What the Latest Brain Training Science Means for Your Brain Health: A Conversation with the Lead Developer of BrainHQ, Dr. Henry Mahncke, Ph.D.

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Welcome to the Let's Talk Brain
Health podcast, a public health

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educational initiative of the
virtual Brain Health Center.

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I'm your host, Doctor Crystal
Color, and I'm so glad you're

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here.
On this podcast, I sit down with

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incredible guests to explore all
things brain health and

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Wellness.
Together, we'll talk about how

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to care for your total brain
health, mind, body, and spirit

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while sharing the latest brain
Health Science practical tips

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and strategies you can use
everyday.

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By prioritizing your brain
health, you're taking an

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important step towards living a
happier, healthier life.

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So let's dive in and welcome
today's guest.

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Keeping your brain sharp isn't
just about doing puzzles or

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playing games.
Targeted brain exercises can

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actually strengthen key brain
systems, improve memory,

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attention and decision making,
and even help your brain stay

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resilient as you age.
Today we're diving into the

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science of brain fitness and how
the right kind of brain training

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to make a real difference in
your everyday life.

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Doctor Henry Monka got his
doctorate in neuroscience in the

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lab at UCSF that discovered the
brain remains plastic, capable

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of chemical, physical and
functional change throughout

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life.
After a stint consulting at

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McKenzie and Co, he was
recruited to lead the global

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team commercializing plasticity
based training at Posit Science

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which makes Brain HQ Drainage.
Q is the most scientifically

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validated brain training app on
the market and has shown

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benefits in more than 300
reviewed studies.

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Such benefits include gains in
cognition, attention, memory,

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speed, decision making and
quality of life, depressive

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symptoms, confidence and
control, health related quality

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of life, and real world
activities including health

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outcomes, balance, driving and
workplace activities.

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BRING HQ is used by leading
health and Medicare Advantage

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plans, by preeminent medical
centers, clinics and

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communities, and by elite
athletes, the military and other

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organizations.
Focus on peak performance if

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we're going to talk brain
fitness, I can't think of

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another brilliant brain to.
Welcome to the podcast today,

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Henry.
Is there any additional

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information about your
background that you'd like to

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share with our audience?
First of all, Crystal, it's

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really nice to be talking with
you on the podcast today.

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Thank you for the invitation and
the boy that did seem like a

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pretty comprehensive biography.
I will add to it, Ed, your

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invitation, which is, hey, one
thing that's not in that

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biography is one of the reasons
I'm doing this work is because

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of my grandfather.
So I'm actually named after my

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grandfather.
His name was also Henry Monka,

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and he passed away in 1980 of
Alzheimer's disease when I was a

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kid at that age.
It's amazing.

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If you look back at that time,
the 70s and the early 80s, we

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didn't really know anything
about brain health.

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They didn't even call it
Alzheimer's disease, right?

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They just said he passed away of
senile dementia.

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He may have heard that term.
We don't use that term anymore,

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but that's how it's described.
And I just remember going

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through that with my family and
my dad in particular, and having

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had the amazing opportunity to
come out and do a PhD in

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neuroscience.
And I'll be doing this work in

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brain health.
It's wonderful and amazing thing

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to do to come to work everyday
and work on something that

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afflicted my grandfather and
then so many other people as

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well.
So I'll add that to my bio.

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I appreciate you sharing that
personal connection.

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It seems so many other people
enter the field with some type

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of connection with a loved one
in brain health.

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I think broader statistics show
8 out of 10 Americans are

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directly or indirectly impacted
by broader brain health

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concerns.
But I do have to ask, what

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brought you to focus
specifically on this cognitive

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training component that you have
honestly dedicated your entire

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career to this?
Yeah, that's a wonderful

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question and really starts when
I came to Graduate School.

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I came out to Graduate School to
the University of California,

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San Francisco, and like almost
everyone who starts in Graduate

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School, I wanted to go to study
neuroscience because I wanted to

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understand the mysteries of how
the brain works.

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I think every graduate student
in neuroscience starts in that

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exact same place.
Like, it's amazing, right?

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3 1/2 lbs of wet goo inside your
skull gives rise to every

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conscious experience and memory
and the life event that's going

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to happen to you.
And I joined a really remarkable

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lab at UCSF.
I worked in the lab of Doctor

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Michael Mersnick, who's world
famous in the world of

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neuroscience, which my parents
remind me means nobody has ever

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heard of him.
But nonetheless, what Mike is

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really credited for is this
discovery of adult brain

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plasticity, right?
He fundamentally discovered that

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the adult brain can change and
rewire itself.

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And when I started Graduate
School, which again was a long

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time ago, but when I started
Graduate School, we were told

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over and over again that, hey,
the brain builds itself when

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you're a kid.
But sometime after the age of 7

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or 12 or 19, no one really knew
quite when your critical period

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is over, your brain wiring is
done.

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Your brain is now like a
computer with fixed wiring.

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And we were told over and over
again, all it does is wear out

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over time like any kind of
machine.

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And that's what happens as we
get old.

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And I remember to this day being
in the UCSF library and opening

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up proceedings, the National
Academy of Sciences, and

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discovering for the first time
that new brain cells could be

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born in the adult brain.
That work was actually done in

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songbirds, first of all things,
and joining Mike Mersnick Lab,

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which really turned that whole
idea on its head.

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Work from Mike and then his
students and then people all

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over the world showed us that
none of that's true.

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The adult brain can reorganize
and rebuild itself.

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I finished my graduate work.
I decided I didn't want to be a

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professor.
I worked in consulting, as you

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mentioned.
I worked for the British

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government for a period of time
on science and technology

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policy.
But one day, Mike called me up,

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and he said, Henry, we've helped
a lot of rats build better

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brains.
We've helped a lot of monkeys

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build better brains.
Don't you think it's about time

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to help people build some better
brains?

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And I thought about my
grandfather, and I thought about

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the fact that I lived in San
Francisco, and everyone here

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needs to join a startup sooner
or later.

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And that's what kicked me off on
this path.

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And really today that's a myth
of the brain.

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I think we're still debunking,
correct, is that adult brains

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still have this ability to grow
and change and re sculpt.

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And I think that's a great way
to kick off the conversation

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with you a bit is what exactly
is this idea of brain fitness or

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cognitive fitness and brain
training?

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Before we dive into the crux of
the conversation with you and

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focusing on your work at Brain
HQ, could you tell us what that

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idea of that concept is?
Because it does build off of

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brain plasticity.
But what is this idea of brain

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fitness?
You put it absolutely perfectly,

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which is, hey, we have
recognized from thousands and

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thousands of scientific
publications that the brain is

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plastic.
And that's a funny term, but

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scientists use this term to mean
that the brain can change

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itself, it can build new
connections, it can change its

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structure, its function, its
chemistry and its health in that

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way.
And that's science that's,

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again, really been around since
the 90s and the 2000s.

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But the implications of that
science are only now finally

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becoming clear.
And what I mean by that is once

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you really appreciate brain
plasticity, appreciate that,

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hey, this is how the brain
works.

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Your brain rebuilds itself in
response to what you ask it to

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do.
And hey, that happens when

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you're a little kid and it
happens when you're middle-aged.

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It happens when you're old.
It happens when your brain is

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healthy.
It happens when your brain is

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unhealthy.
It's just the fundamental

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operation of the brain is it's a
machine that's continuously

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rebuilding and reorganizing
itself.

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As soon as that idea really
sinks in, you immediately

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recognize, hey, if I ask the
brain to do the right kinds of

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things, I could probably build
the right kinds of connections

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and the right kinds of
structures and the right kind of

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chemistry.
And if I could rebuild the brain

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in that way, maybe I could make
a brain that was healthier or

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sharper or worked better.
And it was that fundamental idea

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that, hey, we could take this
basic science of brain

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plasticity, publish again
thousands of scientific papers.

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We're going to fill up a
library, right?

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And could turn it into an
applied science.

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Or anyone, you or me or anyone
we know could take advantage of

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this scientific breakthrough to
help make their own brain

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healthier.
That's what the fundamental idea

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is.
Put it another way, we've had a

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physical fitness revolution,
right?

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50 years ago, we all started to
recognize that, hey, if we did

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the right kind of physical
exercise, like, we would improve

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our bodily health.
And if we improved our bodily

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health, we'd have a better life,
right?

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We'd live longer and happier and
healthier.

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But weirdly, that insight
stopped at the neck.

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Everyone recognizes, hey, of
course you can do things to take

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care of your physical health.
And we never quite made the next

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logical step, which is, gosh,
shouldn't we be able to take

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care of our brain health as
well?

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And I think that's because
people have a little bit of a

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funny idea about the brain,
right?

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If you talk to most people about
the brain, they have a very

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psychological or spiritual view
of the brain, which is fine.

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I get it completely right.
The brain is our source of

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consciousness and our memories
and our spirit and our hopes and

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dreams of the future and our
memories of the past.

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But you and I both know that
it's also 3 1/2 lbs of wet goo

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that sits inside your skull.
And hey, it can be healthier or

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less healthy.
Just like your heart can be

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healthier or less healthier.
Just like your liver can be

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healthier or less healthy.
And in the same way we've gotten

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a sense of how to control the
health of our bodily systems,

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now we are finally recognizing,
hey, to some extent, we have

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some control over the health of
our brain systems as well.

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And that's incredibly exciting.
It is a time that's exciting, I

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think from so many times when
I've done talks about brain

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health and Wellness in general
and people always like, what's

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your top tip?
And I'm like one that's really

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hard to do.
But I parallel what you're

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saying is this idea that we have
this idea of what physical

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fitness is, but what's brain
fitness?

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And if we can build off this
idea that you have this fitness

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routine for your physical body,
what does that look like for

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your brain?
You work at Brain HQ.

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So this is the great segue for
me to ask you of what exactly is

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Brain HQ?
Because this is one way that has

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a large science behind it.
You have over 300 research

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studies, years of research
behind this, that if people

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really want to find an evidence
based tool and research to build

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out this idea of what brain
fitness could look like from

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them, this may be a really
strong evidence based point to

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start.
So can you tell us about what

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Brain HQ is and what all domains
of the brain does it challenge?

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Let's build off on exactly what
you were saying.

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Hey, what does physical fitness
mean?

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I think we could all agree that,
hey, you know, what physical

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fitness means is that our body
can do the things that it's

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designed to do and that we want
it to do.

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We can walk a long distance, we
can climb stairs, we can swim,

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or we can move about, or we can
pick up our kids, right?

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We have that sense.
It can do what it's supposed to

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do.
We have exactly the same sense

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for brain fitness.
What does it mean to have a fit

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brain?
What is brain fitness?

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It means a brain can do the
things that our brain is

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supposed to to do.
So what's our brain supposed to

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do?
Supposed to pay attention.

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It's supposed to hold things in
memory.

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It's supposed to make good
decisions and think for us,

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right?
And it's supposed to control our

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body effectively.
And so that's what we mean by

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brain fitness.
You have a fit brain if you can

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do those things quite well.
And hey, you have a less fit

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brain.
If you don't, that raises a

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natural question.
Okay, Given that we can clearly

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see that some people have fitter
brains for whatever reasons, and

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some people don't, hey, how
could we manipulate that?

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And in particular, if we have
this idea that the brain is

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plastic, it can be rewired, How
can we ask the brain to do

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things that are going to move it
from a less fit to a more fit

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direction?
And the answer here is just a

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tiny bit more complicated than
physical fitness, right?

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With physical fitness, just
about everything you do to some

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extent is going to help your
physical fitness, right?

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And This is why most physical
activity guidelines are pretty

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broad.
Find something you like to walk,

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you like to run, you like to
swim.

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Hey man, pick one and do it.
That's all great.

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Bring fitness.
Just a tiny bit more

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complicated.
And I'm sure we'll dig into this

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in some more depth.
To get a handle on this, you

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have to start to ask, hey, what
makes a brain that is not so

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good at attention or working
memory executive function

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different from a brain that is?
And it turns out that it's very

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clear that brains that are not
so great are noisy.

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And what do I mean by noisy?
What I mean is this right?

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Imagine your brains, an old
radio.

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And if you remember old radios,
you used to be able to tune

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them.
And if you could tune onto the

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radio station, you could hear
the music and the DJ saying

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everything very clearly.
But if you were just a little

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bit off, there would be static,
there would be noise, right?

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Harder to hear what's being
said, harder to hear the music.

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And as a result, you might be
listening to the radio and you

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don't pay attention to it as
well.

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It's harder to remember what the
DJ says.

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Harder to get home and think,
oh, what was that song that I

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heard?
And that's because that noise

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interferes with cognitive
processing.

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Turns out that as we get older,
but frankly also in virtually

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every neurological and
psychiatric condition, the brain

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has internal noise or static.
And we can see that when

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experiments in the lab in all
kinds of ways.

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If you ask young people to
remember words, they can

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remember a lot of words, but if
you introduce external noise,

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they can remember fewer words.
Take a young person and you can

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give them the cognitive
abilities of an old person just

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by introducing noise.
And all kinds of other

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psychophysical evidence points
this out.

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So we know that older brains are
noisy in this way, and they're

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noisy and they're hearing and
they're noisy and their vision.

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And that's actually what's
contributing to problems and

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attention and working memory and
executive function.

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So with that observation, the
question becomes with the idea

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of brain plasticity, how can we
take a noisy system and make it

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00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,240
a high performing system?
How can we improve the signal to

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00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:31,680
noise ratio in the brain, one
might say, so more signals

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getting through with less noise
so we can think faster and

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00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,400
better and more clearly.
Turns out you can do that by

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asking the brain to be more fast
and accurate.

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00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,280
What do I mean by that?
So this is not about teaching

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00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:44,880
tips.
It's not about, hey, when you

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00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:47,920
meet someone, rhyme their name
so you have a mnemonic for it.

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And really we're trying to
rebuild the machinery of the

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brain in a very bottom up way.
So how can we ask the brain to

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be faster?
We build computerized brain

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00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:01,240
training exercises that are
adaptive and require fast,

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00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,160
accurate information processing
to do them correctly.

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We're on a podcast.
I can give you an auditory

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00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,040
example if you like.
Sure, that would be great.

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00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:10,880
All right, I'm going to do my
best to whistle.

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So one of the first brain
training exercises we built,

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00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:16,840
because we had done this in rats
back in the day, was an exercise

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00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:18,440
where you hear 2 little whistle
sounds.

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00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:21,760
And for each one you have to
decide does it go up or does it

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00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:23,880
go down.
So you might hear hope that got

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00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:27,000
throughout the podcast, and then
you might hear one that went

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00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:29,640
down.
Now, hey, if you hear a big slow

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00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:31,880
one that goes up and a big slow
one that goes down, hey,

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00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:33,520
everybody can hear.
There's two of them.

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Everyone can hear the first one
swept up and the second one

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00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:38,680
swept down.
OK, if you get that, let's make

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00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:40,920
it a little bit faster because
we're trying to train your brain

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to be faster.
So we'll make them shorter.

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And as that happens, you can
typically keep doing it, but

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00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:49,440
everyone sooner or later gets to
a speed where they can no longer

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00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:50,880
do it.
You just can't hear that there

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00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:53,520
are two of them anymore.
Scientists call that masking

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00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:55,960
forward or backward masking.
Or if you hear that there are

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00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:57,960
two, you heard that there were
two, but you're not sure which

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00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,040
one came first.
Were both of them down or was

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00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,480
one of them up?
So as soon as that happens, we

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00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:04,480
back off, we make the sound
slower again.

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00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:08,600
So we find your unique brains
speed there for your threshold,

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00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,320
so to speak, and we ask you to
work at that level.

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00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:13,640
And what's important about it is
it's adaptive.

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00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:16,000
You're going to be at a level
where you get a lot of them, but

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00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:17,920
you're always going to get some
of them wrong.

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00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:21,920
And we do that because in order
to drive brain plasticity can't

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00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:23,880
be too easy, right?
If you're doing something that's

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00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,240
too easy, you get 100% right.
That feels great.

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00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,640
I guess people like to get
everything right, but hey, your

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00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:31,640
brain doesn't need to change if
you can get everything right.

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00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:34,560
So it's got to be harder than
that, but it can't be too hard

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00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:36,920
if it's so hard that you get
most of them wrong.

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00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:39,560
It's like trying to climb a
Cliff face and you can't get a

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00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:42,120
handhold on it, right?
Your brain can't quite get a

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00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:44,200
handle on how to do it.
So your brain also doesn't

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00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:46,160
rewire.
So you have to maintain this

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00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:49,040
adaptive control where it's
exactly the right level of

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00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,120
difficulty for each person's
unique brain.

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00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:54,800
And if you do that today and
then you do it tomorrow and then

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00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:57,120
you do it the next day, hey,
you're going to start to get

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00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,760
better at this task.
Just in the same way, if you

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00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:02,640
were practicing French or
learning the piano or learning

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00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:05,800
how to kick a soccer, brain
plasticity is going to drive

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00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:07,000
learning.
You're going to get better at

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00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,440
this task.
So if you do that for a while,

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00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:11,680
your brains going to get faster
at hearing these little

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00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:13,560
whistles.
And then you might ask, OK,

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00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:15,720
Henry, that's great, but I don't
really care about whistles,

352
00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:17,480
right?
Why would you give me a brain

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00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:19,920
training exercise that did
nothing but make me faster at

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00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:22,480
hearing these whistles?
The reason we pick that is

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00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,600
because that kind of sound is
actually incredibly important

356
00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,400
for human speech.
So we can all do this together.

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00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:30,320
Everyone who's listening to the
podcast can do this.

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00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:33,360
If you take your thumb and your
index finger and you put them on

359
00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:35,920
your voice box right here on
your throat, and you make a

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00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:41,040
sound like BA, like a baby BA.
You do that a couple times, feel

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00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:43,600
when your lips open and feel
when your voice box starts to

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00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:46,280
vibrate.
BA, your lips open and your

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00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:48,800
voice box starts to vibrate at
exactly the same time.

364
00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:51,040
But now I'm going to ask you to
make a different sound.

365
00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:53,640
Put that thumb and that index
finger on your voice box again

366
00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:57,800
and make the sound Pennsylvania,
like my Papa, My Papa.

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00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:02,280
When you do that, Pennsylvania,
your lips open just a little bit

368
00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:04,160
before your voice box starts to
vibrate.

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00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:07,200
Now that may seem like a very
small difference, but that

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00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:09,440
little gap, it's called a voice
onset time.

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00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:11,440
And you're going to be thrilled
to know that there are hundreds

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00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,079
of scientists all over the world
that study this as their primary

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00:17:14,079 --> 00:17:16,880
field of research.
And that gap is the difference

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00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:20,359
between a BA and a PA.
So if your brain can process

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00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:23,280
information really quickly and
accurately, you'll hear that

376
00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:25,240
little gap.
And you can hear the difference

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00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:27,400
between someone saying a BA and
a Pennsylvania.

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00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:30,440
But if you can't, if you're
older and your brain is slowed

379
00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,440
down, or maybe you've had a
concussion, or maybe you've had

380
00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:36,720
cancer treatment or maybe you've
had COVID and your brain is

381
00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:38,960
slower and noisy, you can't hear
that little gap.

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00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:41,560
Everything you hear is going to
sound smushed together and

383
00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:43,200
you're not going to be able to
tell the difference between

384
00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,480
those Bahs and Bahs as OK, now
you're not getting good quality

385
00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:48,800
information in your brain.
It's harder to pay attention to

386
00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:51,880
what someone says, harder to
remember it, harder to act on.

387
00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:54,920
So by improving your brain speed
with those weird little

388
00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:57,760
whistles, we actually start to
turn your brain into a better

389
00:17:57,760 --> 00:17:59,880
information processor for human
speech.

390
00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:02,680
So you can remember when you're
going to the store and your

391
00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:05,280
partner says, hey, pick up some
eggs and some celery and some

392
00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:07,200
milk.
All that information gets in

393
00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:09,040
your brain better and faster.
It gets stored.

394
00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:11,280
And when you're at the grocery
store, you have a better memory.

395
00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:14,160
That's the idea behind these
Brain HQ exercises.

396
00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:17,280
There are dozens of exercises
targeting all kinds of areas of

397
00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:19,600
the brain.
Fundamentally, each one of them

398
00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,320
is designed to make brain
information processing faster

399
00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:25,760
and more accurate, and in doing
so, improve your brain's ability

400
00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,840
to process information and then
do things like attend and

401
00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,720
remember and act.
So they all start to lead to

402
00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:35,600
real world applications.
It's not just this arbitrary.

403
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,600
Hey, you have this game and it
might just work out memory but

404
00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,760
doesn't actually help you in
your day-to-day life.

405
00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:46,560
Yeah, that's exactly right.
The art, if I may say so, and

406
00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:50,480
then certainly the science of
building these exercises is just

407
00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:55,160
look at the real world stimuli
one might say that a person has

408
00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:57,040
to interact with.
What is it important for a

409
00:18:57,040 --> 00:19:00,560
person to hear and remember?
Largely human speech, and we

410
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,640
know a lot about kind of the
acoustics of human speech.

411
00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:06,920
So we can build these very
elemental exercises that mimic

412
00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:09,400
these aspects of a human speech
to build a better speech

413
00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:11,680
information processor or
envision.

414
00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:14,800
We can ask ourselves again, hey,
what are the statistics, one

415
00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,800
might say, of the visual things
that one encounters, right?

416
00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:20,000
Things in the center of your
vision and your peripheral

417
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:22,440
vision, right?
And then you can build exercises

418
00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:26,680
that kind of start off with
these big bold stimuli that pop

419
00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:28,320
out.
They're processed by the brain

420
00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:30,640
really easily.
They drive a lot of synchronous

421
00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:34,120
activity across the brain.
But gradually you can fade into

422
00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:37,040
very naturalistic scenes where
it's hard to see things and

423
00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:39,680
things are more confusing with
each other and they don't pop

424
00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,640
off Balkans background.
So you can guide the brain into

425
00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:45,640
these naturalistic environments
and then build a brain

426
00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:47,920
information processor that, hey,
just works better.

427
00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:50,680
For example, when you're out
driving so that when you, let's

428
00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,560
say, roll up to a stop sign and
to dusk and right, and there's

429
00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:56,560
not great visual information.
Nonetheless your peripheral

430
00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,320
vision is acting quickly and
accurately so that if a car is

431
00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:02,080
about to hop in from the other
intersection, you're going to

432
00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:05,680
see it before you get in.
Each task is built on getting

433
00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:08,400
your brain to process real
information, but in this very

434
00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:10,560
bottom up kind of step by step
way.

435
00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:13,280
And in that way you can think
about it like, let's say you

436
00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:15,360
were an NBA player.
One thing you're going to do is

437
00:20:15,360 --> 00:20:17,600
practice playing basketball.
That's an important skill to be

438
00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:20,000
in the NBA.
But hey, your physical trainer

439
00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:22,160
is also going to have you go to
the gym and they're going to

440
00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,720
decompose every single thing you
need to do to win a basketball

441
00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,080
game.
And to, hey, I need to exercise

442
00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:31,000
your bicep this way, and I need
you to exercise your legs this

443
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,320
way, and I need you to exercise
your core that way.

444
00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:35,840
And by building up those
individual muscles, hey, when

445
00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:39,080
you get out on the court, you
now have the physical ability

446
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:42,680
now to be a winning NBA player.
Brain HQ exercises are intended

447
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:45,360
to work the same way.
We decompose these real world

448
00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:48,560
cognitive things you have to do
into these very elemental tasks.

449
00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,720
You exercise at them, you get
better through brain plasticity.

450
00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:53,800
And then, hey, when you're out
in the world, you just have a

451
00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:56,120
better system to interact with
all of the things that are

452
00:20:56,120 --> 00:20:58,920
coming into you in the world.
And I'm so grateful for the

453
00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:01,480
examples you've shared because
across your studies, you have

454
00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:04,440
studied with this from elite
athletes, but also to your

455
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,600
average adults.
And it leads to an important

456
00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:10,440
study that recently came out,
your enhanced study.

457
00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:13,400
So can you tell us a little bit
about what was that study

458
00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:17,200
designed to test and what is so
exciting about its results that

459
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:20,120
is grabbing people's attention
in the headlines?

460
00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:23,480
Yeah, the enhanced study has
just had an amazing set of

461
00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:26,480
results.
And you know, where it came from

462
00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:29,600
is when we started building
these brain training exercises,

463
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,840
in a way, we thought of them as
cognitive training, a little bit

464
00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:34,760
like I just talked you through.
We thought, hey, we're going to

465
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:38,320
train these cognitive skills the
way a psychologist might

466
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:42,560
recognize, like basic aspects of
attention or memory or executive

467
00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:45,240
function, but always at the same
time, right?

468
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:47,240
We really came from a world of
neuroscience.

469
00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,840
We thought about the brain as
those 3 1/2 lbs of wet goo

470
00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:53,840
inside your skull and we thought
hey, we can improve information

471
00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:55,560
processing in the way that I
talked about.

472
00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,200
We can improve sickle to noise
ratios and so forth and so on.

473
00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:01,640
But the very inception Doctor
Mike Mersnick, our my PhD

474
00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,760
advisor and our founder said,
hey, we are absolutely going to

475
00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:06,160
be doing a second set of things
here.

476
00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:08,360
He said we're going to be
improving the health of the

477
00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:12,320
brains neuromodulatory system.
And what he meant by that is

478
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,560
hey, the brain's got these
amazing systems that release

479
00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:18,760
certain kinds of neurochemicals
and these neurochemicals are

480
00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:21,520
broadly distributed across the
brain and they contribute to

481
00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:24,520
broad aspects of brain state and
brain health.

482
00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:27,400
For example, a lot of people
perhaps have heard of serotonin,

483
00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:30,000
which is involved in mood and
depressive disorders.

484
00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:33,320
You have these serotonergic
nerves that connect all over the

485
00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:35,200
brain and release serotonin at
the right time.

486
00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:37,880
People may have heard of
dopamine, similar kind of system

487
00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,960
projects across the entire
brain, releases dopamine to be

488
00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:43,240
enforced to the brain that, hey,
when you did something your

489
00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,200
brain likes, you should
reorganize the brain to do more

490
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:47,640
of it.
There's a system called

491
00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:49,760
acetylcholine, which is involved
in attention.

492
00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:51,600
Every time you're paying
attention, your brain's

493
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,640
releasing acetylcholine and that
actually gives a signal to the

494
00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,080
brain that it's a good time to
rewire itself because hey,

495
00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:58,840
you're paying attention to
something important.

496
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:02,760
So at the very beginning, 20
years ago, Mike said, hey, as

497
00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:05,360
well as improving the
information processing abilities

498
00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:08,640
of the brain, we're probably
rebuilding the health of these

499
00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:12,360
neuromodulatory systems.
Now at the time we thought maybe

500
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,360
there was some evidence for this
in rats, but certainly no one

501
00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:17,000
had ever seen this in humans
before.

502
00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:20,080
So the enhanced study was
designed to finally put that

503
00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:22,680
idea to the test.
Could these kinds of brain

504
00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:25,680
training exercises, again,
designed to improve these

505
00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:28,760
fundamental cognitive skills,
could they have a deeper effect

506
00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:32,200
on almost the health of the
brain as a biological organ by

507
00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:34,640
improving how these
neuromodulatory systems work?

508
00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:37,600
We had the opportunity to work
with an incredible collaborative

509
00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,560
group up in McGill in Canada at
Tian de Villar Sadani, and that

510
00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:45,040
group had come up with something
truly remarkable, which is a way

511
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,960
to image the health of the
acetylcholine system in the

512
00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:49,680
human brain.
And here's the good news.

513
00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:52,400
To do that without cracking your
skull open and putting a needle

514
00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:55,160
in it, right?
They had a very specific marker

515
00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:56,920
that they can inject into a
person.

516
00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:00,040
And that marker would
essentially glom onto or stick

517
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,920
to this aspect of the brain's
acetylcholine system.

518
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:05,080
And you can image it using a
technique called PET imaging.

519
00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:07,720
So for the first time, we could
just look and see how healthy is

520
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,760
a person's cholinergic system.
And before we started these

521
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,080
studies, that group had already
shown that, hey, the cholinergic

522
00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,960
system declines by about 2 1/2%
per year from the ages of 20 to

523
00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,560
60 or 70.
And we knew also that, hey, it

524
00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,560
actually declines quite rapidly
with the onset of Alzheimer's

525
00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,400
disease and dementia.
And in fact, if you go back to

526
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,320
the 90s and look at what
Alzheimer's researchers working

527
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,320
on, the decline of the
acetylcholine system in the

528
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:34,960
brain was one of the earliest
signs of Alzheimer's and

529
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:36,840
dementia.
It falls off quite rapidly.

530
00:24:37,120 --> 00:24:40,320
And that loss of acetylcholine
is probably why those memory and

531
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,120
thinking and attention problems
emerge in Alzheimer's disease.

532
00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:45,800
And in fact, the first
Alzheimer's drugs, if you think

533
00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:48,200
of things like Aricept, they
were drugs that were

534
00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,200
fundamentally designed to help
more acetylcholine stay around

535
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,880
in the brain, right?
And those had some limited

536
00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,520
positive effects.
So we've asked this question in

537
00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:59,480
a beautiful gold standard
randomized controlled trial.

538
00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:02,560
Hey, does this kind of brain
training and brain HQ, does it

539
00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:04,840
help improve the health of the
acetylcholine system?

540
00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:07,080
And I got to tell you, Crystal,
we were very excited to start

541
00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:10,000
this study and I simply did not
know what we were going to see.

542
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:12,320
Most studies, we have a pretty
strong idea of what we're going

543
00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:14,080
to see, certain kinds of
cognitive improvement or health

544
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:16,080
improvement.
But this was really a shot out

545
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,760
there into the unknown.
What happened in the study was

546
00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:20,360
funded by the National
Institutes of Health and

547
00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:23,040
National Institutes of Aging
through a wonderful SBIR grant.

548
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:25,440
And we got about 90 older
adults.

549
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,680
And this was done in Canada.
So a bunch of them spoke English

550
00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:28,800
and a bunch of them spoke
French.

551
00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,720
So that was fun.
And half of them did brain HQ

552
00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:35,160
exercises designed to improve,
again, that speed and accuracy

553
00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:37,640
of information processing.
And the other half of them just

554
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:39,520
did ordinary computer games,
right?

555
00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:41,880
The kind of thing you might just
kill time on your phone while

556
00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:43,600
you're on the subway or waiting
in line.

557
00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:46,960
And it's a wonderful comparison
because both of those things

558
00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:50,080
involve attention, right?
Both of them involve thinking,

559
00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:53,160
but only one of them is really
designed to drive brain

560
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,440
plasticity, to reorganize the
brain, to make it faster and

561
00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:58,400
more accurate.
You might think of the ordinary

562
00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,000
games as just keeping your brain
busy, so to speak.

563
00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:04,520
But what's nice is both groups,
you can tell them quite

564
00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:07,640
legitimately, hey, we're testing
a brain training program, right?

565
00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:09,640
One of them happens to do Brain
HQ, one of them happens to do

566
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:11,520
computer games.
But everyone thinks, hey, I'm

567
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:12,960
doing something good for my
brain.

568
00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,400
So you can maintain a very nice
blind in the study.

569
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:16,880
Everyone thinks they're doing
something good.

570
00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:19,120
So then these researchers
measured everyone's

571
00:26:19,120 --> 00:26:22,080
acetylcholine before training.
They then trained for about 10

572
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:24,640
weeks and then they measured
their acetylcholine afterwards.

573
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:26,920
The study team did this for two
years.

574
00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:28,840
And you're not allowed to look
at the data along the way.

575
00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:31,360
You're just working really hard
and finding these people and

576
00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:33,080
doing this PET imaging and
you're going to see what

577
00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:35,080
happens.
And how much training did they

578
00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:38,240
do over the course of the study?
Both groups trained about 30

579
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:39,800
minutes a day, seven days a
week.

580
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:42,760
So we tried to really set it up
as a habit for them, but none

581
00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:44,840
the less, an amount of time you
can fit into your life.

582
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:47,120
And both groups actually
complied with the training

583
00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:49,160
pretty well, right?
Everyone misses a few days, but

584
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:51,000
you make them up and they really
stuck with it.

585
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:53,120
And then what did we see at the
end?

586
00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:55,840
Just a fantastic and amazing
result.

587
00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:59,360
What we saw was that there were
dramatic improvements in the

588
00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:02,480
level of acetylcholine in the
folks who did the brain HQ

589
00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,320
training, and in particular in a
region of the brain called the

590
00:27:05,360 --> 00:27:08,760
anterior cingulate gyrus, a part
of the frontal cortex that's

591
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:12,720
involved in complex attention
and decision making and

592
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:15,600
executive function.
And those changes in the Brain

593
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:17,920
HQ group were bigger than the
ones in the control group.

594
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,120
And just to pop the champagne
moment, because this had never

595
00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:24,880
been shown before in humans that
the health of this incredibly

596
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:28,120
important neurochemical system
could be modulated, right?

597
00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:30,520
A little bit like when I started
Graduate School, everyone's

598
00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:33,600
belief about that system was it
just wears out over time and

599
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:34,800
there's nothing you can do about
it.

600
00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:37,240
And now we know for the first
time that's not true.

601
00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:39,960
And in fact, when those
researchers looked at almost

602
00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:43,240
every other brain region, they
saw the same pattern of effects,

603
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:46,120
that there were improvements in
the folks who did Brain HQ

604
00:27:46,120 --> 00:27:48,960
across all the regions, the
cortex and the basal ganglia.

605
00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:51,600
And the folks who did those
computer games really showed no

606
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:54,920
changes at all.
And that's just remarkable.

607
00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:57,080
You asked at the beginning a
little bit about hey, Brain

608
00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:59,200
fitness and we'll talk about
things people can do besides

609
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,640
Brain HQ.
I do think that one issue we

610
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:05,160
come across all the time is I do
crossword puzzles or I play

611
00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:07,120
Candy Crush.
Isn't that good enough for my

612
00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:09,800
brain?
And we have study after study

613
00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:12,760
where we use those as control
groups and we see that they

614
00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:14,200
don't drive cognitive
improvement.

615
00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:15,920
Then I can talk more about why
in a moment.

616
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:19,640
But in this neurochemical study,
to show so clearly that even

617
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:21,640
though these people have been
paying attention and using their

618
00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,520
memory and thinking, hey, man,
it just did not improve

619
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:26,520
acetylcholine levels.
It did not improve the health of

620
00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:29,680
the brain this way.
That really teaches us something

621
00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,840
at a scientific level and a
practical level around, hey,

622
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:36,400
what do you have to do to build
and strengthen brain health?

623
00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:39,400
It's not just keep your brain
busy with any old thing in the

624
00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:41,360
world.
It's really telling us that,

625
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:44,280
hey, it's about activities that
make your brain faster and more

626
00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:45,880
accurate.
It's about activities that

627
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:50,080
really adapt to your unique
brain and keep you frankly, on

628
00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:51,760
your toes.
And that threshold throughout

629
00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:54,560
training, hey, that's what
really drives and builds A

630
00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:57,320
healthier brain.
So incredibly exciting because

631
00:28:57,360 --> 00:28:59,720
hey, more acetylcholine of the
brain means better cognition,

632
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:02,960
and probably means reduced risk
of dementia as well.

633
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,480
What an exciting study.
Congratulations to you and your

634
00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:10,880
team and what a shift in the
research, but also what a time

635
00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:15,160
it takes to get to a study of
this type of level to shift a

636
00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:17,560
field as well.
So I want to at least

637
00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:19,960
acknowledge that.
But then also when I think about

638
00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:22,840
and just hearing it as well as
having have read some of these

639
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:26,320
research studies over time, like
you said just years ago when

640
00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:30,920
you're useful field of view was
a big deal for dry and how that

641
00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:33,800
could change for brain HQ and
now to this.

642
00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:37,600
But it's also just seen and
collectively from what I've read

643
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:40,280
over the years in my own
collective training, is how

644
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:46,760
demanding our brain is of the
level that it needs in order to

645
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:50,800
change and to pivot, that it's
just not the bare minimum.

646
00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,520
It seems that our homegrown the
bar on us, but we have the

647
00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:57,080
ability to do it.
I think it's like this balance

648
00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:01,000
of what I'm bringing in, what I
keep thinking about coming from

649
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,240
the background and behavioral
health and cognitive psychology

650
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:06,640
is our brains are a little bit
finicky.

651
00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:09,800
It's not just this low
threshold.

652
00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:11,600
It really keeps raising this
bar.

653
00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:15,640
And as you talk about what Brain
HQ is challenged to do is we

654
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,880
need this level of challenge,
but we can get there.

655
00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:22,760
And our brains almost demand
that from us to do that change

656
00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:26,600
and to drive that plasticity.
You're absolutely right on the

657
00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:29,840
positive science, and the study
was led by my colleague Dr. Mana

658
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,160
Tara.
And as you design a study like

659
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:34,280
this, you have to make a million
little decisions and every

660
00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:37,120
single one of them, you have to
be like, is this going to affect

661
00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:39,320
the validity and then the
likelihood of success in the

662
00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:41,240
study.
And one of the things that

663
00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:44,160
Doctor Tara was very committed
to was, hey, that intensity of

664
00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,160
training seven days a week, 30
minutes a day, She wanted that

665
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,000
because she wanted people to set
up a habit.

666
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,320
She thought, hey, fewer people
will miss training if hey, man,

667
00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:52,680
I just, I'm doing this every
day.

668
00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,320
She, like you just said, the
very strong belief and we all

669
00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:59,000
believed it and she turned out
to be right, which is, hey, you

670
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:02,240
really do have to push the brain
in this way in order to drive

671
00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:04,680
these kinds of health and this
kind of structural remodeling on

672
00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:06,800
the brain.
And you're absolutely right.

673
00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:09,600
And sometimes I think we think
I'll just do a little more.

674
00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:12,200
I read books, I'm going to do a
crossword puzzle once a week.

675
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:14,440
Isn't that enough?
And I wish it were.

676
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:16,520
That would be wonderful news,
right?

677
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:20,200
But again, like exercise, if
you're going to meaningfully

678
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,560
change your heart health, right?
If you're going to lower your

679
00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:26,360
blood pleasure or manage your
cholesterol, it's not just go

680
00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:29,480
out for a little stroll once or
twice a week for 15 minutes and

681
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:31,440
enjoy the nature.
You're going to need to get out

682
00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:34,280
there and sweat a little bit to
change your body in that way and

683
00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:35,840
changing the brains exactly the
right way.

684
00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,520
But the good news is that's
actually extremely feasible.

685
00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:40,240
Flip the thought around for a
moment.

686
00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:42,760
My gosh.
In that study, what they showed

687
00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:46,360
was they improved acetylcholine
levels by about 2 1/2%, which is

688
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:50,160
about 10 years of brain aging.
So they got 10 years of brain

689
00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:52,960
aging benefit out of 10 weeks of
brain training.

690
00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:57,000
Like that's not really a lot
when you get right down to it.

691
00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:01,200
It's remarkable that we can
remodel and restructure the

692
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,800
brain so dramatically, frankly,
in just 10 weeks, a day, the 10

693
00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,040
weeks of training, 30 minutes.
And 30 minutes a day, which I

694
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,520
think for that point too is
that's feasible for most of us.

695
00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:15,000
If you laid that out and you
said this is the investment.

696
00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:19,080
Most of us, I think it always
comes down to with it's money,

697
00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:21,120
time and your energy for.
The cost?

698
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:25,840
Of what or the investment of
what grain HQ is and your time

699
00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:28,560
and your energy that is all very
feasible.

700
00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:32,600
It is not this out of the reach
moment for many people.

701
00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:34,960
Now if you flipped it around
where before when a lot of the

702
00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:37,840
times when it used to be back in
the day they computerized

703
00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:40,760
training threshold was two 2 1/2
hours a day.

704
00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:44,120
Most of us would be like, I'm
not even going to start because

705
00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:46,760
I can't commit to this.
Because I can't commit to.

706
00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:48,400
This.
This is feasible.

707
00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:50,960
This is a very feasible
commitment, especially when you

708
00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:52,800
look at that kind of magnitude
of benefit.

709
00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:58,680
Yeah, 10 years, most of us would
be like, where can I sign up?

710
00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:01,280
So I'm going to ask you now too
on this.

711
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:03,800
What else are some of the
reasonable recommendations or

712
00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:07,200
takeaways you have for people
around this concept of brain

713
00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:11,360
fitness or wanting to invest in
their cognitive health and care?

714
00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:14,120
I'll say a couple things because
as I mentioned, when we started

715
00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:16,520
this work, we really thought of
this as building cognitive

716
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:19,360
training exercises.
And of course we got very good

717
00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:21,080
at that and we've gotten
wonderful results.

718
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,360
But I, I would say my thinking
as a scientist and everyone here

719
00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:26,920
at Brain HQ is thinking has
really changed and grown over

720
00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:28,160
the years, really two important
ways.

721
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:32,160
One of which is, hey, there's
just a lot of evidence for a lot

722
00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:34,760
of things that can help improve
brain health at this point.

723
00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:37,240
And obviously we're going to
recommend brain training.

724
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:40,240
It works really well, but it's
very clear at this point that

725
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,960
hey, physical exercise helps
improve brain health, probably

726
00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:46,120
by releasing growth factors like
BDNF and improving heart health,

727
00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:47,520
which is good for the brain as
well.

728
00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:50,880
It's incredibly clear that
maintaining good sleep habits

729
00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:53,160
contributes to brain health
because, hey, when you sleep,

730
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:56,000
your brain cleans itself and
everything you learned during

731
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:58,240
the day gets rehearsed while
you're sleeping through a

732
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:00,800
plastic brain process and sinks
in, right?

733
00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,320
The role of social contact has
been incredibly clear.

734
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:07,320
It's very clear that loneliness
is a risk factor for poor brain

735
00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:10,000
health and that people who build
and maintain good social

736
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:11,639
relationships have better brain
health.

737
00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:14,719
And So what that's really taught
us, and I think most people in

738
00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:18,080
the field at this point is, hey,
we need to be thinking about all

739
00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:21,120
kinds of real practical things
that people can do in their

740
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:22,520
life.
Whether it's computerized brain

741
00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:25,080
training like Brain HQ, or
whether it's moderate physical

742
00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:28,639
exercise or working on sleep
hygiene, or just making sure you

743
00:34:28,639 --> 00:34:30,560
stay in touch with your friends
and family.

744
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:33,440
All those things are going to
contribute in their own way to

745
00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:36,040
better brain health.
And that's almost certainly the

746
00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:39,400
way that we are going to really
tackle the dementias crisis in

747
00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:42,159
America, right?
That we are going to figure out

748
00:34:42,159 --> 00:34:45,360
ways to build better brains and
keep them healthy before they go

749
00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:47,840
on to dementia.
The second thing I would say

750
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,239
that our thinking has really
changed about is, like I said,

751
00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:52,760
when we started this, we thought
about building cognitive

752
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:55,360
training exercises.
We don't think about it that way

753
00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:57,440
anymore.
We think about building brain

754
00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:00,120
training exercises.
And that may sound exactly the

755
00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:02,640
same, but there is a difference
here that's really become

756
00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:04,920
important to us and that's
guided other things we think

757
00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:08,040
people can do.
I no longer think of Brain HQ as

758
00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:10,720
training attention or memory or
executive function or what have

759
00:35:10,720 --> 00:35:13,000
you.
I think a brain HQ is providing

760
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,720
speed and accuracy of training
to large parts of the brain and

761
00:35:16,720 --> 00:35:20,480
then building a healthier brain
as a biological system, right.

762
00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:23,760
And by making the brain
healthier, hey, you get

763
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:27,240
cognitive improvement almost as
a side effect, if I may put it

764
00:35:27,240 --> 00:35:28,840
that way.
In the same way that the right

765
00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:31,360
kind of exercise builds A
healthier heart and then you

766
00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:33,840
like lower your cholesterol and
your blood pressure, doing the

767
00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:36,760
right kind of brain exercise
builds A healthier brain and

768
00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:39,200
then hey, you have sharper
attention and better speed and

769
00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:42,760
better working memory.
Now that's a kind of interesting

770
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:45,200
change in our thinking and it
suggests some other things as

771
00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:46,480
well.
Hey, what are other things

772
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:49,240
people can do in the real world
to train their speed and

773
00:35:49,240 --> 00:35:50,800
accuracy?
When you think about it that

774
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:52,400
way, there's actually all kinds
of things.

775
00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:54,760
And then there's all kinds of
things that don't probably do

776
00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:56,960
that.
So I'll start with a negative

777
00:35:56,960 --> 00:35:58,160
right?
When people come to me and they

778
00:35:58,160 --> 00:35:59,880
say, hey, I do crossword puzzles
everyday.

779
00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:02,200
I say, hey, that's fantastic.
If you like crossword puzzles,

780
00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:05,640
knock yourself out, but they do
not make the brain faster and

781
00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:07,960
more accurate, right?
You feel like your brain's busy,

782
00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:09,960
like you're sitting there
thinking, feels like the wheels

783
00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:12,760
are turning.
But hey, there's not systematic

784
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:15,360
input coming through the brain
that's making your brain faster

785
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:16,880
and more accurate.
In that sense, you're not

786
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:19,800
driving system wide brain
plasticity and improvements in

787
00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:21,480
brain health.
You're just thinking about

788
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:23,560
words, which is great.
Again, if you like it, go right

789
00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:24,760
ahead.
I do a lot of things that I

790
00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:26,600
enjoy.
They're not necessarily training

791
00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:28,360
my brain.
But hey, if we're going to

792
00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:30,600
improve your brain health, we
need to go where the science

793
00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:32,000
takes us.
Same things for things like

794
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:34,840
Wordle or Sudoku, all these
things where you're just sitting

795
00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:36,920
and thinking.
But what are some things you can

796
00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:38,480
do that improve your speed and
accuracy?

797
00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:40,920
Well, there's a lot of physical
fitness related things.

798
00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:43,120
Let's say you play ping pong or
tennis.

799
00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:46,040
In order to do that, your brain
has to become faster and more

800
00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:47,920
accurate.
You can't just wait all day when

801
00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:49,360
someone serves you the ping pong
ball.

802
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:52,560
Your brain's got to respond
accurately and hit it back and

803
00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:54,800
so forth.
And hey, you can start an easy

804
00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:57,720
partners of ping pong and you
can get faster and so forth as

805
00:36:57,720 --> 00:36:59,280
time go on.
That's almost certainly good for

806
00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:01,320
your brain.
Or think about learning music.

807
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:04,000
If you're going to learn to play
an instrument, a trumpet or a

808
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:07,040
piano or whatever, you might
enjoy playing a recorder.

809
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:09,920
That helps your brain become
faster and more accurate.

810
00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:12,360
You're hearing the notes you
have to play to keep up.

811
00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:14,120
You have to become more
accurate.

812
00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:17,000
You can start with easy music
and go on to more complex music.

813
00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:20,240
These kinds of activities, I
think almost certainly will be

814
00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:23,680
shown over time to help build
brain health, probably not as

815
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:25,960
effectively as a targeted brain
training program.

816
00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:28,640
These are great things that
people can do to help maintain

817
00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:30,960
their brain health, really at
any age or in any physical

818
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:33,440
condition.
I appreciate what you shared.

819
00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:36,480
I think so much more of what we
see in the broader brain Health

820
00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:38,960
Science space is it's never just
one thing.

821
00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:43,160
And no matter what area you
target, it spills over into

822
00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:45,240
another.
And I think that's the nice

823
00:37:45,240 --> 00:37:48,720
thing about the brain is it's
never just organized into one

824
00:37:48,720 --> 00:37:53,200
specific area is so robust.
It does seem to benefit more

825
00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:55,400
than one area.
And I think that's so much of

826
00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:58,760
the brain Health Science is even
when you target 1, like you

827
00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:02,320
said, you know your physical
health well, physical fitness

828
00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:05,120
benefits your brain health.
It's your brain fitness as well.

829
00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:08,160
So it's really hard to say when
you get very specific to one

830
00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:11,600
that it doesn't help these other
like social health.

831
00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:14,160
And like you mentioned with
sleep, they're all very

832
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:16,480
interconnected on all very.
Interconnected, and they're all

833
00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:18,960
very interconnected because the
brain's all very interconnected.

834
00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:21,760
Every single part of the brain
is not a hop, skip and a jump

835
00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:23,040
from any other part of the
brain.

836
00:38:23,240 --> 00:38:25,240
And I think the other thing
that's just exciting about being

837
00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:28,040
in the field at this point of
time is, hey, what a hopeful and

838
00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:31,280
exciting time. 30 years ago,
there we were thinking that,

839
00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:33,480
that, hey, when you get old,
there's just nothing to be done.

840
00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:35,160
Might as well sit around and
watch television.

841
00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:37,840
Your brain's going to wear out.
Hey, your dad got Alzheimer's

842
00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:39,480
when he was 82.
You're probably going to get

843
00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:41,920
Alzheimer's when you're 82.
When that happens, I guess we'll

844
00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:44,520
put you in a home.
And what a different world we

845
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:48,080
live in now where you can look
at all of this research from

846
00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:51,480
Brain HQ, from these other
things like exercise or sleep,

847
00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:55,120
and you can take action, right,
To help improve your brain

848
00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:58,240
health right now, to reduce your
risk of dementia, to have a

849
00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:00,960
sharper and happier brain.
And I think that's just

850
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:03,320
tremendous.
I think 25 years, 10 years, 20

851
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:05,000
years from now, we're going to
look back and we're going to

852
00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:07,960
say, hey, we were just coming
out of the dark ages, right?

853
00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:10,600
Can you believe we used to just
let people get old and tell

854
00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:13,560
them, hey, watch some TV reruns?
Can you believe we had vets

855
00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:16,080
coming back from the war with
blast injury and cognitive

856
00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:17,880
impairment?
And we just told them, go back

857
00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:19,560
to school, go back to work,
you'll be fine.

858
00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:22,240
Can you believe it that we had
people like schizophrenia and

859
00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:25,400
bipolar disorder and we didn't
figure out ways to improve the

860
00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:28,200
health of their brain in which
given they had obvious brain

861
00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:30,880
health based disorders.
So it's really exciting.

862
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:32,840
It feels like we're coming out
of The Cave, we're coming into

863
00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:34,560
the sunlight.
We are getting more and more

864
00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:37,120
evidence based things that that
people can do to improve their

865
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:39,000
brain health.
And just what a wonderful time

866
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:40,840
to be part of the science and
part of this brain health

867
00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:43,400
community.
And I think it's always exciting

868
00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:46,120
to have conversations with
experts like yourself where we

869
00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:50,400
can pull this forward for other
people to hear about the science

870
00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:53,680
and how they can apply it.
So I'm going to ask you now for

871
00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:56,360
someone who might just be
starting, you know, thinking I

872
00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,120
want to start Brain HQ.
How do you suggest that they

873
00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:02,200
could get started with this type
of exercise or something along

874
00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:05,080
the lines of brain Fitness?
What words of encouragement

875
00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:08,200
would you like to give them?
First of all, anyone can come

876
00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:12,720
register for Brain HQ at
www.brainhq.com and when you

877
00:40:12,720 --> 00:40:15,960
register you get a free exercise
per day and hey, that's enough

878
00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:19,080
to train for a few days and get
a sense, hey do I like this?

879
00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:21,080
Is it for me?
Can I get my head around what

880
00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:24,040
this is all about?
And then subscribing is pretty

881
00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:27,000
inexpensive after that.
And so we want anyone to be able

882
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:29,480
to take it out for a spin and
give it a try in that way.

883
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:30,680
And that's what I would
recommend.

884
00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:35,000
And how do you recommend for
people to fit training into our

885
00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:37,160
busy lives?
If the 30 minutes at first

886
00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:39,840
sounds overwhelming, how do you
think it's a good place to get

887
00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:42,040
started?
The great news about Brain HQ is

888
00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:44,560
when you do it for the first
day, it's only 5 minutes, right?

889
00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:47,840
Gives you a little tutorial, you
do 1 introductory exercise and

890
00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:49,960
hey, you're done.
And then you come back the next

891
00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:52,600
day and you do the exercise you
already did, so you're familiar

892
00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:54,520
with it and then it introduces
one new one.

893
00:40:54,720 --> 00:40:56,840
So it ramps you on gently at
that point.

894
00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:00,000
And then what I'd say is that
study happened to be 30 minutes

895
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:02,560
a day, seven days a week.
We've done other studies that

896
00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:05,240
were twice a week for an hour a
day.

897
00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:08,520
You can break it up in such a
way that it fits into your life.

898
00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:10,480
Now you do have to do a certain
amount of it, right?

899
00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:13,040
It's not magic.
Can't just do it once and then

900
00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:16,000
that's enough unfortunately.
If you can figure out a way to

901
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:19,160
fit 1 1/2 or two hours of this
into your life each week,

902
00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:21,680
whether it's every day, a little
bit or a couple days more

903
00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:25,000
intensively, hey, you will be on
the road to better brain health

904
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:26,800
and better brain fitness.
And in that sense, it's like

905
00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:28,880
exercise, right?
You do have to carve out a

906
00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:31,320
little time for it.
When I talk to people and they

907
00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:34,240
say, oh, I'll fit it in whenever
I have time, I know that I'm

908
00:41:34,240 --> 00:41:36,200
talking to someone who's not
going to do any brain training.

909
00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:39,080
But when I talk to someone who
says, OK, what I'm going to do

910
00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:42,040
is I'm going to do this for 20
minutes before I have lunch each

911
00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:43,440
day.
And then when I finish, it'll be

912
00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:45,560
time for lunch.
Or they fit it in to find a

913
00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:46,960
schedule.
The same way that you would make

914
00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:49,080
a physical fitness commitment,
like when am I going to, I go

915
00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:51,880
for a walk each day, I'm going
to have this regular time making

916
00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:53,400
that same commitment to brain
training.

917
00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:55,960
Again, whether it's 2 * a week
or whether it's five times a

918
00:41:55,960 --> 00:41:58,720
week or every day.
Find something that works for

919
00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:03,080
your life and then fit it in.
And then we have Brain HQ users

920
00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:04,680
who've done it every day for
years and years.

921
00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:06,920
It's simply amazing to look at
their training records.

922
00:42:07,400 --> 00:42:09,760
But hey, that the study we just
talked about was 10 weeks of

923
00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:12,560
training and we have lots of
users that train for a while,

924
00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:14,720
experience benefit.
And hey, they go away for a

925
00:42:14,720 --> 00:42:17,080
while, they get busy, other
things come up in their lives

926
00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:19,280
and a couple months later they
come back and they boost

927
00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:22,160
themselves back up.
And that's a perfectly great way

928
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:25,280
to go about brain training.
I would never want anyone not to

929
00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:28,040
start because they thought I got
to do this everyday for the rest

930
00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:29,560
of my life.
And who's got time for that?

931
00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:31,960
Don't worry about that.
Just come and start.

932
00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:35,040
Do some, if you get busy, stop
for a while, then just come

933
00:42:35,040 --> 00:42:36,680
back.
And that's a great way to take

934
00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:39,320
care of your brain.
I think it's a nice way to think

935
00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:42,720
about holistically that brain
health, a lifelong journey for

936
00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:46,120
all of us and it's going to ebb
and flow and it's like our

937
00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:48,920
physical fitness, our brain
fitness is going to look like

938
00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:52,160
the same, but we can all make
small shifts to invest in our

939
00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:55,120
time and our energy.
It looks like that our time is

940
00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:58,400
winding down, but I want to make
sure I get a few final questions

941
00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:02,920
for you as an expert in brain
health and cognitive fitness and

942
00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:06,240
brain training.
What's your one non negotiable

943
00:43:06,240 --> 00:43:08,240
for taking care of your own
brain?

944
00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:11,400
Of course, I'm going to say
brain training with Brain HQ.

945
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:14,160
We built it, we tested it.
I love it.

946
00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:16,080
It's always got raised.
It's getting better.

947
00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:19,480
But yeah, I trained my brain
with Brain HQ on a regular basis

948
00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:22,360
and today it's good for me.
I have my own brain health

949
00:43:22,360 --> 00:43:25,120
stories.
I was driving up to Lake Tahoe a

950
00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:28,640
winter or two ago at night with
my family in the car and all of

951
00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:31,160
a sudden a deer literally jumped
off the edge of the highway and

952
00:43:31,160 --> 00:43:32,840
onto the road.
And before I even noticed what

953
00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:34,840
was happening, I had stepped on
the brake and stopped the car.

954
00:43:34,840 --> 00:43:36,680
I didn't even know why I was
stopping the car.

955
00:43:36,760 --> 00:43:39,120
And then when the car stopped, I
could finally see the deer.

956
00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:42,320
And I'm absolutely certain that
the reason my visual system was

957
00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:44,920
working so well, even under very
challenging conditions.

958
00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:47,560
Done quite a bit of Brain HQ
training over my years.

959
00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:50,480
Yeah, Brain HQ is my is my one
non negotiable.

960
00:43:50,720 --> 00:43:54,160
If I had to pick a second one
that wasn't that, I would say

961
00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:57,560
avoiding head injury.
And there are just so many ways

962
00:43:57,560 --> 00:43:59,800
that people are at risk for a
concussion, right?

963
00:43:59,960 --> 00:44:02,520
You're riding your bike, you're
driving dangerously in a car,

964
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:05,640
you trip over something and
being more careful about the

965
00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:08,240
kinds of things we do and then
wearing helmets and stuff like

966
00:44:08,240 --> 00:44:10,000
that when you're riding a bike
or motorcycle.

967
00:44:10,240 --> 00:44:12,440
Avoiding head injury is
incredibly important for good

968
00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:15,360
brain health over life.
And I'm glad you shared both of

969
00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:16,880
those.
One, thank you for sharing your

970
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:19,440
personal experience.
But also I think the head injury

971
00:44:19,440 --> 00:44:22,360
is 1.
We tend to overlook with adults.

972
00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:25,360
We think so much we go straight
to kids in the youth and we

973
00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:29,800
forget that it is for all ages
and just the quick safety things

974
00:44:29,800 --> 00:44:34,160
we can do for everyone from all
ages and stages of life.

975
00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:37,040
If there are things that have
piqued our listeners interest,

976
00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:39,720
where can they learn more about
you and follow your work?

977
00:44:40,040 --> 00:44:43,920
They can go to www.brainhq.com,
which even if you're not

978
00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:46,360
registering for brain training,
got a wealth of information

979
00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:48,080
about brain health and brain
training.

980
00:44:48,240 --> 00:44:51,200
There's a wonderful blog there
that covers all kinds of aspects

981
00:44:51,200 --> 00:44:54,560
around brain health, whether
it's sleep or exercise or social

982
00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:57,040
contact.
We also have a fantastic YouTube

983
00:44:57,040 --> 00:44:59,800
channel you can go to,
youtube.com/brain HQ.

984
00:45:00,080 --> 00:45:03,520
There's dozens and dozens of
videos that explore the idea of

985
00:45:03,520 --> 00:45:06,280
brain HQ, what it is and how to
do it and how it works.

986
00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:09,000
There's also quite a few
webinars we've done on the

987
00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:11,240
science of brain health, both
about the details of brain

988
00:45:11,240 --> 00:45:13,360
training, but other aspects of
brain health as well.

989
00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:16,200
Whether it's again, sleep or
exercise or even more fun

990
00:45:16,200 --> 00:45:18,000
things.
We did a webinar about Brain HQ

991
00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:21,200
and magic recently where we had
a magician join us and talk

992
00:45:21,200 --> 00:45:23,840
about, hey, how do magicians
trick your memory and your

993
00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:26,160
attention.
Take advantage of your cognitive

994
00:45:26,280 --> 00:45:28,480
cognitive abilities to do
wonderful tricks.

995
00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:30,960
All kinds of fun stuff on the
YouTube channel and helpful and

996
00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:32,840
educational stuff about brain
health as well.

997
00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:36,240
And we will have those links
below for our listeners in the

998
00:45:36,240 --> 00:45:38,880
show notes.
And if you had one key message

999
00:45:38,880 --> 00:45:41,760
that you want our listeners to
take away from our conversation

1000
00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:43,600
today, what would you like it to
be?

1001
00:45:44,240 --> 00:45:48,880
Oh, I hope the key message is
you can actively take care of

1002
00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:51,240
and maintain and even improve
your brain health.

1003
00:45:51,600 --> 00:45:55,040
I hope that if people walk away
with one idea here, it's a brain

1004
00:45:55,040 --> 00:45:58,760
is not a computer chip.
It doesn't have RAM and memory,

1005
00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:02,000
and most importantly, it doesn't
wear out over time because your

1006
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:04,480
brain is not a computer chip.
Because of brain plasticity, you

1007
00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:07,240
can do all kinds of everyday
things to help improve and

1008
00:46:07,240 --> 00:46:09,560
maintain your brain health.
And that's just an incredible

1009
00:46:09,560 --> 00:46:11,120
revolution.
We're in the middle right now.

1010
00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:14,280
So I hope that's a message of
hope and empowerment because

1011
00:46:14,280 --> 00:46:16,360
hey, our biggest challenge in
this field is inertia, right?

1012
00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:19,040
Most people aren't aware that
they can do something, so they

1013
00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:21,520
do nothing.
But thanks to your podcast and

1014
00:46:21,520 --> 00:46:23,520
all the great news that's been
out there, and let's get people

1015
00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:25,040
involved in taking care of their
brain health.

1016
00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:26,800
It's going to be good for them
and good for all of us.

1017
00:46:27,280 --> 00:46:30,680
Brain training isn't a trend,
it's a science backed way to

1018
00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:32,920
keep your mind strong and
resilient.

1019
00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:36,240
The right kind of brain
exercises can boost key brain

1020
00:46:36,240 --> 00:46:39,840
chemicals, improve membrane
thinking, and help protect

1021
00:46:39,840 --> 00:46:42,240
against age-related cognitive
decline.

1022
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:45,440
The take away your brain
responds to challenge and

1023
00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:48,120
building your brain reserve is
something anyone can start

1024
00:46:48,120 --> 00:46:50,720
today.
I hope we're all encouraged to

1025
00:46:50,720 --> 00:46:53,040
go out and make your brain
sweat.

1026
00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:56,840
Doctor Henry Monka, thank you so
much for letting me pick your

1027
00:46:56,840 --> 00:46:59,840
brilliant brain on the Let's
Talk Brain Health Podcast.

1028
00:47:00,560 --> 00:47:04,280
Thank you for investing your
time and energy into your

1029
00:47:04,280 --> 00:47:07,800
personal brain care by listening
to today's episode of the Let's

1030
00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:11,200
Talk Brain Health Podcast.
I hope our conversation gave you

1031
00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:14,960
fresh insights, a bit of
infiration, or practical steps

1032
00:47:14,960 --> 00:47:18,240
that you can take on your own
personal brain care journey.

1033
00:47:18,680 --> 00:47:21,560
If you enjoyed today's
conversation, I'd like to ask

1034
00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:24,400
you to please share this episode
with someone who could benefit

1035
00:47:24,400 --> 00:47:26,880
from it or consider leaving us a
review.

1036
00:47:27,440 --> 00:47:30,680
If you have questions or a topic
in brain health you'd like me to

1037
00:47:30,680 --> 00:47:34,600
explore, please e-mail me
anytime at podcast at

1038
00:47:34,600 --> 00:47:38,280
virtualbrainhealthcenter.com.
I'd love to hear from you.

1039
00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:42,600
We have so many more exciting
topics ahead, and I can't wait

1040
00:47:42,600 --> 00:47:45,600
to continue this lifelong
journey of better brain health

1041
00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:48,880
together with you and our
growing virtual community.

1042
00:47:49,320 --> 00:47:52,400
Until next time, remember to
give your brain the care it

1043
00:47:52,400 --> 00:47:55,600
deserves and make your brain
health a priority.