A neuroscientist has revealed the best morning routine for optimal brain function and explained the shocking link between lack of exercise and dementia.
Dr Wendy Suzuki, who is a Professor of Neural Science and Psychology at New York University, appeared on Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett‘s The Diary of a CEO podcast, to discuss brain health.
The bestselling author of books such as, Good Anxiety and Healthy Brain, Happy Life revealed studies have shown exercise can ‘protect your brain from aging’.
She explained: ‘Exercise can improve your mood, it makes your memory better and it improves the function of your prefrontal cortex and I thought ”wow that is amazing”.
The professor went on to explain how her own family situation increased her interest in how exercise impacts the brain, after her father’s cognition began to decline.
Dr Wendy Suzuki, who is a Professor of Neural Science and Psychology at New York University, revealed the best morning routine for optimal brain function
She recalled: ‘I got a call from my mom to say my father wasn’t feeling well, he had gotten lost driving home from the coffee shop he had drove to every day for the last 20 years and the hippocampus is particularly important for spatial memory.’
Hippocampus is a complex brain structure embedded deep into temporal lobe. It plays a major role in learning and memory.
The doctor added: ‘As an expert in the hippocampus I knew that that was a telltale sign of dementia and maybe Alzheimer’s dementia.’
‘As I talked to my father, and of course we went and got him a neurology appointment, I saw that everything that seemed to be improving in me, that is memory, focus, very very suddenly diminished in him.
‘The loss of his cognitive functions that turned out to be Alzheimer’s dementia, made me think that the power of physical activity needed to be explored more deeply.
‘That made me actually switch my research focus from memory function to understanding the effects of physical activity on the brain.’
Dr Wendy went onto explain that brains can change shape and the frontal cortex can become stronger through mental stimulation and exercise.
She revealed professor Marian Diamond discovered brain plasticity in the late 1960s by experimenting with rats, putting some of the rodents in a box with no stimulation and others in a box with toys and an exercise wheel.
Dr Wendy explained: ‘She found that the the brains of those rats raised in the Disney World of rat cages the outer covering of the brain was actually thicker.’
Dr Wendy appeared on Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett ‘s (pictured) The Diary of a CEO podcast, to discuss brain health
‘Later studies showed that you get almost identical effects by just giving rats a running wheel physical activity is doing all of that which has the potential to change the rodent brain and now in the human brain.’
The professor added that although they don’t know the cause of Alzheimer’s and Dementia there are ways for people to ‘protect their brain from aging’.
She said: ‘My number one most powerful tool that you can do to protect your brain from aging and from neurodegenerative diseases is start walking. Why do I start with that? Because everybody can walk, you don’t need to buy any new fitness outfits just go out and walk more.
‘From that study that I mentioned, in the 65 year olds there is a 30 percent reduction in the probability of getting Alzheimer’s with just walking.’
Elsewhere the neuroscientist recommended her own morning routine for optimal brain function…
1. 45 minute meditation
She said: ‘Every morning I like to wake up and I start with about a 45 minute tea meditation, which is a meditation over the brewing and drinking of tea and this is after many years of yo-yo meditating.
‘I knew meditation was good but I just couldn’t really get into it and I was introduced to this form of meditation by a monk who invited me to tea, and we just did this silent meditation outside in a beautiful location.
‘The ritual of brewing, drinking, steeping, re starting over again, kind of kept me in the flow.’
2. 30 minute workout
She said: ‘I try and do cardio strength, sometimes I do yoga, sometimes I just do mobility.’
3. Hot and cold contrast shower
She said: ‘A hot cold contrast shower is also something very helpful for my brain health because it really gives that adrenaline boost that just energizes me and I love that feeling at the beginning of the day.’
After her morning routine she has her breakfast and goes to work with a clearer mind.