Cognitive Fitness 101: How to Stay Mentally Sharp with Dr. Tommy Wood | Buffini Podcast
As a neuroscientist and researcher, Dr. Tommy Wood has spent years studying the human brain. In his upcoming book, The Stimulated Mind, he challenges the long-held belief that cognitive decline is inevitable, arguing that we can reshape what we expect of our brains as we age.
In a recent podcast episode of It’s a Good Life, host Brian Buffini spoke with Dr. Wood about the 3S Model that critical to good brain health as well as the importance of good sleep habits.
The 3S Model
When it comes to your brain’s health, many factors impact it — your diet, physical exercise, sleep, and mental stimulation. They are all connected, Dr. Wood noted, and improving one aspect will improve the others.
“But the most important thing that somebody should do for their brain health is the thing that they will actually do and do consistently,” he added.
The 3S Model, drawn from Dr. Wood’s research and experience, is based on the three primary things that a brain needs to thrive: stimulation, sleep, and nutrient supply.
The most important of those, he believes, is stimulus.
“How we use our brains is the primary driver of how our brains function. You have entrepreneurs and businesspeople; they are going to have very complex, cognitively stimulating jobs, which is fantastic,” he said.
But it’s not just stimulating work that matters, he noted. It could also be trying to learn a complex skill or hobby, such as a new language or sport.
In order to be successful in an area of stimulus, the brain also needs a healthy blood supply.
“Your blood pressure and your blood sugar are the two risk factors that are most consistently associated with cognitive decline and future risk of dementia,” Dr. Wood noted.
“A lot of it is related to the fact that both blood pressure and blood sugar affect the health of the blood vessels that go to the brain and that are in the brain.”
The third “S” in his model is (nutrient) supply. Having a diet varied and nutrient rich “in colorful polyphenols from berries and fruits and peppers and even like the astaxanthin that makes your seafood pink,” he said, is important for brain health.
Sleep and Your Health
Quality sleep is, of course, an important part of your overall health, Dr. Wood said. But studies show that sometimes the stress and worry we feel when we don’t get an occasional good night’s sleep can be more detrimental than the lack of sleep itself.
“A lot of what happens after one night of poor sleep is based on expectation. We’re like, ‘I didn’t sleep well. I’m not going to perform well. I’m not going to feel good.’ And therefore we don’t perform well and we don’t feel good,” he explained. “But it’s literally all in our heads.”
That being said, he noted that “if you have very long periods where you’re not sleeping properly, of course, cognitive function does decline.”
But while an occasional night of restless sleep may leave you feeling a bit grumpy, your performance most likely will not be impacted the next day.
Listen to the entire podcast here.
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