Welcome to Chasing Life. You know, one of the biggest fears people have, especially as they get older, is that they're going to lose their brain function. They're not going to be as sharp as possible. And they think that is preordained. It's something that's just going to happen. But what you're going to learn today is that none of this is

preordained. Your brain doesn't have to shrink. You don't have to lose your sharpness as you grow

older. Dr. Majid Fatou, he is a neurologist, a neuroscientist, he's a teacher. He is author of a new

book. It's called The Invincible Brain. I read it. I loved it. I even provided a blurb for it.

He's someone who's been thinking about the brain for decades now. And the point he makes is that so much of what happens to our brains is in your hands, something you can control. Not necessarily a new medication, not a new procedure,

but just simple ways that you live your life. And the simplicity is something that's really

going to strike you today. I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and this is Chasing Life.

Well, welcome, first of all, to Chasing Life.

What a privilege for me to have you on the podcast.

It's my pleasure to see you in person, Sanjay.

Well, you know, I obviously know you. I know your work, I've read your book, but I also, I just want to go back a few years.

You wrote a paper, I think it was in JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association some

time ago, talking about this 12-week program, which I read the paper at that point. It really struck a nerve with me,

this idea that you could not only sort of stall cognitive decline, but maybe even improve it

in people. And it was very interesting. It was a very simple paper. There was no new drugs or

procedures. It was mostly based on lifestyle changes. And it really

caught my attention because I think the, I think what people typically feel is that the brain is just

going to decline over time and there's not much you can do about it. That is obviously not your

belief. You're absolutely right. When I first started to treat patients in their 70s with cognitive

decline, I felt like it would take nine months or a year before I could see some changes. The pleasant

surprise I had was that many people started to get better within weeks. Now, it's important to

keep in mind that these older adults who had mild

...