A PhD neuroscientist with a background in high-performance sport will build the community around Vibes AI, helping make proactive cognitive wellness a daily practice rather than a response to concern.

NEW YORK, September 15, 2026 - Vibes AI Inc., a neurotechnology company using voice, sound, and responsible AI to help people understand and support their cognitive wellness, today announced the appointment of Lauren Netzel, PhD, as Head of Community and Ambassador Network. Netzel will build the people, partnerships, and programs that connect Vibes AI to the communities it serves. Her appointment comes as the company grows its member base and works to establish NeuroWellness as a category people can understand and participate in.

Most people think about brain health only when something feels wrong. Vibes AI is built on the opposite premise: that cognition, like fitness, is trainable, and that people should be able to understand and improve their cognitive state throughout their lives, not only after a concern arises. The company reads a person's cognitive state from the voice, uses composed sound to shift it, and measures the change. It is designed to help people notice changes early and build proactive practices that support prevention. It does not diagnose.

A movement like that is not built by technology alone. It is built by people who experience it, talk about it, and bring others in. That is Netzel's work. She has spent her career in environments where the question is never only "What is wrong?" but "How can I improve from where I am today?" She is now building the human ecosystem that turns a proactive approach to brain health into something people do together.

Netzel holds a PhD in neuroscience and has worked across Division I athletics, professional baseball, and movement-based wellness. In each of those settings, performance and recovery are daily practices, measured and refined over time. She believes the same mindset belongs in cognitive health.

"I asked Lauren to join because a category is not built by a product, it is built by a community," said Joanna Peña-Bickley, CEO and Co-Founder of Vibes AI. "Lauren has spent her life around people who train, perform, recover, and adapt, and who treat their bodies as something to improve rather than something to fix. That is exactly the mindset cognitive wellness has been missing. Cognition is trainable, but it only becomes a practice when people experience it, believe it, and share it. Lauren knows how to build that kind of community, and how to make brain health feel as natural and proactive as caring for the rest of the body."

Netzel's background spans neuroscience and high-performance sport. Her doctoral work grounds her in how the brain functions, adapts, and recovers. Her years in Division I athletics, professional baseball, and movement-based wellness put her alongside people who pursue improvement as a daily discipline. That combination shapes how she approaches the community: not as an audience to reach, but as a group of people invited to understand their own cognitive state, try the tools, notice how they respond, and share what they learn.

Through the Ambassador Network and broader partnerships, Netzel is bringing together people, communities, and organizations who share an interest in cognitive health, wellness, and performance. Those relationships give people a way to experience the NeuroWellness platform in the context of their own lives, and give Vibes AI a way to keep learning from the people it serves.

"Neuroscience can sound complex and out of reach, but cognitive health is something every person should be able to talk about," said Netzel. "You do not need a diagnosis or a mental health concern to care about how your brain is functioning. With Vibes AI, people can understand where their cognitive state is and actively engage with ways to improve it. No two people have the same experience, and that is what makes this exciting. I joined to help build a movement, a community of people willing to experience this, talk about it, and help make cognitive health part of everyday life."

As Head of Community and Ambassador Network, Netzel will lead community building, the Ambassador Network, and partnerships that connect Vibes AI to the people and organizations it serves. Her focus is on creating approachable, personal ways for people to experience proactive cognitive wellness, contribute their perspectives, and shape how the platform evolves.

The work ahead is to make caring for the brain as ordinary and proactive as caring for the body. That is the community Netzel is building.

About Vibes AI, Inc.

Vibes AI is a neurotechnology company working at the intersection of voice, sound, and responsible AI. Its mission is to accelerate access to NeuroWellness by helping people understand their cognitive state and build restorative practices into everyday life. The company's approach is designed to help people notice changes early and support prevention. Its voice biomarkers are non-diagnostic and do not replace clinical care. 

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