How Changing Your Mind Can Physically Alter Your Brain

Intelligent Design the Future

Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture

Society & Culture, Science, Astronomy, Life Sciences, Philosophy

4.3 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Is it possible to personally alter the physical structure of your brain? Today’s episode of ID The Future comes to us from our sister podcast Mind Matters News. Host Dr. Michael Egnor sits down with fellow neurosurgeon and author Dr. Lee Warren to discuss his book The Life-Changing Art of Self-Brain Surgery. Dr. Warren shares how his medical training and Christian faith collided after the tragic loss of his son. The experience helped him realize that the mind is more than just brain activity. Dr. Warren unpacks the main thrust of his book, describing self-brain surgery as the intentional practice of choosing different thoughts to physically change the brain’s structure and improve overall health. Dr. Warren has observed the effects of such self-driven change in real-time brain scans, which deliver positive results like reducing the body’s stress response and promoting healing.

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0:00.0	Welcome to ID the Future.
0:01.7	I'm Andrew McDermott.
0:03.5	Today's episode comes to us from our sister podcast, Mind Matters News,
0:08.1	a production of the Discovery Institute's Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence.
0:14.0	You can learn more about the show and access other episodes at mindmatters.a.I.
0:24.5	Welcome. other episodes at mind matters.a.ai. Welcome everyone to Mind Matters News.
0:26.9	This is Mike Higner, and today I have the great privilege of having my friend and colleague,
0:32.1	Dr. Lee Warren, join us.
0:34.4	Dr. Warren is a neurosurgeon, an author, and a podcaster. He's the author of many books
0:40.4	and has a wonderful, fascinating book that I want to ask a lot of questions about called
0:46.0	the life-changing art of self-brain surgery. And so Lee, welcome and thank you for joining us.
0:54.0	Mike's good to see you again.
0:55.1	Thanks for having me today, my friend.
0:56.8	Sure.
0:57.8	So I'm curious for on behalf of our audience.
1:03.6	Brain surgery is pretty hard and I would imagine that self-brain surgery is even harder.
1:09.6	What is the life-changing art of self-brain surgery?
1:13.0	What's that all about?
1:14.5	So this came about, Mike, as you and I've talked about before,
1:19.3	my upbringing in neuroscience, I think, like yours, really,
1:23.3	was the training of the materialist worldview, right?
1:26.7	Where we're kind of the product of our brain activity
	...

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