Top 10 Neuroscience-Backed Tips for a Stronger Brain | Wendy Suzuki and Amishi Jha
10% Happier with Dan Harris
10% Media, LLC
4.6 • 12.9K Ratings
🗓️ 15 April 2026
⏱️ 65 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Plus: maximizing the benefits of sleep, exercise, and meditation.
To celebrate the show's 10th anniversary, we're producing episodes that share top 10 lists of practices, strategies and more from our favorite experts. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has listened and supported the show over the years. None of this would be possible without you.
Amishi Jha, PhD is the Director of Contemplative Neuroscience and a Professor of Psychology at the University of Miami. She is also the author of the bestselling book Peak Mind and the creator of the app Pushups for the Mind.
Wendy Suzuki, PhD is the Dean of New York University College of Arts & Science and a Professor of Neural Science and Psychology at New York University. She is the author of the books Healthy Brain, Happy Life and Good Anxiety.
In this episode:
- What neuroplasticity is, and why your brain is not fixed
- How exercise changes your brain, including mood, memory, and attention
- Reframing the burden of optimization
- The minimum effective dose for meditation to improve attention
- Why sleep is essential for memory, brain cleanup, and long-term brain health
- The myth of multitasking
- How anxiety can be used as a tool instead of just something to avoid
- How your daily habits are shaping the brain you'll have tomorrow
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Join Dan and Emmy Award-winning journalist Allison Gilbert at 92NY on May 17th for a live conversation about how mindfulness can deepen connection and combat loneliness, available in person and via streaming. Register here.
Join Dan, Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren for Meditation Party, a 3-day immersive retreat at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, October 16–18, 2026. Register here.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the 10% Happier Podcast. I'm Dan Harris. |
| 0:16.0 | Hello, everybody. How we doing? Today we are talking about the top 10 neuroscience-backed tips for a healthy brain. For this episode, we have recruited two powerhouse neuroscientists, both of them, friends of the pod. Just to say from the jump here, we're going to go through the best ways to maintain your brain, but my guests are very |
| 0:38.3 | sensitive to the fact that you're a busy person, so they will recommend strategies that you can |
| 0:42.7 | actually do, that you can actually weave into your daily life. In other words, we will talk about |
| 0:47.9 | things like sleep, exercise, and meditation and how they change your brain, but we will also talk |
| 0:52.9 | about the minimum effective dose. |
| 0:56.0 | My guests are Dr. Amishi Jha and Wendy Suzuki. Amishi Jha is director of contemplative neuroscience |
| 1:03.4 | and a professor of psychology at the University of Miami. She's also the author of a best-selling |
| 1:08.0 | book called Peek Mind, and she's the creator of an app called |
| 1:12.5 | Pushups for Your Mind. Wendy Suzuki is the dean of NYU's College of Arts and Sciences, and a |
| 1:18.9 | professor of neuroscience and psychology, and she's the author of Healthy Brain, Happy Life, and another book |
| 1:25.4 | with the provocative title, Good Anxiety. anxiety i should say the reason we're doing a |
| 1:30.6 | top 10 list today is that we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the show thank you very much for |
| 1:37.3 | listening i can't believe we've been doing this for 10 years being the host of this show has |
| 1:41.4 | changed my life it's given me so much my team and I could not and would not do this without you. |
| 1:47.6 | I also want to say that if you're interested in meditating with me, I've got two live in-person |
| 1:53.0 | events coming up. |
| 1:54.2 | The first is on May 17th. |
| 1:55.8 | I'll be at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. |
| 1:59.3 | I'll guide some meditation, talk about how the practice can help |
| 2:02.6 | in a chaotic world, and take your questions. And then in October, I'll be doing my annual |
| 2:08.5 | meditation party retreat with my friends, Sabine Selassie and Jeff Warren. It's a weekend thing |
... |
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