PEACE Project Introduction

     The Physical Exercise Affecting Cognition and Emotion (PEACE) project is a research initiative launched in 2015 by a team led by Associate Professor Liu Kun and Professor Bruce Wexler from the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory in the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. This project is dedicated to applying scientific, non-pharmacological methods involving exercise and computers to improve higher brain functions such as cognition and emotion, and to effectively promote the rehabilitation of neuropsychiatric disorders like dementia and depression. Currently, the project is at the world's leading level in both the field of exercise neuroscience and computer-enhanced cognitive function. Relevant scientific research findings have not only been published in top-tier international peer-reviewed academic journals such as Nature Communication, Proceeding of National Academy of Science, Scientific Report, Analytical Chemistry, Neuropharmacology, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, and Behavioural Neurology, but have also been widely applied within the US community health service and elementary education systems, as well as within community health and early childhood education systems in China. The project's research outcomes have also been commended by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and received positive reviews from experts in relevant fields. During the 2017-2019 period, the project established a stable and solid collaborative foundation with multiple community health service centers, maternal and child health hospitals, and psychiatric hospitals in Beijing's Xicheng and Chaoyang Districts. Both parties have engaged in in-depth cooperation in areas such as scientific research, community services, and professional talent training, achieving positive social service outcomes and receiving acclaim from community residents. Furthermore, through training based on this project, key personnel from the collaborative projects have begun to emerge in relevant scientific research fields, with related research findings published in internationally recognized academic journals indexed by SCI, such as Behavioural Neurology, and in domestic core journals like Chinese Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

     The PEACE project is a successful model of interdisciplinary, internationally open collaboration, with world-leading professional academic standards serving society. Since the summer of 2019, the Brain Peace Science Foundation was officially established in New Haven, Connecticut (where Yale University is located), tasked with further expanding the social impact of the PEACE project. Currently, the PEACE project is simultaneously conducting research worldwide on enhancing cognition and emotion through the combination of exercise and computers, with a particular emphasis on social service projects collaborating with the Chinese government to use high-tech services to improve the physical and mental health of community residents.

     Given that the Brain Peace Science Foundation PEACE project is currently collaborating with Qingdao Aihesheng Children's Rehabilitation Center on autism cognition and emotion function rehabilitation, known as the PEACE-Qingdao Autism Project, this project will introduce advanced scientific concepts and professor resources from Yale University in the field of child and adult autism. It will focus on improving the physical health, cognitive executive functions, and socio-emotional cognitive functions of individuals with autism through advanced methods such as scientific exercise and computer-assisted training.

1. Vision of the Brain Peace Science Foundation PEACE Project

     The Brain Peace Science Foundation PEACE research project is dedicated to applying non-pharmacological scientific methods to improve human brain health. It primarily utilizes exercise neuroscience methods and internet-based computer-assisted brain function training methods to promote human brain function and prevent/treat neuropsychiatric disorders. Across all PEACE projects, it adheres to the principle that "scientific research serves human physical and mental health, and technological innovation leads to sustainable social development."

2. Characteristics of the Brain Peace Science Foundation PEACE Project

     The Brain Peace Science Foundation PEACE project is characterized by a strong research team, valid and authentic research data, and internationally standardized project management. Regarding the research team, the PEACE project is led by world-renowned top scientist in international exercise neuroscience, Yale Visiting Associate Professor Liu Kun. The team also includes Yale School of Medicine Professor and clinical psychologist Morris Bell, Yale Child Study Center Executive Director Researcher Liu Tong, and renowned domestic physical exercise function training expert Professor Zhou Longfeng, among other leading international and domestic scholars. In terms of data validity and authenticity, the PEACE project is built upon years of research data from the Cognitive Rehabilitation Research Center led by Professor Morris Bell and the Exercise Neuroscience Laboratory led by Associate Professor Liu Kun. A wealth of research data has undergone rigorous peer review and been published in top academic journals in relevant fields. Regarding internationally standardized project management, the PEACE project follows high-standard international practices, implementing the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) standards for clinical randomized double-blind controlled trials and the Yale School of Medicine's scientific research project management procedures. Based on these three characteristics, the Yale University PEACE project ensures the production of high-quality, internationally recognized scientific research outcomes and clinical service effects.

3. Key Scientific Questions Addressed by the PEACE Project

     The PEACE project is a neuroscience research project translating basic science into application. "Applying the latest scientific technologies to effectively improve human brain health through social services" has always been the core scientific goal of the PEACE project. Therefore, the key scientific questions of the PEACE project are explored across three levels: social impact, human behavioural research, and neurochemical mechanism research (Figure 2).

     The first key scientific question of the PEACE project is how to generate effective social impact, namely, how to maximally and effectively intervene in the brain health of community populations through exercise and computer networks to improve their physical fitness, cognition, and emotional function. In this process, the PEACE project places great importance on maintaining scientific validity when translating small-scale laboratory findings into methods applicable to larger populations, thereby establishing a systematic intervention and evaluation feedback system. Based on the goal of "maintaining social impact," how to achieve simplicity and effectiveness in the behavioural research on community populations within the PEACE project thus becomes the second key scientific question. To address this key question, the PEACE project focuses on developing assessment methods for the effectiveness of cognitive and exercise interventions that are easy for non-research professionals to apply; identifying the key targets of exercise in enhancing cognition and emotion (attention, reaction time, memory, cognitive flexibility, and mood); and developing exercise function training methods and computer intervention methods most relevant to cognitive and emotional functions. Furthermore, the PEACE project consistently adheres to the principle that basic research guides applied research, using molecular mechanism studies to determine the direction of future social application research. Therefore, the PEACE project concurrently conducts research on the brain neural circuit mechanisms underlying how exercise promotes cognition and emotion, with particular emphasis on developing non-invasive/minimally invasive neurochemical analysis methods in vivo and studying the small-molecule neurochemical mechanisms of neural circuits in vivo.

     In summary, while translating high-level scientific research outcomes into clinical and social applications, the Brain Peace Science Foundation PEACE project emphasizes maintaining the following scientific characteristics: (1) Evaluation methods that are simple, provide rapid feedback, and are convenient for community workers to apply; (2) Intervention methods that are scientific, systematic, and effective, based on extensive basic and applied research findings.