Your Brain Isn't Declining — It's Waiting for You to Do These Five Things

30:38I think what you do is to say, okay, make a deal with yourself, say one hour running and then, you know, give yourself a reward and be pretty religious about that. Be pretty strict. You're not going to have the ice cream unless you had a good workout and then enjoy it. I'm glad you said religious about it because I do think it's important to know the difference between the health, the things that are, you know, nice to have and the things that are like, no, be religious about this. This is going to have a huge impact. So one of the things that if we kind of make sure that we're taking care of what we're putting inside our bodies and we're sleeping and we're exercising, I think that alone probably reduces the stress levels, which is part of what makes sure that our brains are growing and staying healthy.

31:35I don't want to stress anybody out. I just want to motivate people. So like, what happens to a brain with chronic stress? Part one. Part two is, can you distinguish between the stressors, the everyday stressors that might cause problems and the stressors that are unrelenting and harmful? Yeah. So the dose relationship I mentioned to you earlier about, for example, obesity or junk food also apply to stress. When you're stressed, the cortisol levels rise in your blood. And there's a direct correlation between higher cortisol levels and more shrinkage in every campus. And this has been shown in multiple studies.

32:22For example, one study in Japan invited a group of people to have an MRI and the cortisol levels measured. They were not instructed to do anything. They just said, thank you very much. and they went. And then seven years later, they brought them back and measured their hippocampus again and also measured their cortisol levels again. Those who had low cortisol from the beginning to the end had increases of hippocampus and those who had higher cortisol levels had smaller hippocampus. And this is a very well done study because everybody was controlled based on themselves. Usually you can't say, okay, you guys go stress out and you guys don't stress out.

33:09That's what they did because people who stress out, they usually are that type and they continue to stress. And there's a difference between stressing over minor things like telling your kid to brush their teeth or minor things. And there are major things where you stress about your mortgage, about your relationships, about things that are really important to you. And the solution is choose what things are important and reserve your stress response to only significant things. I mean, we can't go through a life and not have stress, whether it's childhood, you know, whether our kid has cancer or our parent have Alzheimer's disease or, you know, our spouse lost his job or something like that.

33:56Those are real stresses and every life has to deal with them. But don't stress over everything, like the traffic or why the house is not clean enough or why things are not perfect. Unfortunately, some people are just constantly stressed. I think the problem is this. Most people don't appreciate that the choices they have either shrinks or grows their hippocampus. and the size of hippocampus determines whether or not they develop Alzheimer's disease. If the size of hippocampus was something they could see in somehow, like there was a measure in the palm of their hand, and they could see that hippocampus shrinking visually, then they would stop.

34:43It's so true. If I wore a watch that had a picture of my brain growing and shrinking, I feel like I would stop before I made a certain decision. Exactly.

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35:53Now, I need you to say this is good. I just started playing Mahjong fairly recently. I love it so much. And I keep wanting to believe that the shift and the focus and then the shifting of strategies and the paying attention and the social aspect is going to be good for my brain. And I would like to hear you say that. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Anything that challenges your brain is good for your brain. Whether you play Mahjong or learn a new language or play Sudoku or take photography lessons or crossword puzzles, anything that's a little difficult. You know, if you do something that's easy and you've done it a thousand times and you don't really feel challenged.

36:45like if you play Mahjong or if you play card games with someone who's below your level and it's very easy for you that's not going to be helpful because you're not challenging yourself but if you're frustrated a little bit or if you're so into the game because you really are focusing on the cards and what card has gone first and which card is coming next then you are challenging your brain. This is great news. I'm trying to think of things that are low lifts that can, that are fun and joyful that also do benefit us. What part of this is passed down to our kids and what mechanism is it passed down?

37:24Is it modeling? Is it genetics? Is it epigenetics? What can we do right now to sort of support our children's future brain development? For one thing, you need to be a good role model. Our kids learn so much from watching us than from us telling them what to do. They observe and they learn and they continue to do the things which were done at home by their parents. So the first thing to do is stay calm, eat well, be nice to other people, smile. I think we should really take time to cherish all the good things in our lives and have gratitude for all the good things that are around us and not focus on the few things that are not right.

38:14See, our tendency is to take for granted that we live in a nice house, we have a paycheck, we have a car, we have healthy kids, and you dwell on a neighbor being too loud or the cousin not showing up. So we need to sort of realize that life is amazing. And just watching what's going on in the world, we need to really feel lucky and privileged to live in a place where our problem is the cost of gas, which is a bad thing. But let's not forget that we're having an amazing standard of life here. So apart from being a good role model for our children, I think we need to teach them that these five pillars of brain health are as important as brushing their teeth because these five pillars of brain health can improve the health of their brain and the brain is going to be shiny and bright as they grow older they're going to have better jobs they're going to be successful in what they do now what's really interesting from a scientific point of view is that what you do affects your genes as a mom.

39:27And when you have a child, some of the exposures that you've had is transmitted to your newborn. For example, in Montreal, there was a major snowstorm, I think it was about eight years ago, seven, eight years ago. And the whole province of Quebec had lost electricity. and for two, three weeks, it was a major, major problem. All the electrical lines had fallen. There was no transportation. Communication was limited. It was a major problem. So scientists had looked at children born to mothers who were pregnant at that time. And they found that there are genetic footprints in their genes, which were different than kids which were born like a year earlier or a year later.

40:22And these have been documented very well in animal studies. Let me give you a really interesting study. So they did a study in mice, and there are two types of moms, those who tend to groom their offsprings and those who just say, you know, I don't have time for you now. Just you take care of yourself. I'll check with you later. and they looked at the offsprings of these two types of mouse moms. And they found that the children, the offsprings of moms with a lot of grooming and licking were calmer and the receptors for stress-related proteins were lower in their brains. And then they looked at moms who were busy and didn't have time for kids and they were not into licking and grooming.

41:13and they saw that offsprings of those mice had low levels of the proteins for stress management in the brain. So then they looked at offsprings of these offsprings, the grandchildren, and they saw that the grandchildren of those types of mouse had the better or the worse version of these receptors in the brain. In other words, what happens to you as a mom, to your children, passes on to the next generation. And this has been shown in human studies as well. Here's an interesting study. It was that scientists switched the offsprings of these two types of moms so that the moms that were licking and grooming their babies, those babies were given to the other groups of moms.

42:01And the moms, which were the offspring of the other group, were given to the moms that were licking and groomed. And then they saw that the mice adopted of the foster mom and the brains, the genetic markers in their brains were those of the foster mom, not the original mom. That's amazing, which tells you that whatever genes you have, or whatever genes you have, and you pass it on. But if you change the environment for your children, then that is what matters. It's not destiny. It's not destiny, and it's not the genes. I mean, the genes are the default of what will happen to you. But if you change the environment, especially in childhood, then you will see that the offspring will take on the genetic profile of the foster moms.

42:55That's really important when you think about your kids and the environment you create for them is really shaping their brain, literally. And it will help them to either have a good experience in life or be stressed out type who will continue to stress and they will then pass on to next generation. And I think the rat pup studies are, they're a good reminder and inspiring in the sense that today the changes that you make matter. And that this whole conversation about brain plasticity is so inspiring because I don't want people to think, oh, I've messed up so much or I'm so unhealthy or, oh no, this is a disaster.

43:43I think what's so incredible is we can make certain commitments today and it will change the course of what's going on with our brains. Yeah. I talk that to my patients all the time. Sometimes the patient comes and says, my mom didn't treat me well when I was a kid and that's why I can't do things. And the answer is yes, you have a point. However, if you change now, your brain will change and the brains of your kids will change. Your brain has malleability. The narrative you have for yourself really determines the kind of life experiences you will have. And that narrative is something that you started when you were a child.

44:26If the narrative is, I'm good at things, or the narrative is, things always work out for me, then things will work out for you. And that's why every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do before I get out of bed, before I check the time or check my emails, whatever, I don't touch anything. I wake up and I just think about how life is, a lot of gratitude, you know, and I feel lucky. I have a wife. I have two grown children. Life is good. And then I picture the kind of things I'm going to have that day. And I picture them being wonderful. Like I'm going to have a podcast today with Elisa. It's going to be so much fun.

45:13she is so famous and she's such an authority in her field developmental biology and it's going to be great conversation ahead of time i picture it to be good and and so when i start my day the narrative is today is going to be a good day and the narrative could be just as easily negative one like I'm so busy why don't I have any time to myself this job is horrible I have to do this podcast I have to drive all the time and you know I would never say why anyway I think the narrative is something you choose to have and one of the things we did for our patients was to help them create a new narrative just because you have repeated the same narrative for decades it doesn't mean that it will continue to be that way let me give you one patient story i had this woman i remember her so vividly i think she was late 60s and she had came she had come to see us for memory and we worked with her memory and during her first visit i talked about her stress issues and says you know my financial situation is not the best.

46:35And my mom passed away about 30 years ago. And at the time, my brother tricked me to sign something which gave my share of inheritance to him. So I didn't get more than a million dollars 30 years ago. And if I had that money, my life would have been so much better. And it turns out that she's been repeating that narrative in her brain for all these 30 years and I said I think her name was Gene I said Gene you know 30 years has passed you how many hours have you repeated that thought and it hasn't helped you so why not just stop saying it and say you know a bad thing happened but I could have also had a car accident 30 years ago and I would have lost my legs and I'd be on a wheelchair now which I you know if I give any choices I'd rather have lost money than to be on a wheelchair.

47:32And so, you know, she worked with our social worker. And when she came for her six-week follow-up, she said, Dr. Fertulli, you know, I realized how much of my life was wasted on me repeating this negative thought. And I'm a new person because I realized that it is what it is. And I still have so many good years ahead of me. And she was so relieved. She was like a new person because she had changed that narrative. People need to appreciate that a narrative that they have can be changed. And if they create a positive narrative, they will benefit from it every day. I think it's such a wonderful note to end on because you can't fake that narrative, but maybe you can start to force yourself to just do what you're doing every morning as a practice.

48:23And as you practice, it grows stronger and it actually changes your brain. And I think what's so wonderful hearing from you is these are hard things to do, but they're not that heavy of a lift for so much payoff. Like, and I think that these are ways to orient our kids, even if they're not naturally inclined to kind of consider the awe of just being a human. That's hard to do for some people. But what a practice. Like, it's such a doable practice. Just as you're saying that I'm thinking about so many things that used to be considered soft science that actually make changes in the structure of your brain.

49:03I mean, that's so cool. And hearing it from you, you know, it just feels like more legit. Yeah, I think, I don't know. I think we shouldn't call it soft science. There's hard data for these kind of things. Yeah. You know, simple interventions in your mindset can change the trajectory of your brain. For example, if one study showed that if you have a positive view about aging, you will have a better brain as you grow older. And it has to do with your narrative. If you think that with aging, everything falls apart and that you'll be slower and you won't be able to do things, that will happen. and if you tell yourself, you know, with aging, some things get a little slower, but I'm still capable of enjoying life and exercising and having a full life, travel, take classes, organize things, make a change in the world, you will have a better brain.

50:06And which way you end has to do with the narrative you tell you. And the thing is, the trick is to make people realize that narrative can be changed, that the narrative is not fixed. People have repeated the same narrative millions of times in their head. For example, they say things like, it runs in my family to be obese, or memory loss runs in my family. So they have already decided that it is what it is. I'm doomed to begin with. When they fall into that trap, they say, see, it worked. The most common form of that is when people say, I'm not good with names. You know, sometimes I'm giving a lecture to like a thousand people and ask, how many of you have difficulty remembering names?

50:58Raise your hand. Always like 99 % of people raise their hands. There are only like three or four in a huge crowd that says actually we are good with remembering names. Now, it can't be that there's a disease that affects 99 % of people. And if you ask those people, what do you think is causing your memory loss? Most of them say they're worried about Alzheimer's disease, which is unfortunate. So if you tell yourself you're not good at remembering names, you meet somebody new, you really don't give it your best effort to memorize their names. And then you don't remember it. And then you tell yourself, see, I'm not good with names.

51:37It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now, let's do the opposite. Tell yourself, I'm good with remembering names. And when you meet somebody, genuinely try to remember their names and picture that you would get$10 ,000 if you go home and tell your family members the name of the person you met. $10 ,000 in$100 bills. Just picture those$100 bills in a stack and you're getting it. Now, do you think they would forget the name like Majid Fatuhi? You know, it's a difficult name, but$10 ,000 is M-A-J-I-D-F-O-T-U-H-I. What's the big deal about that? Majid Fatuhi. I remember that. And you go home and you spell M-A-J-I-D-F-O-T-U-H-I.

52:23I mean, it's done. So if you have the attitude, I'm not good with names, you say, it was meh. I don't know. I don't know. It's just weird names. These people, you know, these days have so many international names. I don't remember. You know, what happened to Nancy and Jim and John? You know, everybody has such unusual names. And the opposite, of course, is you go home and it says, Majid Fatuhi, it was so interesting. And, you know, you remember it. So tell yourself you're good with the memory names and you will be. So you tell yourself, and what I just heard is you tell yourself, and then you also have a strategy.

52:58Like you make an effort and that effort wouldn't happen if you just wrote it off as I'm not good with names. Yes. The narrative determines the outcome. If you tell yourself that I will remember Elisa's name, then you will remember it. Now, one thing you have to do is when you see someone's name, that's not a common name. Like Majid, Fatuhi. Majid or Elisa. Elisa. because sometimes, you know, there's also a Liza. I know. So then you ask the person, is it Aliza or Liza? And then is it Aliza, Aliza? And then you make sure you get it right and then you just repeat it. And the trick is during the conversation, you want to repeat the name at least a couple of times.

53:44You don't want to overdo it. That sounds weird. The other thing I do is that I try to pay attention to people's eyes and to do eye-to-eye connection because what happens when we meet somebody, we see them in a room or a bigger place, and they are not nearly the focus of our attention. When I look at people's eyes, it brings their face into full focus of my vision. And now they are the center of my focus. And I try to see the color of their eyes, the eyebrows, the chin, the ears, the hair. and when I say Lisa I will make a point of remembering the name and the face because it's one thing to remember the name and the face right now is another thing to like meet the same person in a supermarket or a different setting and then you know so I remember I've seen her I know one reason people remember faces better than names is that faces make an emotional connection with you.

54:50You have an emotional experience when you look at someone's face. Are they happy? Are they kind? Are they rushed? Are they ambitious? Are they tired? There's an emotional connection, whereas name is abstract. There's nothing emotional about name. But when you look at someone's eye to eye and use the name in the conversation, you are creating a connection with them, creating an emotional bond with them. And it doesn't always have to be a good one. You can say, this person looks so annoying. I remember her. As long as there's emotion involved, it's going to help. But even if you don't do that, and if it were really the case that you get$10 ,000, there's no way you would forget that name.

55:35Also, as an added bonus, it feels very connected to sit with someone who's paying attention to you and remembering your name and mentioning it a couple of times and looking into your eyes like I'm in a better mood for it. I am. It just shows that you're there and present. People love to hear their name. There's an expression I heard that the most beautiful sound in the world is the sound of your name for people. And also it shows that the person is very humble. If somebody pays attention to you is great because, you know, they, they're really into you that you're important to them. You are somebody to them and they make you feel important.

56:24And that's a good feeling to receive if somebody has a conversation with you. Ah, Majid, this was so, so wonderful. You know, when you know things that you're supposed to be doing, but you don't do them. Maybe that's not your jam. I feel like some of the things that you mentioned so casually today, I feel pretty sure that I'm going to start. There's such concrete tools to just make things better. So thank you. My pleasure. It was wonderful talking to you, Lisa. It was so wonderful to talk to you. I mean that. I was just with some people last night that were all new people, except for one friend of mine.

57:11And I noticed that one of the people at this dinner, there were two times when she addressed me and said my name. And I remember thinking, I saw two things. I saw that strategically, she was one of those people that really wants to remember the names of the people and the faces of the people that she's connecting with. But also I was like, that is so effective. Like it's such a small thing and it really, it feels different. Different. I think just generally speaking, parents are overwhelmed and put aside their diet, their exercise, and their sleep and their stress. And those are four of the things that you said are the most important things to grow our brains and prevent our brains from shrinking.

58:02I hate to say the word shrinking, but so it's very motivating and I appreciate it. Thank you. I think the bottom line is this. Now that you understand how exercise, sleep, diet, stress management, and brain training can make a difference in your brain, you need to make small changes in your day-to-day life. You don't need to run a marathon or stress out over the fact that you're not getting enough sleep or that you're stressed too much. Just make a simple change in your life for two, three weeks. For example, cut back on junk food by 50 % for two weeks. If you have French fries or donuts or cookies or something, just eat half, 50 % in two weeks.

58:51Or say, I'm going to walk for 20 minutes or 30 minutes twice a week. Start small and then incorporate those lifestyle changes in your daily life little by little. What matters is consistency. over time. Not that you do a lot of things for a short period of time, but that you incorporate those changes into new habits. When you said brain training, I just want to make sure that like some of the things we talked about, for example, remembering names and the sort of ways that the strategies you have, that's brain training, right? That's right. Anything you do that's a little difficult for you, Majan, taking a dance class, traveling and learning about a new country, new culture, reading, not just for two minutes, but reading an article and paying attention to details.

59:46Anything that maintains your attention and it's a little difficult is good for your brain. Fantastic. I have developed a free app which is available on App Store. It's called The Invincible Brain. It has a series of questionnaires for brain fitness and two questionnaires for determining what kind of symptoms you have. So these three questionnaires really help you learn about yourself and all the things that are affecting your brain. And then the app gives you specific recommendations of what to do, and it allows you to monitor your progress every week. So you get weekly progress, and you can chart your progress.

1:00:33We had this 12-week program in my brain center, and more than 80 % of patients improved, and about half of them increased the size of the hippocampus by 1 % to 3 % in 12 weeks. I've talked about all of those things in my book, The Invincible Brain. The Invincible Brain. I'm going to put the link in the show notes. Yes. So the program is in detail in my book, but it's also available for free in the app. I also have an Instagram, Dr. Underscore Fatuhi, and then something on LinkedIn and YouTube. So if you put the invincible brain in Google search, you will find a lot of things I do, and most of them are free.

1:01:18This is so wonderful. I'll put everything in the show notes, and I'm going to write about this on my stubs. sub stack and I'll link to your book and your app and people can follow you on social media. It's good when very smart people are giving very smart tools instead of people making things up. That's always very exciting. Thank you. And when is this book coming? Did the book come out already? Yes. The book came out and it's a bestseller book actually. Oh, fantastic. Okay. I'm so excited. So I'll keep spreading the word, but I just, I'm thrilled that you came and took the time to talk to me today.

1:01:57Sure. My pleasure. Thank you for joining me for this conversation. Please stick around and subscribe to this channel for more episodes and practical content that you can learn from and use in your parenting in real time. Watch the next video here or sign up for my Substack newsletter at dralizapressman.substack.com and consider becoming a paid subscriber for access to me live each month in our subscriber Q &A.