foundational to the ANA Network. ANA Collaborations ANA’s formal partnerships, affiliations, and alumni connections are foundational to fostering collaboration, sharing of expertise and resources, driving a shared mission for social impact, and collective efforts, including events and member initiatives. These relationships span diverse sectors, including neurodiversity in the workplace, educational neuroscience, healthcare technology, the intersection of AI and research, and entrepreneurship. Together, ANA, our members and collaborators extend the reach of our respective missions, co-creating innovative programmes, impactful tools, and meaningful outcomes. Our shared goal is empowering the ethical application of neuroscience for global impact. TCL Founder CEO Dr Anja Harrison ANA is a Participatory Organisation Applied Brain Lab Founder Gwen Bach Partnership King's Entrepreneurship Institute Alumni King's Accelerator King's IoPPN Alumni King's WEN Alumni & Event Collaboration NEURO Charity Founder Robert Annis Partnership M ind Circles Talks Founder Jenny Okolo Partnership

How does Applied Neuroscience contribute to society? ANA Social Impact Pledge Social impact does not always begin with large-scale initiatives. It often starts with social objects that define individual actions, collective actions, shared knowledge, mentoring, education, and advocacy As a non-profit the Applied Neuroscience Association (ANA) objects and social impact pledge exist as our collective commitment to applying neuroscience responsibly, equitably, and for public benefit. Our mission is empowering ethically applied neuroscience for global impact bridging the gap between discoveries in the lab and societal demand, including latent demand where the benefits are not yet visible! Scientific knowledge alone does not create social impact. Real change happens when evidence is translated into benefits, working interdisciplinarily and across sectors. The ANA Social Impact Pledge is more than a statement of intent. ANA's Member Feature highlights projects, collaborations and initiatives that demonstrate how neuroscience can and does change lives. Together, these contributions will help build an evidence base for the real-world impact of applied neuroscience. The impact generated through ANA members and initiatives contributes to broader global priorities, including the Brain Economy Program and particular United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. ANA Community Members Choose Your Social Impact Pledge 1 Commitment to Equity and Inclusion - I will actively promote equity and inclusion in my academic and professional interactions, such that individuals from diverse, underserved or marginalised backgrounds can gain access to the benefits of applied neuroscience and allied disciplines. - I will strive to create environments where individuals feel inclusive, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender identity, socioeconomic status, disability, or any other characteristic. - I will challenge discriminatory practices, using my platform and knowledge to advocate for policies and practices that promote fairness and justice. 2 Public Education and Awareness - I will engage in activities that promote public education and awareness about the applications and benefits of applied neuroscience, and allied disciplines, striving for accurate, evidence-based information. - I will use my expertise to dispel neuro myths, reduce stigma, and promote informed decision-making within relevant communities. - I will contribute to public conversations in a way that is responsible, balanced, and respectful of diverse viewpoints, avoiding sensationalism, manipulation or the misuse of scientific information. 3 Advocacy for Mental Health and Wellbeing - I will advocate for policies and practices that promote mental, physical, and social health and wellbeing in individuals and communities, including vulnerable or underserved populations. - I will support initiatives that increase access to services and tools, including those that address social determinants of mental health, such as poverty, trauma, and education disparities. - I will work to raise awareness of the importance of the conditions that enable individuals and communities to realise their potential and thrive at local and national levels, influencing public policy where possible. 4 Socially Responsible Research and Innovation - I will ensure that the research I conduct or contribute to is designed and carried out with a clear awareness of its potential social impact, aiming to prioritise at least one project each year that has the potential to benefit society. - I will consider the ethical and social implications of new technologies and innovations in applied neuroscience, and allied disciplines, advocating for responsible development, and deployment that avoids exacerbating inequalities. - I will aim to engage in collaborative activity that supports pressing societal challenges, such as mental health disparities, and the impact of neurotechnologies on public life. 5 Environmental Sustainability - I will strive to ensure that my work, including academic and professional research and practices, is conducted in a manner that minimises environmental harm and promotes sustainability. - I will seek to reduce waste, conserve resources, and use environmentally friendly methods in research and practice, recognising the interconnectedness of human well-being and environmental health. - I will advocate for sustainable practices in the institutions and organisations I work within and contribute to the global effort through distinct activities to mitigate the impact of environmental degradation. 6 Ethical Leadership & Role Modelling - I will lead by example in my work, demonstrating ethical leadership, and upholding standards of integrity and transparency in my academic and professional life. - I will strive to use my membership within ANA and the broader professional community to mentor and support others in developing a commitment to ethical practices and meaningful social impact. - I will take deliberate steps to encourage my peers and colleagues to adopt socially responsible practices. By integrating social impact into my work, I will strive to demonstrate the value of creating sustainable and equitable solutions that can benefit society as a whole. 7 Volunteering & Community Engagement - I commit to using my skills and knowledge to give back to communities through volunteering and outreach efforts that promote, for example, mental health and wellbeing. - I will participate in, or support at least one programme, that provides services to underserved populations, contributing my time and expertise to those who may not have access to professional support or resources. - This might include partnerships with local organisations, schools, and community groups that could include pro-bono services or open-access workshops that promote areas such as cognitive health, emotional resilience, and mental health awareness. 8 Reducing Barriers to Access - I will strive to reduce barriers to accessing applied neuroscience and allied disciplines programmes, especially for individuals and communities that have been historically marginalised or underserved. - I will support initiatives and advocacy efforts that strive to make applied neuroscience and allied disciplines more affordable, accessible, and equitable for all, considering financial status or geographic location, for example. - I will endeavour to engage with policymakers and stakeholders to promote the expansion of applied neuroscience and allied disciplines programmes in areas where they are most needed, advocating for systemic change that aims to address any disparities. 9 Ethical Use of Neurotechnologies - I will advocate for the responsible and ethical use of neurotechnology so that its application in society promotes public well-being and does not infringe on individual rights or freedoms. - I will work on relevant neurotechnological advancements that are being applied to improve human flourishing while opposing uses that could lead to harm, inequality, or social control. - I will participate in public discussions about the ethical and social implications of neurotechnology, providing thought leadership and guidance to support innovations aligning with ethical and inclusion principles. What is B Corp? Why Does ANA Care? B Corporation (B Corp) is a certification awarded to organisations that meet high social and environmental performance standards, accountability, and transparency. It represents a commitment to using business as a force for good—balancing profit with purpose. At The Applied Neuroscience Association, we align closely with these values as we work at empowering ethically applied neuroscience for global impact. Achieving B Corp status would reflect our dedication to creating positive change in society while upholding the highest ethical and sustainable practices. This vision inspires us as we scale a global community and establish global Chapters driven by ethical leadership, enhancing lives, through the work of our Members and the ANA Network.

The Applied Neuroscience Association (ANA) is a professional body connecting a global Network of 1,000+ Members and ANA Chapters. Our Members bridge academic research discovery with demand, collaborating with Institutions and Corporations in industry, healthcare, and education for transformative social impact. The Professional Register recognises qualified neuroscience professionals and allied disciplines, while the free ANA Network welcomes all enthusiasts curious about their brains! The Applied Neuroscience Association The Applied Neuroscience Association The Applied Neuroscience Association The Applied Neuroscience Association Welcome to ANA Welcome to ANA Welcome to ANA Welcome to ANA Your Professional Body and Global Network for Applied Neuroscience 1881 ANA NETWORK 13 ANA ADVISORY BOARD 05 ANA CHAPTERS 40 ANA EVENTS Image by Santiago Ramon y Cajal (purkinje neuron from the human cerebellum, ca. 1900 Cajal Institute CSIC Madrid) (wikipedia commons) ANA is on a mission to bridge the translation gap between remarkable advancements in our understanding of the brain and nervous system, and everyday life. newsletter News Alerts partnerships Working Together applied talks Replay Library events ANA & Partners articles Read Here What is Applied Neuroscience and how can it help you and me? Neuroscience opens a window into the hidden operations of the brain - the vast intricate networks of neural activity continuously predicting, interpreting, and constructing our experiences, shaping how we think, feel, learn, adapt and connect. Neuroscience helps us understand how our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours emerge from the extraordinarily complex interaction between our brain, our body, our environment, our history, and the world around us. Today, neuroscience research and discoveries are no longer confined to the laboratory, increasingly being applied across healthcare, education, business, sport, technology, design, leadership, economics, public policy, and everyday life. As a professional body and global network, ANA exists to bridge the gap between neuroscientific discovery and real-world demand, translating knowledge from 'lab to life' across sectors. We operate within the emerging Brain Economy ecosystem, advancing brain capital priorities through global Chapters, interdisciplinary collaborations, evidence-led science communication, and responsible practice. Our VISION A world that recognises Brain Capital (brain health & brain skills) as core assets for human and economic flourishing. Our PURPOSE Ethically translating neuroscience in society to build measurable Brain Capital. Our MISSION Empowering ethically applied neuroscience for global impact. Click the link to discover more: 🔗 discover the brain discover the brain discover the brain discover the brain 🌍 ANA Global Chapter Spotlight Replay Series FREE access to anyone curious about their brain 🧠 EXPLORE interdisciplinary TALKS, PODCASTS, PANEL DISCUSSIONS, MINI-MASTERCLASSES, CASE STUDIES AND FIELD/RESEARCH INSIGHTS from across the global ANA chapter network. Part of the ANA Chapter Launch Week! 🚀 INTRODUCING THREE NEW CHAPTERS Launching 29 June 2026! 🇺🇸 Houston — Corporate Sustainability & Human Systems 🇵🇭 Manila — Environmental Neuroscience, including Energy & Soil Systems 🇦🇺 Melbourne — Clinical Psychology, Community & Volunteer Mental Health Support 🌐 ESTABLISHED ANA CHAPTERS One Year Anniversary! 🇦🇪 Dubai — Neuroleadership in Times of Uncertainty 🇫🇷 Paris — AI & Mental Health Case Studies 🇩🇪 Frankfurt — Brain States, Cognition & Workplace Decision-Making 🇧🇷 São Paulo — NeuroApp: AI & Mental Health ‘bridging the gap between crisis and systems’ 🇭🇰 Hong Kong — Neuroleadership & the PROWESS Model in the workplace 🌍 FUTURE CHAPTERS Stay Tuned! 🇳🇿 New Zealand 🇸🇬 Singapore 🇨🇦 Canada 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇵🇹 Portugal ANA's Global Chapter Spotlight REPLAY Series showcases how neuroscience is being applied across different disciplines, sectors, cultures, and real-world challenges where you are. 🎥 Available From 29 June 2026 via the ANA Replay Library Upcoming Events & Alerts Upcoming Events & Alerts Upcoming Events & Alerts Upcoming Events & Alerts Full Member Qualified Neuroscientist, Applied Neuroscientist, or Allied Discipline Full Members hold an MSc or higher in neuroscience, applied neuroscience, neuropsychology, neuropsychiatry, or a medical or research degree with neuroscience as a core component. Associate Member Academic or Professional, Advancing Neuroscience Applications in your work Associate Members hold an MSc or higher degree in a field outside of neuroscience or equivalent professional qualifications and are interested in integrating neuroscience applications into their work. Student/Graduate Studied or Studying Neuroscience, Applied Neuroscientist or Allied Discipline Student Members are those currently studying neuroscience, applied neuroscience, or an allied discipline with a core neuroscience component, such as a medical, psychiatry or psychology degree. Become A Member Become A Member Become A Member Become A Member Membership types & benefits Membership types & benefits Membership types & benefits Membership types & benefits ANA Members Ethically Applying Neuroscience to Benefit Society Celebrating our Members Celebrating our Members Celebrating our Members Celebrating our Members Europe Asia Africa South America North America Great Britain Oceania Explore ANA Chapters Explore ANA Chapters Explore ANA Chapters Explore ANA Chapters Expanding the Reach of Ethically Applied Neuroscience for Global Impact READ MORE King's Origins

Feature Article

Delve into the science of Psychedelics and your brain with insights from various UK based research centres and experts in this field.

Author: Aneta Herrenschmidt-Moller Pain is weird! We all know what it is—but when we actually try to define it, it is notoriously difficult to communicate. Is it a sensation? An emotion? A survival mechanism? A social signal? The answer, as it turns out, is “yes” to all of the above, but with enough exceptions and caveats to make even the most confident neuroscientist second-guess themselves. At its simplest, pain is a biological function—your nervous system’s way of saying, “Hey, stop doing that !” This is the stuff we understand pretty well: nociceptors – the special nerve endings located in your skin and deep tissues detect tissue damage, send a distress signal up the spinal cord, and your brain interprets that as Ouch  ! But then things get complicated, when we have two people with the exact same injury, yet report wildly different levels of pain. One soldier takes a bullet and keeps fighting ; another person twists their ankle and swears they’ll never walk again. So, what’s going on here? The answer is that pain isn’t just about nerve endings—it’s about how we interpret the signals they send. It doesn’t exist in a vacuum; rather, it’s shaped by context, emotion, culture, and expectation. In this way, pain is not merely a physical sensation, but also a psychological, social, and cultural experience. In other words, pain is not one single thing—it is many things at once. And that complexity is precisely why pain is still one of science’s most elusive and enduring mysteries. The Two Camps : Biology vs. Experience For decades, the debate about pain has been stuck in a tug-of-war between two camps: One prominent theoretical orientation in the neuroscientific study of pain adopts a neurobiological reductionist framework who argue that pain is just an electrochemical process in the nervous system. If we map out every neuron, neurotransmitter, and receptor involved, the thinking goes, we’ll fully understand pain. On the other side, often found in psychology, anthropology, and philosophy, emphasises the contextual and experiential dimensions of pain, proposing that pain is shaped by expectation, meaning, and social environment. In their view, pain isn’t something you have; it’s something you experience, and that experience is moulded by our believes, culture, language, and past trauma. So who’s right? Well, frustratingly (or excitingly, depending on how you look at it), both and neither! Pain is biology plus interpretation, and trying to separate the two is like trying to isolate the “wetness” from water. Pain as a Contextual Interpretation and Prediction Here’s where things get really interesting. Pain is an interpretation, and sometimes, the brain gets it wrong. Consider phantom limb pain. An amputee can feel excruciating pain in a limb that no longer exists. There are no nerves endings, no physical injury, and yet the pain is real, because the brain insists that the limb should be there, and it’s detecting “pain” where there is nothing to detect. This is one of the clearest proof we have that pain isn’t simply a sensory event—it’s a prediction made by the brain. This predictive nature of pain means that context matters enormously. If you believe something is going to hurt, it’s more likely to hurt. If you’re told a treatment will work, it’s more likely to relieve pain, even if it’s just a placebo. If you’re stressed, depressed, or fearful, pain is amplified. If you’re distracted or feeling safe, pain diminishes. While these effects aren’t universal or deterministic, they are intended to highlight the complex interplay between brain, body, and context in how pain is experienced. And this isn’t just psychological fluff—it’s based on hard neuroscience research. The brain’s limbic system, anterior cingulate cortex, and prefrontal cortex are all actively involved in shaping pain perception. The same brain regions that process emotions, expectations, and social cues also shape how much something hurts. About Pain? So, where does this leave us? Pain, it turns out, isn’t the raw, unfiltered broadcast of tissue damage that many of us grew up believing it to be. It’s not some objective ‘ticker tape of hurt’ scrolling in from the body to be faithfully read by the brain. Instead, pain is a story the brain tells itself—a deeply contextual, highly predictive narrative stitched together from experience, emotion, memory, and expectation. This means that pain is less about what is happening and more about what the brain thinks might happen. It’s a hypothesis, not a photograph. And like any good hypothesis, it’s shaped by prior beliefs, available data (e.g. memories, familial patterns and cultural cues) and—critically—the surrounding context. Sometimes the prediction serves us well, like pulling away from a hot stove. Other times, it becomes maladaptive, like when the pain sticks around long after the tissue has healed, kept alive by a nervous system that’s still possibly ‘bracing for impact’. Pain Reframe This reframe doesn’t mean pain is “all in your head” in an eye-rolling, dismissive way. Rather, pain is in your head because that's where your brain constructs it - for it's main evolutionary job: to protect you. Understanding that doesn’t make pain less real. In fact, it makes it more real—because it means pain isn’t just about tissue damage, it’s about meaning, context, memory, and emotion. And, yes, that makes it messier, more human, and infinitely harder to pin down. Which is exactly why we can’t treat pain with biology alone. While neuroscience has uncovered the circuitry, the neurotransmitters and the neural pathways involved in the mechanisms of pain, the subjective experience of pain remains deeply complex. What Next? Now, to make real progress in treatment of pain, we need to think bigger. Fields such as philosophy, literature, musicology, art, theology, and ritual theory all offer valuable insights into how pain is perceived, expressed, and ultimately, how it might be healed. Pain is as much about philosophy, psychology, anthropology—even art and ritual—as it is about neurons and nerve endings. And until we treat pain not as merely a biological process but a profoundly complex and layered human experience, we’ll keep missing the point, and the person who suffers.