Health Report The pros and cons of mental time travel
Aug 1, 2025
Enrico Coiera, director of the Centre for Health Informatics, discusses the benefits and potential pitfalls of AI scribes in healthcare, emphasizing the need for patient consent. Becky Freeman, a public health professor, highlights alarming trends in youth vaping, suggesting it could act as a gateway to smoking and calling for stricter regulations. Heinz Barmol, a psychology professor, explores the concept of mental time travel, explaining how it can enhance memory retrieval but can also destabilize memories during the process.
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Young People’s Mental Health Is Worsening
- The National Mental Health Commission finds rising disorders and declining sense of control in 16–24 year olds despite increased spending.
- Broader social and economic systems, not just health services, must be addressed to improve outcomes.
Perception Can Prime Immunity
- Seeing visibly sick people can prime the viewer's innate immune response, increasing innate lymphoid cells similar to a flu vaccine.
- The brain acts as a threat detector and can trigger immune-alertness via perception alone.
AI Scribes Are Widespread And Scrutinised
- About half of Australian GPs use or intend to use AI scribes which transcribe consults and can suggest diagnoses.
- Regulators now expect informed consent and will regulate scribes that influence diagnoses or treatment.