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Ever Forward Radio with Chase Chewning

EFR 935: Increase Neuroplasticity and Boost Brain Health At Any Age (Even ReversDementia and Alzheimer's?) with Dr. Tommy Wood

Ever Forward Radio with Chase Chewning

Chase Chewning

Education, Health & Fitness, Self-improvement

5.0 • 947 Ratings

🗓️ 20 April 2026

⏱️ 99 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Neuroplasticity is possible. Your brain health can increase no matter how old you are. So, do you want to future-proof your brain from dementia, Alzheimer's and learn how to stay sharp at any age? Here are the latest science-backed strategies that will boost neuroplasticity and extend your brain's longevity beyond what you thought was possible. The most important part of the body, especially as we age, is our brain. So why aren't we taking the health of our brain as seriously as our heart and achy joints, particularly when people are struggling to focus every day, and dementia and Alzheimer's cases continue to rise? In The Stimulated Mind, Dr. Tommy Wood, a Formula 1 sports performance coach and neuroscientist specializing in lifelong brain health, dispels the myth that the brain is doomed to decline with age. Instead, by providing the right stimulus and building more "headroom"—the amount of mental function we have available to us—we can help our brain to adapt and develop.

Follow Tommy @drtommywood

Follow Chase @chase_chewning

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00:00 – Can up to 70% of dementia be prevented?

00:17 – Why skill-building protects the brain

00:34 – The belief about aging that becomes self-fulfilling

01:55 – Why we're overstimulated and under-stimulated at the same time

03:00 – Train your brain like you train your body

04:28 – Why rest, recovery, and sleep matter for brain performance

05:59 – Brain function is more malleable than most people think

07:15 – Why failure is the primary driver of neuroplasticity

08:22 – Crossword puzzles vs real cognitive challenge

09:40 – What people think is helping brain health, but isn't enough

11:53 – The placebo effect and why "something" can still help

12:28 – Why crosswords help less than you think

14:04 – What it actually means to "stimulate" the brain

15:43 – Why education and complex skills delay cognitive decline

17:05 – Brain clocks, biological age, and measuring brain aging

19:15 – What dancers, artists, gamers, and musicians all have in common

20:23 – It matters less what you do than how hard you engage

22:49 – The truth about the 10,000 hour rule

24:08 – Can video games actually help the brain?

27:40 – The best way to combine learning and application

29:52 – The brain as an adaptation machine

31:11 – How immersion and environment accelerate learning

33:09 – Why some people thrive under pressure and others shut down

35:33 – Is there really a difference between brain and mind?

38:08 – Belief, performance, and the neuroscience of "I can" vs "I can't"

40:25 – What happens in the brain when you think you can't do something

44:27 – Stress-is-bad vs stress-is-enhancing mindsets

50:49 – Can your own beliefs override what you're told?

53:24 – Growth mindset and why belief changes performance

54:30 – Why people lose belief in themselves

56:23 – Self-compassion, process, and staying engaged long-term

58:35 – Mindfulness, presence, and learning as an adult

01:02:02 – Can these habits really prevent Alzheimer's and dementia?

01:02:45 – The real dementia risk numbers: 45% to 70%

01:03:29 – Biggest modifiable risk factors for dementia

01:04:29 – Hearing aids, cataracts, and reversing hidden risk

01:06:26 – Why dementia risk is massively modifiable

01:07:21 – Alzheimer's vs vascular dementia explained

01:09:23 – Why women have historically carried more Alzheimer's burden

01:10:03 – Education, equality, and declining dementia rates

01:15:03 – Where boredom fits into brain health and performance

01:16:02 – Pomodoro, deep work, and cognitive recovery

01:17:06 – Why boredom may be essential for creativity

01:19:24 – Treat your brain like a cognitive athlete

01:20:11 – Creatine for brain health: hype or helpful?

01:25:19 – Best-supported supplements for cognitive performance

01:27:20 – Omega-3s, B vitamins, vitamin D, and iron

01:29:03 – Magnesium, zinc, choline, and antioxidants

01:31:20 – Cognitive headroom: reserve, resilience, and resolve

01:35:33 – What "Ever Forward" means to Tommy Wood

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Episode resources:

Transcript

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0:00.0

The following is an operation podcast production.

0:04.6

So there was one study done from the UK Biobank, a big population data set in the UK, more than half a million people, and they looked at all these different potential risk factors for dementia and estimated that maybe even more than 70% may be preventable.

0:17.1

It matters less exactly what you do.

0:19.6

It's that process of really attending to the development of a skill,

0:23.1

which requires a lot of hard work and dedication and failure along the way

0:28.9

that really helps to craft and maintain the structure of these brain networks.

0:34.5

So there's this idea of stereotype embodiment theory,

0:38.9

which is a fancy way of saying that if you think that aging involves the loss of cognitive

0:43.4

and physical function, you will then start to embody that. That's you not going to the gym because

0:48.1

you're worried that you're going to get injured. Or it's you not learning new skills or doing

0:52.6

challenging things because you're worried you're going to look stupid when you fail, even though failure is the primary driver of

0:57.2

neuroplasticity in the brain. So the undoing that I think we need to, we, you know, everybody

1:02.4

needs to think about is knowing that the maintenance of brain function into our 60s, 70s, 80s is the norm.

1:13.7

Yes, of course, some people experience aging.

1:15.5

Some people experience dementia.

1:17.6

A lot of that dementia is probably preventable by doing some of these same things.

1:21.8

But the first step is knowing that it's possible,

1:25.0

is knowing that we can change that trajectory.

1:27.7

It's like that new belief hijack.

1:30.2

Like somehow some way you begin to say something,

1:32.9

thinks something long enough, it becomes your belief and that actually is what causes

1:36.6

the inability?

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