It has been over four decades since organic semiconducting materials were said to revolutionize the way we interact with electronics. As many had started to argue that organic semiconductors are a dying field of research, we have recently seen a rebirth and a major push towards adaptive on-body computing using organic materials. Whether assisted by the publicity of neuroprosthetics through technological giants (e.g., Elon Musk) or sparked by software capabilities to handle larger datasets than before, we are witnessing a surge in the design and fabrication of organic electronics that can learn and adapt at the physiological interface. Organic materials, especially conjugated polymers, are envisioned to play a key role in the next generation of healthcare devices and smart prosthetics. This prospective is a forward-looking journey for materials makers aiming to (i) uncover generational shortcomings of conjugated polymers, (ii) highlight how fundamental chemistry remains a vital tool for designing novel materials, and (iii) outline key material considerations for realizing electronics that can adapt to physiological environments. The goal is to provide an application-guided overview of design principles that must be considered towards next generation organic semiconductors for adaptive electronics.

Iono‐electronics, that is, transducing devices able to translate ionic injection into electrical output, continue to demand a variety of mixed ionic–electronic conductors (MIECs). Though polar sidechains are widely used in designing novel polymer MIECs, it remains unclear to chemists how much balance is needed between the two antagonistic modes of transport (ion permeability and electronic charge transport) to yield high‐performance materials. Here, the impact of molecularly hybridizing ion permeability and charge mobility in semiconducting polymers on their performance in electrochemical and synaptic transistors is investigated. A series of diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)‐based copolymers are employed to demonstrate the multifunctionality attained by controlling the density of polar sidechains along the backbone. Notably, efficient electrochemical signal transduction and reliable synaptic plasticity are demonstrated via controlled ion insertion and retention. The newly designed DPP‐based copolymers further demonstrate unprecedented thermal tolerance among organic mixed ionic–electronic conductors, a key property in the manufacturing of organic electronics.

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Background Accumulating evidence indicates that the pathological changes of AD begin 15 years prior to symptom onset. There is an unmet need for accessible, affordable, and accurate means to screen cognitively normal individuals for preclinical AD. We previously developed the Percepts of Odor Episodic Memory (POEM) test battery, which assesses identification, memory and discrimination of odor percepts. In a pilot study, we demonstrated that elderly individuals with odor memory scores that fell below the 50% confidence intervals of the memory scores predicted by their odor discrimination and odor identification scores; these individuals were deemed “at risk” for progression to mild cognitive impairment and AD based on an enrichment in biomarkers for AD. Method We tested our olfactory “at risk” status as a predictor of future decline by administering the POEM test battery to 61 older individuals who were cognitively normal (CN) or expressed subjective cognitive concerns (SCC) and were followed longitudinally in the Massachusetts Alzheimer’ s Disease Research Center. These individuals were added to our original sample of 140 participants who had undergone olfactory testing. A Cox Proportional Hazards model was used in a subset of this expanded cohort (n=127) who were followed over an average of 4.22 years to determine whether the olfactory “at risk” status predicted a risk of clinical progression to a diagnosis of amnestic MCI or Alzheimer’s disease. Result 28% of the CN and SCC participants followed longitudinally were deemed “at risk” based on a selective odor memory loss. These “at risk” participants demonstrated a higher risk of progressing to amnestic MCI or AD (HR = 3.45, (95% CI:1.13‐10.72, p=0.0278) over time while controlling for age, education, and sex. The effect of Group (CN vs SCC) and its interaction with “at risk” status were not significant. Conclusion Our results indicate that probing olfactory function with a threshold based on personalized identification and discrimination abilities identifies cognitively healthy seniors who progress to amnestic MCI or AD at faster rate over time. Future work is focused on developing a remote version of this test for self‐administration that can be used to screen cognitively healthy individuals for research studies and clinical trials.