Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Summary
On episode 99 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Dr. Wendy Suzuki, a neuroscientist who runs a research lab at New York University, has won the Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences, and has given 2 TEDx talks on the brain.
Wendy explains how her own health turnaround, going from overweight and burned out while chasing tenure to a regular gym goer, changed the way she studies the brain. She lays out 3 specific ways aerobic exercise reshapes brain function: it lifts mood, sharpens focus, and triggers the birth of new brain cells in the hippocampus, the structure most responsible for long-term memory.
The conversation also covers memory techniques like the memory palace, why novelty and emotion make things stick, and how exercise, meditation, and altruism combine to build a brain that resists decline longer, even though none of it is a cure for dementia or Alzheimer’s.
Links
- https://wendysuzuki.com
Key Takeaways
- Exercise changes the brain, not just the body. Wendy argues the brain is part of the body and responds to aerobic exercise the way a muscle does, with measurable changes in how it functions.
- Exercise improves mood. Aerobic exercise increases neurotransmitters that are decreased in depression, which is why people tend to feel better right after a workout.
- Exercise sharpens attention. It raises levels of growth factors in the prefrontal cortex, and improved attention shows up consistently in studies of both single workouts and long-term exercise habits.
- Exercise grows new brain cells in the hippocampus. This is Wendy’s favorite finding after 25 years studying the structure: new hippocampal cells are more excitable and get incorporated into memory circuits faster, and exercise is the only known way to stimulate their birth.
- Memory improves through repetition, novelty, emotion, and association. Memory champion Chester Santos uses these 4 levers, including the ancient memory palace technique of placing items to remember in a familiar space, to memorize long lists.
- Exercise is not a cure, but it builds reserve. The hippocampus is one of the first structures affected by dementia and Alzheimer’s; a larger, stronger hippocampus takes disease longer to visibly impact, even though it can’t stop the disease outright.
- A hard wake-up call can be the trigger to start. Wendy’s turning point was realizing she was the weakest person on a river rafting trip in Peru, weaker than teenagers and people over 65, which pushed her back into the gym.
- Pairing movement with positive affirmations changes how you feel about exercise. The Intensati class she found pairs kickboxing, dance, and yoga moves with spoken affirmations like “I am strong now,” replacing the negative self-talk people often bring into the gym.
- Wendy’s three strategies to get and stay well: a regular form of exercise you actually enjoy, a regular meditative practice (even though it works through stillness rather than activity), and regular altruism, since doing something good for others, even anonymously, raises dopamine and keeps you happy.
“I want as many new hippocampal brain cells in my brain as I can possibly get.”
Dr. Wendy Suzuki