Show 1040: How to Make Your Brain Healthy for a Happy Life (Archive)
The People's Pharmacy
Joe and Terry Graedon
4.6 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 29 December 2017
⏱️ 58 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
At midcareer, neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki had numerous scientific awards and accomplishments. She was studying what makes a brain healthy. But she didn’t have much of a life outside of the lab, and she wasn’t happy. She decided to make some changes, starting with a stop at the gym.
How Does Moving Your Body Make Your Brain Healthy?
Dr. Suzuki shifted the direction of her research after she had personal experience with the benefits of exercise.  Soon she was studying how moving your body affects your mood, your brain and your health.
Looking at Neuroplasticity:
Exercise is not the only key to neuroplasticity, although it is very important. If you master specialized skills, your neural connections could change. This can help you keep your brain healthy. Find out what happens when a person learns The Knowledge of the streets of London in order to become certified as a taxicab driver.
Tune in to learn how you can put her research to work for you to help you achieve better brain function and a happy life. Should you take up meditation?
The research from the Netherlands that we discussed about exercise and learning is published in Current Biology, June 16, 2016.
This Week’s Guest:
Wendy Suzuki, PhD, is a Professor of Neural Science and Psychology in the Center for Neural Science at New York University. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards including the prestigious Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences. She is a three-time TedX speaker and has presented at The Moth.
Her book is Healthy Brain, Happy Life:A Personal Program to Activate Your Brain & Do Everything Better. The photograph of Dr. Suzuki is by Elias Wessel.
Listen to the Podcast:
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Joe Graydon. |
| 0:02.3 | I'm Terry Graydon. |
| 0:03.8 | Welcome to this podcast of the People's Pharmacy, where we bring you the stories behind the health headlines. |
| 0:10.2 | This podcast is brought to you by Redux Industries, makers of utterly smooth body cream. |
| 0:16.0 | 800-345-7339 on the web at utter cream.com. |
| 0:21.6 | Many of us find our careers and obligations don't leave much time for play, |
| 0:36.4 | but to spending too much time working hinder happiness? |
| 0:40.0 | This is the People's Pharmacy with Terry and Joe Graydon. |
| 0:50.3 | Neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki had achieved great success in her career. |
| 0:55.1 | She had numerous publications and awards, including the prestigious Troland Research Award |
| 1:00.6 | from the National Academy of Sciences. |
| 1:03.4 | Why wasn't she happy? |
| 1:05.1 | What can we learn from Dr. Suzuki's story? |
| 1:08.1 | Is it possible to change how our brains function to improve memory, mood, and joyfulness? |
| 1:14.3 | Rats, mice, and people all learn better when they're active. |
| 1:18.5 | Coming up on the People's Pharmacy, we'll find out how a healthy brain can lead us to a happy life. |
| 1:25.8 | First, this news. |
| 1:36.0 | In the People's pharmacy health headlines, the prospect of dementia is just as frightening to many people as the possibility of a cancer diagnosis. |
| 1:40.3 | With the population aging, increasing numbers of Americans will suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. |
| 1:47.6 | This week, there's conflicting news on whether and how we might reduce our risk. |
| 1:52.5 | A series of meta-analyses looked at randomized studies and found little solid evidence of any interventions that prevent dementia. |
| 2:00.4 | The authors examined data from drug trials, |
... |
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