Dr. Daniel Amen Links Brain Health to Lifestyle Habits and SPECT Scans
The Diary Of A CEO
Psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen argues that objective SPECT brain imaging and targeted lifestyle interventions reveal the root biological causes of mental health conditions like ADHD, depression, and cognitive decline.
## Background
This episode was published on YouTube by The Diary Of A CEO (hosted by Steven Bartlett) on October 30, 2023. According to the page description, it features a conversation with Dr. Daniel Amen exploring the impact of ADHD, mental health, lifestyle choices, and daily habits on the brain.
## TL;DR
Dr. Daniel Amen discusses how everyday factors—including alcohol, obesity, stress, social media, and negative self-talk—directly alter brain structure and function. He explains how SPECT brain scans provide objective neurological proof of conditions like ADHD, depression, and trauma, arguing that mental health issues should be diagnosed by identifying underlying biological root causes rather than symptoms alone. Through practical exercises, supplements, and lifestyle habits like saunas and sleep protocols, Dr. Amen outlines actionable ways to optimize brain reserve and improve emotional well-being.
## Atmosphere & style
The conversation carries an urgent, clinical, yet deeply conversational tone, balancing high-level psychiatric concepts with accessible metaphors. Host Steven Bartlett engages with personal curiosity and vulnerability, contrasting with Dr. Amen's direct, pragmatic, and authoritative delivery. The dynamic feels like a serious diagnostic consultation blended with an empowering masterclass on cognitive health.
## Key takeaways
- [41:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2470s) ADHD medication acts like reading glasses for the frontal lobe, restoring baseline executive function and suppressing dynamically deactivated brain regions during concentration.
- [42:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2534s) Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) can be systematically managed through Byron Katie's four-step interrogation exercise to prevent constant chemical distress in the body.
- [45:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2715s) Neurological experiments demonstrate that focusing on appreciation activates key brain areas, whereas negative self-talk deactivates the temporal lobes and cerebellum.
- [47:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2846s) Chronic stress floods the body with cortisol and shrinks the hippocampus, while traumatic memories create a distinct 'diamond pattern' on brain SPECT scans that can be reprocessed using EMDR therapy.
- [56:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3409s) Scanning the damaged brains of violent criminals reveals severe frontal lobe hypoactivity, demonstrating a strong link between physical brain health and impulse control.
- [59:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3540s) Dr. Amen advocates for mandatory brain scans for presidential candidates and political leaders to objectively assess executive function and cognitive aging.
- [17:47:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=64021s) Pervasive low Vitamin D levels—especially in individuals with higher melanin living in low-sunlight climates—and viral infections like COVID-19 significantly contribute to brain inflammation and psychiatric issues.
- [17:50:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=64210s) Clinical depression should be treated as a symptom rather than a final diagnosis, as underlying physical conditions like hypothyroidism or B12 deficiency can directly trigger it.
- [17:54:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=64450s) Obesity and elevated blood sugar impair cerebral blood flow, promote systemic inflammation, and increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.
- [17:58:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=64718s) Regular alcohol consumption degrades brain white matter and shrinks brain volume over time, with even moderate drinking negatively impacting heart rate variability and overall health.
- [18:12:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=65568s) Large-scale brain imaging reveals distinct gender differences, with female brains showing higher prefrontal cortex blood flow (linked to empathy and impulse control) and male brains showing higher rates of ADD and incarceration.
- [18:15:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=65725s) Frequent sauna use, cold plunges, and maintaining walking speed into old age actively support brain detoxification, dopamine production, and overall longevity.
- [18:20:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=66000s) Excessive screen time overstimulates dopamine receptors in the nucleus accumbens, wearing out pleasure pathways and heightening the risk of depression and anxiety.
## Detailed walkthrough
Here is a faithful, detailed walkthrough of Part 1 of the transcript:
[00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=0s) Intro: The Mission to Revolutionize Brain Health
The episode opens with host Steven Bartlett introducing Dr. Daniel Amen, a world-renowned brain expert who has scanned over 250,000 brains ranging from high-profile celebrities like Justin Bieber, Muhammad Ali, and Miley Cyrus to criminal offenders such as murderers, rapists, and arsonists. Dr. Amen’s core mission is to bring about a revolution in brain health in order to eliminate mental illness entirely. He highlights that the brain is central to every human action, thought, and emotion, warning how common everyday factors—such as alcohol, lack of sleep, sugar, head-butt collisions in soccer, caffeine, and heavy social media consumption—can actively deteriorate brain size and function.
Before diving into the full discussion, Steven takes a brief moment to make a personal appeal to his audience. Looking at the backend analytics of *The Diary Of A CEO*, he notes that 69.9% of recurring viewers have not yet hit the subscribe button. He asks for a quick favor, promising that subscribing directly helps scale the guest line-up, production quality, and reach of the show.
- **Celebrity & Clinical Scans:** Dr. Amen has examined a spectrum of brains ranging from world-class athletes and pop icons to extreme violent criminals.
- **Dangers of Excessive Social Media:** Spending 3.5 hours or more per day on social media wears out the brain's pleasure centers, dampening natural happiness and drive.
[02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=135s) Why Listeners Should Stick Around
Steven asks Dr. Amen why a viewer should invest their time in listening to this full conversation. Dr. Amen replies that applying the principles discussed can yield an extra 10 years of strong cognitive performance, along with improvements in love, finances, and general health, because the brain dictates how a person acts, feels, and interacts with others.
Dr. Amen expresses a strong dislike for the term "mental illness," explaining that it creates unnecessary shame and stigma. He argues that conditions usually labeled as mental disorders are actually physical **brain disorders**. When the physical brain is healed, mental health naturally follows. Standard psychiatric approaches often rely solely on medication while ignoring foundational factors like diet, exercise, sleep quality, exposure to toxic mold in the home, or physical head trauma from sports like soccer. Dr. Amen asserts that if society shifts toward prioritizing brain health, the overall incidence of mental health disorders could be cut in half.
- **Cognitive Lifespan:** Proper brain care adds roughly 10 extra years of high-level cognitive functionality.
- **Reframing Psychiatric Health:** Moving away from the stigmatizing label of "mental illness" toward physical "brain health."
Steven reveals that prior to recording, he traveled to Dr. Amen's clinic in Los Angeles for a complete evaluation. The process involved a 15-minute computer test, a SPECT scan where a machine rotated around his head while he lay flat for 15 minutes, and extensive background questionnaires regarding his personal history and lifestyle.
Dr. Amen explains that a diagnosis is never made from a SPECT scan in isolation, but rather by integrating the scan results with personal history and cognitive testing. Steven completed the Conners Continuous Performance Test (CPT)—a 15-minute test assessing attention, impulse control, response times, and inhibition by requiring the test-taker to press the spacebar for every letter except the letter "X." Steven performed well on the formal CPT, but his personal history (getting easily bored, poor handwriting, organizational struggles, and doing poorly in school despite high intelligence) points directly toward ADD/ADHD.
```
SPECT Scan Evaluation Criteria:
1. Outside Surface Scan (Blood Flow & Symmetry)
2. Active Image Scan (High Activity / "Hot Spots")
- Blue = Average Activity
- Red = Top 15% Activity
- White = Top 8% Activity (Brightest/Hottest)
```
Comparing Steven’s scan to a healthy baseline brain (which should display smooth, full, and symmetrical blood flow across the surface and strong "white/red" activity in the cerebellum), Steven’s brain shows several distinct physical features:
```
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Brain Region / Pattern | Scan Finding & Associated Symptom |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Surface Smoothness | "Bumpy" texture indicative of toxic exposure (e.g., mold). |
| Left Prefrontal Cortex | Decreased activity; correlates with ADD/ADHD symptoms. |
| Left Temporal Lobe | Decreased activity; linked to short fuse and irritability. |
| Overall Prefrontal Cortex | Unusually flat appearance, typical of soccer head impacts. |
| Cerebellum (Back Bottom) | "Sleepy" low activity; needs stimulation to improve speed. |
| "Diamond" Active Pattern | Overfocused ADD subtype; linked to past emotional trauma. |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
```
When Dr. Amen points out the bumpy texture signifying potential toxic exposure, Steven reflects on his childhood. He grew up in a house similar to a hoarder's home, with rooms stacked to the ceiling, visible mold around window sills, and infestations of mice and rats. Dr. Amen explains that once toxins like mold enter the body, they can linger indefinitely unless actively cleared out. Furthermore, Steven mentions playing soccer throughout his entire childhood and enduring a couple of severe head clashes on the pitch. Dr. Amen emphasizes that the brain has a soft consistency like "soft butter" sitting inside a hard skull with sharp bony ridges, meaning repeated physical impacts can permanently impair blood flow—represented visually on the SPECT scan as low-activity "holes."
- **The Conners Continuous Performance Test (CPT):** 15-minute test measuring inhibition and focus by tracking responses to letters while suppressing reactions to "X."
- **Prefrontal Cortex Size across Species:** Represents 30% of the human brain, compared to just 11% of a chimpanzee's brain.
- **Racket Sports Longevity Study:** Referencing research from England, Dr. Amen notes that playing racket sports (tennis, table tennis, pickleball, badminton) drastically increases life expectancy, whereas contact sports like soccer and football sit at the bottom.
[13:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=798s) Emotional Trauma and the "Diamond" Pattern
Dr. Amen discusses the "diamond pattern" revealed on Steven's active scan, explaining that he published a study of 20,000 patients demonstrating how SPECT imaging can distinguish physical brain trauma from past emotional trauma with high accuracy. Steven's scan reflects a combination of both.
When asked what emotional trauma comes to mind, Steven describes growing up in a chaotic household where his parents were constantly "at war," filling the house with screaming and negative energy. He also speaks of the deep childhood shame he felt due to their living conditions—never once inviting a friend over in the 16 years he lived at home, leaving his peers unaware of where he actually lived. Dr. Amen explains that growing up in a hostile, high-stress environment conditions a child's emotional brain to become hyperactive, perpetually scanning for impending danger. Even as an adult in a safe environment, the nervous system remains conditioned to wait for the next crisis.
- **Subtype Identification:** Steven exhibits features of *Overfocused ADD*, where a person becomes intensely hyperfocused/obsessive on topics of high interest but struggles to engage with uninteresting tasks.
- **Hypervigilance:** Childhood environmental stress hardwires the brain's emotional centers to maintain chronic alertness even after the threat has ceased.
[15:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=951s) Childhood Signs of ADHD and Parental Traits
Dr. Amen confirms his diagnosis that Steven has ADHD, pointing out that ADHD is strongly hereditary and rarely appears out of nowhere. Steven speculates that his mother likely had ADHD as well, describing her as messy, scattered, irritable, and possessing poor handwriting, in contrast to his father, who was meticulously organized.
Recalling his school years, Steven shares two visits he made back to his secondary school as a successful 24- and 25-year-old entrepreneur. During one visit, a former teacher approached him and remarked, "You are a useless student, but you are a nice person." Steven reflects on how he spent much of his youth in the school's "exclusion unit" due to missing homework and truancy. He was incapable of sitting through classes or forcing himself to focus on subjects that failed to spark his interest.
> "I've always said I'm a remarkable quitter. So, you think about stop going to school, then went to university for 1 day and was like, 'Nope.' Never went back after that first day."
Dr. Amen advises that individuals with ADD must choose career paths based on genuine passion rather than pure financial incentive. He explains the trade-offs of different brain structures: an overactive prefrontal cortex creates extreme organization and rule-following but lowers creativity, whereas a slightly "sleepy" prefrontal cortex makes a person less rule-bound, highly creative, and open to unconventional ideas. Steven resonates with this, noting that as a creative entrepreneur and marketer, he has built his fortune around innovation and vision while surrounding himself with operational partners to manage finances and processes.
- **School Experience:** Steven spent large portions of his school career in internal isolation/exclusion units due to an inability to force attention on uninteresting tasks.
- **Executive Function Trade-off:** High prefrontal cortex activity favors organization and rule adherence; lower prefrontal cortex activity fosters high creativity, risk-tolerance, and non-conformity.
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Here is a detailed, faithful walkthrough of this portion of the transcript, capturing the facts, arguments, nuanced discussion, and overall tone.
[20:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1217s) Optimizing Team Brains and the Power of Brain Plasticity
Steven Bartlett and Dr. Daniel Amen explore how understanding brain types shapes team dynamics and personal potential. Dr. Amen explains that entrepreneurs often thrive by hiring organized people—essentially "hiring people with different brains"—to compensate for their own vulnerabilities. Reflecting on his own scan, Steven admits that seeing his brain for the first time completely transformed his perspective. Many people go through life oblivious to the reality of their own brain because they never physically see it. Realizing that the brain is not a static object—like a fingernail—is deeply empowering.
Dr. Amen emphasizes that the brain can be actively changed: "You're not stuck with the brain you have. You can make it better." Every single day, your choices are either making your brain better or making it worse.
- **Mindset shift:** Recognizing that the brain can be improved is the most empowering lesson in brain health.
- **Team building:** Successful leaders hire individuals whose brain strengths balance out their own vulnerabilities.
---
[22:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1326s) The Bad Category: Sugar, Head Injuries, and Caffeine
When Dr. Amen visited his daughter Chloe's second-grade classroom, he listed 20 items on the board for the seven-year-olds to separate into "good for your brain" and "bad for your brain." The children got 19 out of 20 right; the only mistake they made was categorizing orange juice as healthy. Unwrapping fruit sugar from its natural fiber source turns it toxic in the body, causing blood sugar spikes.
Sugar acts as a gateway drug to diabetes and obesity, driving systemic inflammation—a root cause of depression and dementia. Physical trauma, such as heading a soccer ball, must also be strictly avoided. Furthermore, common stimulants like caffeine constrict blood flow to the brain. While a modest 100 mg of caffeine per day is generally fine, a single Venti Starbucks coffee contains roughly 330 mg, a level most consumers fail to recognize.
- **Obesity & Brain Size:** In three published studies analyzing 35,000 people, Dr. Amen found that as body weight goes up, the physical size and function of the brain go down.
- **US Health Stats:** 72% of Americans are overweight, and 42% are obese.
- **Motivating Factor:** Discovering the link between excess weight and brain shrinkage prompted Dr. Amen to lose 25 pounds.
- **Blood Flow Constriction:** Caffeine and nicotine restrict blood flow; foods like beets, oregano, rosemary, and cinnamon help increase it.
---
[26:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1588s) Blood Flow, Loneliness, and Environmental Toxins
Blood flow problems anywhere in the body reflect issues everywhere. Erectile dysfunction—affecting 40% of 40-year-olds and 70% of 70-year-olds—serves as an early warning sign of systemic vascular issues caused by a sedentary lifestyle, overweight status, smoking, excess caffeine, or marijuana use. Using the "BRIGHT MINDS" framework, Dr. Amen highlights several factors damaging brain health:
- **B (Blood Flow):** Can be enhanced through exercise, hyperbaric oxygen, and *Ginkgo biloba*. A SPECT study demonstrated that taking 120 mg of Ginkgo twice daily significantly improves brain perfusion.
- **Social Isolation:** Loneliness accelerates dementia. Dr. Amen critiques the US government's pandemic response, noting that enforcing strict isolation caused a dramatic surge in psychiatric and cognitive issues.
- **I (Inflammation):** Driven by low omega-3 fatty acids—a deficiency present in 93% of the population—and gum disease. Poor oral hygiene releases inflammatory markers that increase the risk of depression and dementia.
- **T (Toxins):** Includes drugs, alcohol, mercury, anesthesia, and everyday personal care items. Using apps like *Think Dirty* allows users to rate personal products on a scale of 0 to 10 (where 0 means longevity and 10 means toxic). Swapping his lifelong shaving cream (Barbasol, rated a 9) for *Kiss My Face* (rated a 2) helped remove endocrine disruptors linked to the current epidemic of low testosterone in young men.
---
[30:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1858s) Mental Health, Ant Thoughts, and the ADHD Debate
The "M" in the BRIGHT MINDS framework stands for Mental Health—encompassing thought quality, stress levels, unaddressed trauma, and clinical conditions. Depression alone doubles the risk of Alzheimer's disease in women and quadruples it in men. To combat this, Dr. Amen teaches patients to eliminate "ANTs" (Automatic Negative Thoughts).
When discussing ADHD treatment, Steven expresses strong personal hesitation toward medication. Having rarely taken a pill in his life—except when facing a severe infection that turned his foot purple—Steven views his messiness or disorganization as natural personality traits. He questions why he should medicate his brain if he is already succeeding.
Dr. Amen agrees that good doctors should provide informed consent and present all available options rather than forcing medication. However, he challenges Steven to look beyond potential side effects like appetite suppression or insomnia and evaluate the side effects of *untreated* ADHD: chronic stress, relationship tension, and financial disorganization.
> "For you, you're clearly not broken. But are you optimized? Do you have full access to your own brain?"
- **ADHD vs. ADD Terminology:** In 1980, the DSM listed Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) with or without hyperactivity. In 1987, the term was changed to ADHD, effectively overlooking the half of patients who are never hyperactive and thus suffer silently without a diagnosis.
- **Global Context:** A patient from Ethiopia told Dr. Amen that in his culture, individuals with severe untreated ADHD are frequently excluded and isolated because they cannot be relied upon, inducing massive shame.
- **Genetics:** ADHD is strongly genetic; when present without a family history, underlying head trauma is often suspected.
---
[38:59](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2339s) What Stimulants Do to the Brain: Sandy's Story
If Steven were to take an ADHD stimulant like Ritalin, a follow-up SPECT scan would show increased activity in his cerebellum and prefrontal cortex, enhancing overall brain energy and focus. To illustrate the transformative power of a proper diagnosis, Dr. Amen recalls his very first SPECT scan in 1991 with a patient named Sandy.
Sandy had attempted suicide the night before. Despite having an IQ of 144, she had never finished college. She described her study habits as pulling all-nighters fueled by pots of coffee right before exams—a classic pattern for adults compensating for untreated ADD. When Dr. Amen scanned her brain during a concentration task, her brain activity deactivated and turned off rather than activating.
When Dr. Amen placed the scan images on the table in front of her a few days later, Sandy began to cry and asked, "You mean it's not my fault?" Dr. Amen reassures patients that having ADD is no different than needing reading glasses—it is a physiological difference, not a character flaw.
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[41:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2470s) Understanding ADHD Medication as "Glasses for the Frontal Lobe"
Dr. Daniel Amen continues his framing of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD) by offering a powerful metaphor he uses with patients who feel hesitant or ashamed about medication. Drawing a direct parallel to how he relies on reading glasses to drive, Dr. Amen explains that wearing glasses doesn't make someone "dumb, crazy, or stupid"—it simply addresses a structural variance in the eyeball to help them focus. Similarly, individuals with ADHD aren't defective; rather, their frontal lobes dynamically deactivate when they try to concentrate. Medication functions as "glasses for the frontal lobes," restoring baseline executive function and allowing them to engage with the world clearly.
He recounts the transformation of a female patient who was perpetually conflict-driven, constantly provoking arguments with her husband to the point of a near-fatal suicide attempt. Once properly medicated for ADHD, her compulsion to seek conflict vanished: she became a more present mother, returned to school, and successfully finished college. Steven Bartlett notes that his own friends who take ADHD medication describe their experience as a distinct "before and after" turning point in their lives.
[42:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2534s) Killing ANTs: How to Overcome Automatic Negative Thoughts
Shifting to the "M" (Mindset and Mental Health) in his BRIGHT MINDS framework, Steven asks how someone can realistically eliminate negative thoughts, noting that "killing ANTs" (Automatic Negative Thoughts) is far easier said than done. Dr. Amen clarifies that thought management is simply a daily habit requiring continuous practice. Every thought triggers an instantaneous chemical release in the brain:
* **Negative Thoughts:** A bad, sad, or angry thought immediately triggers chemicals that cause physical distress—hands grow cold and clammy, muscles tense up, and breathing becomes erratic.
* **Positive Thoughts:** Hopeful, happy, and loving thoughts release a completely different chemical profile, making the hands warm and dry, slowing down respiration, and bringing the heart rate into a calm, healthy rhythm.
Because people with ADHD naturally gravitate toward negative thoughts for the stimulation they provide, Dr. Amen teaches a specific cognitive exercise adapted from author Byron Katie to systematically dismantle ANTs.
```
[ STEP 1: Identification ]
Write down the negative thought
when feeling sad, mad, or anxious.
│
▼
[ STEP 2: Interrogation ]
Ask: "Is it true? Is it absolutely true?"
│
▼
[ STEP 3: Impact Analysis ]
Evaluate: How do I feel and act with this thought?
Contrast: How would I feel and act WITHOUT it?
│
▼
[ STEP 4: The Turnaround ]
Invert the statement to its opposite
(e.g., "My spouse never listens" ➔ "My spouse DOES listen")
and assess its validity.
```
By writing down and interrogating roughly 30 to 100 of one's worst recurring thoughts through this step-by-step process, patients shift from being passive victims of their minds to disciplined commanders of their thinking.
- **Physiological Shift:** A single thought immediately alters peripheral skin temperature, muscle tone, and heart rate variability.
- **The "Rule of 30":** Interrogating around 30 major negative thoughts using Byron Katie's four questions usually breaks their habitual power over the patient.
[45:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2715s) The Neurological Proof: Appreciation vs. Self-Hate
Steven asks whether repeatedly engaging in positive or negative thought patterns can physically alter the shape and function of the brain. Dr. Amen confirms this unequivocally, citing a striking brain-scan experiment conducted with author Noelle Nelson (*The Power of Appreciation*). Dr. Amen scanned her brain twice under two opposing emotional conditions: first while she deliberately focused on feelings of appreciation, which yielded a vibrant, beautifully active SPECT scan, and again the next day after forcing herself to indulge in self-loathing "for science."
```
[ Appreciation State ] [ Negativity State ]
High, balanced activity across Marked DEACTIVATION in:
all cortical regions and • Left Temporal Lobe
cerebellum • Left Frontal Lobe
• Cerebellum
```
The resulting negativity scan revealed severe deactivation across her left temporal lobe, left frontal lobe, and cerebellum. Dr. Amen highlights that this exact mechanism explains sudden "athletic slumps": negative self-talk shuts down the cerebellum, subtly disrupting physical coordination and timing. However, he cautions that he is not advocate for blind "positive thinking" or the "don't worry, be happy" mindset—which actually leads to early death from preventable accidents and reckless choices (like eating three slices of cheesecake). Instead, he advocates for **accurate thinking with a positive spin**. When treating anxious patients, the goal is never an anxiety score of 0 out of 100, but rather a healthy baseline around 15—enough anxiety to keep a person vigilant, responsible, and proactive.
[47:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2846s) The Brain Under Stress and Trauma
Moving deeper into the BRIGHT MINDS framework, Dr. Amen details how chronic, unremitting stress—such as growing up in a high-conflict household—floods the body with cortisol. Over time, elevated cortisol physically shrinks the **hippocampus**, a primary center for memory and learning. He suggests that Steven's childhood struggles in school were likely not a lack of intelligence, but rather a hyper-vigilant emotional brain consumed by domestic stress.
Trauma—whether from major events or isolated incidents like job loss or high-stakes failure that destroy a person's sense of physical or emotional safety—leaves a distinct mark on brain scans. It typically manifests as a **"diamond pattern"** of hyper-reactivity involving:
* **Anterior Cingulate:** The brain's gear shifter, linked to repetitive worry.
* **Thalamus:** Heavily involved in mood regulation.
* **Basal Ganglia & Amygdala:** Deep brain structures driving physical anxiety and fear response.
To resolve this pattern, Dr. Amen strongly advocates for **EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)**. During EMDR, a patient holds a traumatic memory in mind while tracking bilateral visual stimuli (such as moving eyes back and forth), allowing the brain to reprocess the event without emotional distress. He shares that when he first met his wife 18 years ago, her Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) score was an 8 out of 10. He gifted her 10 EMDR sessions (which she extended to two years of therapy), a intervention he credits for their peaceful, low-conflict marriage today because they no longer trigger each other's historical trauma.
[51:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3090s) Brain Reserve and Teaching Kids to "Kill the ANTs"
Dr. Amen introduces the crucial concept of **brain reserve**—the cushion of healthy brain tissue and functional capacity a person brings into a crisis. He illustrates this with two soldiers sitting in the exact same tank during an explosion: one walks away resilient while the other becomes permanently disabled, simply because of differences in the pre-existing health of their brains. Factors like prenatal drug exposure, maternal stress, poor nutrition, and childhood neglect diminish this reserve early in life, leaving individuals far more vulnerable to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) rather than experiencing post-traumatic growth.
To help people build up this reserve early, Dr. Amen's *Change Your Brain Foundation* launched an educational course for preschoolers and young children called **Brain Thrive by Five**. Spanning 30 short 6-to-7-minute modules, six of the lessons focus explicitly on teaching children how to identify and "kill" ANTs. Referencing Jerry Seinfeld's quote that "the brain is a sneaky organ," Dr. Amen notes that everyone experiences intrusive, violent, or bizarre thoughts. Suffering doesn't stem from having these thoughts, but from *attaching* to them and believing them to be absolute truth.
- **ACE Score Metric:** Adverse Childhood Experiences are measured on a 0–10 scale; higher scores correlate directly with reduced brain reserve and elevated health risks.
- **Brain Thrive by Five:** A 30-module early childhood program teaching kids brain health, emotional regulation, and cognitive reframing before primary school.
---
*Note: Part 3 includes promotional sponsor breaks for LinkedIn Jobs and Huel Daily Greens [54:46–56:48].*
---
[56:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3409s) The Unhealthiest Brain Scan: Kip Kinkel and Psychopathy
When Steven asks about the most severely damaged brain Dr. Amen has ever scanned, Dr. Amen points to 15-year-old Kip Kinkel, who in 1998 murdered his parents in Springfield, Oregon, before opening fire at Thurston High School, shooting 25 people. Kinkel's SPECT scan revealed a brain so severely shriveled and deactivated that it resembled that of an elderly dementia patient rather than a teenager. Dr. Amen hypothesizes that this extreme atrophy was caused by severe perinatal anoxia (lack of oxygen at birth), a catastrophic early infection, or toxic exposure such as heavy metal poisoning.
```
[ MURDERER BRAIN PROFILES ]
│
┌───────────────────────┴───────────────────────┐
▼ ▼
[ Younger Murderers ] [ Older Murderers ]
Severe frontal lobe Global, diffuse
hypoactivity (loss of low brain activity
impulse control) across all regions
```
Discussing psychopaths and violent offenders more broadly, Dr. Amen notes clear patterns: young murderers consistently display profound under-activity in their frontal lobes (the brain's impulse control and judgment center), whereas older murderers exhibit global brain deactivation. While rare exceptions exist—such as a woman whose brain looked structurally healthy but who killed her abusive husband in a acute state of fear—the vast majority of violent criminal brains show clear structural and functional pathology.
[59:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3540s) Should We Scan Presidential Candidates?
Reflecting on high-stakes leadership, Dr. Amen questions why the public does not demand objective brain scans for national leaders, such as presidential candidates. He recalls writing a 2008 op-ed during the Obama vs. McCain election arguing that anyone given access to nuclear codes should undergo mandatory brain imaging to assess executive functioning, judgment, and impulse control. Referring to modern political figures like Joe Biden and Donald Trump, Dr. Amen notes that normal aging inevitably degrades brain health and blood flow, making objective brain evaluations for the highest offices in the world a matter of public safety. Steven pushes back with a devil's advocate question, asking whether establishing brain scanning requirements for top leadership could create a slippery slope that eventually leaks down to everyday hiring practices in restaurants or marketing agencies.
[01:00:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3623s) Relationship Rules and the "One-Page Miracle"
Dr. Daniel Amen reveals a strict rule in his household: if anyone dates one of his children for more than four months, he requires them to get a brain scan. He describes how his son-in-law, Jesse (who stands 6'4" next to Dr. Amen's 5'6"), wrote about his scan in his book *Change Your Brain Before 25* and shared how small he felt sitting with Dr. Amen during that evaluation. Dr. Amen jokes that when he met his wife, Tana, the first "naked" part of her he wanted to see was her brain, so he scanned her three weeks into their relationship to make sure she "passed."
When Steven Bartlett jokingly accuses him of using his wife's brain scan against her during arguments, Dr. Amen insists he never does. Instead, he uses a structured tool called the **One-Page Miracle**. On a single sheet of paper, patients explicitly outline what they want across all life categories: relationships, work, money, and physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Dr. Amen explains that keeping his long-term desire for a loving, supportive relationship top of mind stops him from voicing rude, impulsive thoughts when tired or hungry. Just as successful businesses rely on a one-page strategic plan, individuals need a clear life plan so their brain's habitual tendencies align with their conscious goals.
* **Jesse’s Book:** *Change Your Brain Before 25*, which opens with the story of getting scanned by Dr. Amen.
* **The One-Page Miracle Exercise:** Write down specific goals for relationships, career, finances, physical health, emotional health, and spiritual health on one page.
* **Core Philosophy:** "Hedonism is the enemy of happiness, but happiness is a moral obligation because of how you impact other people."
---
[01:04:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3858s) Neural Pathways, News Consumption, and Evening Habits
The brain is naturally lazy and driven by habits, actively building neural highways based on repeated behaviors and thoughts. Dr. Amen notes that people consciously choose whether they construct positive, accurate neural highways or negative, distorted ones. He references a thought experiment from his book, *The End of Mental Illness*, where he imagined 62 strategies an "evil ruler" would use to create widespread mental illness—noting that modern news media fulfills several of them by prioritizing fear and outrage to secure attention and sales.
Steven shares that he regularly listens to true crime and serial killer podcasts before bed, asking if that negatively impacts his mind. Dr. Amen confirms it does, recounting how he advised musician Meghan Trainor during an episode of his Instagram show, *Scan My Brain*, to stop listening to true crime at night to solve her insomnia. To foster positive mental states and better sleep, Dr. Amen recommends ending every day with a specific review exercise rather than disturbing media.
* **News & Happiness:** Studies show that people who start their day watching the news are 27% less happy by the afternoon.
* **Nighttime Habit:** Review the day hour-by-hour from the beginning, focusing on "what went well" to condition positive dreams and lower anxiety.
* **Motto:** "Every day win or learn."
---
[01:07:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4021s) Vitamin D, Skin Pigmentation, and Infections (COVID-19)
Transitioning to the **I** in his "BRIGHT MINDS" framework (**Immunity and Infections**), Dr. Amen highlights the critical role of Vitamin D in brain function. Because melanin reduces the skin's synthesis of Vitamin D from sunlight, individuals with darker skin who live in low-sunlight climates face a dramatically heightened risk of Vitamin D deficiency and associated mental health issues. Steven reflects on a dark-skinned family member whose mental health deteriorated significantly after moving from Africa to the UK, suspecting a link to severe Vitamin D deficiency.
Dr. Amen also details the damaging impact of viral infections on the brain, citing observations from the COVID-19 pandemic. After scanning Kendall Jenner for *The Kardashians*, he observed that post-COVID inflammation leaves the emotional (limbic) brain "on fire" with heightened anxiety while simultaneously depressing cortical activity. Over time, this combination leads to mood drops, irritability, impulsivity, dark thoughts, and increased dementia risks.
* **Immunity Risks:** Darker skin combined with low-sunlight climates significantly increases Vitamin D deficiency and psychiatric risk.
* **COVID-19 Brain Impact:** Triggers an inflammatory response that overactivates the emotional limbic system while decreasing activity in the cortex.
---
[01:10:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4210s) Rethinking Depression and Current Psychiatric Models
Addressing severe clinical depression—such as cases where individuals struggle just to get out of bed—Dr. Amen argues that depression should be treated like chest pain: as a symptom requiring investigation, not a final diagnosis to be immediately medicated. Chest pain can stem from multiple unrelated causes, and similarly, severe depressive symptoms can be driven by underlying physical issues like hypothyroidism or pernicious anemia (a severe B12 deficiency).
He strongly criticizes mainstream psychiatry's reliance on immediate, lifelong pharmaceutical prescriptions without evaluating the underlying biological causes. While clarifying that he is not against psychiatric drugs and prescribes them when necessary, Dr. Amen stresses that medication should never be the first or only intervention. He rejects labeling patients as "broken" or "mental," preferring an elite-performance coaching model focused on optimizing brain function.
> "Depression is what it is, it's not why it is. And if you don't know why it is, how do you effectively treat something?"
* **Statistic:** 25% of the American population is currently taking psychiatric drugs.
* **Root-Cause Examples:** Hypothyroidism and pernicious anemia (B12 deficiency) can directly present as clinical depression.
---
[01:14:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4450s) Hormones, Diabesity, and the Power of Sleep
Dr. Amen outlines the remaining letters of the BRIGHT MINDS acronym: **N** for **Neurohormones** (unoptimized thyroid or sex hormones impair brain performance), **D** for **Diabesity** (the combination of obesity and high blood sugar), and **S** for **Sleep**. Diabesity is the single most common risk factor among the 11 identified in his work, affecting a massive portion of the population. Carrying excess weight triggers seven distinct brain risk factors, including reduced cerebral blood flow, accelerated brain aging, systemic inflammation, and toxin storage.
Regarding sleep, Dr. Amen explains that researchers discovered the brain's waste-clearance mechanism—the **glymphatic system**—only opens during sleep. This system flushes out toxic metabolic waste accumulated during the day, including beta-amyloid proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease. Failing to get quality sleep leaves the brain operating in a toxic, "dirty" state.
* **Diabesity Impact:** 72% of the population is overweight; higher weight triggers 7 out of the 11 BRIGHT MINDS risk factors and directly reduces cerebral blood flow.
* **The Glymphatic System:** The fluid system in the brain that opens during sleep to wash away toxic proteins like beta-amyloid.
---
[01:16:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4586s) Sleep Apnea and the 15-Second Breath Habit
Sleep apnea is a major driver of brain degradation. Dr. Amen explains that loud snoring and repeated pauses in breathing during sleep starve the brain of oxygen. On SPECT scans, the pattern of unaddressed sleep apnea shows marked activity drops in the bilateral parietal lobes (the top-back portion of the brain), closely resembling early-stage Alzheimer's disease.
To enhance brain oxygenation and autonomic balance, Dr. Amen advocates for targeted breathwork. He shares his daily "15-second breath" technique: inhale for 8 seconds, hold for 1.5 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, and hold for 1.5 seconds. Practicing this cycle four to eight times can halt an active panic attack, while routine practice increases heart rate variability (HRV). Steven adds that he and his friends have become obsessed with tracking their HRV metrics daily using their Whoop wearables.
* **Sleep Apnea Risks:** Triples the risk of Alzheimer's disease by chronically depriving the brain of oxygen.
* **The 15-Second Breath Protocol:** Inhale for 8 seconds $\rightarrow$ Hold for 1.5 seconds $\rightarrow$ Exhale for 4 seconds $\rightarrow$ Hold for 1.5 seconds.
[01:18:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4718s) Heart Rate Variability and Brain Health
Dr. Daniel Amen breaks down the mechanics of Heart Rate Variability (HRV), clarifying that it measures the beat-to-beat variation in heart rhythm. Counterintuitively, a highly variable heart rate is a hallmark of robust physical and physiological health, whereas a flat, metronomic pulse is a warning sign. Dr. Amen recalls first encountering HRV in labor wards, where fetal scalp monitors tracked a baby's heart rate; an even, steady rhythm signals acute distress requiring immediate medical intervention. In adults, low HRV correlates directly with heightened risks of anxiety, depression, heart disease, and premature death, demonstrating the profound link between cardiac and neurological function.
```
High Beat-to-Beat Variation ---> High HRV ---> Robust Heart & Brain Health
Static / Flatline Rhythm ---> Low HRV ---> Risks of Anxiety, Depression & Early Mortality
```
Steven Bartlett shares a personal revelation about tracking his own HRV using a Whoop wearable, which ultimately led him to quit drinking alcohol entirely. Steven explains that while his baseline HRV sits at a healthy 140–150, consuming just one to three glasses of wine would cause his HRV score to crash into the red zone around 30 or 40 the following morning. Shocked that casual alcohol intake damaged his recovery as severely as contracting COVID-19, suffering from severe sleep deprivation, or experiencing acute illness, he decided to cut out alcohol completely. Dr. Amen commends Steven’s decision as a "sign of intelligent life" driven by self-love, reiterating that alcohol actively degrades white matter—the neural highways responsible for transmitting signals across the brain.
* Heart rate variability measures the time intervals between consecutive heartbeats.
* Low HRV is strongly associated with higher rates of heart disease, mental health disorders, and early mortality.
* HRV can be actively improved through meditation, targeted breathwork, structured exercise, and proper sleep hygiene.
* Steven Bartlett’s HRV dropped from a peak of 150 down to 40 after drinking 1–3 glasses of wine.
* Alcohol degrades white matter, damaging the brain's information transmission tracks.
---
[01:23:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5028s) The True Cost of Casual Drinking
Addressing the culture around casual drinking, Dr. Amen refutes the common societal belief that moderate alcohol intake is harmless. He cites findings from the American Cancer Society establishing that any level of alcohol consumption increases the risk of seven different types of cancer. Drawing from over 30 years of brain imaging data, Dr. Amen notes that even moderate, non-alcoholic drinkers exhibit noticeably lower brain activity and reduced cerebral blood flow compared to total abstainers. When Steven asks what two identical people would look like after a decade if one drank two or three casual drinks a week while the other stayed sober, Dr. Amen confirms that the drinker's brain would appear visibly shriveled, suffering from reduced blood flow and compromised impulse control.
The conversation shifts to how modern society actively pushes alcohol and bad nutrition upon consumers. Steven illustrates this by recounting a dining experience with music producer Skrillex (Sonny Moore), where a waiter stubbornly insisted on leaving a bottle of wine at their table despite both of them stating they did not drink. Dr. Amen explains this phenomenon through commercial strategy: restaurants habitually present complimentary bread and alcohol first because both act to drop prefrontal cortex function. Bread triggers a sudden spike in blood sugar and serotonin that temporarily boosts mood while lowering executive control, and alcohol further disinhibits judgment, causing patrons to order more food and spend significantly more money.
* The American Cancer Society links any level of alcohol consumption to seven distinct types of cancer.
* Approximately 30% to 40% of psychiatric patients seen by Dr. Amen present with issues that are fundamentally tied to alcohol use.
* Bread and alcohol both suppress frontal lobe function, impairing decision-making and increasing restaurant spending.
* Long-term casual drinking shrinks brain volume and compromises critical long-term impulse control.
---
[01:28:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5318s) Optimizing Brain Health for Sex and Relationships
Dr. Amen identifies the brain as the body's primary sexual organ, emphasizing that healthy libido and erectile function rely fundamentally on strong cerebral blood flow and optimal hormonal balance. When couples experience a drop in intimacy, the root cause often lies in unmanaged neurological stress, hormonal deficiencies, or unaddressed psychological trauma. Because sexual behavior requires forethought and executive decision-making, optimizing brain function directly restores sexual performance and interpersonal intimacy.
To illustrate how specific brain types dictate romantic dynamics, Dr. Amen highlights individuals with overactive anterior cingulate gyrus function—a state that makes a person prone to hyper-fixation, argumentativeness, and an automatic "no" reflex. He recounts advising a patient with a rigid, high-cingulate spouse to employ targeted behavioral strategies: serving a carbohydrate-rich pasta dinner and going for a scenic walk to boost serotonin, offering dark chocolate containing phenylethylamine (PEA) to heighten emotional alertness, using baby powder as an unconscious aromatic aphrodisiac, and engaging in low-pressure physical affection. Timing intimacy between days 4 and 18 of the menstrual cycle—avoiding the high-irritability premenstrual window—further optimizes relationship harmony.
* The brain requires adequate cerebral blood flow and balanced hormones to maintain healthy libido and sexual function.
* An overactive anterior cingulate gyrus creates cognitive rigidity and an automatic refusal response in partners.
* Carbohydrates (like pasta) and mild exercise naturally elevate brain serotonin levels, softening cognitive rigidity.
* Dark chocolate contains phenylethylamine (PEA), a compound that triggers feelings of alertness and pleasure.
* Scientific research indicates that baby powder scent can act as an unconscious aphrodisiac for women due to maternal associations.
* The optimal window for intimacy in women prone to PMS typically falls between days 4 and 18 of their cycle.
---
[01:32:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5568s) Structural Differences Between Male and Female Brains
Addressing sex-based brain biology, Dr. Amen strongly criticizes medical forms that remove biological sex, calling the practice "insanely stupid" due to the profound structural impact of estrogen and testosterone on brain function. Citing his peer-reviewed study analyzing 46,000 SPECT brain scans, Dr. Amen details the stark physiological differences between male and female brains. Women exhibit significantly higher blood flow and activity in the prefrontal cortex, equipping them with stronger impulse control, empathy, collaboration, and communication skills—traits that make them exceptionally effective leaders.
```
Female Brain Scan Characteristics:
├── Higher Prefrontal Cortex Activity ──> Superior Impulse Control & Communication
└── BUSIER Limbic / Emotional System ──> Higher Vulnerability to Depression & Anxiety
Male Brain Scan Characteristics:
├── Lower Overall Frontal Blood Flow ──> 14x Higher Incarceration Rate
└── Higher Vulnerability to Addictions──> 5x Higher Rate of ADD
```
Conversely, women possess a significantly busier limbic (emotional) brain, making them twice as likely as men to suffer from depression and anxiety across all cultures. This heightened emotional architecture also fuels a stronger nesting instinct, which explains why disruptive events like moving houses are statistically harder on women. Men, possessing less prefrontal blood flow on average, suffer from vastly higher rates of impulse-control disorders: they are 14 times more likely to go to jail, five times more likely to develop ADD, and significantly more prone to severe gambling, drug, and alcohol addictions. However, because men often avoid seeking help out of misplaced pride, they communicate distress less effectively; while women attempt suicide three to four times more frequently, men complete suicide three to four times more often due to using more violent means.
* Dr. Amen’s published research on 46,000 SPECT scans highlights major biological differences between male and female brains.
* Women show increased prefrontal cortex blood flow, conferring superior capacity for impulse control, collaboration, and leadership.
* Women experience depression at double the rate of men due to increased activity in the limbic system.
* Men are incarcerated at 14 times the rate of women and display five times higher rates of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).
* Women attempt suicide 3 to 4 times more often, but men die by suicide 3 to 4 times more frequently due to violent methods and resistance to seeking help.
---
[01:35:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5725s) The Neurological Benefits of Saunas
Dr. Amen highlights the profound brain-protective benefits of regular sauna use, drawing on extensive epidemiological research from Northern Europe. Scandinavian populations that utilize saunas multiple times per week demonstrate the lowest global incidence of Alzheimer's disease and age-related cognitive decline.
```
Sauna Bathing ──> Heavy Sweating ──> Heavy Metal Excretion (Mercury) ──> Reduced Alzheimer's Risk
```
A primary mechanism behind this neuroprotective effect is systemic detoxification. Thermal exposure in a sauna induces deep sweating, which serves as one of the body's most effective mechanisms for excreting heavy metals, such as mercury, that otherwise accumulate in neural tissue over time. Combining sauna therapy with regular cardiovascular exercise, such as brisk walking, provides a powerful non-pharmacological defense against cognitive deterioration.
* Northern European studies show that frequent sauna bathers have the lowest rates of Alzheimer's disease globally.
* Thermal sweating in saunas acts as an effective protocol for clearing neurotoxic heavy metals like mercury from the body.
<ElicitationsGroup message="Explore related insights from Dr. Daniel Amen's transcript:">
<Elicitation label="Review Dr. Amen's protocols for ADHD and focus" query="Walk me through Dr. Daniel Amen's discussion on ADHD, medication side effects, and natural focus protocols from the transcript."/>
<Elicitation label="Detail Dr. Amen's strategies for eliminating negative thoughts" query="Explain Dr. Daniel Amen's methods for clearing automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) and managing stress."/>
<Elicitation label="Examine the impact of sleep and stress on brain scans" query="What does the transcript say about how sleep deprivation and chronic stress physically alter SPECT brain scans?"/>
</ElicitationsGroup>
Here is the detailed walkthrough of the final portion of the transcript:
[01:36:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5761s) Physical Fitness, Cold Plunges, and Brain Health
Dr. Amen highlights how physical mobility directly correlates with longevity. He notes that if an 80-year-old can walk three miles an hour, they have a 90% chance of living until 90. Conversely, if they can only manage a mile an hour, there is a 90% chance they will not make it to 90. Exercise boosts blood flow, increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and elevates levels of both serotonin and dopamine.
When asked about cold plunges, Dr. Amen notes their popularity due to their ability to dramatically increase dopamine, ease inflammation, soothe pain, and lift depressive moods. However, he cautions that individuals with underlying heart problems should avoid cold plunges due to the cardiovascular strain.
- Walking speed at age 80 serves as a strong predictor of reaching age 90.
- Cold plunges trigger significant dopamine spikes and reduce systemic inflammation.
---
[01:36:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5813s) How Obesity Shrinks the Brain
Addressing weight and brain health, Dr. Amen speaks emotionally about obesity in his own family and argues that as a person's physical weight goes up, the physical size and function of their brain go down. He describes society as being trapped in a "war" for brain health, where fast-food marketing relentlessly shoves damaging foods down people's throats. He criticizes fast-food campaigns—citing brands like Carl's Jr. using models like Charlotte McKinney or Katherine Webb—for manipulating consumer desires while using spit buckets on set so the models don't actually digest the food.
Overweight bodies suffer from lower cerebral blood flow, accelerated aging, chronic inflammation, stored toxins, and altered hormone profiles—converting healthy testosterone into cancer-promoting forms of estrogen. Dr. Amen advocates for counting calories alongside prioritizing caloric quality. He pushes back against popular arguments that "calories don't count," pointing to huge restaurant portion sizes (such as those at the Cheesecake Factory) as major drivers of the epidemic. He traces the root of the crisis back to the 1980s low-fat craze, which replaced fat with sugar, influenced by sugar industry lobby groups paying scientists as far back as the 1960s to shift the blame away from sugar onto fat.
- Physical obesity directly reduces brain volume and brain function.
- Excessive adipose tissue converts active testosterone into unhealthy estrogen compounds.
- The 1980s shift to low-fat foods inadvertently spiked sugar consumption and metabolic dysfunction.
---
[01:40:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=6000s) The Toxic Impact of Screen Time and Social Media
Dr. Amen warns that high screen time and constant social media usage physically alter the brain by overstimulating its pleasure centers. The nucleus accumbens—the reward center relying on dopamine for drive, motivation, and joy—gets hit by every notification, buzz, and like. Over time, constant stimulation wears out these pleasure centers. He gives the example of high-profile celebrities he has worked with, like Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus, explaining how even extreme fame and attention can wear out pleasure pathways, leaving people feeling depressed or insufficient despite outward success.
Limiting daily screen time is crucial: spending 3.5 hours or more per day on screens significantly increases the risk of anxiety, depression, addiction, obesity, and ADHD. This constant stimulation, paired with the "comparison dragon" of social media where users compare themselves to polished online personas, drives the rising epidemic of mental health issues and suicide, especially among teenage girls.
- Heavy screen use drains the dopamine receptors in the nucleus accumbens.
- Averaging 3.5+ hours of screen time daily elevates risks for depression, anxiety, ADHD, and obesity.
---
[01:42:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=6139s) Happiness as a Daily Practice
Steven Bartlett raises research by neuroscientists like Tali Sharot showing a "U-shaped" curve of happiness—where people are happier in youth, less happy in mid-life, and happier again as they age—and asks how this aligns with the brain naturally aging or withering. Dr. Amen explains that in older age (65–70+), people often feel less pressure to strive and accomplish the grueling life tasks that dominate mid-life, leading to greater contentment if they remain connected. However, he notes that dementia and depression rates also rise in old age, making the overall picture complex.
Dr. Amen views happiness as a deliberate daily habit rather than a random state of mind. Just as negative thinking is a bad habit, happiness can be cultivated intentionally. He practices simple nightly rituals like asking himself "What went well today?" and actively hunting for micro-moments of joy throughout the day. Inspired by this, Steven reflects on scheduling key health and mindfulness practices—like breathwork, gratitude exercises, sleep prioritization, and reduced caffeine—directly into his daily calendar to ensure they actually happen.
- The mid-life drop in happiness often stems from high-pressure striving and professional demands.
- Building a happiness habit involves daily prompts like reviewing positive events before sleep.
---
[01:45:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=6321s) Happiness as a Moral Obligation and Closing Thoughts
Answering the traditional closing question left by the previous guest—*"What have you changed your mind about in the last decade?"*—Dr. Amen shares a perspective he adopted from Dennis Prager: **"Happiness is a moral obligation."** Raised Roman Catholic, he explains that his upbringing focused heavily on obligations, guilt, and shaming rather than self-elevation. Realizing that one's emotional state directly impacts everyone around them reshaped his outlook. Working on one's own mental health and happiness is not selfish; it is the most loving thing a person can do for others.
Steven concludes the conversation by expressing deep gratitude to Dr. Amen. He compares seeing his own brain scan to taking care of his dog, Pablo—he now feels a direct personal responsibility to nurture it. Steven praises Dr. Amen for helping people shift their brain health, noting that improving one person's brain creates a ripple effect that positively alters future generations and society as a whole.
- Realizing that individual emotional states directly affect others reframes personal happiness as a duty.
- Steven commits to treating his brain health with active responsibility after seeing his scan results.
## Notable quotes
> [41:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2470s) glasses for the frontal lobes — Dr. Daniel Amen
> [51:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3090s) the brain is a sneaky organ — Jerry Seinfeld
> [17:20:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=62400s) Hedonism is the enemy of happiness, but happiness is a moral obligation because of how you impact other people. — Dr. Daniel Amen
> [17:20:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=62418s) Every day win or learn. — Dr. Daniel Amen
> [17:50:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=64210s) Depression is what it is, it's not why it is. And if you don't know why it is, how do you effectively treat something? — Dr. Daniel Amen
> [18:25:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=66321s) What have you changed your mind about in the last decade? — Previous Guest
> [18:25:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=66321s) Happiness is a moral obligation. — Dennis Prager
## Mentioned
Dr. Daniel Amen, Steven Bartlett, Byron Katie, Noelle Nelson, The Power of Appreciation, Change Your Brain Foundation, Brain Thrive by Five, LinkedIn Jobs, Huel Daily Greens, Kip Kinkel, Thurston High School, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, John McCain, Jesse, Change Your Brain Before 25, Tana Amen, Meghan Trainor, Kendall Jenner, The Kardashians, Skrillex (Sonny Moore), Charlotte McKinney, Katherine Webb, Carl's Jr., Cheesecake Factory, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Tali Sharot, Dennis Prager, Whoop, BRIGHT MINDS, One-Page Miracle, Change Your Brain Every Day, The End of Mental Illness, Scan My Brain, American Cancer Society
Brain-imaging specialist Dr. Daniel Amen argues that conventional psychiatric conditions should be reframed and treated as physical brain health disorders rather than moral failings or purely mental illnesses. Drawing on findings from hundreds of thousands of SPECT scans, he contends that lifestyle choices, physical trauma, and targeted behavioral changes directly dictate cognitive performance, emotional resilience, and lifelong brain structure.
Reframing Mental Illness Through Objective Brain Imaging (4:09)
Dr. Amen advocates replacing the stigmatizing label of 'mental illness' with 'brain health,' contending that psychiatric symptoms mirror underlying physical brain dysfunction. Using SPECT imaging, which measures blood flow and metabolic activity, he assesses patients by combining scans with cognitive testing like the Conners Continuous Performance Test and personal histories. For example, evaluating Steven Bartlett's brain revealed reduced prefrontal cortex and temporal lobe activity alongside a 'bumpy' surface texture that Dr. Amen attributes to childhood exposure to toxic mold and repeated soccer head impacts, yielding an Attention Deficit Disorder diagnosis.
Biological Mechanisms of Trauma and Negative Thinking
According to Dr. Amen, adverse emotional experiences and chronic negative thoughts manifest physically in neural architecture. Stress-induced cortisol release shrinks the memory-regulating hippocampus, while past trauma frequently surfaces on scans as a hyperactive 'diamond pattern' across the anterior cingulate, thalamus, amygdala, and basal ganglia, which he treats using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). To counter this, he stresses active cognitive management to eliminate 'Automatic Negative Thoughts' (ANTs), noting that deliberate appreciation increases broad brain activation, whereas negative rumination deactivates the temporal and frontal lobes and disrupts physical coordination via the cerebellum.
Systemic Health Risks Under the BRIGHT MINDS Framework (26:28)
Dr. Amen outlines eleven primary risk factors under his 'BRIGHT MINDS' model, emphasizing blood flow, inflammation, toxic exposure, and metabolic health. Citing studies across 35,000 scans, he asserts that as physical body weight rises, the brain's physical size and functionality decline, driven by systemic inflammation and vascular impairment. He identifies sugar as a primary driver of diabetes and depression, and highlights that moderate to high daily caffeine and any level of alcohol consumption actively constrict cerebral blood flow and degrade white matter, visibly reducing brain activity over time.
Physiological Disparities, Sleep, and Neuroprotection (76:26)
Based on a 46,000-scan study, Dr. Amen reports that women display greater prefrontal cortex blood flow—supporting impulse control and collaboration—alongside busier limbic systems that correlate with twice the rate of depression compared to men, who show lower frontal blood flow and fourteen-fold higher incarceration rates. To protect neurological integrity, he emphasizes supporting the glymphatic waste-clearance system through high-quality sleep, warning that untreated sleep apnea starves the brain of oxygen and mimics early Alzheimer's. Protective protocols include regular sauna usage to excrete neurotoxins like mercury, walking speed maintenance, and structured slow breathwork to stabilize Heart Rate Variability.
Dr. Amen concludes that cognitive vitality is malleable rather than fixed, framing personal brain optimization as a social and moral duty because individual emotional states ripple across relationships. A central tension remains regarding the real-world application of routine brain scanning, including whether mandatory neuroimaging for high-stakes leadership roles presents an ethical slippery slope for everyday employment practices.
## Background
该视频由 YouTube 频道《The Diary Of A CEO》（主持人为 Steven Bartlett）于 2023 年 10 月 30 日发布。根据页面描述，本期节目是主持人与世界著名脑神经与精神病学专家丹尼尔·阿门博士（Dr. Daniel Amen）的二次对话，重点探讨了扫描 25 万个大脑后的临床发现，现场解读 Steven 的脑扫描结果并诊断其患有 ADHD，同时分享了药物、睡眠、酒精、日常毒素对大脑机能的真实影响及优化大脑健康的具体实践。
## TL;DR
阿门博士通过解读 Steven 的 SPECT 脑部扫描图，明确指出其大脑存在前额叶迟钝、小脑血流减退以及童年创伤留下的“钻石形态”，确诊其具有过专注型 ADHD 特征，并强调这是一种神经差异而非缺陷。对话围绕阿门博士提出的“BRIGHT MINDS”多维度脑健康法则展开，深入剖析了糖分肥胖、咖啡因与酒精的神经毒性、屏幕多巴胺耗竭、缺乏睡眠以及洗护用品毒素对大脑的实质摧残。阿门博士提出以“脑生理功能障碍”去污名化替代传统“心理疾病”标签，主张通过持拍运动、抗炎饮食、靶向营养素、15秒呼吸法及消灭负面思维（ANTs）等手段主动提升大脑储备与可塑性。最后，双方确立了“追求幸福是一项辐射他人的道德责任”这一核心认知，指出修复大脑不仅能释放个体极致潜能，更具有深远的代际影响。
## Atmosphere & style
整场对话在严谨的临床科学实证与直抵内心的真诚袒露之间取得了极佳的平衡，既具备神经影像学的震撼冲击力，又充盈着温厚的人文关怀。阿门博士以温和坚定、洞察入微的长者与医者姿态娓娓道来，Steven 则毫无保留地剥开自己充满争吵与羞耻感的童年、学业挣扎及商业盲区，形成了极其深度的信任磁场。随着脑扫描图将看不见的创伤与神经特质实体化，现场氛围从最初的紧张好奇逐步升华为释怀、掌控感与责任感，听者能够深切感受到一种从“自责被动”向“主动掌控大脑命运”的觉醒与代际治愈力量。
## Bulletin
- [02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=135s) 基于对超过25万例脑部扫描的临床研究，阿门博士主张用“脑健康革命”彻底取代充满羞耻感的“心理疾病”标签，指出通过改善脑供血、清除环境毒素及修复微小创伤，精神障碍发病率有望降低50%。
- [20:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1248s) 脑成像证实肥胖与脑萎缩存在严密的神经生理关联：随着体重增加，大脑物理体积和认知功能同步下滑；同时每日使用社交媒体或屏幕超过3.5小时会使伏隔核多巴胺中枢过度脱敏，成倍推高抑郁与焦虑风险。
- [01:14:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4496s) 即便是轻度“社交小酌”，摄入酒精也会破坏大脑白质通路、降低心率变异性（HRV）并减退脑血流；而深度睡眠时开启的脑胶质淋巴系统是清洗阿尔茨海默病核心致病物β-淀粉样蛋白不可替代的解毒通路。
- [48:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2935s) 创伤经历与慢性压力会在大脑内刻画出过度高亢的“钻石形态”神经标记，但借助 EMDR 眼动治疗、小脑活化运动（如持拍球类）以及主动审问负面自动思维（ANTs），大脑具备极强的神经可塑性与修复潜能。
## Key takeaways
- [02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=135s) 摒弃“心理疾病”的病理标签，从器官生理学审视大脑障碍：传统精神科单纯开药往往治标不治本，系统排查脑部血流、环境霉菌毒素、微创伤与生活习惯才是逆转脑功能受损的根本。
- [07:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=462s) 足球冲撞等隐性脑震荡具有累积性的器质损伤：大脑质地柔如黄油且颅内壁布满骨性突起，童年期看似寻常的两三次剧烈碰撞即可造成终生不退的脑表凹凸与局部血流低灌注。
- [12:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=721s) 过专注型 ADD（注意缺陷障碍）具有特征性的小脑迟钝与情绪创伤印记：此类人群面对不感兴趣之事完全失焦，面对热爱事物却极度沉迷，持拍类球类运动（如网球、匹克球）是靶向激活小脑的有效处方。
- [18:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1090s) 迟钝的前额叶皮层是企业家的创造力双刃剑：前额叶功能低下导致规则耐受力差、厌恶行政流程，却孕育了打破常规的颠覆性商业直觉；创业者成功的关键在于反本能地聘用严谨互补型人才兜底运营。
- [20:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1248s) 高糖与肥胖是加速大脑衰老萎缩的核心杀手：精制糖和纯果汁破坏血管内皮并引爆全身慢性炎症，大规模脑成像证明超重会引发脑体积与功能的断崖式下跌。
- [24:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1457s) 咖啡因与尼古丁属于强效血管收缩剂：每天摄入超标咖啡因会削弱脑部供血并破坏深度睡眠，而银杏叶提取物、甜菜根及高压氧治疗有助于改善脑微循环灌注。
- [29:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1761s) 日常洗护产品中的环境激素构成了隐形神经毒素：个人洗护用品中的内分泌干扰物通过皮肤吸收并在体内蓄积，是现代年轻男性睾酮水平暴跌与神经功能受损的推手之一。
- [37:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2243s) ADHD 是神经运作模式的“差异”而非道德缺陷：患者在专注时前额叶皮层反而陷入休眠，利他林等中枢兴奋药物的作用机制如同给前额叶戴上一副对焦眼镜，重新激活前额叶与小脑能量。
- [42:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2534s) 消灭脑中“蚂蚁”（负面自动思维 ANTs）的认知五步法：思维直接联动身体生化反应，通过如实记录、质疑真实性、审视后果、假设抽离与反向重塑，能斩断受害者心态并重构神经回路。
- [48:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2935s) EMDR（眼动脱敏与再加工）具有直接平复创伤回路的生物学效应：通过引导双眼左右移动重新加工创伤记忆，能够迅速消除神经系统对过往痛苦记忆的情感警报反应。
- [50:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3041s) “大脑储备”决定了创伤后的心理走向是成长还是应激：个体在遭遇冲击前积累的大脑生理底子越厚实，越能实现创伤后成长（PTG）；低大脑储备者则极易深陷 PTSD 与持续机能紊乱。
- [01:14:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4496s) 胶质淋巴系统在深度睡眠中冲刷脑内致病毒素：清醒时脑脊液清洁通道关闭，深度睡眠时才全面打开冲洗β-淀粉样蛋白；未干预的睡眠呼吸暂停因长期脑缺氧会将阿尔茨海默病风险推高三倍。
- [01:18:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4695s) 心率变异性（HRV）暴跌印证了酒精的系统性毒害：哪怕微量饮酒也会破坏传递信号的大脑白质网络并削弱冲动控制力，佩戴监测设备显示饮酒后次日 HRV 跌幅等同于罹患急性感染重病。
- [01:32:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5521s) 男女大脑在血流分布与激素调控上存在巨大生理分野：女性前额叶血流更丰富、自控与沟通力更佳，但边缘系统过载使抑郁发生率高出一倍；男性冲动抑制较弱，成瘾与自杀身亡率显著更高。
- [01:35:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5725s) 快步行走与规律桑拿是成本极低的大脑保养手段：80岁时保持赶时间般的快步行速能大幅拉长寿命预期，规律蒸桑拿不仅刺激多巴胺和 BDNF 分泌，更是排出汞等重金属毒素的高效途径。
- [01:45:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=6321s) 幸福是一种应当被安排进日程的“道德责任”：情绪状态具有强大的社会传染力，追求自我健康与喜悦是对周围人最深切的关爱；只有将呼吸训练、感恩复盘与睡眠规律白纸黑字排进日程，才能驯服惰性的大脑。
## Detailed walkthrough
### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=0s) 开场预告：阅脑无数的专家与 ADHD 诊断
丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）开门见山地列举了自己职业生涯中扫描过的大脑名录，从贾斯汀·比伯（Justin Bieber）、穆罕默德·阿里（Muhammad Ali）、麦莉·赛勒斯（Miley Cyrus）等全球巨星，到杀人犯、强奸犯与纵火犯等极端罪犯。作为全世界扫描大脑数量最多的人，他审视着主持人史蒂文·巴特利特（Steven Bartlett）的脑部影像，给出了一个直接而震撼的判断：“这对你来说可能很难接受——你患有 ADHD（注意缺陷与多动障碍）。”亚蒙医生的使命是通过掀起一场“脑健康革命”来终结所谓的心理疾病。他提醒观众，人类的一切行为、感受与决策都离不开大脑，而现代人的生活方式却在持续摧残这个器官：毒品、酒精、劣质睡眠、过量糖分、果汁、用头顶足球以及咖啡因。
谈到咖啡因与糖时，亚蒙指出咖啡因会使大脑供血减少而萎缩，而糖分则容易引发肥胖——随着体重上升，大脑的物理体积与运作功能会同步下降，“这一事实足以吓掉任何人体内的脂肪”。此外，每天刷社交媒体超过 3.5 小时会过度消耗负责快乐与动力的多巴胺奖赏中枢，相当于将大脑的快乐开关“狂欢至死”。然而，大脑具有强大的可逆性与修复能力，没有人注定要受困于现状。社会上普遍忽视了微小脑创伤的积累效应，两三次看似平常的头部撞击，就可能在无声无息中影响一个人的一生。
### [01:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=90s) 史蒂文的中场独白：69.9% 观众的订阅之约
在深入正题之前，史蒂文插入了一段简短的真诚呼吁。他透露了一个后台数据：在长期频繁观看该频道的忠实受众中，有高达 69.9% 的人至今尚未点击订阅按钮。史蒂文坦言，订阅量对频道的长远发展至关重要，它直接决定了节目能否邀请到更重量级的全球嘉宾、能否扩大制作规模并将内容品质推向新的高度。
史蒂文向观众郑重承诺，如果大家喜欢这档节目并愿意顺手点击订阅，团队将全力以赴，保证未来的每一期内容都变得越来越精进、深刻，“这是一项我愿意向大家立下的约定”。
### [02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=135s) 为何要关注大脑健康：摆脱“心理疾病”的污名化
史蒂文向亚蒙医生提出核心问题：对于刚刚点开播客、犹豫是否要听下去的观众，了解这期内容究竟能为生活带来什么实际收益？亚蒙明确表示，倾听并践行脑健康的理念，能够为一个人带来多出 10 年的高质量认知巅峰期，以及更甜蜜的亲密关系、更优渥的财富能力与更扎实的身体机能。大脑深度参与了人类的一切活动——不仅塑造思维与情绪，更主导着人际交往的模式。
```mermaid
flowchart TD
accTitle: 传统精神医学与亚蒙脑健康模型的理念对比
accDescr: 流程图对比了传统精神科药物治疗与亚蒙医生基于器官生理健康的综合干预模式
subgraph Traditional["传统精神病学模式"]
A["心理疾病标签\n(产生羞耻感与污名化)"] --> B["单纯开具抗抑郁药"]
B --> C["忽视生活环境与器官病理\n(不解决大脑根本问题)"]
end
subgraph AmenModel["脑健康革命模式"]
D["视作脑生理功能障碍\n(去污名化)"] --> E["全方位生理健康干预\n(饮食/运动/睡眠/环境防毒)"]
E --> F["改善脑供血与神经功能\n(精神疾病发病率降低50%)"]
end
```
亚蒙强调，他毕生的目标是掀起一场彻底替代传统心理学范式的“脑健康革命”。他极度反感“心理疾病”（Mental Illness）这一术语，认为该词充满羞耻感与污名化，且在科学上是不准确的——这些本质上是“大脑器官障碍”（Brain Disorders）。当大脑处于健康状态时，心理状态自然会随之向好。常规精神科往往在患者抑郁时直接开抗抑郁药，却从未审视其脑部生理：没有人询问饮食结构、运动量、睡眠状况，没有人排查居住环境是否存在霉菌毒素，更没有人警告家长不要让孩子用头顶足球。亚蒙断言，只要全社会真正建立起保护脑部生理健康的意识，精神障碍的发病率完全可以降低一半。
### [04:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=249s) 史蒂文的诊所体验与综合评估机制
话题切入史蒂文亲身参与的临床测试。史蒂文回顾了他在洛杉矶亚蒙诊所（Amen Clinics）的检查流程：先是在电脑前完成了一套类似极限反应速度的专注力测试，随后躺在一台大型检测设备中，仪器环绕其头部旋转了约 15 分钟，最后填写了详尽的个人生活与健康背景问卷。这些全部数据汇集成了即将揭晓的诊断报告。
亚蒙指出，医生绝不能仅仅依据一张脑扫描图就草率下结论，扫描必须与多维度的临床信息相互印证：
- **康纳斯持续操作测验（Conners CPT）**：一项长达 15 分钟的注意力与抑制控制测评。屏幕上出现普通字母时受试者需快速敲击空格键，唯独出现字母“X”时必须克制冲动不予操作。该测试精准量化冲动控制力、反应抑制力与注意持续时间。史蒂文在该项测试中的实际表现良好。
- **临床行为表征与成长史**：史蒂文在日常生活中极易感到无聊厌倦、书写字迹潦草凌乱、组织条理性较差，且在学生时代虽然智力过人却在传统体制化学业中倍感挣扎。这些行为特征与前额叶执行功能缺陷高度吻合。
### [06:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=367s) 解读健康脑扫描：前额叶皮层与小脑的基准线
为了让史蒂文看懂自己的结果，亚蒙先展示了一张正常健康人的 SPECT 扫描图作为对照标杆。亚蒙诊所采用两种模式呈现影像：第一种是脑表面形态图，健康大脑的外观应当是充盈、平滑且左右高度对称的；第二种是脑活动血流热图，颜色代表活跃程度——蓝色代表平均活跃水平，红色代表全脑前 15% 的高代谢区域，而白色则代表最顶尖 8% 的极度活跃核心区，健康大脑内部会有大量对称分布的白色高活跃热区。
在解剖结构上，亚蒙着重剖析了两个决定性脑区：
- **前额叶皮层（Prefrontal Cortex, PFC）**：位于大脑前上方，是人类最关键的高级控制中枢。前额叶皮层在人类大脑中占据了高达 30% 的体积，而黑猩猩大脑中仅占 11%。这一区域犹如大脑的“主管”，负责统筹全局、专注目标、长远规划、冲动管理以及自我监督。
- **小脑（Cerebellum）**：位于后脑下方，不仅协调肢体平衡，更深度参与大脑的整体信息处理速度。
### [07:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=462s) 史蒂文的脑图揭秘：凹凸不平、毒素与足球碰撞的痕迹
当史蒂文的脑扫描投影到屏幕上时，其异常特征立刻显现出来。首先，史蒂文的脑表面并非平滑饱满，而是呈现出明显的凹凸不平（Bumpy）质感。亚蒙立刻警觉地追问其潜在的毒素接触史。毒素的范畴十分广泛，涵盖酒精、大麻、环境霉菌、重金属超标以及慢性感染等。亚蒙分享了自身的经历：他一生滴酒不沾、从不抽烟吸毒，但年轻时初次扫描大脑却同样满目疮痍，排查后才发现是由于体内汞（水银）超标。因此，对于史蒂文不沾恶习却脑表受损的现象，必须进一步排查铅、汞重金属或霉菌居所。
进一步的区域分析揭示了更具体的神经学缺陷：
- **左侧前额叶皮层（Left PFC）活性低下**：这是史蒂文显现 ADHD 核心症状（如组织困难、难以维持枯燥任务的专注度）的生理根源，其前额叶皮层功能呈现出不正常的扁平化钝感。
- **左侧颞叶（Left Temporal Lobe）活性不足**：史蒂文为右利手，左侧颞叶血流不足通常与情绪易激惹、脾气急躁和“导火索过短”（易发怒）直接相关。
- **隐性脑震荡与运动创伤**：当得知史蒂文整个童年时期都在高强度踢足球，并曾多次在赛场上发生严重头部撞击以致被换下场时，亚蒙找到了症结。人类大脑的质地极其柔软脆弱，宛如“软黄油”，而坚硬的颅骨内壁却布满锋利的骨性凸起突起。高速运动中两次或三次看似普通的剧烈冲撞，就足以让大脑在颅骨内反复撞击挫伤，留下终生无法自行消退的器质性微损伤。亚蒙愤慨地批评道：“如果你去看 1000 位精神科医生，主诉自己注意力不集中、脾气火爆，可能只有 2 位医生会真正看一眼你的大脑器官，这简直是荒谬至极。”
### [10:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=634s) “空洞”的真正含义与大脑的可塑性希望
史蒂文指着扫描图上那些看起来像破损空洞的部位提问。亚蒙澄清，这些在影像上显示的“空洞”并不是物理意义上的组织缺损，而是代表脑局部血流灌注与代谢活力显著低于正常标准（低灌注区）。
亚蒙随即给予了积极的康复展望：大脑具备极强的神经重塑能力。诊所的量化预测系统显示，如果史蒂文严格遵循针对性的修复方案，六个月后复查扫描，这些低血流区域就能获得显著改善。相反，如果轻信质疑、视科学干预为无稽之谈并任由现状恶化，五到十年后大脑功能将发生断崖式下跌。在年轻时主动关爱并修复大脑，是确保在 60 岁、70 岁乃至 80 岁依然拥有清晰心智与敏锐决策力的唯一途径。根据当前的扫描全貌，亚蒙给出了阶段性结论：史蒂文大脑的现状主要由过往的“创伤性脑损伤（TBI）”叠加某种外源性“毒素暴露（极有可能是环境霉菌）”共同促成。
### [12:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=721s) 霉菌环境与小脑迟钝：脑扫描揭示的隐秘创伤
Steven 回忆起自己童年时的成长环境，坦言家中极其脏乱，堆积如山的杂物直顶天花板，宛如囤积癖的住所，窗台上常年滋生霉菌，甚至一度老鼠横行。在那样的环境中生活了十六年，他推测自己脑扫描中呈现的毒素反应可能正源于当年的霉菌暴露。Dr. Daniel Amen 严肃地指出，外源性毒素一旦渗入人体，若不通过主动干预将其排出，便会长期滞留在体内并持续侵蚀机能。
随后，Dr. Amen 将目光转向 Steven 的动态脑扫描图，直言成像结果与健康基准相去甚远。健康大脑的小脑区域本应呈现高度活跃的血流状态，而 Steven 的小脑却表现出明显的“昏睡”（sleepy）状态，尽管 Steven 平时的肢体协调能力看似不错。Dr. Amen 强调激活小脑至关重要。更为显著的是，扫描图中浮现出一个特征鲜明的“钻石型图案”（diamond pattern）。
```mermaid
flowchart TD
accTitle: 脑部扫描模式与特征分析
accDescr: 展示 Steven 脑部扫描中发现的菱形图案、昏睡小脑及其对应的生理与心理表征
subgraph ScanPattern["脑扫描关键异常特征"]
Cerebellum["小脑血流减退<br/>(小脑处于昏睡状态)"]
Diamond["出现经典‘钻石型图案’<br/>(高准确度创伤标记)"]
end
subgraph Manifestation["病理与心理投射"]
Trauma["情绪创伤与生理创伤共存<br/>(情绪脑处于高度警戒应激)"]
ADDType["过专注型 ADD<br/>(感兴趣极度沉迷 / 不感兴趣完全失焦)"]
end
ScanPattern --> Manifestation
```
根据 Dr. Amen 对两万名受试者发表的大规模研究，这种钻石图案能以极高精度将情绪创伤（emotional trauma）与生理创伤剥离出来，而 Steven 的大脑兼具两者的痕迹。Dr. Amen 借此指出，过专注型 ADD（Overfocused ADD）患者往往在感兴趣的事物上极度偏执着迷，而在面对毫无兴趣的事务时则根本无法集中注意力。针对小脑活化，Dr. Amen 开出了一道运动处方——球拍类运动（racket sports）。英国的一项跟踪研究显示，相较于位列寿命榜底部的足球运动，从事网球、乒乓球、壁球、羽毛球及匹克球等需要眼手协调与小脑参与的持拍运动，其延年益寿的效果最为显著。
- **小脑功能失衡**：虽然日常协调性尚可，但扫描显示小脑深层血流迟滞，需要特定高协调性运动进行靶向激活。
- **钻石型神经标记**：Dr. Amen 基于 20,000 例脑扫描临床数据库证实，钻石形态与深层情绪创伤存在显著映射关系。
- **长寿与运动类型**：英国大规模研究表明，持拍运动对脑健康与预期寿命的增益位列榜首，而足球等对抗碰撞型项目因脑震荡与缺乏特定小脑微调刺激而垫底。
---
### [15:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=910s) 创伤印记与注意力缺陷：过专注型 ADD 的家庭与童年根源
当 Dr. Amen 询问这一“情绪创伤”唤起了哪些记忆时，Steven 倾吐了深埋心底的童年阴影：父母无休止的争吵与家庭“战乱”，充斥着尖叫与强烈的负面能量，随之而来的是因家庭环境与同龄人格格不入而产生的深刻羞耻感。在搬离家庭前的十六年里，他从未邀请过任何朋友来家里做客，甚至无人知晓他究竟住在哪里。Dr. Amen 分析道，长期置身于充满敌意与高压的家庭环境，会强行重塑儿童的神经回路，迫使情绪脑（emotional brain）演变成一种过度警戒（hyperactive）状态，哪怕日后脱离危险，身体仍会固执地搜寻潜在危机，时刻等待着“下一场灾难”降临。
面对 Steven 关于自己是否患有 ADHD 的追问，Dr. Amen 给出了明确的肯定答复，并顺藤摸瓜探讨家族遗传倾向。ADHD 极少凭空产生，通常遗传自父母一方或双方。Steven 推测遗传源头很可能是自己的母亲——与父亲极其井井有条的作风不同，母亲性情暴躁易怒、字迹潦草凌乱、行事涣散随性，且往往带有寻求冲突的倾向。
谈及求学经历，Steven 分享了一段标志性轶事：二十四五岁时他重返母校演讲，当年的一位老师直截了当地评价他：“你以前是个毫无用处的学生，但你人很善良。”（"You are a useless student, but you are nice."）。学生时代的他因拒交作业和频繁旷课常年被关在惩戒隔离室（exclusion unit），面对枯燥的课堂内容，他完全无法强迫自己坐定听讲。这种“极擅长放弃毫无兴趣之事”的特质贯穿了他的一生，甚至让他在大学开学仅一天后便断然退学。
---
### [18:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1090s) 迟钝的前额叶皮层与创造力：企业家如何扬长避短
针对 Steven 展现出的极端偏科专注力，Dr. Amen 强调了过专注型 ADD 人群的生存法则：“务必选择你发自内心热爱的事业，绝不要仅仅为了赚钱去从事某项工作。”他进一步从脑神经机制剖析了前额叶皮层（prefrontal cortex）的双面效应：过度活跃的前额叶皮层（如 Steven 严谨有序的父亲）意味着高度的规则遵从、追求确定性与秩序感，但伴随而来的往往是创造力的匮乏；相反，略显“昏睡”、活跃度较低的前额叶皮层，虽然带来了专注力维持的挑战，却赋予个体天马行空、打破常规的非凡发散思维。
```mermaid
flowchart LR
accTitle: 前额叶皮层活跃度与认知风格对比
accDescr: 比较高前额叶活跃度与低前额叶活跃度在行为风格、优势及短板上的差异
subgraph HyperFrontal["高度活跃的前额叶 (严谨执行型)"]
A1["遵守规则与秩序"]
A2["偏好可预测性与流程"]
A3["创造力受限"]
end
subgraph HypoFrontal["相对迟钝的前额叶 (发散创新型)"]
B1["不拘泥既定规条"]
B2["极高商业与营销创造力"]
B3["排斥流程与行政细节"]
end
HyperFrontal ---|互补协作| HypoFrontal
```
Steven 对此深有共鸣。他坦承自己在商业上的财富累积完全依赖于天马行空的创意与营销直觉，而涉及财务核算、行政流程和日常运营等琐碎事务时，他则完全无法提起兴致，必须雇佣具备互补技能的专业人士来打理。Dr. Amen 顺势指出，这正是许多收听该节目的商业领袖（CEO）的典型画像——大批优秀企业家都患有不同程度的 ADD，他们成功的关键往往不在于强迫自己全面发展，而在于组建一支能够弥补自身认知脆弱点的执行团队。
- **用人理念的神经科学解释**：人类天生倾向于聘用与自己性格相似的人，但 ADD 领导者必须反本能地聘用“大脑结构不同”的互补型人才，以严密体系兜底创意风险。
- **认知特性的双刃剑**：前额叶功能低下虽然导致规则耐受度极低，但在颠覆性创新与突破常规思维上构成了不可替代的神经生理优势。
---
### [20:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1248s) 大脑的可塑性与破坏大脑的第一大杀手：糖与肥胖
回顾对脑扫描的认知震撼，Steven 感慨过去总认为大脑和指甲一样是生来固定、不可更改的器官，而“大脑并非一成不变，人完全能够主动重塑它”的信念带来了前所未有的掌控感。Dr. Amen 对此予以坚决肯定：“你并不是注定困在当下的这个大脑里。你每天的所作所为，不是在让大脑变得更好，就是在让大脑变得更糟。”
```mermaid
flowchart TD
accTitle: 糖分摄入导致脑萎缩病理机制
accDescr: 展现从高糖摄入到脑血管损伤、血流下降乃至大脑体积与功能萎缩的恶性链条
Sugar["高糖摄入 / 纯果汁脱纤维糖分"]
Spike["持续高血糖状态 (引发全身低度炎症)"]
Vessel["血管内皮受损与弹性硬化"]
Hypoperfusion["脑部供血及血流灌注急剧下降"]
Shrinkage["大脑物理体积萎缩与认知机能衰退"]
Sugar --> Spike --> Vessel --> Hypoperfusion --> Shrinkage
```
当话题切入日常生活中破坏大脑的隐形杀手时，Dr. Amen 分享了一个生动案例：他曾走进女儿 Chloe 二年级（七岁）的教室，在黑板上列举了二十种生活习惯让孩子们辨别益损。孩子们答对了整整十九道，唯独在一项上集体踩雷——他们将“鲜榨橙汁”归为了健康食物。Dr. Amen 痛批将果糖剥离膳食纤维的非理性行为，指出液态果糖在体内代谢时具有极强的代谢毒性。
针对 Steven 关于“糖分如何直接损害大脑”的疑问，Dr. Amen 作出了详尽的病理学阐释：
- **血管侵蚀与血流剥夺**：过量糖分导致持续的高血糖状态，直接腐蚀全身及脑血管内壁，造成进入大脑的有效血流断崖式下跌。
- **强成瘾性与慢性促炎**：精制糖具备类似于毒品的成瘾回路，同时在神经系统内部点燃广泛的慢性低度炎症（pro-inflammatory）。
- **肥胖与脑萎缩的铁律**：目前 72% 的美国人体重超标，42% 处于临床肥胖状态。Dr. Amen 基于三项覆盖 35,000 名受试者的脑成像研究发出警示：“随着体重的上升，你大脑的物理体积与实际功能都在直线下跌。”（"As your weight goes up, the actual physical size and function of your brain goes down."）。正是这项残酷的脑萎缩科学事实，促使曾经微胖的 Dr. Amen 当机立断减掉了 25 磅体重。
### [24:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1457s) 脑血流与咖啡因的隐形代价
谈及大脑健康的杀手，糖分不仅是通往糖尿病和肥胖的敲门砖，更会诱发全身性慢性炎症，直接推高抑郁症和认知障碍症的发生概率。在回顾了史蒂文脑扫描图中显现的头部创伤与特定区域血流不足后，话题转向了日常生活中那些正在无声削弱脑血流量的元凶。阿门博士指出，咖啡因和尼古丁是两种极易被忽视的强效血管收缩剂。当史蒂文难以置信地追问咖啡因对大脑的具体影响时，阿门博士解释道，血管一旦收缩，输送至脑细胞的氧气与养分就会随之锐减，加速大脑的衰老萎缩进程。
针对咖啡因的摄入边界，阿门博士指出，每天控制在 100 毫克左右通常不会对大脑产生明显危害，但现代人的摄入量早已失控——星巴克一杯超大杯（Venti）咖啡的咖啡因含量就高达 330 毫克。尽管目前尚无直接证据表明咖啡因会单独引发认知障碍症，但它通过破坏深度睡眠间接损害大脑，而长期的睡眠障碍正是退行性脑病的核心诱因。要对抗血流退化，必须主动采取改善微循环的手段：
- **促进脑血流的天然食物与香料**：甜菜根（Beets）、牛至（Oregano）、迷迭香（Rosemary）以及肉桂（Cinnamon）。
- **靶向营养补充剂**：银杏叶提取物（Ginkgo Biloba）。在 SPECT 单光子发射计算机断层成像研究中，受试者每日两次摄入 120 毫克银杏叶提取物后，脑血流出现了显著改善；阿门博士本人已连续坚持服用超过 20 年，并称其扫描过的“最健康漂亮的大脑往往都在补充银杏”。
- **进阶物理疗法**：结合定期运动，并针对史蒂文的脑损伤特定状况推荐高压氧治疗（Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy）。
```mermaid
flowchart TD
accTitle: 脑血流影响因素与干预机制
accDescr: 展示降低与提升大脑血流量的因素及其对认知健康和微循环的影响
subgraph RiskFactors ["导致血流下降的诱因"]
A["高咖啡因摄入 (>100mg/天)"]
B["尼古丁 / 吸烟 / 大麻"]
C["久坐不动 / 肥胖超重"]
end
subgraph Impact ["全身血管与认知后果"]
D["全身微循环受阻<br/>(如勃起功能障碍)"]
E["脑部供血不足与脑萎缩"]
F["睡眠障碍 -> 认知退化风险"]
end
subgraph Interventions ["改善脑血流的干预手段"]
G["有氧运动与高压氧疗法"]
H["银杏提取物 (120mg bid)"]
I["扩血管饮食: 甜菜根/肉桂/迷迭香"]
end
RiskFactors --> Impact
Interventions --> E
```
### [26:28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1588s) 全身微循环危机与 BRIGHT MINDS 风险评估
阿门博士借由“BRIGHT MINDS”多维度评估法则中的首字母 **B（Blood Flow，血流）** 进一步指出，人体的血管系统是一荣俱荣、一损俱损的整体网络。临床数据表明，40 岁男性中有 40% 存在勃起功能障碍，而到了 70 岁这一比例飙升至 70%。“如果身体任何一个部位的血流出了问题，就意味着全身的血液循环都亮起了红灯。”久坐不动、过度肥胖、吸烟、过量饮用咖啡以及滥用大麻（大麻会直接降低大脑整体灌注量）都是摧毁血管弹性的幕后推手。
紧随其后的危险因子同样触目惊心：
- **孤独（Loneliness）**：社会孤立会直接加速认知退化，阿门博士毫不留情地评价美国政府在疫情期间实施的硬性隔离政策在保护大脑健康方面“只能被打不及格（F）”。
- **炎症（Inflammation - “I”）**：人群中有高达 93% 的人缺乏 Omega-3 脂肪酸，日常必须通过多吃深海鱼或高品质鱼油来进行弥补。此外，极易被忽视的口腔健康——牙周病（Gum disease）会引发慢性系统性炎症，显著提升抑郁和阿尔茨海默病的风险；阿门博士笑称自己自从读完相关研究后就成了一个“不折不扣的牙线狂人”。
- **头部创伤（Head Trauma）**：他在主导针对退役 NFL 职业橄榄球运动员的大型脑损伤研究中证明，通过系统性干预，80% 受过严重脑震荡的球员大脑功能实现了逆转和改善。
### [29:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1761s) 日常毒素扫描与隐性内分泌干扰
在 BRIGHT MINDS 法则的 **T（Toxins，毒素）** 维度中，除了毒品、酒精、重金属汞以及手术麻醉剂这些显性毒物，潜藏在个人洗护用品中的环境激素更具隐蔽危害。史蒂文谈及自己在浴室中面对漱口水、牙膏、止汗露和须后水时的困惑与担忧。对此，阿门博士推荐使用专门的消费品安全评测软件（如 Think Dirty App），该工具采用 0 到 10 的危险评级体系：0 分代表安全长寿，而 10 分则代表高致病与早亡风险。
博士分享了自己的亲身经历：当他意识到经皮吸收的毒素危害后，彻底清查了家中的洗护用品，花费数百美元淘汰换新，而其妻子清理高危化妆品的花费更是远超于此。例如，阿门博士使用长达 50 年的传统剃须膏 Barbasol 经检测评分高达 9 分（属于重度毒性范畴），随后他果断将其更换为评分为 2 分的安全天然品牌 Kiss My Face。他严正提醒，现代社会中年轻男性睾酮水平暴跌、生殖力普遍衰退的危机，很大程度上正是由于童年及青年时期长期接触洗护产品中的内分泌干扰物所致。
### [30:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1858s) 心理健康机制与对待药物的认知博弈
BRIGHT MINDS 中的 **M 代表心理健康（Mental Health）**，它涵盖了主观思维的质量、长期承受的压力负荷、身体细胞沉淀的创伤，以及未妥善处理的精神心理障碍。阿门博士警示，未经干预的抑郁症会使女性罹患阿尔茨海默病的风险翻倍，而在男性群体中更是会直接翻两番。保护心理健康的核心在于清理脑内自动浮现的消极思维（博士将其形象地称为“消灭脑中的蚂蚁” ANTs - Automatic Negative Thoughts）、充分疏导机体创伤，并针对性地矫正神经发育异常。
面对阿门博士关于史蒂文脑图谱上 ADD（注意力缺陷障碍）特征的诊断与用药建议，两人展开了一场关于“顺应天性还是科学干预”的深度探讨：
```
史蒂文：“我一生中几乎从不吃药，哪怕头疼欲裂也硬扛过去。唯独有一次我踩到玻璃导致脚底发绿溃烂、长出两英寸的紫色肉瘤，为了保住腿才吃了医生开的药。我认为身体具备自愈力。如果我天生字迹潦草、容易丢三落四、不善整理，那就是我本质的一部分，我为什么要靠吃药去改变它？”
```
阿门博士则从临床决策与“知情同意（Informed Consent）”的高度给出了极具穿透力的反驳：
1. **重新定义副作用**：大众在面对 ADD 中枢兴奋剂类药物时，往往只盯着可能出现的食欲下降或失眠等生理副作用；但更关键的第二个问题是——**“不吃药的副作用是什么？”** 未经治疗的 ADD 会伴随长期的无序与功能障碍，在商业决策、财富管理、亲密关系以及心理健康上引发持续的慢性压力与连带挫败。
2. **“未曾残缺，但你是否充分释放了潜能？”** 阿门博士坦言史蒂文绝非一个被缺陷击垮的人，但他犀利地发问：“你目前的状态确实没有坏掉，但你达到极致优化（Optimized）了吗？你是否百分之百地调动了自己大脑的潜能？我的答案是否定的，你完全可以做得更好。”
3. **消除 ADHD 的历史污名与诊断盲区**：博士梳理了诊断学演变——1980 年美国精神医学学会的 DSM 将其定义为“注意力缺陷障碍（ADD，伴有或不伴有多动）”；而 1987 年该组织武断地将名称变更为“注意缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）”。这一改动实质上将半数没有多动倾向的患者排除在外。这部分安静、内敛的非多动型 ADD 患者因为没有给家庭和课堂制造混乱，极易被长期漏诊。
4. **阶梯式渐进干预方案**：药物从来不该是第一或者唯一的选择。患者完全可以先从高强度运动、营养补充剂、雇佣助理补齐执行力短板等非药物策略入手；若追求核心认知聚焦力再提升 10%，亦可采取精准场景化用药——如同博士接诊过的一位作家患者，在天马行空的创作时绝不用药，仅在需要高效处理繁琐行政杂务时才借助小剂量药物来攻克难关。
### [37:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2243s) ADHD：缺陷还是差异？药物对大脑的真实改变
史蒂文·巴特利特（Steven Bartlett）探讨了现代社会对多动症（ADHD）的定义与干预，提出一个疑问：如果我们退回到几百年前没有阅读、书写和电脑的时代，ADHD 究竟算不算一种问题？现在的药物治疗到底是为了“专业优化”，还是真正治疗疾病？丹尼尔·阿门博士（Dr. Daniel Amen）回应道，即便在没有现代技术的文化中，ADHD 的影响也极其深远。他分享了一位来自埃塞俄比亚的患者的经历：在当地文化中，患有严重 ADHD 的人由于经常失信、无法被托付责任，最终会被整个社群排斥与孤立，而这种长期的隔离带来了巨大的耻辱与痛苦，当地人甚至根本不知道这是大脑机能的问题。
关于病因，阿门博士指出 ADHD 具有明确的遗传倾向；如果患者家族中没有任何病史，他就必须排查脑外伤（例如史蒂文踢足球的历史）。在被问及 ADHD 究竟是“缺陷（defect）”还是“差异（difference）”时，阿门博士明确表示这是一种大脑层面的“差异”。
对于 ADHD 药物（如利他林 Ritalin 等）的作用机制，阿门博士解释道，在 SPECT 脑部扫描下，这类药物会显著激活原本活跃度不足的小脑（cerebellum）以及前额叶皮层（prefrontal cortex），为大脑输送更充沛的能量。他回顾了自己在 1991 年接诊的第一例脑扫描病例——一位名叫桑迪（Sandy）的女性。她前一晚刚刚自杀未遂，智商高达 144 却未能完成大学学业。她的典型学习模式是平时完全不学，考前灌下一整壶咖啡熬夜通宵突击。当阿门博士为其进行静息态与专注态的脑扫描对比时发现，普通人在专注时大脑会活跃，而桑迪一试图集中注意力，前额叶皮层反而完全处于“休眠/关闭”状态。
阿门博士把大脑扫描图递给桑迪，向她解释这并非个人过错：
> “患有 ADD 就好比需要戴近视眼镜的人。戴眼镜的人既不笨，也不疯，不是蠢，只是眼球形状长得特殊，我们靠眼镜来对焦。ADD 患者是我所见过的最聪明的人群之一，但他们的额叶会停止运转。吃药就像是给额叶戴上了一副眼镜，帮助你对准焦点。”
这项认知改变了桑迪的一生：她摆脱了因不断激怒丈夫引发剧烈争吵的“冲突驱动”循环，不仅重新修完了大学学业，还成为了一位更优秀的母亲。
---
### [42:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2534s) 消灭思维里的“蚂蚁（ANTs）”：精准思考的五步法
谈及精神健康（Mental Health）维护，史蒂文追问该如何具体消灭那些负面自动思维（Automatic Negative Thoughts，简称 ANTs）。阿门博士强调，这并不是一件难事，但需要像养成肌肉记忆一样持续反复地练习。思维与生理反应之间存在瞬间且直接的生化联动：
```mermaid
flowchart TD
accTitle: 思维对生理状态的双向调节机制
accDescr: 展示消极思维与积极思维如何瞬间释放不同神经化学物质并导致截然相反的身体生理反应
subgraph Negative["消极/愤怒/悲伤思维"]
N_Chem["释放有害神经递质/应激激素"]
N_Phys["双手冰冷冒汗<br/>肌肉僵硬紧绷<br/>呼吸不规律短促"]
N_Chem --> N_Phys
end
subgraph Positive["积极/希望/关爱思维"]
P_Chem["释放积极神经调节物质"]
P_Phys["双手温暖干燥<br/>呼吸节律放缓<br/>心率进入健康波动"]
P_Chem --> P_Phys
end
```
阿门博士特别指出，ADHD 患者的大脑由于多巴胺基础水平低，往往潜意识里更偏好负面思维，因为负面情绪带来的刺激性更强。为了打破这一受害者心态，他借鉴拜伦·凯蒂（Byron Katie）的理念，提出了一套行之有效的认知审讯工具：
1. **如实记录**：感到悲伤、愤怒、焦虑或失控时，立刻写下那一瞬间闪过的念头。
2. **质疑真实性**：追问自己“这是真的吗？这绝对是真的吗？”
3. **审视因果**：思考“持有这个想法时，我有什么感受？我会做出什么行为？它带来了什么结果？”
4. **假设抽离**：“如果我脑海中没有这个念头，我的感受会有何不同？我会如何行动？结果会怎样？”
5. **反向重塑**：将原始念头完全反转。例如把“妻子从不听我说话”反转为“妻子确实在听我说话”，并寻找支持这一相反事实的证据。
阿门博士向来访者提出具体要求：写下最困扰自己的 100 个糟糕念头并逐一过筛，往往做完前 30 个，这些负面执念就会彻底丧失杀伤力。
---
### [45:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2715s) 脑扫描实证与为何不要盲目追求“绝对积极”
反复的思维习惯会实打实地重塑大脑结构。阿门博士在他的著作《每天改变你的大脑》（*Change Your Brain Every Day*）中记录了作者诺艾尔·纳尔逊（Noelle Nelson）的扫描对比实验。在纳尔逊处于感恩与欣赏状态时，她的大脑呈现出饱满健康的灌注形态；而随后一天阿门博士让她配合实验进行自我憎恨与消极思考时，SPECT 扫描清晰显示出她的左侧颞叶、左侧额叶以及小脑血流明显骤降，大面积陷入抑制状态。阿门博士以此解释许多专业运动员为何会陷入“竞技低谷期（athletic slumps）”：源于负面情绪直接瘫痪了掌控协调性的小脑功能。
不过，阿门博士明确声明自己并不提倡毫无根据的“盲目积极思维（positive thinking）”。盲目乐观（如欺骗自己“吃第三块芝士蛋糕完全不伤身体”）往往是危险的；流行病学数据表明，信奉“无忧无虑自然爽（don't worry, be happy）”的人群，往往因为疏忽大意而最早死于意外或本可预防的疾病。他倡导的是**带有积极倾向的精准思考（accurate thinking with a positive spin）**：
- 面对焦虑症患者，治疗目标绝不是将焦虑感彻底清零（0分），而是维持在 **15分**（满分 100 分）。
- 保留微量且适度的焦虑至关重要，它是促使个体采取正确防护行为、认真对待生活的驱动力。
---
### [47:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2846s) 慢性压力与创伤在大脑留下的“钻石形态”
话题延伸到长期压力与童年创伤（Trauma）对脑组织的生理破坏。阿门博士解释道，尤其是像史蒂文童年所经历的那种伴随频繁家庭争吵的慢性持续压力，会导致体内皮质醇（Cortisol）水平居高不下：
- **海马体萎缩**：皮质醇具有神经毒性，会直接抑制并萎缩大脑海马体（Hippocampus）——这是大脑主管记忆转化与学习的核心中枢。史蒂文学生时代的学业挣扎，很大程度上是因为其情绪脑长期忙于应对家庭冲突的恐惧与担忧，导致认知学习功能受抑。
- **生理易感性激增**：长期皮质醇过高还会破坏免疫系统，显著增加严重感染与各类学习障碍的患病风险。
关于精神创伤在神经影像学上的实体印记，阿门博士指出它会在 SPECT 扫描中投射出特征性的**“钻石形态（Diamond Pattern）”**，这是一种情绪回路极度过度活跃的状态：
- 顶端的**前扣带回（Anterior Cingulate Cortex）**处于持续过载状态，破坏了大脑自如转换思维注意力的“换挡功能”；
- 参与情绪调控与过滤的**丘脑（Thalamus）**异常活跃；
- 负责驱动警觉反应与焦虑恐慌的**基底神经节（Basal Ganglia）**与**杏仁核（Amygdala）**过度充血。这种脑内回路的持续高亢，直观印证了受创个体在生理层面上难以平息的神经警报系统。
### [48:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2935s) 创伤疗愈利器：EMDR 眼动脱敏与再加工
Dr. Daniel Amen 解释，担忧、焦虑和悲伤在大脑扫描中通常会呈现出特定的“钻石形态”（diamond pattern）。然而，当患者接受 EMDR（眼动脱敏与再加工，Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing）这种针对创伤的专门心理治疗后，过度活跃的脑区会被显著平复。Dr. Amen 强调，虽然 EMDR 名义上是一种心理疗法，但它却具有直接且立竿见影的“生物学效应”。
其实际操作流程极具针对性：首先让来访者写下人生中经历过的 10 大创伤事件，并从最痛苦的一个开始切入。治疗师在引导来访者调取并重现那段记忆的同时，让其双眼跟随指引来回左右摆动。大脑在此过程中会重新建立神经连接并对创伤进行再加工，最终患者会发现那段回忆不再让自己感到痛苦难耐。该疗法对抢劫、车祸等“单次孤立事件引发的创伤”（single-incident trauma）效果惊人；而对于慢性、长期的创伤，虽然需要耗费更长时间，但同样极为有效。
Dr. Amen 还分享了他与妻子的私人故事：18 年前两人相识时，妻子的不良童年经历评分（ACE score, Adverse Childhood Experiences，满分 10 分，用于衡量成长中经历的负面创伤事件）高达 8 分。被她深深吸引的 Dr. Amen 送出的第一份礼物就是 10 次 EMDR 疗程。他起初也是想观察她是否愿意勇敢面对内心的伤痛；最终妻子坚持接受了长达 2 年的治疗。Dr. Amen 确信，正是因为这段疗愈过程，他们结婚多年来极少发生激烈争执，因为彼此都不会轻易触碰并引爆对方未愈合的情感创伤开关（trigger）。
### [50:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3041s) 重新定义创伤与大脑储备的概念
Steven Bartlett 指出，大众常以为创伤必须是童年遭受虐待等“大写 T 的创伤”（Big-T trauma），但其实成年期发生的单一孤立事件同样也是创伤。Dr. Amen 对此表示完全赞同：任何攻击或破坏个体“生理或情感安全感”的经历都算创伤。例如被公司解雇，或是在至关重要的重大场合出现失误，对许多人而言都是巨大的创伤体验。
当 Steven 询问创伤是否会直接改变脑区活动时，Dr. Amen 引出了一个核心概念——“大脑储备”（Brain Reserve），即：在遭受创伤的那一刻，你带入创伤的那个大脑本身有多健康？
```mermaid
flowchart TD
accTitle: 大脑储备与创伤反应机制
accDescr: 展示影响大脑储备的早期因素以及储备高低如何决定创伤后的不同心理结局。
subgraph Inputs["储备消耗因素 (Depleting Factors)"]
A["母期药物滥用 / 父母冲突与离异"]
B["不良饮食与营养缺乏"]
C["童年忽视与长期慢性压力"]
end
subgraph Engine["大脑基底 (Brain Reserve)"]
D["个体进入创伤时的大脑健康底子"]
end
subgraph Outcomes["创伤后结局 (Trauma Outcomes)"]
E["高储备：创伤后成长 (PTG)"]
F["低储备：创伤后应激 (PTSD)"]
end
Inputs --> Engine
Engine --> Outcomes
```
Dr. Amen 列举了一个强有力的对比案例：两个士兵坐在同一辆坦克里，遭遇完全相同的爆炸冲击波、相同的受力角度与外部环境。其中一人毫发无损地走出来，另一人却终身残疾。造成天壤之别的根本原因，就是他们带入这场创伤前各自具备的“大脑储备”差异：
- **消耗储备的因素**：母亲怀孕期间吸毒、父母在孕期频繁争吵或离异分居、幼年摄入垃圾食品、遭受情感忽视、处于长期慢性压力之下。
- **高储备者的结局**：能实现“创伤后成长”（Post-Traumatic Growth），化磨难为成长的养分，赋予人生更深刻的意义。
- **低储备者的结局**：极易深陷“创伤后应激”（PTSD）与无休止的痛苦折磨中。
### [52:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3172s) 清除负面思维幼虫：“别相信脑子里的所有蠢想法”
Steven 坦言自己热衷于提升大脑储备，因为这能让自己在面对未知打击时处于更有利的境地。Dr. Amen 接话指出，提升储备的关键日常之一就是“消灭脑中的蚂蚁”（Kill the ANTs: Automatic Negative Thoughts，自动化负面想法）。若大脑中常驻一只勤劳的“食蚁兽”随时清理负面杂念，面对风浪时便能从容应对；反之，若任由未经训练的大脑被负面想法爬满寄生，抗压能力将极其脆弱。
遗憾的是，常规学校教育从未教授过如何消灭这些思维寄生虫。为此，Dr. Amen 的“改变你的大脑基金会”（Change Your Brain Foundation）致力于科研、教育与公共服务，并在去年推出了一门名为《Brain Thrive by Five》的公益课程，面向学龄前儿童、幼儿园及小学一年级学生。全套课程共 30 节（每节 6 至 7 分钟），其中有 6 节专门用于教孩子们识别并消灭消极想法。
这套理念让小孩子们深受启发：**“你根本没必要相信自己脑子里蹦出来的每一个愚蠢想法。”** Dr. Amen 引用著名喜剧演员 Jerry Seinfeld 的名言——“大脑是一个鬼鬼祟祟的器官”（The brain is a sneaky organ）。每个人脑海中都会闪过离奇、疯狂、愚蠢、充满色情或暴力的阴暗杂念，这是人类大脑极具创造力的副产物。
- 产生坏想法不代表你认同它，更不代表你就是那样的人。
- 真正带来痛苦的并不是“你脑中产生了什么想法”，而是“你紧抓不放、深信不疑的那些想法”。
### [54:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3286s) 中场赞助与健康补给
- **LinkedIn Jobs**：招聘是企业发展最核心的环节之一，优秀人才决定企业生死。平台提供筛选问题等简易工具，帮助团队在扩大规模时精准、免费且迅速地锁定高素质候选人。
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### [56:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3408s) 15 岁弑亲校园枪手与连环杀手的大脑病理
当 Steven 问及 Dr. Amen 职业生涯中所见过“最不健康的大脑”时，Dr. Amen 毫不犹豫地提及了 15 岁少年 Kip Kinkel 的案例。1998 年，这名来自俄勒冈州斯普林菲尔德的少年因携带枪支到校被捕。父母刚从警察局将其保释回家，在当晚 6 点至次日早晨 8 点之间，他残忍杀害了亲生父母，随后驱车前往 Thurston 高中开枪射击了 25 人。
由于 Dr. Amen 在脑成像领域的声誉，法庭在审判前对 Kip 进行了脑扫描。其扫描影像令 Dr. Amen 大为震惊：
- **极度萎缩**：一个仅 15 岁少年的大脑竟然像严重老化病变一样“皱缩”（shriveled），损伤程度前所未见。
- **潜在病因**：由于其父母遇害，无法获取完整病史，但推测其大脑萎缩源于出生窒息（缺氧）、严重中毒（如重金属铅中毒），或未被发现的中枢神经系统严重感染。在精神疾病的病因排查法则中，“I”（Immunity & Infections，免疫与感染）是极常被大众和医学界忽视的关键诱因。
谈及病态人格（Psychopath）与杀人犯时，Dr. Amen 指出他发表过多篇关于杀人犯大脑的研究：
- **年轻谋杀犯**：前额叶功能极其低下（Low frontal lobe function），无法控制冲动与预判后果。
- **老年谋杀犯**：呈现全脑性的整体低活性（Global low activity）。
- **特例对照**：并非所有谋杀犯大脑都破败不堪。曾有一名遭受丈夫长期家暴虐待后反抗杀夫的女性，其大脑成像相当正常。深入了解其遭遇后会发现，她的行为是应激反应而非由脑器质性障碍驱动的无理性杀戮。
### [58:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3536s) 争议议题：总统候选人是否该强制接受脑扫描？
针对异常大脑的判断力缺陷，Dr. Amen 主动抛出一个极具争议性的公共话题：**总统候选人是否应该在参选前强制公开脑扫描结果？**
Dr. Amen 直言，无论是现任总统乔·拜登（Joe Biden）还是前总统唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump），如果接受脑扫描，两人的大脑大概率都谈不上健康。一方面，人类大脑随着自然衰老普遍呈现功能衰退；另一方面，掌握着国家核按钮最高权限的人，其核心脑区必须具备健全的判断力（Judgment）、预见力（Forethought）以及冲动控制能力（Impulse control）。
早在 2008 年奥巴马与麦凯恩竞选总统期间，Dr. Amen 就曾在媒体上撰文力挺对候选人进行脑部审查。面对如此重大的战略决策职位，选民理应获知其生理器质状态。对此，Steven 扮演了“恶魔代言人”（提出反向质疑）：如果从最高权力的国家元首开始推行脑扫描门槛，这种哲学是否会向下渗透到普通机构、基层职位，最终导致任何普通人去餐馆面试工作时都被迫强制交出大脑扫描图？双方就神经科技的隐私边界与职业门槛展开了引人深思的探讨。
### [01:00:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3620s) 脑扫描“潜规则”：交往四个月必须扫脑
史蒂文·巴特利特提出了一个引人深思的设想：在未来的营销机构或职场中，是否会出现一种“大脑歧视”或“大脑偏见”——雇主在扫描了某人的大脑后直接断言“这家伙在专注力上肯定不行”。阿门博士对此深有感触，并随即透露了自己家里一条不可动摇的硬性家规：“只要跟我孩子约会超过四个月，我就一定会想办法给你做脑部扫描。”阿门博士坦言，扫描结果不理想并不代表直接判死刑，“问题在于你是否有足够的智慧去修复它”。
他举了自己深爱的女婿杰西（Jesse）为例：杰西的母亲患有偏执型精神分裂症，阿门博士便提出为他做扫描。杰西后来写了一本名为《25岁前改变你的大脑》（*Change Your Brain Before 25*）的畅销书，开篇就生动记录了他坐在诊室里的那一幕——杰西身高足有6英尺4英寸（约193公分），而阿门博士只有5英尺6英寸（约168公分），但杰西却表示自己坐在阿门博士面前时“这辈子从未感到如此渺小”。不仅是女婿，就连妻子塔娜（Tana）也不例外，刚交往三周阿门博士就把她带进诊所完成了扫描，“而且她顺利过关了”。史蒂文忍不住开玩笑打趣道：“在发生矛盾冲突时，你难道一次都没拿她的大脑扫描图来反制她吗？我打赌你绝对用过，我这就给塔娜打电话核实！”阿门博士则笑着坚决否认。
```mermaid
flowchart TD
accTitle: 阿门博士家庭扫描与关系评估流程
accDescr: 展示阿门博士如何将脑部扫描与单页奇迹运用于人际交往与家庭管理
subgraph FamilyRule ["家庭关系与脑扫描法则"]
A["约会交往满4个月"] --> B["阿门诊所 SPECT 脑扫描"]
B --> C{"脑部健康状态"}
C -->|"存在遗传风险或缺陷"| D["积极干预与智慧修复\n如女婿 Jesse 著书立说"]
C -->|"健康达标"| E["建立良好关系基础\n如妻子 Tana 3周即通过"]
end
subgraph CommunicationTool ["日常相处原则：单页奇迹"]
F["头脑中出现刻薄想法"] --> G{"是否睡饱且吃好？"}
G -->|"是：理智在线"| H["克制不说：违背核心诉求"]
G -->|"否：自控降低"| I["警惕情绪失控伤害关系"]
end
```
### [01:02:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3741s) 单页奇迹：用清晰目标驯服“懒惰”的大脑
阿门博士表示，自己从不在争吵中翻旧账或攻击伴侣的大脑，因为他长期践行一项与“消灭白蚁”（消灭自动化负面思维 ANT）同样重要的工具——“单页奇迹”（The One-Page Miracle）。他要求每位患者在一张纸上极其具体地写下自己的人生诉求：你在人际关系、工作事业、金钱财富，以及生理、情感和精神健康方面，究竟想要什么？
以婚姻为例，塔娜永远排在阿门博士清单的第一位，他的诉求是“一段友善、关切、充满爱意、相互支持且富有激情的亲密关系”。阿门博士坦白，自己脑子里难免也会冒出尖酸刻薄的念头，但只要睡眠充足、饮食正常，他绝不会把这些话说出口——理由很简单：“因为这根本无法帮我得到我真正想要的关系。”他强调，追求心中所想绝不是自私，享乐主义才是幸福的宿敌，而追求幸福实际上是一种道德义务，因为一个人的情绪状态会深刻波及身边的所有人。优秀的企业都有单页战略规划，明确每季度和年度的目标，然而绝大多数人却从未为自己的人生制定过清晰方案。大脑本身是极其“懒惰”且讲究习惯的，只有明确告知它你要什么，大脑和行为才会做出相应调整。
- **单页奇迹的六大核心维度**：亲密关系、职业发展、财务状况、生理健康、情绪状态、精神追求。
- **神经通路塑造机制**：积极或消极都是大脑建立的神经回路“高速公路”，关注什么就会加固什么回路。
### [01:04:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3856s) 警惕扭曲信息：新闻与睡前“真实犯罪”如何毒害大脑
阿门博士进一步指出，大脑会遵循你为它铺设的轨道运行。他在著作《终结精神疾病》（*The End of Mental Illness*）中做过一个有趣的思维实验：“如果我是一个想要制造全人类精神疾病的邪恶统治者，我会怎么做？”在列出的62条邪恶统治策略中，排在第12条左右的就是“让人们看新闻”。如今的新闻本质上不再是传递事实，而是争夺眼球和兜售商品，而恐惧与负面消息最能吸引注意力。研究显示，早晨以浏览新闻开启一天的人，到了下午感到幸福的概率会下降整整27%。
听到这里，史蒂文笑着招供自己几乎每天睡前都会收听大量的“真实犯罪”（True Crime）和连环杀手播客。阿门博士当即指出了这种行为的隐患，并分享了自己在 Instagram 节目《扫描我的大脑》（*Scan My Brain*）中为著名创作歌手梅根·特雷纳（Meghan Trainor）看诊的经历：梅根饱受严重失眠困扰，一查原因正是因为她每晚入睡前都要听真实犯罪故事。为了改善睡眠和潜意识状态，阿门博士分享了自己坚持了10年的睡前习惯：
- **“今天有哪些顺利的事”（What went well）练习**：躺在床上从清晨开始，按时间逐小时复盘这一天中发生的所有好事。
- **重塑梦境机制**：在睡前筛选积极美好的回忆，能为整夜的大脑活动与梦境设定明朗的基调。
- **人生座右铭**：每天要么赢得胜利，要么学到经验（Every day win or learn）。
### [01:07:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4021s) 免疫与感染：维生素 D 缺乏与“脑部炎症炸弹”
进入“BRIGHT MINDS”记忆法中的字母 **I**，它代表着**免疫（Immunity）与感染（Infections）**。当阿门博士询问史蒂文的维生素 D 水平时，史蒂文表示自己常年规律补充的仅有维生素 D 和 Omega-3 两样，并提到因为自己是黑人，深色皮肤需要更多的日照才能合成维生素 D。史蒂文讲述了家族中一位从日照充沛的非洲移居到终日阴沉的英国的长辈，迁徙后精神健康急剧恶化，最终被怀疑患上了双相情感障碍；他猜测这种长期处于严重缺乏阳光环境下的剧变是重要诱因。阿门博士完全认同这一观点，并强调一旦将心理健康视为大脑健康，补充维生素 D 就成了生死攸关的医疗干预，甚至能让患者减半或不再需要抗精神病药物或情绪稳定剂。
谈到感染时，阿门博士直言新冠病毒（COVID-19）会在大脑内部引爆一颗“炎症炸弹”。他在真人秀节目《卡戴珊家族》中公开为肯豆（Kendall Jenner）做过 SPECT 扫描。染疫之后，肯豆主管情绪的边缘系统仿佛“着了火”一般过度活跃，引发了她此前从未经历过的强烈焦虑；而长新冠（Long COVID）往往表现为情绪脑极度过热、大脑皮层活动却显著降低的危险组合。这种皮层功能的受损，直接对应着抑郁、冲动、易怒、负面厌世乃至自杀念头，且感染过新冠的人群未来患失智症（Dementia）的风险也大幅上升。
### [01:10:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4210s) 抑郁不是原罪：像排查胸痛一样排查大脑病因
针对那些深陷重度临床抑郁、甚至丧失起床能力的群体，史蒂文引述了此前访谈贾达·萍克特·史密斯（Jada Pinkett Smith）的经历——贾达曾透露自己在抑郁最严重时，能艰难熬到下午四点就算赢得了当天的胜利。史蒂文提问，面对这些痛苦万分的人，第一步究竟该从哪里着手？
阿门博士给出的核心答案是：**觉察（Awareness）**。首先要意识到“这或许并不是我糟糕，而是我的大脑生病了”，进而学会爱护大脑并展开医学排查。阿门博士强调，抑郁症在本质上就像“胸痛”一样，它只是一种表象症状而非最终诊断：
- **拒绝盲目开药**：如果有病人因胸痛就医，没有任何合格的医生会在不查明病因的情况下直接给他吃强效镇痛药，抑郁症亦然。
- **系统性身体排查**：整天瘫在沙发上无法动弹的人，其根源很可能是甲状腺功能减退（Hypothyroidism）。
- **潜在器质性病变**：阿门博士的一位女性好友曾突发严重抑郁，深入检查后发现竟是恶性贫血（Pernicious Anemia）所致。精神层面的崩溃，往往是大脑和身体器质性警报的外在投射。
### [01:11:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4291s) 摆脱“大脑损坏”的病理标签：从对症下药到极致表现
丹尼尔·阿门博士（Dr. Daniel Amen）回顾了因维生素B12缺乏引发贫血并导致抑郁的案例，强调绝不能看到患者抑郁就草率开药。“抑郁只是表象（what it is），而不是本质原因（why it is）。”如果不找到根本诱因，任何治疗都无从谈起。这就像许多人求医时抱怨自己患有自身免疫性疾病，身体在无端攻击自己，甚至自暴自弃地认为“我的身体彻底坏掉了”。阿门博士极其反感诸如“损坏的大脑”（broken brain）这类概念；在他眼中，人并不是坏掉了，只是“未被优化”（not optimized）。他不希望任何患者将自己归类为精神病患或残缺之人，而是鼓励他们建立自信：“你本来就很棒，我的任务是帮你在此基础上再提升10%。”
史蒂文·巴特利特（Steven Bartlett）提出，许多深陷抑郁或慢性消极思维泥潭的人，都会觉得自己的大脑在与自己作对。阿门博士指出，大脑出现这种攻击倾向，一方面是因为它本身不够健康，另一方面则是因为缺乏思维训练与自律。他分享了自己此前为NBA迈阿密热火队（Miami Heat）教练组做演讲的经历，提出应当将精神医学的关注点转向“精英表现”（elite performance）模式——不再是用居高临下的姿态去“修复一个病人”，而是协助个体释放大脑潜能、活出最佳状态。
阿门博士直言，当前精神病学过度依赖药物治疗的模式是完全畸形的：医生草率给患者扣上精神疾病的诊断标签，然后开出一辈子都停不掉的处方药。这种模式对制药巨头利润丰厚，但对整个社会却是一场灾难。目前高达25%的美国人正在服用精神类药物，这个数据令人触目惊心。尽管阿门博士并不全盘反对精神药物（如用于治疗ADHD的利他林 Ritalin），但他坚决反对将药物作为首选或唯一的解决方案。
---
### [01:14:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4448s) BRIGHT MINDS 风险法则：神经激素与糖胖症的隐形侵蚀
在阿门博士提出的脑健康风险排查法则“BRIGHT MINDS”中，字母“N”代表神经激素（Neurohormones）。人体内所有激素都会对大脑功能产生深远影响，一旦激素失衡，大脑的运行状态也必然跌落谷底。例如，如果一个人在常人不觉得冷的环境下频繁感到手脚冰凉，就应当优先排查甲状腺功能是否异常。
字母“D”则代表糖胖症（Diabesity），即超重与高血糖的复合状态。阿门博士指出，这是目前11类风险因素中波及面最广的一项，全美有高达72%的人处于超重状态。体重一旦超标，往往会直接触发11项大脑风险因素中的7项：它会导致大脑血流量急剧下降、加速大脑早期衰老、加剧全身性慢性炎症，并在体内不断蓄积毒素，对大脑健康构成全方位打击。
---
### [01:14:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4496s) 睡眠与胶质淋巴系统：大脑夜间的排毒清洗机制
提到“BRIGHT MINDS”中的字母“S”——睡眠（Sleep），史蒂文分享了自己近期的生活变化。他表示自己最近对睡眠数据近乎痴迷，常年佩戴 Whoop 智能手环（他同时也是该公司的投资人和播客赞助商合作者），每天早晨醒来的第一件事就是查看深度睡眠、恢复性睡眠时长以及心率变异性（HRV）指标。阿门博士解释道，科学界直到大约十至十二年前才揭示了睡眠对大脑的真正作用：大脑拥有一个特殊的液体清洁网络——胶质淋巴系统（Glymphatic System）。
```mermaid
flowchart TD
accTitle: 胶质淋巴系统运作机制
accDescr: 对比清醒与睡眠状态下胶质淋巴系统的开启状态与β-淀粉样蛋白清除过程
subgraph Daytime["清醒状态"]
A["神经元高频活动"] --> B["胶质淋巴系统关闭"]
B --> C["β-淀粉样蛋白等代谢废物持续蓄积"]
end
subgraph Nighttime["深度睡眠状态"]
D["胶质淋巴系统全面开放"] --> E["脑脊液冲洗脑组织间隙"]
E --> F["高效清除β-淀粉样蛋白"]
F --> G["降低阿尔茨海默病风险 / 维持大脑洁净"]
end
```
在人清醒时，胶质淋巴系统基本处于关闭状态；只有进入睡眠后，脑脊液循环通道才会彻底打开，像清洗机一样冲刷脑组织间隙。阿门博士坦言，自己年轻时也曾误以为每晚只睡4个小时是过人天赋，后来才意识到这无异于整天顶着一个“充满垃圾与毒素的脏大脑”到处跑。睡眠冲刷的核心代谢废物之一正是β-淀粉样蛋白（beta-amyloid），这种异常蛋白团块的日积月累，正是导致阿尔茨海默病（老年痴呆症）的关键病理诱因。若长期剥夺充足睡眠，脑内有毒蛋白质便无法被及时冲刷，后患无穷。
---
### [01:16:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4586s) 睡眠呼吸暂停的致命缺氧与“15秒呼吸法”
阿门博士进一步警告，睡眠呼吸暂停（Sleep Apnea）会将罹患阿尔茨海默病的风险推高整整三倍。在多年的脑部SPECT成像扫描研究中，阿门博士发现睡眠呼吸暂停患者的大脑呈现出一种极为特征性的病变图像——双侧顶叶（顶叶后上方区域）血流显著衰退，其形态几乎与早期阿尔茨海默病患者如出一辙。睡眠呼吸暂停的核心特征包括严重大声打鼾、夜间睡眠中频繁停止呼吸、以及次日不可缓解的慢性疲劳。独居人群往往很难察觉自身病情，因为根本没有同床伴侣被鼾声吵醒来提醒他们。
许多确诊患者由于抗拒在夜间佩戴笨重的正压呼吸机面罩而拒绝治疗，阿门博士对此态度严厉：“剥夺大脑的氧气供应，是对大脑最残忍的摧残，无论如何都必须进行干预。”
针对呼吸与供氧的重要性，阿门博士介绍了一个用于日常改善脑健康与平复神经系统的微习惯——“15秒呼吸法”：
- **吸气**：持续8秒慢吸；
- **屏息**：屏住呼吸1.5秒；
- **呼气**：缓慢呼气4秒；
- **屏息**：再次屏息1.5秒。
连续重复4到8次该呼吸循环，可以快速平息交感神经兴奋，甚至直接打断惊恐发作（panic attack）；若长期坚持，还能显著提升心率变异性（HRV）。
---
### [01:18:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4695s) 心率变异性（HRV）的奥秘与酒精的神经毒性真相
史蒂文谈到，他和身边的朋友（包括此前聊到的朋友 Ash）每天早晨都会在群聊中互发智能设备测得的 HRV 截图暗自较劲，并询问 HRV 的生理本质及提升策略。阿门博士解释说，心率变异性是指心脏每次跳动之间微小时间间隔的波动变化。很多人直觉上认为心跳应该像节拍器一样绝对均匀，实则不然。心跳间隔波动越大，说明自主神经系统调节能力越强、心血管越健康。
阿门博士用接生婴儿的医学场景做比喻：胎儿在分娩过程中头上会连接头皮电极监测 HRV，当婴儿心率变异性极大、数值跳跃时，证明心功能强健；而一旦心跳曲线变得极其平缓单调（例如固定在每分钟70次），医生就必须立刻紧急实施剖宫产，因为这代表胎儿已处于极度窘迫的危险状态。在成人中，HRV 过低与焦虑症、抑郁症、心血管疾病甚至过早死亡密切相关。通过冥想、呼吸训练、适度锻炼、规律睡眠以及扫除消极思维（ANTs），可以有效拉高 HRV。
```
HRV 影响因素对照：
• 正向促进因素：正念冥想、深呼吸训练、规律运动、优质睡眠卫生
• 负向抑制因素：消极自动化思维（ANTs）、慢性压力、睡眠不足、病毒感染、饮酒
```
这一指标也促成了史蒂文彻底戒酒的决心。史蒂文坦言，大约一个半月前他彻底戒掉了酒精。过去佩戴 Whoop 时，哪怕前一天只喝了一到三杯红酒，次日早晨手环上的 HRV 就会呈现出刺眼的“报警红色”，数值从巅峰状态的140-150毫秒骤降至30-40毫秒。这一暴跌幅度，与他患上重感冒、感染新冠（COVID）或经历了极度缺觉与高压的状态毫无二致。意识到酒精对心脏和自主神经系统造成的损伤等同于一场急性疾病后，史蒂文毅然决定戒酒。
阿门博士对此极度赞赏，直言“酒精一直在对人类撒谎”。哪怕只是少量饮酒，也会在脑内造成实质性损伤。酒精会破坏大脑的白质（White Matter）——如果说大脑皮层的灰质是神经细胞聚集的“处理中心”，那么白质就是由神经纤维构成的“信息高速公路”，负责在不同脑区之间高速传递电冲动和信号。哪怕是微量酒精摄入，也已被证实会干扰和损伤这些大脑网络高速通路，损害整体脑功能。
### [01:22:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4928s) 酒精对大脑的潜在损害与“社交小酌”的迷思
Steven 提到许多人并非酗酒者，对酒精的态度往往处于“骑墙”状态：他们只是在周五晚餐时顺应社交惯例喝上一两杯，生活中并未出现酒精引发的明显危机。Steven 分享了自己身边一位酗酒朋友的故事——那位朋友曾因酒精严重破坏生活而下决心戒酒，目前正在写一本关于酒精与酗酒的书。Steven 当时坦言自己不会去读那本书，因为普通饮酒者根本不会觉得自己“有酒瘾问题”；大众真正需要的是面向“社交型轻度饮酒者”的硬核科学表现证据，去证明即便只是偶尔小酌，也会对大脑和机能产生负面影响。
Amen 医生对此深有共鸣。他曾在社交媒体上发布一条热门动态，直言“我早就警告过你们”：美国癌症协会（American Cancer Society）已明确指出，摄入任何剂量的酒精都会增加罹患七种不同癌症的风险。通过长达 30 年的脑成像扫描研究，Amen 医生发现，只要摄入酒精，大脑活动水平就会明显低于滴酒不沾的人；而严重酗酒者的大脑扫描图更是千疮百孔、惨不忍睹。
- **癌症风险**：美国癌症协会证实，任何剂量的酒精摄入都会提升 7 种癌症的发病率。
- **脑功能差异**：SPECT 脑成像显示，即使是少量摄入酒精，大脑皮层的整体活跃度也会出现可测量的下滑。
---
### [01:24:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5060s) 社交劝酒文化的压力与生理替代方案
Amen 医生提醒大家回到生活目标本身思考酒精的位置：无论追求的是亲密关系、事业、财富，还是身心与精神健康，酒精都无法提供真正的助益。很多人声称喝酒是为了“放松”，但 Amen 医生指出，一次简单的 15 秒深呼吸练习就能在毫无副作用的前提下促进放松并提高心率变异性（Heart Rate Variability, HRV）；相反，酒精会直接降低心率变异性并损害脑功能，进而削弱个体的决策能力。作为精神科医生，Amen 门诊中 30% 到 40% 的患者最初就诊都是由酒精相关的间接问题引发的，比如夫妻争吵或亲子矛盾。
Steven 接着分享了自己在戒酒一周后的真实经历：他和著名 DJ 音乐人 Skrillex（Sonny）外出就餐，服务员递上酒单时，Steven 礼貌拒绝并表示自己不喝酒。然而服务员却直接拿来一瓶酒放在他身旁，声称“这不是酒，这是艺术品，放在这里以防你待会儿改变主意”。尽管 Skrillex 也在一旁帮着解释两人都不饮酒，服务员依然纠缠不休。Steven 由此切身体会到当代社会对戒酒者的敌意与劝酒文化的荒谬——仿佛人际社交必须由酒精作为燃料，一旦拒绝就会被视为异类。Amen 医生将其形象地归纳为“邪恶统治者社会的推销者策略”（Food, Drug, and Alcohol Pushers），直言面对这种强行推销的人，最有效的反问就是：“既然我明确不想喝，你为什么非要逼我喝？你心里到底有什么问题？”
---
### [01:26:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5195s) 餐馆的面包与酒精套路：前额叶功能如何被瓦解
Amen 医生揭示了餐饮商业背后的神经科学心理学策略：走进餐厅后，服务员通常最先递上餐前面包并推销酒精饮品，这两者都经过了精心设计，核心目的是抑制顾客的前额叶功能（Frontal Lobes），从而让人做出冲动决策、点更多菜并消费更多金钱。
```mermaid
flowchart TD
accTitle: 餐厅诱导消费的神经科学机制
accDescr: 展示餐前面包与酒精如何削弱前额叶功能从而导致冲动消费的流程
subgraph Intake ["生理摄入"]
A["餐前面包 (碳水化合物)"]
B["佐餐饮酒 (酒精)"]
end
subgraph BrainResponse ["神经反应"]
C["血糖飙升，血清素 (Serotonin) 释放"]
D["大脑前额叶活性显著降低"]
end
subgraph Outcome ["行为结果"]
E["自控力下降与冲动性增加"]
F["消费增加：点更多高价菜品"]
end
A --> C
C --> D
B --> D
D --> E
E --> F
```
面包属于快碳水化合物，会导致血糖快速飙升，促使大脑分泌大量血清素让人感到愉悦放松，但血清素的急剧上升会同步压低前额叶的抑制功能（如同抗抑郁药 SSRI 的潜在副作用一样，会让人变得略微冲动）；酒精同样会直接麻痹前额叶。两者叠加，顾客便会在不知不觉中掏空钱包。
面对 Steven 提出的假设——“如果两个人生活习惯完全一致，其中一人未来 10 年每周只喝 2 到 3 杯酒，另一人滴酒不沾，10 年后两人的大脑会有区别吗？”——Amen 医生给出了斩钉截铁的肯定回答：
- **血流与结构**：每周喝 2 到 3 次酒的人，脑血流量会明显减少，大脑组织会呈现更萎缩的状态。
- **行为决策**：轻微的脑损伤会削弱其冲动控制力，而在维系婚姻、养育子女或管理企业等长周期复杂任务中，微小的决策质量下滑就足以累积成灾难性的后果。
---
### [01:28:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5316s) 大脑是最大的性器官：改善性欲与应对“习惯性否定型”伴侣
当话题转向性生活与性欲衰退时，Amen 医生强调，很多夫妻因性冷淡或勃起功能障碍求医，其根源往往不在生殖器而在大脑，核心在于**血流供应**。大脑是人体最大、最关键的性器官，“如果没有深谋远虑（Forethought），就不会有真正完美的前戏（Foreplay）”。除了排查激素水平和既往心理创伤外，调理大脑血流与神经递质是改善性生活的根本。
针对伴侣难以进入状态的问题，Amen 医生指出这取决于对方的大脑结构特征。如果伴侣的前扣带回（Anterior Cingulate Gyrus）过度活跃，他们会表现出一种“自动化否定”（The Automatic No）的思维定式——无论你说什么，他们本能的第一反应永远是反对或抬杠。面对这类人群，直接生硬地询问“要不要温存一下”必然会遭到“不要”的无情回绝。曾有一位听众向 Amen 医生反馈，在意识到妻子的前扣带回过度运转后，他将日常沟通全面改换为逆向思维（例如“我打算去趟超市，你肯定不想去吧？”，妻子反而会立刻争辩说“谁说我不想去，我当然要去！”），但在求欢时这种激将法显然显得非常别扭。
为此，Amen 医生开出了一套旨在提升伴侣脑内血清素与兴奋度的神经调理“约会方案”：
1. **意面晚餐**：虽然 Amen 医生平日不倡导高碳水面食，但适度摄入意面能有效推高血清素水平，让过度紧绷的神经放松下来。
2. **湖边散步**：餐后温和的步行运动能够进一步平稳促进血清素的自然合成。
3. **高品质黑巧克力**：适量享用黑巧克力，其中的苯乙胺（PEA, Phenylethylamine）能向大脑发出信号，提示美妙有趣的事情即将来临。
4. **气味线索**：最后配合带有婴儿爽身粉香气的细致氛围铺垫，逐步引导伴侣卸下心理防线，顺利进入亲密状态。
### [01:32:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5521s) 荷尔蒙周期与男女大脑的巨大差异
在探讨亲密关系与欲望时，Daniel Amen 博士分享了一些出人意料的科学现象。他指出，婴儿爽身粉（baby powder）在科学上被证明是女性的一种天然催情剂。这是因为在潜意识层面，女性会将爽身粉的气味与婴儿联系在一起，从而唤醒深层的繁衍本能。在伴侣互动上，他的建议非常具体：“帮她揉揉背，并且不要直接索取任何回报。”此外，理解女性的月经周期也至关重要：从月经周期的第 4 天到大约第 18 天（排卵前后的两周内），往往是亲密关系的最佳窗口期；而到了周期的最后一周（即经期前一周），特别是某些特定脑型的女性，前额叶与边缘系统受激素波动影响，往往会表现得更加烦躁易怒。
当 Steven Bartlett 询问男女大脑是否存在显著差异时，Amen 博士直截了当地回答：“差异极其悬殊（Wildly different）。”他批评现在某些所谓的“医疗表格上不能标注性别”的倾向简直是愚蠢至极，因为雌激素（estrogen）和睾酮（testosterone）对大脑功能的塑造具有决定性作用。基于对 46,000 例脑部扫描的研究，Amen 博士总结出男女大脑的鲜明分野：
```mermaid
flowchart TD
accTitle: 男女大脑结构与行为表现差异
accDescr: 呈现男性与女性在大脑结构、血流量以及行为表现上的核心对比
subgraph Female["女性大脑特征"]
F1["前额叶血流量更高<br/>更强冲动控制与沟通力"]
F2["边缘系统更活跃<br/>共情、育儿与筑巢本能"]
F_Risk["情绪更敏锐<br/>抑郁发生率高出男性 2 倍"]
F1 --> F_Risk
F2 --> F_Risk
end
subgraph Male["男性大脑特征"]
M1["前额叶冲动抑制相对较弱"]
M2["易陷入成瘾与反社会行为"]
M_Risk["入狱率高出女性 14 倍<br/>自杀致死率高出 3-4 倍"]
M1 --> M_Risk
M2 --> M_Risk
end
```
- **领导力与犯罪率**：女性前额叶血流量显著高于男性，这赋予了她们更强的冲动控制能力、协作精神和沟通表达能力，使她们具备极佳的领导特质。直观的数据是：男性的入狱率是女性的 14 倍，赌博、酒精、药物成瘾以及注意力缺陷障碍（ADD）的发生率也是女性的数倍。
- **情感中枢与筑巢本能**：女性大脑的边缘系统（limbic system，负责情绪处理）比男性活跃得多，这也解释了为何女性承担了绝大部分抚育职责，并拥有强烈的“筑巢本能”。Amen 博士回忆自己担任 7 年陆军精神科医生的经历，每次官兵搬家，他都告诫士兵必须留在家中帮妻子整理布置新家，因为失去或重置“巢穴”给女性带来的心理压力远大于男性。
- **心理求助与自杀悖论**：女性患抑郁症的几率是男性的 2 倍，且自杀未遂的发生率是男性的 3 至 4 倍；但男性最终因自杀身亡的概率反而是女性的 3 至 4 倍。究其原因，女性更愿意承认脆弱并主动寻求外部援助，而男性往往受限于“大男子主义（macho thing）”，不愿呼救，且采取的手段往往更加极端和暴力。
---
### [01:35:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5725s) 桑拿、运动与冷水浸泡对大脑的激活
谈及日常的大脑抗衰与维护手段，Amen 博士高度推崇桑拿（Sauna）与规律运动。北欧多项大型队列研究表明，经常蒸桑拿的人群患阿尔茨海默病（Alzheimer's disease）的风险显著降低。除了提升心血管机能，桑拿发汗还是机体排出汞（mercury）等重金属毒素最高效的途径之一。
关于运动，Amen 博士总结了一句通俗有力的准则：“要想保持年轻，走路就要像赶时间一样快（Walk like you're late）。”步行速度直接折射出神经系统与整体机能的健康水平：
- 如果一个人到了 80 岁，步行速度依然能达到每小时 3 英里，那么他活到 90 岁的概率高达 90%；
- 反之，如果 80 岁时每小时只能蹒跚走 1 英里，那么他有 90% 的概率活不到 90 岁。
- 运动能全面促进大脑血液灌注，刺激脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）的分泌，并直接拉升血清素和多巴胺水平。
针对近年来流行的冷水浸泡（Cold plunge），Amen 博士指出冷水刺激确实能大幅激增多巴胺释放，对抗慢性炎症、缓解慢性疼痛以及改善抑郁心境；但他也明确提醒：**心脏病及心血管基础疾病患者绝对严禁尝试冷水浸泡**。
---
### [01:36:54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5814s) 肥胖如何萎缩大脑与被操纵的食品工业
当话题转向体重与大脑的关系时，Amen 博士的语气变得格外凝重。他直言在自己写《脑战士之道》（*The Brain Warrior's Way*）时就强调：每个人都在为自己大脑的生存而战，因为现代商业社会到处都在强行喂食会杀死大脑的劣质食物。脑成像扫描揭示了一个令人胆寒的生理现实：**随着体重的增加，大脑的物理体积与整体功能同步萎缩（As your weight goes up, the size and function of your brain goes down）**。
肥胖对大脑与身体的摧毁是全方位的：
1. **血管与毒素**：肥胖导致脑血流量断崖式下跌，引发全身慢性低度炎症，且脂肪组织会大量储存脂溶性毒素。
2. **激素恶性转化**：脂肪细胞中的芳香化酶会掠夺体内健康的睾酮，将其转化为致癌性的劣质雌激素形式。
3. **商业操纵与卡路里陷阱**：Amen 博士愤怒地揭露了快餐连锁巨头（如 Carl's Jr.）的广告营销黑幕——他们重金聘请 Charlotte McKinney、Katherine Webb 等超模在镜头前大嚼双层芝士汉堡，潜意识里诱导观众以为“吃汉堡就能获得超模的青睐”；而事实上，拍摄现场常备呕吐桶（spit buckets），模特每咬一口镜头一关就会立刻吐掉。针对流行学说宣称的“卡路里无需计算”，Amen 博士斥之为“纯粹的鬼话（complete crap）”。食物质量固然重要，但 Cheesecake Factory 那种怪兽级的分量正在摧毁大众的摄入控制。这一危机的源头可追溯至 20 世纪 60 年代糖业集团收买科学家、将心脑血管疾病的罪责全部甩锅给脂肪，最终导致 80 年代掀起全美“低脂高糖”的饮食狂潮，彻底酿成了席卷全球的肥胖流行病。
---
### [01:40:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=6000s) 屏幕成瘾、多巴胺耗竭与幸福感的生命弧线
Steven 接着提出了关于当代年轻人屏幕使用时间的严重隐忧：如今整整一代人每天盯着手机或社交媒体长达 11 个小时，大脑究竟在经历什么？Amen 博士给出的答案极其沉痛：**屏幕时间正在实质性地萎缩大脑，并彻底磨损大脑的快感中枢（pleasure centers）**。
大脑中的伏隔核（nucleus accumbens）负责响应多巴胺，它是人类动力、追求与愉悦感的发源地。手机的每一次震动通知、社交媒体上的每一次划屏与点赞，都会给大脑注射微剂量的多巴胺。日积月累，神经受体被过度刺激直至脱敏衰竭（thrill them to death）。
- **名人的空虚感**：Amen 博士曾为 Justin Bieber 和 Miley Cyrus 等诸多顶级巨星进行过脑诊疗。这些拥有全球声誉的人却深陷严重的抑郁与自我否定之中，核心原因就是他们的快感中枢因长期承受高强度的外界关注与刺激而彻底耗竭。
- **3.5 小时警戒线**：研究表明，每日屏幕使用时间仅需超过 3.5 小时，个体患上焦虑症、抑郁症、成瘾症、肥胖和 ADHD 的风险就会呈指数级攀升。
- **青少年心理健康危机**：特别是年轻女孩群体中飙升的抑郁与自杀率，直接归咎于社交媒体算法所释放的“比较恶龙（comparison dragon）”——在耗尽神经快感的同时，年轻人被迫日复一日地观看他人滤镜下的完美生活，从而陷入深度的自我厌恶。
在节目的尾声，Steven 提出了一个耐人寻味的悖论：神经科学家 Tali Sharot 等人发现人类一生的幸福感呈“U 型曲线”——童年快乐，中年陷入低谷，而步入老年后幸福感反而再度回升。既然大脑在随着年龄的增长而自然萎缩退化，为何老年人反而会感到更加幸福？
Amen 博士对此回应道：这与心理预期的转变密切相关。步入 65 至 70 岁之后，绝大多数人卸下了事业与繁衍的重担，不再为了向世界证明自己而苦苦挣扎（"less striving"），生活中的硬仗基本打完，心灵反而回归平静；不过他也补充指出，老年期的神经退行性病变同样会导致部分群体的临床抑郁症发病率显著上升。
### [01:43:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=6205s) 幸福是一种习惯：微小的仪式感与日程化改变
Steven Bartlett 与 Daniel Amen 博士接着探讨了年龄与幸福感之间的微妙关联。针对人到老年可能更知足的观点，两人指出事情往往具有两面性：老年人固然可能少去了中年时期必须不断争取成就的重压，但随着年龄增长，认知衰退或失智症（Dementia）的风险攀升，社交联结也可能逐渐变窄；如果无法满意当下的生活状态，抑郁风险同样会随之上升。
谈及幸福的本质，Amen 博士分享了自己撰写关于幸福的书籍时的心路历程。对他而言，写一本书大约需要耗时六到九个月，这正是让自己全神贯注沉浸于某一重要课题的契机。他强调，正如消极思维会沦为一种坏习惯一样，“幸福本质上也是一种可以养成的习惯”（happiness is also a habit）。要主动喂养这种习惯，可以通过每天简单的心理练习来实现：比如每晚入睡前问自己一句“今天有什么顺利的事？”，或者在白天的日常琐碎中主动捕捉“微小的幸福瞬间”（micro moments of happiness），提前预想“今天会发生的哪怕最小的一件让我开心的事是什么”。只要持续关注并喂养积极的感知，整个人的幸福度就会显著提升。
听到这里，Steven 深有感触地总结了自己的核心收获。他意识到自己虽掌握了海量的脑健康与心理知识，但真正落地的关键在于做减法：挑选出几项最核心的习惯，直接将它们白纸黑字地录入到日程表（calendar）中。对于生活节奏极度忙碌的人而言，任何没有被安排进日程的事情，大概率都不会真正发生。
- **Steven 计划落地的具体日常实践**：
- 将呼吸训练（Breath work）与睡前感恩回顾练习安排进固定日程；
- 维持已彻底戒酒的良好成果；
- 减少咖啡因摄入量并保证充足的日常饮水；
- 严格守护睡眠质量，将其固化为不可动摇的每日例行公事（routine）。
```mermaid
flowchart TD
accTitle: 积极习惯固化流程
accDescr: 展示从认知练习到将习惯填入日程表的转化路径
subgraph Mindset["认知层面的习惯重塑"]
A["打破消极惯性思维"] --> B["睡前自问：今天有什么好事？"]
B --> C["白天捕捉：微小的幸福瞬间"]
end
subgraph Execution["行动层面的日程落地"]
D["筛选极简核心习惯"] --> E["写入日程表 Schedule"]
E --> F["呼吸训练 / 感恩打卡"]
E --> G["保水减咖 / 戒酒护眠"]
end
Mindset --> Execution
```
---
### [01:45:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=6321s) 前一位嘉宾的提问：“幸福是一项道德责任”
依照《The Diary Of A CEO》节目的经典传统，上一位做客的嘉宾在不知晓后继者身份的情况下留下了一个问题。Steven 念出了这道契合度极高的提问：“在过去这十年里，你在哪件事情上彻底改变了原本的看法？”
Amen 博士不假思索地提到了一段深具颠覆性的思想碰撞——这个观点源自 Dennis Prager 的短视频作品《Why Be Happy》：**“幸福是一项道德责任”（Happiness is a moral obligation）**。
博士坦言自己出身于罗马天主教家庭，不论是成长环境还是天主教学校的教育，都从未向他传递过这种视角。尽管他依然感恩宗教信仰与早年教育赋予他的价值观，但不可否认的是，那种传统氛围充斥着“你应该如何”（should）的戒律和道德羞耻感（shaming），而非激发内在升华（elevation）。在过去，人们往往将悲伤或不满看作纯粹的私事；然而如今他深刻领悟到：**一个人的情绪状态无时无刻不在辐射和感染着周遭的每一个人**。当一个人陷于不快与怨怼之中时，伤害的不仅是自己，更波及到所有产生交集的人。因此，“修葺自己、让自己变得快乐与健康，绝非自私，而是你能为他人做出的最深情、最充满爱意的事情”。
---
### [01:47:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=6434s) 倾斜生命的轨迹：致谢与代际影响
访谈临近尾声，Steven 向 Daniel Amen 博士表达了由衷的敬意与谢忱。Steven 谈到，在亲自目睹了自己的大脑 SPECT 扫描图像后，内心的感知发生了根本性的转变——以前看不见大脑的存在，而现在它就像自己深爱的宠物犬 Pablo 一样具象，让人油然而生一种悉心照拂与保护它的重大责任感。更重要的是，Amen 博士让他真真切切地相信：大脑不仅能被看见，而且每个人都有能力主动去改变它、优化它。
Steven 动情地回顾了 Amen 博士多年来在全网收获的数以万计的真实感谢，并提到了两人在上一次对话中曾聊起的家庭与父子话题。他直言，许多人在成长中可能终其一生都未能从父母口中听到梦寐以求的赞许，但他由衷希望博士能够清晰地知道，所有被他倾注过心血、爱与精力的患者，以及千千万万通过节目受到启发的观众，都为他感到无比骄傲。
Steven 强调，Amen 博士所做的工作其影响力早已超越了个体本身：
> “如果你能把一个人的大脑推向更好的方向，你不仅是改变了这一个大脑，你更是把未来世世代代的大脑都推向了更优的轨道；而这本身就足以将整个社会倾斜向一个更美好的方向。”
Steven 坦言，自己的生命轨迹也正是因为 Amen 博士而向着更明亮的方向前行。在一片真挚、温暖且充满力量的感激声中，这场关于大脑健康、心智觉醒与代际重塑的深度对话圆满落幕。
## Notable quotes
> [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=0s) 这对你来说可能很难接受——你患有 ADHD（注意缺陷与多动障碍）。 — 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）
> [07:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=462s) 如果你去看 1000 位精神科医生，主诉自己注意力不集中、脾气火爆，可能只有 2 位医生会真正看一眼你的大脑器官，这简直是荒谬至极。 — 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）
> [15:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=910s) You are a useless student, but you are nice. — 史蒂文的老师
> [18:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1090s) 务必选择你发自内心热爱的事业，绝不要仅仅为了赚钱去从事某项工作。 — 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）
> [20:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1248s) 你并不是注定困在当下的这个大脑里。你每天的所作所为，不是在让大脑变得更好，就是在让大脑变得更糟。 — 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）
> [20:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=1248s) As your weight goes up, the actual physical size and function of your brain goes down. — 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）
> [37:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=2243s) 患有 ADD 就好比需要戴近视眼镜的人。戴眼镜的人既不笨，也不疯，不是蠢，只是眼球形状长得特殊，我们靠眼镜来对焦。ADD 患者是我所见过的最聪明的人群之一，但他们的额叶会停止运转。吃药就像是给额叶戴上了一副眼镜，帮助你对准焦点。 — 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）
> [52:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3172s) The brain is a sneaky organ — 杰里·宋飞（Jerry Seinfeld）
> [01:00:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=3620s) 只要跟我孩子约会超过四个月，我就一定会想办法给你做脑部扫描。 — 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）
> [01:11:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=4291s) 抑郁只是表象（what it is），而不是本质原因（why it is）。 — 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）
> [01:35:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=5725s) Walk like you're late — 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）
> [01:45:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=6321s) Happiness is a moral obligation — 丹尼斯·普拉格（Dennis Prager）
> [01:47:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU&t=6434s) 如果你能把一个人的大脑推向更好的方向，你不仅是改变了这一个大脑，你更是把未来世世代代的大脑都推向了更优的轨道；而这本身就足以将整个社会倾斜向一个更美好的方向。 — 史蒂文·巴特利特（Steven Bartlett）
## Mentioned
Dr. Daniel Amen, Steven Bartlett, Justin Bieber, Muhammad Ali, Miley Cyrus, Conners CPT, SPECT 脑扫描, Amen Clinics, Think Dirty App, Barbasol, Kiss My Face, 利他林 (Ritalin), Byron Katie, 《Change Your Brain Every Day》, Noelle Nelson, EMDR (眼动脱敏与再加工), Kip Kinkel, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Tana Amen, Jesse, 《Change Your Brain Before 25》, 《The End of Mental Illness》, Meghan Trainor, Kendall Jenner, Jada Pinkett Smith, Miami Heat, Whoop, Skrillex, 《The Brain Warrior's Way》, Carl's Jr., Cheesecake Factory, Tali Sharot, Dennis Prager, LinkedIn Jobs, Huel Daily Greens
## Video description
If you enjoyed this video, I recommend you check out my first conversation with Dr Daniel Amen, which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMwAN30FJAQ
0:00 Intro
02:15 Why Should People Stick Around For This Conversation?
04:09 Stevens Brain Scan
20:48 What Makes The Brain Worse?
28:01 The Effects Of Loneliness On The Brain
29:29 Toxic Products & Fertility Problems
30:58 What Bad Mental Health Does To The Brain
32:30 The Side Effects Of Medication
38:59 What ADHD Medication Actually Does To The Brain
42:14 How To Get Rid Of Negative Thoughts
47:26 What Stress Does To The Brain
56:49 The Unhealthiest Brain You’ve Ever Seen
01:02:21 How To Take Charge Of Your Brain & Thinking
01:07:01 Why You Should Be Taking Vitamin D Supplements
01:10:10 How To Help People With Depression
01:14:56 What Does Sleep Really Do To Our Brains
01:20:28 The Effects Of Alcohol On The Brain
01:28:36 How To Use Your Brain For Better Sex
01:32:48 The Differences Between Male & Female Brains
01:35:25 The Benefits Of Saunas, Exercise & Cold Plunges
01:36:54 Being Fat Shrinks Your Brain
01:40:00 What Social Media Is Really Doing To Your Brain
01:42:16 How Optimise Your Brain To Stay Happy
01:45:21 The Last Guest’s Question
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[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycTZ_t-aiuU)
Source quotes
[0:00] 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）: 这对你来说可能很难接受——你患有 ADHD（注意缺陷与多动障碍）。
[7:42] 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）: 如果你去看 1000 位精神科医生，主诉自己注意力不集中、脾气火爆，可能只有 2 位医生会真正看一眼你的大脑器官，这简直是荒谬至极。
[15:10] 史蒂文的老师: You are a useless student, but you are nice.
[18:10] 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）: 务必选择你发自内心热爱的事业，绝不要仅仅为了赚钱去从事某项工作。
[20:48] 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）: 你并不是注定困在当下的这个大脑里。你每天的所作所为，不是在让大脑变得更好，就是在让大脑变得更糟。
[20:48] 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）: As your weight goes up, the actual physical size and function of your brain goes down.
[37:23] 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）: 患有 ADD 就好比需要戴近视眼镜的人。戴眼镜的人既不笨，也不疯，不是蠢，只是眼球形状长得特殊，我们靠眼镜来对焦。ADD 患者是我所见过的最聪明的人群之一，但他们的额叶会停止运转。吃药就像是给额叶戴上了一副眼镜，帮助你对准焦点。
[52:52] 杰里·宋飞（Jerry Seinfeld）: The brain is a sneaky organ
[60:20] 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）: 只要跟我孩子约会超过四个月，我就一定会想办法给你做脑部扫描。
[71:31] 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）: 抑郁只是表象（what it is），而不是本质原因（why it is）。
[95:25] 丹尼尔·亚蒙（Dr. Daniel Amen）: Walk like you're late
[105:21] 丹尼斯·普拉格（Dennis Prager）: Happiness is a moral obligation
[107:14] 史蒂文·巴特利特（Steven Bartlett）: 如果你能把一个人的大脑推向更好的方向，你不仅是改变了这一个大脑，你更是把未来世世代代的大脑都推向了更优的轨道；而这本身就足以将整个社会倾斜向一个更美好的方向。
Source quotes
[41:10] Dr. Daniel Amen: glasses for the frontal lobes
[51:30] Jerry Seinfeld: the brain is a sneaky organ
[1040:00] Dr. Daniel Amen: Hedonism is the enemy of happiness, but happiness is a moral obligation because of how you impact other people.
[1040:18] Dr. Daniel Amen: Every day win or learn.
[1070:10] Dr. Daniel Amen: Depression is what it is, it's not why it is. And if you don't know why it is, how do you effectively treat something?
[1105:21] Previous Guest: What have you changed your mind about in the last decade?
[1105:21] Dennis Prager: Happiness is a moral obligation.
Original transcript
[0:00] Justin Bieber, Muhammad Ali, Miley
[0:02] Cyrus. And then there's murderers,
[0:04] rapists, arsonists. I probably have seen
[0:07] more brains than anybody in the world.
[0:10] And now, your brain. So, this is going
[0:12] to be really hard for you. You have
[0:15] ADHD. Really? Dr. Daniel Amen, the
[0:18] world's leading expert
[0:20] on the brain.
[0:20] Dr. Amen's mission is to end mental
[0:23] illness
[0:23] by creating a revolution in brain
[0:25] health. Buckle up, Dr. Amen. Let me know
[0:28] what you see. Your brain is involved in
[0:30] everything you do. And after today, you
[0:32] will always care about your brain. What
[0:34] things make the brain worse? Drugs,
[0:36] alcohol, not getting good sleep, sugar,
[0:39] fruit juice, hitting a soccer ball with
[0:41] your head, caffeine. Caffeine? It
[0:43] shrinks it. What's bad about sugar?
[0:45] You're more likely to get an obesity.
[0:46] And as your weight goes up, the actual
[0:49] physical size and function of your brain
[0:52] goes down. That should scare the fat off
[0:54] anyone. And then there's social media.
[0:56] If you're on 3 and 1/2 hours a day, you
[0:59] begin to wear out those pleasure centers
[1:02] that bring you happiness and they bring
[1:04] you pleasure and they bring you drive.
[1:06] You thrill them to death. But, you're
[1:09] not stuck with the brain you have. You
[1:11] can make it better. I can prove it. So,
[1:14] it starts with
[1:16] Let's look at my brain. Let's do this.
[1:18] We have evidence of And that's normal in
[1:21] our society. The problem is two or three
[1:24] of those can impact the rest of your
[1:26] life and nobody knows about it.
[1:30] Quick one. This is really, really
[1:32] fascinating to me. On the back end of
[1:34] our YouTube channel, it says that 69.9%
[1:37] of you that watch this channel
[1:38] frequently over the lifetime of this
[1:40] channel haven't yet hit the subscribe
[1:42] button. I just wanted to ask you a
[1:43] favor. It helps this channel so much if
[1:46] you choose to just subscribe. Helps us
[1:48] scale the guests, helps us scale the
[1:49] production, and it makes the show
[1:50] bigger. So, if I could ask you for one
[1:52] favor, if you've watched this show
[1:53] before and you've enjoyed it and you
[1:55] like this episode that you're currently
[1:56] watching, could you please hit the
[1:57] subscribe button? Thank you so much and
[1:59] I will repay that gesture by making sure
[2:02] that everything we do here gets better
[2:03] and better and better and better. That
[2:05] is a promise I'm willing to make you. Do
[2:06] we have a deal?
[2:14] Dr. Amen,
[2:16] if someone's just clicked on this
[2:18] podcast
[2:21] and they're considering sticking around
[2:23] or maybe doing something else with their
[2:26] time.
[2:27] Can you explain to me
[2:29] based on what you know that we're going
[2:30] to be discussing and the subject matter
[2:32] we're going to be discussing and how
[2:33] important it is,
[2:36] the benefit to their life if they stick
[2:38] around?
[2:41] 10 extra years of cognitive performance
[2:44] in their life,
[2:46] better love, better money,
[2:48] better health, because your brain, we're
[2:51] going to talk about, is involved in
[2:53] everything you do. How you think, how
[2:55] you feel, how you act, how you get along
[2:56] with other people. And my goal is to
[3:01] end, this is going to sound huge and it
[3:04] is,
[3:05] and it's going to sound impossible, but
[3:07] it's not. My goal is to end mental
[3:10] illness
[3:11] by
[3:12] creating
[3:14] a revolution in brain health. I hate the
[3:18] term mental illness. It shames people.
[3:21] It's stigmatizing and it's wrong. These
[3:24] things aren't mental disorders, they're
[3:27] brain disorders. If you get your brain
[3:31] healthy, well, your mind tends to
[3:33] follow. So, you're depressed, an
[3:36] antidepressant is not doing one thing
[3:38] for getting your brain healthy. Nobody's
[3:41] talking to you about your diet, your
[3:44] level of exercise, your sleep, not
[3:47] living in a mold-filled home, not really
[3:49] allowing your kids hit soccer balls with
[3:51] their head, right? Cuz that's not brain
[3:54] healthy.
[3:56] And if we can create this revolution in
[4:00] brain health,
[4:02] the incidence of mental health disorders
[4:05] will go down
[4:07] by half.
[4:09] And I guess that's part of the reveal
[4:10] here is you've actually scanned
[4:13] my brain. And you're going to tell me
[4:15] today the results that
[4:17] you have on your laptop over there in
[4:18] the corner of the room. So, I came to
[4:20] your clinic in Los Angeles, and they
[4:24] made me do a test on a computer. Like it
[4:27] was almost like a speed test of sorts.
[4:29] And then they made me lie down in a big
[4:31] machine
[4:33] for about How long was that? About 30
[4:34] minutes? 15 minutes.
[4:35] 15 minutes?
[4:37] While this big machine rotated around my
[4:38] head and looked at my brain. That was my
[4:40] experience of what happened. And then I
[4:42] filled out some questionnaires about
[4:44] myself and my brain and my life
[4:46] generally.
[4:47] And from that,
[4:49] all that data feeds into the thing
[4:50] you're about to show me now.
[4:52] Yes. So, I never will make a diagnosis
[4:56] from a scan. Okay. I make a diagnosis
[4:59] from all the information, which is why
[5:02] we had you fill out all that information
[5:05] and I gave you a test called the Conners
[5:08] Continuous Performance Test, which is a
[5:11] 15-minute test of attention. And every
[5:15] time you see a a letter, you hit the
[5:17] spacebar,
[5:18] except when you see the the letter X.
[5:20] When you see the letter X, you don't do
[5:22] anything. So, it measures impulse
[5:24] control and inhibition, response time.
[5:29] And you actually did fine
[5:31] on the test.
[5:33] And but there's other
[5:37] evidence that you might in fact have ADD
[5:39] or ADHD from
[5:43] getting bored easily to poor
[5:44] handwriting, being disorganized,
[5:47] and so on. Uh Uh and obviously you're
[5:51] very bright but
[5:53] struggled a bit in school. So,
[5:56] with all that information,
[5:59] um first thing to do is look at a
[6:01] healthy scan so we know what a healthy
[6:04] scan
[6:05] looks like.
[6:07] And we're going to show it in two
[6:09] different ways. We're going to look at
[6:11] the outside surface
[6:13] of your brain. So, a healthy one is the
[6:15] image
[6:16] on the left and all we should see is
[6:21] full, even, symmetrical activity. So,
[6:25] the image on the top left is looking
[6:27] underneath the brain. So, the top is the
[6:29] front part of the brain, the bottom is
[6:33] the back, the top is an area called the
[6:35] prefrontal cortex, hugely important in
[6:39] humans, largest in humans than any other
[6:41] animal by far. It's 30% of the human
[6:45] brain, 11% of the chimpanzee brain. And
[6:48] then the back is the cerebellum, back
[6:51] bottom part of the brain.
[6:53] Um again, very important, involved in
[6:56] processing speed.
[6:59] The bottom right of the images on the
[7:03] left is looking down from the top. Uh
[7:06] the other two looking at the brain from
[7:08] the side. Color doesn't matter, it's the
[7:10] shape. It should be
[7:12] full, even, and symmetrical.
[7:15] The images on the right, the color
[7:17] matters. So, it's what we call our
[7:19] active images. Blue is average activity,
[7:23] red is the top 15%,
[7:26] white is the top 8%. And you see all the
[7:30] white. So, the white is where things are
[7:32] really happening. It's really hot. Okay.
[7:35] And that's healthy. That's normal. And
[7:38] that's going to become very important
[7:40] for you. So, if we look at your brain,
[7:43] it's a little bumpy, and so I'll ask you
[7:46] about toxins. Are there anything toxic
[7:49] in your life? What What are all toxins?
[7:52] So, think alcohol, marijuana,
[7:55] mold, uh
[7:58] heavy metals in your body, infections,
[8:01] and so if it's not
[8:04] alcohol or drugs, then I begin to go,
[8:08] "Have you ever lived in a mold-filled
[8:11] environment? Maybe we should test you
[8:13] for that. Do you have more mercury in
[8:15] your body or lead in your body than you
[8:18] should?" So, for example, I had very
[8:20] high mercury levels. My brain sort of
[8:23] looked like that when I first scanned
[8:24] it. It was toxic. And I had very high
[8:27] mercury levels. Like, I never drank.
[8:30] I just don't like it. Never smoked.
[8:32] Never did drugs. But, my brain looked
[8:36] toxic. And so, you then have to go hunt
[8:38] down, "Well, why?"
[8:41] And for me, it was mercury.
[8:43] Um decreased activity in your left
[8:47] prefrontal cortex. So, when I think of
[8:52] maybe ADD-like symptoms in your life,
[8:55] probably coming from there.
[8:57] And decreased activity in your left
[9:01] temporal lobe.
[9:02] And you right-handed? Yeah. Yeah. So,
[9:06] that can go with the irritability. What
[9:09] I've seen is that can go with sort of
[9:12] short fuse. Mhm. And your prefrontal
[9:15] cortex is sort of the brain's
[9:17] supervisor. It watches you.
[9:21] And your prefrontal cortex is flat. Mhm.
[9:26] And I don't like that. And then when I
[9:28] heard you played soccer or when I read
[9:30] you played soccer, it's very common in
[9:32] my soccer players. Now, how long did you
[9:35] play soccer for? Uh, pretty much all of
[9:37] my childhood.
[9:39] And any concussions playing soccer? I
[9:42] think I had a couple of big head bangs
[9:44] that
[9:45] were significant, but not many. Not
[9:49] nothing that took me to hospital, but I
[9:50] had a couple of moments where I was
[9:51] pulled off the pitch because like there
[9:53] was a clash of heads.
[9:55] So.
[9:57] Your brain is soft, about the
[9:59] consistency of soft butter.
[10:02] Your skull is really hard and has sharp
[10:04] bony ridges.
[10:06] Um.
[10:08] Two or three of those can impact the
[10:10] rest of your life and nobody knows about
[10:13] it.
[10:13] Because nobody looks. Right? If you went
[10:17] in saw a thousand psychiatrists, say, "I
[10:21] want to focus better and
[10:24] have better temper."
[10:25] You saw a thousand psychiatrists, two of
[10:28] them would look at your brain, which I
[10:30] think is
[10:31] insane.
[10:33] So, the colors here that I'm looking at,
[10:34] the What does the the red and the green
[10:37] So, the color really Doesn't matter
[10:39] here. doesn't matter. It's the shape.
[10:42] So, when I see this hole, you don't have
[10:45] holes in your brain. What the hole means
[10:47] is less blood flow than is optimal. In
[10:52] fact, I'm going to show you
[10:54] if you do what I ask you to do
[10:57] and we scan you
[11:00] 6 months from now, that'll be better. I
[11:03] have a program that tells me
[11:05] if you do what I ask you to do, this is
[11:08] what's generally going to happen. And if
[11:10] you don't do what I ask you to do, well,
[11:12] this is what it's going to look like 5
[11:14] years from now, 10 years from now. And
[11:16] you're young. If you
[11:19] get serious about loving and repairing
[11:23] your brain,
[11:25] your 60s, 70s, 80s are going to be
[11:28] amazing because you're going to have a
[11:30] healthy brain. If you go, "Oh, Amen's a
[11:33] quack and I don't believe any of this
[11:35] crap."
[11:36] it's going to be really hard for you
[11:39] because you're not going to have full
[11:40] access to your brain.
[11:44] And that's scary. So, I know that's sort
[11:47] of a big deal, but I think this is
[11:50] from
[11:52] traumatic brain injury at some point
[11:56] and a bit of a toxin, which may be mold.
[12:00] Mhm.
[12:01] And then when I say mold, our house was
[12:03] very, very dirty growing up.
[12:05] So,
[12:06] that's what I assume you're speaking to
[12:09] that. And we did have like mold around
[12:10] the window sill sometimes and we had
[12:13] mice and
[12:14] rats at some point and
[12:17] it was like living in a house that a
[12:19] hoarder
[12:20] had uh
[12:21] lived in because some of the rooms were
[12:23] just stacked to the ceiling with crap.
[12:25] So,
[12:27] I think maybe if you're talking about
[12:28] mold or a toxic brain, I I I'm guessing
[12:30] that's where it's come from.
[12:32] If that makes
[12:32] it gets in your body, unless you do
[12:35] something active to get it out, it
[12:38] stays. I really and can continue to
[12:40] cause problems. And then if we go to the
[12:44] active scan,
[12:46] it's very different than I want it to
[12:49] be.
[12:50] And I know I can make it better. But if
[12:53] we go back to
[12:55] what's healthy,
[12:57] lots of activity in the cerebellum,
[13:01] your cerebellum
[13:03] is sleepy
[13:05] despite you probably being very
[13:07] coordinated. I need to activate that
[13:10] thing. It's really important to get
[13:14] better activity
[13:16] there. And you have this diamond
[13:18] pattern. So, you have ADD and we'll talk
[13:22] more about it. It's a subtype I call
[13:24] overfocused ADD where you can be
[13:28] obsessive when you're really interested
[13:31] in something, but if it doesn't interest
[13:34] you,
[13:35] it's hard for you to focus.
[13:37] So,
[13:38] if you look at this, it looks like a
[13:40] diamond. And when I see that diamond,
[13:45] I think of past emotional trauma.
[13:48] And uh I published a big study
[13:53] looking at this 20,000 people, can I
[13:56] separate emotional trauma from physical
[14:00] trauma? And I can with actually high
[14:02] levels of accuracy, and it looks to me
[14:05] like there's sort of bit of both
[14:07] for you. Do you play racket sports?
[14:11] No, I don't.
[14:12] So, that'll be one of my prescriptions
[14:15] for you. And actually, study from
[14:16] England, people play racket sports live
[14:18] longer than everybody else by far.
[14:22] Soccer was on the bottom, like soccer
[14:25] and football were on the bottom, but
[14:27] tennis, table tennis, racket ball, now
[14:31] pickle ball,
[14:32] uh badminton are on the top.
[14:34] But let's talk about this diamond for a
[14:37] bit. When I say emotional trauma, Mhm.
[14:41] what comes up for you? So, a few things.
[14:43] The first thing is my parents were
[14:44] always at war. Growing up as a kid in a
[14:47] household where there was so much
[14:49] screaming and negative energy, but then
[14:53] growing up with shame because we was I
[14:55] was so different from everyone else
[14:58] around me.
[14:59] Never inviting friends back to my house
[15:01] in those 16 years that I lived there
[15:03] before I left, so nobody really knew
[15:04] where I lived either. I think of all
[15:06] that stuff when I think about like
[15:07] emotional trauma.
[15:10] Well, that's a lot. Okay. Yeah.
[15:13] I mean, if you grow up in a stressful
[15:16] environment, boo,
[15:18] and um a hostile environment where your
[15:22] parents are at war,
[15:24] it trains your brain,
[15:26] your emotional brain to become
[15:28] hyperactive, Mhm. because you always
[15:31] have to watch
[15:33] for danger.
[15:35] And
[15:36] that gets programmed early.
[15:39] And even later,
[15:41] when there's not the danger, your body
[15:45] still can look for Mhm. You're waiting
[15:47] for that
[15:48] next bad thing
[15:50] to happen.
[15:51] And Do you think I have ADHD? I do.
[15:56] Now, the question would be,
[16:00] who has it in your family? Cuz it
[16:02] doesn't just show up. But often,
[16:06] children who have ADHD have one or both
[16:10] parents who have it. And you can see
[16:12] those similar traits.
[16:16] And
[16:18] it sounds like one or both of your
[16:22] parents could have been a little bit
[16:23] conflict seeking.
[16:26] My My mother.
[16:29] And if I was to hazard a guess at which
[16:31] one of my parents had ADHD, and this is
[16:33] just me guessing, not trying to diagnose
[16:34] my parents, I would say it's would have
[16:36] been my mother.
[16:38] Why?
[16:39] She's the She's the most irritable.
[16:41] Handwriting isn't great. She
[16:45] is
[16:47] a little bit more sort of like
[16:49] scat scattered, I should say.
[16:52] She's a lot more messy. My dad's like
[16:54] very organized with everything. My mom's
[16:56] very very very messy. Like me. Um
[16:59] The The other thing I would ask is,
[17:04] what did teachers say about you?
[17:07] I went back to speak at my school
[17:10] to the GCSE and A-level students. I've
[17:12] done it twice. And I remember one of the
[17:14] teachers came up to me. Bearing in mind
[17:16] at this age, I'm 24, 25 years old. And
[17:18] she said, "You are a useless student,
[17:20] but you are nice. You're a nice person."
[17:22] I was never swearing or throwing chairs,
[17:24] but I was useless. And I spent most of
[17:26] the time in the exclusion unit, which is
[17:28] where you go if you don't do your
[17:29] homework or you don't attend. I just
[17:31] couldn't sit in classrooms. I couldn't
[17:33] sit in classrooms and stay focused on
[17:36] what they were telling me, es-
[17:38] especially when I wasn't interested.
[17:40] That's been like a defining quality of
[17:42] my life. I'm exceptionally good
[17:44] at not doing things I'm not interested
[17:46] in. And I'm ex- And I'm good at when I'm
[17:48] interested, but when I'm not interested,
[17:51] I could see my peers almost like will
[17:53] themselves to engage in things they're
[17:55] not interested in.
[17:56] I'm I will I could never do that. And
[17:58] I've always said I'm a remarkable
[18:00] quitter. So, you think about stop going
[18:02] to school, then went to university for 1
[18:03] day and was like, "Nope."
[18:05] Never went back after that first day.
[18:07] So,
[18:10] So, it's it's a very important piece of
[18:12] advice for people who have ADD.
[18:17] Is pick something you love, not a job
[18:22] that you think you'll just make more
[18:23] money in. And that's another sort of
[18:26] piece of the puzzle that completely fits
[18:29] with having
[18:30] ADD. And as as we know,
[18:34] there are problems with it,
[18:38] but there are also huge benefits of it.
[18:41] Your prefrontal cortex,
[18:43] when it works too hard, so I imagine if
[18:48] I scanned your dad, that it would be
[18:50] busy, cuz he's very organized and like
[18:54] collecting.
[18:56] Um
[18:58] but there's less creativity
[19:00] that goes with the busy frontal lobes.
[19:05] When there's a little bit sleepy,
[19:08] you entertain all sorts of thoughts, and
[19:11] you're a little less rule bound than
[19:15] people whose prefrontal cortex more
[19:17] active. They like rules, and they like
[19:20] sameness, and they like predictability.
[19:24] And
[19:26] probably like some of that because I
[19:28] think you inherited some of your dad.
[19:30] That's the top of the diamond.
[19:32] But
[19:34] you're obviously very creative.
[19:37] Mhm.
[19:40] I do um I do think of myself as being um
[19:42] a a
[19:43] creative entrepreneur. I I know other
[19:44] entrepreneurs that are like really good
[19:46] at finance and operations and processes,
[19:49] whereas my skill in entrepreneurship has
[19:51] always been
[19:53] the creativity. That's why I'm a
[19:54] marketeer. That's where I built my my
[19:56] fortunes, per se, was in marketing and
[19:58] creativity. So
[20:00] and I've always found other people to do
[20:01] the
[20:02] finance or the process or operation
[20:04] stuff for me because that's not where I
[20:06] I'm engaged or or where I think I'm
[20:09] particularly good.
[20:10] So
[20:11] Well, and since a lot of CEOs listen to
[20:13] this podcast, a lot of CEOs have ADD of
[20:17] one form or another.
[20:19] And they thrive
[20:21] when they hire people
[20:24] who are organized.
[20:27] So it's very important cuz we tend to
[20:30] like to hire people like ourselves.
[20:34] And it's very important to hire people
[20:38] who help us where we're more vulnerable.
[20:42] It's almost like hiring people with
[20:43] different brains. Yes. Literally.
[20:46] Yes.
[20:48] We we we talked about something a second
[20:50] ago. You said, "When you saw your brain
[20:52] for the first time, it changed your
[20:53] life." I do feel like that now. I do
[20:56] feel like when
[20:58] I almost didn't realize my brain was
[20:59] there. And I think a lot of people we go
[21:01] through our lives just kind of cuz we
[21:03] never see the thing.
[21:04] We don't appreciate the thing. So step
[21:06] one is that awareness and then step two
[21:09] is the realization that we can do
[21:11] something about it. Because I grew up
[21:13] thinking that your brain and your body
[21:15] generally is just it just is what it is.
[21:17] Like I can't do anything about, you
[21:19] know, I tend to think I can't do
[21:20] anything about, I don't know, my
[21:22] fingernail. I probably I mean you can,
[21:24] but you just see these things as static
[21:26] objects that are what they are.
[21:28] This idea that I can do something about
[21:30] it is the most important idea. It's the
[21:32] it's the empowering idea.
[21:35] And that is what you're telling me
[21:38] is possible. I can change my brain.
[21:42] It's the most exciting lesson that I've
[21:44] learned. You're not stuck.
[21:47] I'm not stuck
[21:49] with the brain I had. You're not stuck
[21:52] with the brain you have. You can make it
[21:54] better. I can prove it. In fact, every
[21:58] day, what I've come to believe, you're
[22:00] making your brain better
[22:03] or you're making it worse. Let's start
[22:05] there.
[22:06] you're doing. What things make the brain
[22:09] worse? What are the common things that
[22:10] most of us do without thinking that make
[22:12] the brain worse?
[22:16] When my daughter, Chloe, was in second
[22:18] grade, I went to her classroom and I
[22:20] wrote 20 things on the board.
[22:23] And I went separate them for me. Good
[22:25] for your brain, bad for your brain.
[22:27] 7-year-olds.
[22:29] They got 19 out of 20 right. So, most
[22:31] people know.
[22:34] The only thing they got wrong was orange
[22:37] juice.
[22:38] They put it in the healthy category.
[22:41] When, in fact, when is it rational to
[22:45] unwrap fruit sugar from its fiber
[22:47] source? Because it turns toxic in your
[22:49] body. So, I'm not a fan of fruit juice.
[22:52] I'm a fan of fruit, not fruit juice. But
[22:56] so, the bad category. Hitting a soccer
[23:00] ball with your head. No, don't do that.
[23:03] Um
[23:04] What's bad about sugar
[23:06] for the brain?
[23:09] Which What does that mean?
[23:09] It makes you diabetic. But I mean as it
[23:12] relates to the brain, why is like orange
[23:14] juice or the ice cream bad for my brain?
[23:17] Because it's ultimately going to give
[23:20] you high blood sugar levels, Mhm. which
[23:22] erode your blood vessels,
[23:25] and you're going to have lower blood
[23:27] flow to your brain.
[23:29] That's bad. It's a bad thing. I mean,
[23:31] there's so many things about it. So,
[23:33] it's addictive, it's pro-inflammatory,
[23:38] it makes it more likely you're going to
[23:39] have diabetes and obesity. So, 72% of
[23:42] Americans are overweight, 42% are obese.
[23:47] I've published three studies on 35,000
[23:50] people.
[23:52] As your weight goes up, the actual
[23:55] physical size and function of your brain
[23:57] goes down.
[23:59] That should scare the fat off anyone. I
[24:02] used to be chubby, but when I figured
[24:04] out that connection, I'm like, "Oh, no.
[24:07] I am
[24:08] It was that that gave me the motivation
[24:11] to drop about 25 lb. And
[24:14] so, sugar
[24:17] is the gateway drug to diabetes and
[24:20] obesity.
[24:21] And so,
[24:23] not to mention
[24:25] inflammation,
[24:27] which is the cause of depression and
[24:30] dementia. So, I've got sugar, I've got a
[24:33] head injury.
[24:35] I'm going to avoid both of these things.
[24:37] What else should I avoid? And then you
[24:39] have low blood flow in those two very
[24:41] important areas.
[24:42] And so,
[24:45] how can we increase blood flow? So, you
[24:48] want to avoid things that cause low
[24:49] blood flow, caffeine, nicotine.
[24:52] Caffeine? Caffeine constricts blood flow
[24:55] to the brain. What does that do to my
[24:57] brain?
[24:58] It Well, constricts blood flow. So,
[24:59] you're going to get less blood flow. And
[25:01] remember, I showed you that progression
[25:03] with age?
[25:05] No, you don't want that. You want to do
[25:08] things that increase blood flow to your
[25:10] brain. So, exercise. Um
[25:14] ginkgo is just one of the supplements
[25:16] I'm going to give you. Eat foods like um
[25:20] beets, oregano,
[25:23] rosemary, cinnamon, they increase blood
[25:27] flow.
[25:28] And do you think there's a correlation
[25:30] or link between
[25:32] caffeine
[25:34] consumption and a shrinking brain?
[25:38] Yes.
[25:40] And a shrinking brain, is that
[25:41] associated with things like dementia?
[25:43] Aging brain.
[25:45] I You know, I don't think there's a
[25:47] connection. I haven't read any research
[25:50] that says there's a connection between
[25:52] caffeine
[25:54] and dementia.
[25:56] There's a connection with sleep
[25:58] problems, and there's connection with
[26:00] sleep problems and dementia. Mhm. I
[26:03] think if you have like 100 mg a day of
[26:05] caffeine, it's probably fine.
[26:07] But, one venti
[26:10] Starbucks coffee has got 330 mg of
[26:14] caffeine.
[26:14] Jesus.
[26:15] And people just aren't thinking about
[26:18] the level of caffeine they're having in
[26:21] our society. What are the other very
[26:23] obvious things that are not good for my
[26:25] brain? Cuz I really want to make sure
[26:26] that I avoid those things. So, I've got
[26:27] sugar,
[26:28] So, and erectile dysfunction. I mean,
[26:30] while we're at So, B is for blood flow,
[26:32] right? While we're on blood flow,
[26:35] 40% of 40-year-olds
[26:37] have erectile dysfunction.
[26:40] 70% of 70-year-olds have erectile
[26:44] dysfunction. What that means, if you
[26:46] have blood flow problems anywhere, it
[26:49] means they're everywhere.
[26:53] And so
[26:55] like no.
[26:57] And
[26:58] it means either you're too sedentary,
[27:01] you're overweight, you're
[27:04] smoking,
[27:05] or having too much caffeine,
[27:08] or using marijuana cuz marijuana lowers
[27:11] blood flow to the brain.
[27:13] And so just in that one of the 11,
[27:17] it's exercise,
[27:20] ginkgo.
[27:22] For you, not for everybody, but for you
[27:24] hyperbaric oxygen, those three things
[27:27] will make a big difference in blood
[27:29] flow. Ginkgo? Ginkgo. What is that? It's
[27:32] a supplement. What does it do? Uh
[27:34] increases blood flow. To the brain? The
[27:36] prettiest brains I've ever seen take
[27:40] ginkgo. There's actually SPECT study.
[27:43] Uh they gave
[27:44] people 100
[27:46] 20 mg of ginkgo twice a day, significant
[27:49] improvement in blood flow to the brain.
[27:52] And so in one of the supplements I'm
[27:54] going to give you,
[27:55] we have ginkgo.
[27:56] I I've taken it every day for the last
[27:59] 20 years,
[28:00] at least. And then this is where the US
[28:03] government got an F for the pandemic,
[28:06] loneliness accelerates dementia
[28:10] and brain problems.
[28:12] And so when they isolated us, the whole
[28:16] significant increase in brain problems.
[28:19] So get connected to other people.
[28:22] The I in bright minds is inflammation.
[28:25] So what increases inflammation? Low
[28:28] omega-3 fatty acid levels. And we are
[28:31] deficient.
[28:32] 93% of the population is deficient in
[28:35] omega-3 fatty acids. 93%.
[28:39] So all of us should be either eating
[28:41] more fish or
[28:44] taking an omega-3 supplement like fish
[28:47] oil.
[28:48] Gum disease. Like who knew?
[28:51] Like I wasn't really that good at taking
[28:54] care of my gums until I started reading
[28:57] the studies. You have gum disease, you
[29:00] have inflammation, you're more likely
[29:02] get depressed and have dementia. I'm
[29:04] like, "Oh my goodness." So, I'm a
[29:05] flossing
[29:07] fool.
[29:08] Um
[29:08] ages, head trauma, we talked about that.
[29:11] I did the big NFL study when the NFL was
[29:14] struggling with the truth on traumatic
[29:16] brain injury in football.
[29:18] 80% of our players got better.
[29:21] T is toxins.
[29:23] Um
[29:24] drugs, alcohol.
[29:26] Um but other things like
[29:29] mercury and
[29:30] What are the unobvious toxins? Because
[29:32] Anesthesia. Anesthesia. I I was looking
[29:35] at my bathroom
[29:38] items. And I have like mouthwash and
[29:41] toothpaste and deodorants and
[29:44] aftershaves. And I was wondering to
[29:45] myself whether those were toxic to some
[29:48] degree.
[29:49] So, there's an app. There's a couple of
[29:51] them, but the one I like is called Think
[29:53] Dirty. Mhm. Where you can scan those
[29:56] products and it'll tell you on a scale
[29:59] of 0 to 10
[30:02] how bad they are for you. So, 0 is you
[30:04] live a long time and 10 is you die
[30:07] early.
[30:08] And so, when I figured this out, I was
[30:11] scanning everything.
[30:13] Um I mean, it cost me hundreds of
[30:15] dollars to replace things.
[30:17] And my wife
[30:19] more than that with all the makeup and
[30:22] stuff. But I shaved for 50 years with
[30:25] Barbasol.
[30:27] And it's a nine.
[30:29] Which is die early.
[30:31] And now I shave with something called
[30:33] Kiss My Face. And it's a two.
[30:37] It's like, you know, we teach people
[30:38] read the labels on food stuff, should
[30:41] read the labels on anything that goes on
[30:44] your body or on your child's body. And
[30:48] we have this epidemic, and we'll get to
[30:50] it, of low testosterone in males because
[30:54] of the toxins we put on their bodies
[30:56] when they're young.
[30:57] What is the M in bright?
[30:59] So, the M is mental health. It's
[31:04] the quality of your thoughts,
[31:07] the level of your stress,
[31:10] and
[31:15] the level of trauma you carry
[31:18] in your body.
[31:20] And whether or not you have any of the
[31:24] psychiatric
[31:25] stuff. Like depression, for example,
[31:28] doubles the risk of Alzheimer's disease
[31:31] in women and quadruples it in men.
[31:34] And so, the M is what's going on
[31:40] in your mind.
[31:42] And so, I teach people to kill the ants,
[31:44] the automatic negative thoughts that
[31:46] steal their happiness.
[31:48] Um
[31:51] understand
[31:53] and process their traumas,
[31:57] and treat
[31:59] whatever
[32:01] psychiatric issues may be present. Like
[32:04] in your case,
[32:06] the ADD.
[32:08] And I think cuz start with the
[32:10] supplement, um
[32:12] or even consider medication.
[32:17] Talk about the natural ways to do it,
[32:19] the medicine ways to do it. And for me,
[32:22] I'm not opposed to medicine. I'm
[32:24] actually really good at it.
[32:27] But it's never the first and the only
[32:29] thing I think about. I've really never
[32:31] taken medication in my life. Even like
[32:33] if I get a headache, I don't take
[32:34] medication. I'm not the type of person.
[32:37] I probably haven't taken a pill in like
[32:39] really in years. The only time I've
[32:41] taken medication is if I have a severe
[32:44] infection of sorts. So like there was
[32:46] this one time where like my foot was
[32:47] going green and I'd stood on some glass,
[32:49] whatever, and it was really getting out
[32:51] of control. I'm talking like a 2-in
[32:54] purple thing growing on my foot. I
[32:55] thought, "Okay, instead of getting my
[32:56] leg cut off, I'll take this medication
[32:58] the doctor's given me. Otherwise, I just
[33:00] do not take it."
[33:01] So I would rather go through severe pain
[33:03] than take medication because I believe
[33:05] that my body can fix things. Um
[33:09] So when I think about taking ADD
[33:11] medication or ADHD medication, I don't
[33:13] really know the difference,
[33:14] I go, "Well,
[33:17] if my
[33:19] if I'm messy or if I'm my handwriting's
[33:21] bad or whatever it might be,
[33:23] then that's just who I am.
[33:27] And that's okay. I can get better at it.
[33:29] I can be less I can be more organized.
[33:32] But why why do I want to take
[33:34] medication?
[33:37] Well, I'm not going to I'm not going to
[33:38] be the one to sell you on medication,
[33:40] but what I would say
[33:43] is
[33:47] So a lot of times people ask me the side
[33:49] effects of medication. Mhm.
[33:51] And for stimulants for ADD, it could be
[33:54] it decreases your appetite or can
[33:56] negatively affect your sleep.
[33:59] But you always have to ask the second
[34:01] question.
[34:02] Which is what are the side effects of
[34:04] not taking
[34:06] the medicine?
[34:07] What's the impact
[34:09] on your life, on your business, on your
[34:12] money, on your relationships, on your
[34:14] health? Because living with untreated
[34:17] ADD for many people, and maybe not you,
[34:20] but for many people goes with chronic
[34:22] stress
[34:23] because of
[34:26] the
[34:27] negative things that tend to go along
[34:30] with it. Dysfunction.
[34:32] And for you, you're
[34:34] clearly not broken.
[34:38] But are you optimized?
[34:40] Do you have full access
[34:44] to your own brain?
[34:47] And I would argue no.
[34:50] And we can do and we can do better.
[34:53] But we can do it in steps.
[34:58] And ultimately, I see my job
[35:00] is giving people options.
[35:03] And then telling them the pros and cons
[35:05] of each option, and then letting them
[35:07] choose. Right? I mean, that's what good
[35:09] doctors should do. It's called informed
[35:11] consent.
[35:12] Um
[35:14] and you know, I can just tell you
[35:17] my experience. I told you the story with
[35:19] my daughter.
[35:20] And
[35:22] I've seen that play out thousands of
[35:25] times.
[35:27] That
[35:28] people
[35:31] just become more optimized. In what way?
[35:34] not necessarily the medicine. But that
[35:36] medicine, when it's for the right brain,
[35:39] right? The wrong brain, it makes people
[35:41] worse. And if you read my book, Healing
[35:44] ADD, I talk about the Ring of Fire ADD.
[35:48] So, ADD and ADHD
[35:51] are different terms for the same thing.
[35:55] 1980, the American Psychiatric
[35:57] Association's DSM
[35:59] Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
[36:02] Mental Disorders, I hate that, but
[36:05] it's what we have, was Attention Deficit
[36:07] Disorder, ADD, with or without
[36:10] hyperactivity.
[36:12] 1987, God knows for what reason, they
[36:15] changed the name to ADHD. Attention
[36:17] Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,
[36:19] basically throwing out half the people
[36:21] who had it. Cuz half the people who have
[36:24] ADD or ADHD are never hyperactive. And
[36:29] they don't get diagnosed because they
[36:31] don't bring enough negative attention to
[36:35] themselves for parents to go,
[36:39] "You have a problem.
[36:40] And you're giving me a problem."
[36:43] Um
[36:43] so, anyways, different
[36:45] names for the same thing.
[36:48] And if you can
[36:50] manage it
[36:53] by having extra help for the things
[36:55] you're not good at,
[36:56] with exercise,
[36:59] with all of the good habits you have,
[37:03] well,
[37:04] that's awesome.
[37:06] If you want to be be 10%
[37:10] more focused, like I treat this writer,
[37:14] um
[37:15] and she only takes medicine when she has
[37:18] to get stuff done. But she never takes
[37:20] it when she writes because she has 16
[37:23] plot lines going on at once in her
[37:25] books. And she goes, "No, I think it
[37:29] decreases my creativity a little bit."
[37:33] Interesting.
[37:35] Because the
[37:38] the fact that we're medicating
[37:41] the a brain like mine,
[37:44] I
[37:45] I go, "Is that for professional
[37:46] optimization?" Cuz if you just go back
[37:48] like, I don't know, a couple hundred
[37:50] years. You go back even further to a a
[37:51] time when we couldn't like read or
[37:53] write, there wasn't computers, and all
[37:55] of these things, you would have had no
[37:57] idea that You know, if you go if you go
[37:58] back far, you wouldn't have been able to
[38:00] tell a
[38:01] really a an ADHD Well, what I'm trying
[38:04] to say
[38:04] But you'd be able to tell their life. I
[38:06] mean, I have a patient from Ethiopia.
[38:08] And
[38:09] I'm like, "So, tell me the impact in
[38:12] your culture."
[38:13] And he said, "The people with severe
[38:16] ADHD get excluded because they can't be
[38:19] relied on.
[38:20] And the isolation causes great shame and
[38:27] pain.
[38:28] Um and
[38:30] they have no idea it's a brain thing.
[38:32] Where does it come from ADHD?
[38:35] Or ADD?
[38:37] Well, it's genetic. Okay.
[38:39] It's clearly genetic. I mean, I if I
[38:42] don't see it in someone's family, I
[38:44] think head trauma.
[38:46] And with you, I think that's possible
[38:48] because of soccer. Um except you see it
[38:50] in your family.
[38:52] Um
[38:53] Is it a defect or is it a difference?
[38:56] It's a difference.
[38:58] If I if I chose to take a drug, was it
[39:02] like equal to Ritalin that you called it
[39:04] one of the So, Ritalin would be one of
[39:05] the options. Whatever drug it was, what
[39:08] exactly would it do under brain scanning
[39:10] to my brain? So, if I scan my brain and
[39:12] took the drug, what would you see in my
[39:15] brain?
[39:15] Well, I can tell you. It would activate
[39:18] your cerebellum. Okay, the bit that was
[39:20] a bit sleepy. It was a bit sleepy and it
[39:22] would activate your prefrontal cortex.
[39:25] And
[39:26] um
[39:27] it would give your brain better energy.
[39:30] So, my first SPECT scan, 1991, a woman
[39:35] she tried to kill herself the night
[39:36] before. I went to the lecture on brain
[39:39] SPECT imaging and then I walked out of
[39:41] the lecture and she was my new patient.
[39:43] Her name was Sandy. She tried to kill
[39:45] herself the night before and as I'm
[39:47] getting to know her, I'm thinking she
[39:49] has ADD. She has an 8-year-old son who
[39:52] has ADD, talked about the genetic
[39:54] connection. She had an IQ of 144
[39:57] but never finished college. And I'm
[40:00] like, "How did you study?" She said,
[40:02] "Well, I never really did except maybe
[40:04] the night before a test, I'd put on a
[40:06] pot of coffee,
[40:08] stay up all night cramming and then I'd
[40:10] take the test. That's classic ADD way of
[40:13] doing things.
[40:14] And I'm like, "You know, I think maybe
[40:16] you have adult ADD. And she goes, "Oh,
[40:18] adults don't have ADD."
[40:20] And I'm thinking, I'm the doctor,
[40:23] I'm like, "How about if we look at your
[40:25] brain?"
[40:26] And And I knew from other work I'd done
[40:29] that I should do it twice, at rest and
[40:31] concentration.
[40:34] And
[40:35] when she tried to concentrate, her brain
[40:36] completely deactivated.
[40:39] Turned off. Like, for you, we only did
[40:41] it once, but if I had done it twice,
[40:43] probably your brain would be busier at
[40:45] rest, and then when you try to do it, it
[40:47] would drop.
[40:49] And I put the pictures on
[40:52] a couple of days later, I put the
[40:53] picture on the table in front of her.
[40:56] And as I explained it to her,
[40:59] she started to cry.
[41:01] And she said, "You mean it's not my
[41:03] fault."
[41:05] And I said, "Having ADD is sort of like
[41:07] people who need glasses." And I wore
[41:10] glasses to drive, and took my glasses
[41:11] out, put them on.
[41:13] And I said, "People who wear glasses
[41:15] aren't dumb, crazy, or stupid. Their
[41:16] eyeballs are shaped funny, and we wear
[41:18] glasses to focus."
[41:21] I said, "People with ADD aren't dumb,
[41:23] crazy, or stupid. Some are among the
[41:24] brightest people I know,
[41:26] but their frontal lobes deactivate.
[41:28] Taking the medicine is like glasses for
[41:31] your frontal lobes, help you focus."
[41:34] And she did it. She was conflict-driven.
[41:39] She was always poking her husband. They
[41:40] got into a huge fight, which is why she
[41:42] tried to kill herself. She stopped that.
[41:45] She's a better mom. She went back and
[41:46] finished college. I mean, her life's
[41:49] It's like your brain with glasses. Wow.
[41:52] My friends that take medication for ADD
[41:55] say that to me. They say it's like their
[41:57] life is before and after that moment.
[41:59] So, I've, you know, I've
[42:01] I completely believe what you're saying.
[42:02] Um
[42:04] A second ago, you said this phrase when
[42:05] we were talking about the M, which is
[42:07] your mental health, and the impact that
[42:08] has on the
[42:09] development of a brain that's either
[42:11] healthy or unhealthy. And you said this
[42:13] thing about you got to make sure you
[42:14] kill the ants,
[42:16] which is killing those negative
[42:17] thoughts. Um that's much easier said
[42:19] than done.
[42:21] How does How does someone go about
[42:23] killing their negative thoughts? Is
[42:25] there a process they can go through to
[42:26] do that? Yeah, it's a habit.
[42:29] Right? And it's not hard.
[42:31] But like any habit, you have to do it
[42:33] repeatedly, like over and over and over
[42:35] and over and over and over. Um
[42:40] Whenever you have a thought,
[42:41] your brain releases chemicals.
[42:45] Whenever you have a bad thought, a sad
[42:47] thought, a mad thought, your brain
[42:49] releases a certain set of chemicals that
[42:51] make you feel bad.
[42:53] Immediately.
[42:55] Your hands get cold. They start to
[42:57] sweat. Your muscles get tense. You start
[43:00] to breathe erratically.
[43:02] And it all happens
[43:04] instantaneously.
[43:06] Whenever you have a positive thought, a
[43:07] happy thought, a hopeful thought,
[43:10] a loving thought, like I'm back cuz I
[43:12] loved the first time I was on the
[43:13] podcast with you.
[43:15] Um
[43:17] a completely different set of chemicals
[43:19] come out. And your hands get warmer,
[43:23] drier. Your breathing slows down. Your
[43:25] heart beats in a healthier It happens
[43:28] like immediately.
[43:31] People have ADD, since we're talking
[43:33] about that, they tend to go more toward
[43:35] negative thoughts cuz negative thoughts
[43:37] are more stimulating.
[43:40] And
[43:41] uh
[43:43] here's the exercise.
[43:45] Whenever you feel sad, or mad, or
[43:48] nervous, or out of control, write down
[43:51] what you're thinking.
[43:53] And then ask yourself, is it true?
[43:58] Is it absolutely true? This is a process
[44:00] I learned from my friend Byron Katie.
[44:03] How do I feel when I have this thought?
[44:06] How do I act when I have this thought?
[44:09] And what's the outcome
[44:11] of the thought? So, is it true?
[44:15] Is it absolutely true?
[44:18] How do I feel, act, and the outcome of
[44:20] the thought?
[44:22] How would I feel
[44:24] if I didn't have the thought?
[44:26] How would I act if I didn't have the
[44:28] thought? What's the outcome of not
[44:29] having that thought? Then my favorite
[44:32] part of it is take the original thought,
[44:35] "Tana never listens to me." Tana is my
[44:36] wife. I've had that thought.
[44:39] Um
[44:42] and then turn it to the opposite. Tana
[44:44] does listen to me.
[44:46] And then just ask yourself whether or
[44:48] not that's true.
[44:50] And by directing my thoughts, by
[44:52] managing, so rather than being a victim,
[44:56] so many of my patients are victims of
[44:58] their thoughts until they do the work,
[45:01] right? This is one of the things where
[45:02] do what the F I say.
[45:04] Write down 100 of your worst thoughts.
[45:07] Take them through that process.
[45:10] And by the time you get to 30, they'll
[45:12] stop bothering you.
[45:15] So, if I'm a repetitive negative thinker
[45:17] or a repetitive positive thinker, does
[45:20] that alone change the shape of my brain?
[45:23] Yes.
[45:24] And in
[45:26] my new book, Change Your Brain Every
[45:27] Day, there's actually pictures of Noelle
[45:30] Nelson. She was writing a book called
[45:32] The Power of Appreciation.
[45:35] And I had her
[45:38] she wanted me to scan her while she was
[45:41] appreciating her brain, and it looked
[45:43] beautiful.
[45:45] And I'm like, as I'm showing it to her,
[45:47] I'm like, "You need to come back
[45:48] tomorrow, and I want you to hate
[45:50] yourself."
[45:51] And she goes, "Oh, I don't want to do
[45:52] that." I'm like, "Come on, you have to
[45:54] suffer for science." I said, "We want to
[45:56] We have positive scan, and then we have
[45:58] negative scan."
[46:00] And the negativity
[46:02] dropped
[46:04] her left temporal lobe, her left frontal
[46:07] lobe, and her cerebellum.
[46:09] So interesting. I mean, similar to what
[46:11] your scan looks like, but hers was way
[46:14] worse. I mean, this is healthy brain and
[46:17] then a deactivated brain. And that
[46:20] explained to me
[46:22] athletic slumps.
[46:24] It's like, why do people get in athletic
[46:25] slumps? Cuz negativity turns off their
[46:28] cerebellum. And they become just a
[46:31] little less coordinated.
[46:34] Interesting.
[46:36] And I'm not a fan of positive thinking.
[46:40] I'm a fan of accurate
[46:43] thinking with a positive spin. So,
[46:46] positive thinking is I can have this
[46:49] third piece of cheesecake and it's not
[46:52] going to negatively impact my body or my
[46:55] brain.
[46:56] Like, no.
[46:57] The don't worry, be happy people die the
[47:01] earliest
[47:03] of accidents and preventable illnesses.
[47:06] So,
[47:07] a lot of people come to me for anxiety.
[47:09] And I'm like, so, on a scale of 0 to
[47:11] 100, how much is it?
[47:13] And they're like, 50.
[47:15] I said, okay, our goal is not zero.
[47:18] Our goal is 15.
[47:20] I want you to have enough anxiety you do
[47:23] the right things.
[47:26] Somewhat linked to that is a word you
[47:27] used as well, which is stress.
[47:30] When we're talking about the M in bright
[47:31] minds, how to have healthy brains,
[47:34] what role does stress play on our
[47:37] brains?
[47:38] Stress,
[47:39] um, especially chronic unremitting
[47:43] stress. So, if we think of the stress
[47:45] you had growing up,
[47:46] um, where there was a lot of fighting,
[47:49] it raises a hormone called cortisol.
[47:53] Cortisol begins to shrink
[47:57] activity in the hippocampus, one of the
[47:59] major memory and learning centers in the
[48:02] brain. So, one
[48:05] could at least argue or postulate your
[48:08] struggle in school
[48:10] was because your emotional brain was
[48:12] busy cuz you were worried about things
[48:14] at home.
[48:15] Um it makes it more likely you get
[48:17] infections. It makes it
[48:22] more likely um
[48:25] that you have learning problems.
[48:27] And trauma. Trauma was the other word
[48:29] you used which I I thought it was worth
[48:30] diving into. Um the impact that trauma
[48:32] has on our brains.
[48:34] Um and does trauma show up when you scan
[48:36] someone's brain? Can you see it?
[48:38] Yeah, so trauma shows up as that diamond
[48:40] pattern, uh which is why I asked asked
[48:42] you about it. It's your emotional brain
[48:45] anterior cingulate at the top. It's the
[48:47] brain's gearshift, thalamus often
[48:50] involved in mood, basal ganglia,
[48:52] amygdala involved in anxiety. So, we
[48:55] often see worry, anxiety, and sadness.
[48:59] And it shows up as that diamond pattern.
[49:02] But after people do EMDR, a specific
[49:06] psychological treatment for trauma,
[49:07] calms it down. And I say psychological
[49:10] treatment, I'm like, "Yeah, but it has
[49:11] biological effects." Uh
[49:14] it's a very
[49:16] interesting treatment. So, I get you to
[49:20] like first thing,
[49:21] write down 10 big traumas
[49:23] in your life. And we'll go after the
[49:25] worst one first.
[49:28] Um and have you bring it up. And there's
[49:30] a whole process to it. But have your
[49:32] eyes go back and forth while you bring
[49:35] it up. And it's so interesting the
[49:38] connections your brain will make to it.
[49:41] But as you process it, you find you're
[49:44] actually less bothered
[49:47] by it. And it's masterful for single
[49:50] incident traumas like being robbed or
[49:53] being in a car accident. For chronic
[49:55] trauma, it takes longer.
[49:58] Um
[49:59] but it's so helpful. Um when I met my
[50:02] wife
[50:03] 18 years ago, um
[50:07] her ACE score, adverse childhood
[50:09] experiences, on a scale of 0 to 10, how
[50:11] many bad things happened to you, was an
[50:13] eight.
[50:14] And
[50:16] I was so taken with this woman. And one
[50:20] of my first gifts to her was 10 sessions
[50:22] of EMDR. One, I wanted to see if she
[50:25] would like wrestle with her traumas. But
[50:29] she went for 2 years. And I'm absolutely
[50:31] convinced that's one of the reasons she
[50:33] and I rarely fuss
[50:36] with each other.
[50:38] Because we don't trigger each other.
[50:41] And when you talk about trauma, it's not
[50:44] these big T traumas that some people
[50:46] sometimes talk of, which is
[50:48] you know, when I was young, I was
[50:49] fondled by my uncle, for example. It can
[50:51] also be an isolated incident that
[50:54] happened when you were an adult.
[50:56] Absolutely.
[50:57] It can be anything that attacks
[51:01] your sense of safety, either physical
[51:05] or emotional.
[51:08] Getting fired is traumatic for a lot of
[51:11] people. Um not performing in a high
[51:15] in an important situation can be
[51:17] traumatic.
[51:18] And that changes the activity within
[51:19] your brain.
[51:21] On Well, it depends on how strong it is.
[51:24] If it was really strong. If it was
[51:25] really strong. Then the activity centers
[51:28] of your brain would
[51:28] Well, and there's one thing we haven't
[51:30] talked about yet called brain reserve,
[51:32] which is how healthy was the brain that
[51:36] you brought into trauma.
[51:38] Because you can take
[51:40] two soldiers,
[51:42] put them in the same tank, and expose
[51:45] them to the same blast, the same angles,
[51:48] everything is the same. One walks away
[51:51] unharmed. The other one's permanently
[51:55] disabled. Why?
[51:58] It's the brain they brought into
[52:01] the trauma.
[52:03] And so,
[52:05] if your mother used drugs while she was
[52:07] pregnant with you, she decreased your
[52:09] reserve. If your mom and dad fought a
[52:12] lot or they separated when she was
[52:14] pregnant with you, that decreased your
[52:16] reserve. If she gave you bad food, if
[52:20] she neglected you, if there was chronic
[52:22] stress, that's decreasing
[52:24] your reserve. So, all of us have a
[52:27] certain level of reserve when we go into
[52:30] that trauma. And some people get
[52:33] post-traumatic growth that they're
[52:36] actually better after the trauma. You
[52:38] know, they
[52:39] make the trauma and makes something
[52:42] meaningful out of it. And other people
[52:44] have post-traumatic stress where it
[52:47] really
[52:49] um causes them to suffer.
[52:52] I love the idea of brain reserve cuz I'm
[52:54] like always thinking of boosting mine.
[52:57] Yeah, because then also when something
[52:58] traumatic happens, I'm in a better
[52:59] place, right? Right. Like if you kill
[53:01] the ants, like if your ant population is
[53:04] low, my automatic negative thoughts.
[53:07] Right. Yeah. So, if you're masterful, if
[53:10] you have an anteater running around in
[53:12] your head cleaning up the negative
[53:14] thoughts that all of us have,
[53:16] when you go into that trauma,
[53:18] well, you're just better able to deal
[53:20] with it than
[53:23] if you have an undisciplined
[53:26] mind that's infested.
[53:29] And there's nowhere in school
[53:32] that people teach you to kill the ants.
[53:34] We have a foundation called the Change
[53:36] Your Brain Foundation.
[53:38] And I love it so much.
[53:40] Uh we're dedicated to research,
[53:42] education, service.
[53:45] But last year we produced this new
[53:48] course called Brain Thrive by Five. So
[53:51] it's for preschoolers, kindergarten,
[53:53] grade one,
[53:55] where we teach kids to love and care for
[53:57] their brain. It's like 30 modules,
[53:59] they're 6 to 7 minutes long, and six of
[54:03] them are on learning to kill the ants.
[54:06] Uh, little kids just love that. You
[54:08] don't have to believe every stupid thing
[54:10] you think. And I don't know if you know,
[54:13] but Jerry Seinfeld once said, "The brain
[54:15] is a sneaky organ." We all have weird,
[54:19] crazy, stupid, sexual, violent thoughts
[54:23] that nobody should ever hear. And just
[54:26] because you have bad thought doesn't
[54:27] even mean you believe the thought,
[54:30] right? It's not the thoughts you have
[54:31] that make you suffer, it's the thoughts
[54:33] you attach to
[54:36] that make you suffer. I get all sorts of
[54:38] crazy thoughts and I'm like,
[54:41] "My brain is so creative." But I don't
[54:44] believe most of them.
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[56:48] Tell me about the most unhealthy brain
[56:50] you've ever seen.
[56:53] For a 15-year-old was Kip Kinkel.
[56:56] He's a 15-year-old boy in Springfield,
[56:59] Oregon who brought weapons to school,
[57:03] got arrested, his parents picked him up
[57:06] from jail,
[57:08] and sometime between 6:00 that night and
[57:11] 8:00 the next morning, he murdered his
[57:13] mom and dad.
[57:15] And then he went to Springfield Thurston
[57:18] High School in Springfield, Oregon and
[57:20] shot 25 people.
[57:23] Based on my work, they scanned him for
[57:26] his trial.
[57:27] His brain was so awful. Like, I'd never
[57:30] seen a 15-year-old
[57:32] that had a brain so damaged.
[57:36] And his life reflected it.
[57:39] What did you see in his brain? It was
[57:41] shriveled.
[57:43] At 15? At 15.
[57:45] And it's like, okay, why? Well, he
[57:47] murdered his mom and dad, so I couldn't
[57:48] get a good history. But he either had
[57:51] anoxia
[57:53] at birth, lack of oxygen, a severe
[57:56] infection, or something was poisoning
[57:59] his brain. It could have been lead. It
[58:02] um
[58:04] could have been an infection. I mean
[58:06] we're talking about M, the I is immunity
[58:09] and infections. It's a major cause of
[58:12] psychiatric problems. Nobody knows about
[58:15] it.
[58:16] Have you scanned the brains of lots of
[58:18] psychopaths? I have.
[58:20] And what do you see when you look at a
[58:21] psychopath's
[58:22] So I published a study on murderers, and
[58:25] young murderers have really low frontal
[58:28] lobe function. Older murderers, it's
[58:31] global low activity. Now, not all
[58:35] murderers are the same. I have one
[58:38] murderer's brain Her brain actually
[58:39] looked pretty good. But she was in the
[58:41] middle of being abused by her husband,
[58:43] and she
[58:44] murdered him. And
[58:46] it wasn't that irrational, you know,
[58:49] when you really know her story.
[58:51] Um but most brains are
[58:54] troubled.
[58:56] Do you think you could look at a brain
[58:57] and predict Now you should ask me,
[59:00] should you scan presidential candidates?
[59:02] Interesting.
[59:04] Especially now. Uh
[59:07] What do you think Donald Trump's brain
[59:08] looks like?
[59:10] Well, I think if we scanned
[59:12] President Biden or former President
[59:15] Trump, neither one of them would be
[59:16] healthy.
[59:17] I mean, one, we talked about the older
[59:20] you got,
[59:21] the less healthy they are, and
[59:25] um
[59:28] if someone is going to have nuclear
[59:30] codes,
[59:32] shouldn't we know what their brain looks
[59:35] like?
[59:36] And I wrote an op-ed piece in 2008 when
[59:40] Barack Obama was running against John
[59:42] McCain arguing for don't you think we
[59:45] should scan presidential candidates?
[59:48] And
[59:49] yeah, I don't think either one of their
[59:51] brains would be healthy and that
[59:54] concerns me.
[59:55] Because I mean, what do we need for our
[59:59] top politicians?
[60:01] Judgment,
[60:03] forethought,
[60:04] impulse control. Okay, so playing
[60:06] devil's advocate to that. If we started
[60:08] to do that at the very highest office in
[60:11] the land, then that philosophy might
[60:14] creep down to lower offices in the land
[60:17] and when you go and try and get a job at
[60:19] I don't know, a restaurant or a
[60:20] marketing agency, it might become the
[60:23] norm that there's a almost brain
[60:25] discrimination or brain prejudice in
[60:27] play where someone like me, they have
[60:29] their brain scanned, they go, "Listen,
[60:30] this guy's
[60:31] he's not going to be very good at I
[60:32] don't know, focusing on things like
[60:33] that."
[60:33] interesting question.
[60:35] I have to tell you if you date one of my
[60:37] children
[60:39] for more than 4 months,
[60:41] I'm going to get you scanned. Really?
[60:43] I'm going to figure out how to do that.
[60:46] It's the rule in my family.
[60:48] Um and if you have a bad brain, it
[60:50] doesn't mean you can't come back.
[60:53] But are you smart enough to fix it?
[60:56] That would be the question. Have you
[60:58] done that?
[61:00] Well, my son-in-law,
[61:02] Jesse, who I love, his mother has
[61:05] paranoid schizophrenia.
[61:06] And I'm like,
[61:08] "I want to scan your brain." And I have.
[61:12] He actually wrote a book called Change
[61:14] Your Brain Before 25 and
[61:18] he opens the book with the story of his
[61:22] scan and him sitting with me. He's 6'4,
[61:26] I'm 5'6, and he said he'd never felt so
[61:30] small.
[61:31] And
[61:33] Yeah, no, that's the rule in my family.
[61:37] I like I said when I met my wife, I
[61:39] really liked her. And the first naked
[61:42] part of her I wanted to see was her
[61:44] brain.
[61:45] And so 3 weeks into our relationship,
[61:48] I'm like, "Hey, you haven't seen the
[61:49] clinic. Don't you want to see the
[61:51] clinic?" She came, I scanned her, and
[61:55] it passed.
[61:58] Do you use her brain
[62:00] against her?
[62:02] I bet you do.
[62:03] I bet you do. No.
[62:06] We spoke to Tana, she said you do.
[62:10] You're telling me there's not been one
[62:11] time where you've brought up her brain
[62:13] in a moment of conflict or arguments.
[62:16] Not once, cuz I will call Tana.
[62:18] I I don't. Yeah. No, okay.
[62:20] Because you know what I do? And this is
[62:23] this is on par with killing the ants.
[62:25] I do an exercise with my patients called
[62:28] the one-page miracle.
[62:29] On one piece of paper, write down what
[62:32] you want.
[62:33] Relate and in a very specific way.
[62:36] What do you want in your relationships?
[62:38] Your work, your money, your physical,
[62:42] emotional, and spiritual health. What do
[62:45] you want?
[62:47] And with her, cuz she's on the top of my
[62:51] list, I want a kind, caring, loving,
[62:54] supportive, passionate relationship. I
[62:58] always want that.
[63:00] I don't always feel like that. Rude
[63:02] thoughts come into my head.
[63:05] And if I've slept and I've eaten,
[63:07] I never say them.
[63:09] Why? Cuz it doesn't get me what I want.
[63:12] Mhm. Right? And that's not selfish.
[63:14] People go, "Oh, but you know,
[63:17] what you want What what I want is not
[63:19] selfish.
[63:20] It's good.
[63:22] Cuz hedonism is the enemy of happiness.
[63:26] But happiness is a moral obligation
[63:29] because of how you impact other people.
[63:31] Your brain's so smart, but you have to
[63:34] tell it what you
[63:36] want. And every major business,
[63:38] including mine, we have a one-page
[63:40] strategic plan. We know what we want,
[63:43] and we know what we're going to do this
[63:46] quarter and this year.
[63:49] But people don't do that in their lives.
[63:51] And you think they should have like a
[63:53] life plan? Every
[63:55] person should. What do you want?
[63:57] Is your behavior getting you
[64:00] what you want? Do you think the brain
[64:02] almost conspires to make
[64:04] to fit what you want? I either brain,
[64:07] once you're clear on what you want, I
[64:08] guess your actions will change a little
[64:10] bit, and then your brain will change
[64:11] shape to fit what you've said you
[64:13] wanted. Yes. And the brain is lazy.
[64:18] The brain
[64:20] does what you allow it to do.
[64:23] And it's habitual. I was talking to one
[64:26] of my patients about this yesterday.
[64:28] Um
[64:30] cuz we were working on his one-page
[64:31] miracle.
[64:33] And he's like, "You know, I could be
[64:34] more positive."
[64:38] And I go, "It's a habit
[64:40] to be negative or to be positive. Which
[64:42] highways are you building in your brain?
[64:46] Positive highways or negative highways?
[64:49] Accurate highways or distorted highways?
[64:52] You build that."
[64:54] And if you watch the news, they'll
[64:55] become more distorted.
[64:58] Cuz it's Yeah. In my book, The End of
[65:00] Mental Illness, I I did something It was
[65:02] very fun for me to do. I imagined if I
[65:05] was an evil ruler
[65:06] and I wanted to create mental illness,
[65:09] what would I do?
[65:11] And watching the news, I think it was
[65:13] there's 62 evil ruler strategies and I
[65:16] think that's like 12. Um, because
[65:21] the news is no longer the news.
[65:24] The news is about eyeballs and selling
[65:27] things.
[65:28] And
[65:30] negativity sells. If I can scare you,
[65:32] that will sell.
[65:34] And so, um
[65:37] you have to be very careful with what
[65:39] you allow in your brain. And yes, you
[65:42] should be informed.
[65:43] But not over and over and over and over
[65:45] again. People who start the day with the
[65:47] news
[65:49] are 27%
[65:50] less happy in the afternoon.
[65:54] Well, I listen to lots of true crime and
[65:56] serial killer things.
[65:58] Like every day.
[66:00] Are you telling me
[66:01] funny. I have this show on Instagram
[66:04] called Scan My Brain. I take influential
[66:07] people and scan them and I did Meghan
[66:10] Trainor, uh, the
[66:12] uh, musician. I love her music. And she
[66:16] goes, "I can't sleep." And every night
[66:18] before bed, she's listening to true
[66:20] crime. And I'm like, "Stop that." Do you
[66:23] think it matters? Cuz I listen to true
[66:25] crime before bed.
[66:26] I have this exercise that I recommend
[66:29] all my patients. I've done it for
[66:33] 10 years.
[66:34] What went well when I go to bed.
[66:37] I start at the beginning of the day
[66:39] and
[66:42] just go hour by hour looking for what
[66:44] went right about my day. I think that's
[66:47] set your dreams up to be more positive.
[66:50] I think it's
[66:51] I do both and then I just see which one
[66:54] works better for you. Every day win or
[66:58] learn.
[66:59] What is the I in Bright Minds? Immunity
[67:02] and infections. So, do you know your
[67:05] vitamin D level? No, but I do take the
[67:08] only supplement that I
[67:10] take frequently, I'd say there's two, is
[67:12] vitamin D and omega-3.
[67:16] But I've because I'm black as well, I
[67:18] was You need more vitamin D. Yeah.
[67:20] So,
[67:21] uh people have darker skin need and
[67:26] going from Africa, where there's a lot
[67:28] of sun, to the UK, where there's no sun,
[67:32] dramatically increase the risk of mental
[67:35] health problems. Yeah.
[67:36] Because of vitamin D deficiencies. Do
[67:39] you know what? I think there's a certain
[67:40] member of my family, who I won't name,
[67:42] who went from Africa, they're
[67:45] they've got two Nigerian parents, went
[67:47] from Africa to the UK,
[67:49] and I saw their mental health
[67:51] deteriorate quite significantly to the
[67:52] point that we believe this person might
[67:54] have bipolar now.
[67:56] And I I I
[67:57] part of me suspects, once I learned
[67:59] about vitamin D deficiency in people
[68:02] that have darker skin,
[68:03] this person has very, very, very, very
[68:05] black skin, um that it might be
[68:07] associated with that change.
[68:09] Being in a new country that has no
[68:10] sunlight for 30 years when you're,
[68:13] you know, black black. You bet. Yeah.
[68:15] And it's part of So, if you see
[68:20] mental health is brain health, then that
[68:23] becomes a critical intervention. If
[68:25] you're not paying attention to brain
[68:27] health, then you're like, well, what
[68:30] antipsychotic or what mood stabilizer
[68:33] can
[68:34] I give them. And I'm fair well, may use
[68:36] an antipsychotic or a mood stabilizer,
[68:39] but if I get your brain healthy,
[68:41] you might not need it, or you'll need
[68:44] half the dose.
[68:46] So, and and then infections, I mean,
[68:49] we're just coming out of a pandemic,
[68:51] and COVID changes your brain in a bad
[68:54] way. It causes, um
[68:57] like a a
[68:59] inflammatory bomb to go off in your
[69:02] brain.
[69:03] I was on the Kardashian show last year
[69:05] because I scanned Kendall. Kendall came
[69:07] to see me.
[69:09] And obviously I was on the show, so it
[69:11] was public knowledge. And it was
[69:13] post-COVID, and her emotional brain just
[69:17] was on fire.
[69:19] Uh, and that's what we saw with COVID.
[69:22] And long COVID, emotional brain is hot,
[69:26] but then the cortex begins to
[69:29] um
[69:31] get low in activity. It's it's a bad
[69:33] combination. Well, I mean, what does
[69:34] that mean? It's like chronic damage. And
[69:37] what does that mean if the in terms of
[69:39] behavior?
[69:41] What's the implications for behavior?
[69:42] So, the hot
[69:44] limbic brain tense anxiety
[69:48] that she hadn't had. Um, if you start
[69:51] damaging your cortex, then all of a
[69:53] sudden you're sad, you're impulsive,
[69:56] you're irritable, you
[69:58] uh,
[69:58] can get dark thoughts, sometimes even
[70:01] suicidal thoughts.
[70:03] And people got COVID, significantly
[70:05] increased in dementia.
[70:11] Someone who's listening to this right
[70:12] now that is depressed,
[70:15] clinically depressed, um
[70:17] or just feels, you know, depressive
[70:19] symptoms, where do you start? Let's go
[70:21] to the extreme end. Someone that can't
[70:23] get themselves out of bed. I sat here
[70:24] with Jada Pinkett, and she told me that
[70:27] she was clinically depressed, and she if
[70:31] she just got to 4:00 p.m. every day, to
[70:33] her that was a victory. There are lots
[70:35] of people out there that are in that
[70:36] situation right now.
[70:39] Where do you start with those people?
[70:40] What advice do you give them? Cuz I'm
[70:42] sure you see a lot of them in your
[70:43] practice.
[70:45] It starts
[70:47] with awareness. Yeah. That maybe this is
[70:49] not me, maybe it's my brain. Mhm. And
[70:52] then it starts with loving your brain,
[70:54] and then investigating Mhm. your brain.
[70:57] Cuz depression is like chest pain. So,
[71:00] if you
[71:01] if somebody's like had chest pain,
[71:04] you're like, "Well, where would you
[71:05] start?" Well, you start with an
[71:07] evaluation. You wouldn't start with
[71:09] drugs.
[71:11] I mean, that would be like ludicrous.
[71:13] You would like go, "Well, why do you
[71:14] have chest pain? Why are you depressed?
[71:17] You know, how's your thyroid? Right? The
[71:19] person that can't get off the couch,
[71:22] they
[71:23] they could be hypothyroid.
[71:26] Or one of my friends got depressed,
[71:29] she had anemia. She had pernicious
[71:31] anemia because it was a B12 deficiency.
[71:34] I I wouldn't assume, "Oh, you're
[71:36] depressed, take this medicine."
[71:40] Depression is what it is, it's not why
[71:42] it is.
[71:44] And if you don't know why it is, how do
[71:46] you effectively treat something? Like so
[71:48] many people come to me and they go, "I
[71:49] have an autoimmune disorder."
[71:51] It's like, "Well, why do you have an
[71:52] autoimmune disorder? Why is your body so
[71:54] mad at you it's attacking itself?"
[71:57] And so, Because my body's broken.
[72:00] But why is your body broken?
[72:03] Right? And I and I I hate the term
[72:04] broken, right? The the series like the
[72:07] broken brain. And it's like,
[72:09] no.
[72:11] It's not optimized. Let's optimize it. I
[72:14] I never want my patients to think of
[72:16] them as mental.
[72:18] And I never want them to think of
[72:19] themselves as broken. You're awesome.
[72:23] So, how can I help you be maybe 10%
[72:26] more awesome? People feel like their
[72:28] brain is against them.
[72:31] Is working against them when they're
[72:32] feeling depression or those chronic
[72:34] cycles of negative thinking. Why is my
[72:36] brain attacking me? Why is it against
[72:38] me?
[72:39] So, part of it is it's not healthy and
[72:41] part of it's undisciplined.
[72:44] And I got to do a lecture last year for
[72:48] the coaching staff of the Miami Heat.
[72:50] It was so much fun for me. And I'm
[72:53] really thinking a lot about elite
[72:57] performance.
[72:59] And I think it's just such a better
[73:01] model. It's like let me help you be your
[73:04] best rather than let me fix you.
[73:08] And and I think someone like you, I
[73:11] mean, it's like you're already awesome.
[73:13] How can I make you more awesome? How can
[73:15] I give you more access
[73:19] to your
[73:21] brain.
[73:22] And it's just it's easier to sell that
[73:25] than
[73:27] you know, let me give you a diagnosis of
[73:29] a mental illness and
[73:33] then let me give you a medicine you have
[73:34] to take for the rest of your life. This
[73:36] is the wrong model that psychiatry is
[73:40] currently operating with. Really good
[73:42] for the pharmaceutical industry. Really
[73:45] bad for our society. 25% of the American
[73:49] population is on psychiatric drugs.
[73:52] That's just horrifying.
[73:54] Is Ritalin a psychiatric drug? It is.
[73:57] And I'm not opposed to psychiatric
[73:59] drugs. Let's be really clear. I'm
[74:01] actually really good with them.
[74:03] It's never the first and only thing
[74:06] I think about.
[74:08] What is the N in Bright Minds?
[74:10] Neurohormone.
[74:14] If your hormones that affect your brain,
[74:17] which are all of them,
[74:20] are not optimal, you're not optimal.
[74:23] And the D and S?
[74:24] Like if you're
[74:26] um
[74:27] cold when other people are not, we
[74:29] should look at your thyroid. The D is
[74:31] diabesity,
[74:33] where you're overweight and/or have high
[74:35] blood sugar. It's the most common of the
[74:39] 11. 72% of people are overweight. And as
[74:43] your weight goes up,
[74:46] you have seven of the 11 risk factors.
[74:49] It lowers blood flow to the brain and
[74:50] prematurely ages the brain, increases
[74:52] inflammation, it stores toxins.
[74:55] It's a bad thing. And then the S is
[74:57] sleep.
[74:59] I've got obsessed with my sleep
[75:00] recently. I have my Whoop on pretty much
[75:02] all the time and they're sponsor of this
[75:04] podcast, I probably should say, but I'm
[75:05] also like a equity shareholder in the
[75:07] company. But it's become one of my
[75:08] biggest obsessions in my life is waking
[75:10] up in the morning and looking at how I
[75:11] slept, how much deep sleep, restorative
[75:13] sleep I've had, my heart rate
[75:14] variability, all that stuff. I'm
[75:16] obsessed with it. What does sleep do to
[75:18] my brain? I guess you said earlier that
[75:20] it kind of cleans it, cleans it and
[75:22] refreshes it.
[75:23] Well, we didn't even know that until
[75:25] it's just 10 or 12 years ago where
[75:27] researchers
[75:29] saw that
[75:32] the fluid system in your brain, it's
[75:34] called the glymphatic system, doesn't
[75:37] open up when you're awake, but when
[75:40] you're asleep, it opens up and then sort
[75:42] of cleans things, washes things. And so
[75:46] for those people like me, who I thought
[75:48] I was special because I could get by on
[75:50] 4 hours of sleep at night, I'm sort of
[75:52] running around with a toxic brain or
[75:54] dirty brain. And so What are these toxic
[75:58] toxins? So what is it cleaning? Have you
[76:00] heard of beta amyloid, which is
[76:04] cluster of proteins that increases your
[76:06] risk of Alzheimer's disease? So they
[76:09] build up during the day,
[76:11] system cleans it. But if you're not
[76:13] getting good sleep, you have more of a
[76:15] toxic buildup of those kinds of clumping
[76:19] proteins
[76:21] that are problematic for you.
[76:23] Interesting.
[76:25] Interesting.
[76:26] Is there anything else people need to
[76:28] know about sleep in the brain? Because I
[76:29] think everybody knows sleep is
[76:31] important. A lot of people struggle with
[76:33] sleep. Sleep apnea triples the risk of
[76:36] Alzheimer's disease. One of the big
[76:39] lessons Imaging has taught me that I can
[76:42] actually see the pattern for sleep apnea
[76:45] on a scan and it looks like early
[76:47] Alzheimer's disease.
[76:50] Bilateral parietal top back part of your
[76:53] brain decreases. What is sleep apnea?
[76:56] Snore loudly, stop breathing at night,
[76:59] chronically tired the next day. So, when
[77:04] you sleep, your breathing um you have
[77:07] many apneic episodes where you stop
[77:10] breathing.
[77:12] And so and if you're sleeping alone, you
[77:15] actually might not know it because no
[77:18] one's being woken up by your snoring.
[77:20] Um
[77:23] and even people who've been diagnosed
[77:27] with it
[77:28] don't treat it because they don't want
[77:30] to wear the mask at night. And I'm like,
[77:34] no, you have to treat it. Otherwise
[77:37] the worst thing you can do for your
[77:38] brain is starve it of oxygen. That's the
[77:42] worst thing you can do for your brain.
[77:44] So, breath work then must be quite good
[77:46] for the brain.
[77:47] Breath work is good for the brain.
[77:50] Um one of my tiny habits, I have many of
[77:53] them for brain health is the 15-second
[77:56] breath.
[77:57] Uh 8 seconds in, hold it for a second
[77:59] and a half, 4 seconds out, hold it for a
[78:02] second and a half.
[78:03] Do that four times eight times, it'll
[78:06] break a panic attack.
[78:08] Do it on a routine basis, it'll increase
[78:11] your heart rate variability.
[78:13] Breath work will? Breath work.
[78:15] Heart rate variability is this metric
[78:17] that I think society, much of society,
[78:19] has suddenly become quite obsessed with
[78:20] it, including me. Me and my friends
[78:22] literally have a heart rate variability
[78:23] contest every morning where we like
[78:25] screenshot our heart rate variability
[78:26] and drop it into the chat and some of my
[78:28] friends are trying to increase theirs.
[78:29] One of my friends called my friend
[78:31] called Ash, I mentioned him earlier on.
[78:33] His has been quite low, so he's kind of
[78:34] been trying to get it up.
[78:36] Um I guess we're going to have to ask
[78:38] two questions here, which is what is
[78:39] heart variability? And the second
[78:40] question is, how do I improve it in your
[78:42] view? So again, you can't change what
[78:45] you don't measure. And now people who
[78:47] wear Apple watches or aura rings or
[78:50] devices that measure it,
[78:53] heart rate variability is the
[78:55] beat-to-beat variability of your heart
[78:58] rate. And people go, "Oh, well, my heart
[79:00] rate should beat the same." Well, no.
[79:04] Actually, the more variable it is, bum
[79:07] bum bum bum bum bum bum
[79:10] rather than bum bum bum bum bum bum.
[79:14] Um, I
[79:15] first heard about heart rate variability
[79:18] with babies. That when a baby is being
[79:20] born, they actually put a scalp monitor
[79:23] on it and they look at the heart rate
[79:25] variability
[79:27] of the baby. And if it's very variable,
[79:31] it's bouncing all over the place, well,
[79:32] it's a sign of heart health. When it
[79:35] flattens and becomes even, like it's
[79:38] just 70,
[79:41] they go get the baby because that means
[79:43] the baby is in trouble. Doesn't make any
[79:45] sense, does it? It's like
[79:46] counterintuitive.
[79:47] It's a little bit counterintuitive,
[79:50] but if your heart rate variability is
[79:53] low,
[79:54] you have a higher risk of anxiety,
[79:57] depression, and heart disease.
[80:00] Dying early. I mean, there's this huge
[80:02] connection between your brain health and
[80:05] your heart health.
[80:07] And so, meditation increases heart rate
[80:11] variability, breathwork increases heart
[80:15] rate variability, exercise can increase
[80:18] heart rate variability, good sleep and
[80:20] good sleep hygiene can increase it. Ants
[80:25] decrease heart rate variability.
[80:29] I stopped drinking alcohol for this very
[80:31] reason. People don't know this, but I I
[80:32] mean I've probably mentioned it twice
[80:33] now on on air, but I quit drinking
[80:36] alcohol about a month and a half ago, I
[80:38] think.
[80:39] And part of the reason is when I wore my
[80:41] Whoop, and then I had, I don't know, one
[80:44] glass of wine or two glasses or three
[80:45] glasses of wine the the day before, when
[80:47] I woke up the next day, my heart rate
[80:49] variability was like flashing red. It
[80:51] was 30, 40. Typically, on a great day,
[80:54] my heart rate variability is 150, 140,
[80:58] which is strong.
[80:59] Really? I know this cuz I compete with
[81:01] my friends. But on a day where I had a
[81:03] glass of alcohol, it'd be flashing red,
[81:05] and it'd be 40. Also, if I was sick, it
[81:08] would be 40. Also, if I had a really
[81:11] stressful, unslept day the day before,
[81:13] it would also be 40. And the fact that
[81:15] alcohol was causing my heart to respond
[81:17] the same as a awfully stressful, unslept
[81:20] day, or COVID, I thought,
[81:24] [ __ ] [ __ ] that.
[81:26] And I've So, that's part of the reason I
[81:27] quit drinking alcohol.
[81:29] And now that
[81:30] you have brain envy?
[81:32] Yeah. You're going to have a healthier
[81:33] brain if you keep it away cuz alcohol
[81:37] lies to us. Alcohol lies to us? Alcohol
[81:41] causes damage in the brain. Really? Even
[81:44] a little bit of alcohol causes damage in
[81:47] the brain. It disrupts something called
[81:49] white matter.
[81:50] So, gray matter nerve cell bodies, white
[81:53] matter nerve cell tracks. So, white
[81:55] matter's the highways in your brain that
[81:58] transmit information and impulses. And
[82:01] even a little bit of alcohol
[82:04] has been shown to disrupt the white
[82:06] matter in your brain.
[82:08] I don't want anything messing with the
[82:09] highways in my brain.
[82:11] But I love that you measured it, you
[82:15] made the connection, and then you
[82:16] stopped it. It's a sign of intelligent
[82:19] life because you love yourself. Mhm.
[82:23] Alcohol
[82:25] because there's a lot of people that are
[82:26] sat on the fence right now with alcohol.
[82:27] They probably don't have a really bad
[82:30] relationship with it. They're probably
[82:31] not alcoholics, but they kind of just
[82:34] they have it because society is
[82:35] constructed in such a way that on a
[82:36] Friday evening when the waiter comes
[82:37] over and puts down the wine list, you
[82:39] just go oh I'm going to go whatever.
[82:40] That's who I was. I was just on the
[82:42] fence. My friend, one of my best
[82:44] friends, was an alcoholic. So I
[82:46] understand why he quit because he had
[82:48] this really dysfunctional relationship
[82:49] with it that would ruin his life. I'm
[82:52] the type of person that would have one
[82:54] drink, two drinks, and then I'd maybe
[82:55] stop. I didn't feel the need to have
[82:57] three, four, seven, 19. He was
[82:59] different. And also because of that
[83:01] there was no adverse consequences in my
[83:03] life. So when I went away with him
[83:05] recently, he's writing a book on um
[83:07] alcohol and alcoholism.
[83:10] He was telling me about the book and I
[83:11] was going I personally wouldn't read
[83:13] that book because I don't feel like I
[83:15] have a problem with alcohol. This was
[83:17] before I quit. So I was like what I
[83:19] would love from a book, this is just me
[83:21] personally, is a book that made the case
[83:23] to people who are kind of sat on the
[83:25] fence that drink or a beer or a glass of
[83:27] wine just cuz I don't know society is
[83:30] constructed in such a way where it's
[83:31] hard to avoid. Um but they could go for
[83:34] a mocktail if someone gave them some
[83:36] performance-based evidence that alcohol,
[83:40] just even a little bit, that the casual
[83:42] drinking actually matters.
[83:45] So this is where you come in.
[83:47] Doctor.
[83:48] One of my biggest
[83:51] uh Instagram posts was I told you so.
[83:55] Um the American Cancer Society came out
[83:58] and said any alcohol increases your risk
[84:01] of seven different types of cancer.
[84:04] And I've been talking about this for 30
[84:06] years cuz I have scans and people who
[84:09] drank any alcohol have lower activity
[84:13] than people who don't drink at all.
[84:16] And obviously alcoholics, they have
[84:18] terrible looking brains.
[84:20] Um
[84:21] don't do that.
[84:23] But, you got to ask yourself why.
[84:27] And remember we talked about the
[84:28] one-page miracle. What do you want?
[84:30] Relationships, work, money, physical,
[84:33] emotional, spiritual health. So, where
[84:35] does alcohol
[84:37] come in
[84:38] to that? Oh, well, it helps me relax.
[84:41] Well, the 15-second breath will help you
[84:43] relax, but there are no side effects to
[84:45] it. That will increase your heart rate
[84:47] variability. Alcohol will decrease heart
[84:50] rate variability and
[84:52] brain function. And if it decreases
[84:54] brain function, it decreases
[84:56] decision-making.
[84:57] As a psychiatrist,
[85:00] 30%, 40% of the people I see, they
[85:03] initially come to my office because it's
[85:06] somehow alcohol-related.
[85:08] Fight with their spouse, problems with
[85:10] their kids, whatever.
[85:12] I'm so impressed you noticed the
[85:14] difference with heart rate variability
[85:16] and then you stopped. Mhm. Yeah, cuz I
[85:19] I'm I'm a I'm a fences with alcohol. And
[85:21] it's crazy. I And I now understand how
[85:23] difficult it is to stop in our society.
[85:24] I was telling my team I quit and I went
[85:27] for dinner with a guy called Skrillex.
[85:28] Like everyone knows Skrillex, he's a DJ,
[85:29] Sonny. And this was a week after I'd
[85:32] quit. Sat in the restaurant, the waiter
[85:34] comes over,
[85:36] bless him, and he goes, "Here's the wine
[85:37] list." I go, "I I don't drink alcohol."
[85:39] He goes He goes and gets a bottle of
[85:41] wine
[85:42] and he puts it next to me and goes,
[85:43] "This is not alcohol, this is art. I'm
[85:46] going to leave it next to you just in
[85:47] case you get tempted." And Sonny's
[85:49] Sonny, to his credit, is telling this
[85:51] waiter that he doesn't drink. This
[85:52] waiter is having none of it. And in that
[85:54] moment,
[85:56] I understood
[85:57] how difficult it is to quit in the
[85:59] society that we've built, where every
[86:02] social interaction apparently needs to
[86:04] be fueled by alcohol. And if you say no,
[86:07] you're either weird or someone will try
[86:09] and change your mind
[86:11] or persuade you otherwise. It's just
[86:12] this culture we have. It's the evil
[86:13] ruler society. I think that's an evil
[86:15] ruler strategy. The food pushers, the
[86:18] drug pushers, the alcohol pushers. Um
[86:22] For me, I just I look at people like
[86:24] that and it's like, "So, why do you want
[86:26] me to drink when I don't want to?"
[86:28] What's it a What's going on with you?
[86:31] Yeah. And I usually shut them down. Um
[86:35] But,
[86:36] why? An interesting question. When you
[86:39] go to a restaurant, the first thing they
[86:41] do is put bread on the table
[86:45] and ask if you want alcohol because both
[86:48] of them drop your frontal lobes.
[86:51] Both of them make it more likely you're
[86:54] going to order more
[86:56] and spend more money at the restaurant.
[86:59] So, the bread is an investment on their
[87:02] part because bread gives you a sugar
[87:05] spike, a blood sugar spike, which then
[87:08] pushes serotonin in your brain
[87:11] and makes you happy.
[87:13] But, serotonin drops frontal lobe
[87:15] function.
[87:16] One thing they never tell you when they
[87:18] give you an SSRI for depression is, "Oh,
[87:21] you're going to become a little bit more
[87:22] impulsive because it's going to drop
[87:24] your frontal lobes."
[87:26] And then alcohol, which also drops your
[87:29] frontal lobes. So, you'll drop more cash
[87:32] in the restaurant.
[87:34] Question then, on this point of alcohol,
[87:37] if I took two people
[87:39] off the street, let's say they do
[87:40] everything in their lives the same other
[87:42] than what I'm about to say. I gave one
[87:44] of them
[87:46] a casual drink for the next decade. Just
[87:49] maybe two drinks a week, three drinks a
[87:51] week for the next decade. And the other
[87:53] person was completely sober for the next
[87:55] decade. When you looked at their brain
[87:57] in 10 years time, if they were doing
[87:59] everything the same, would you see a
[88:00] difference?
[88:01] Yes.
[88:02] The person who is drinking two or three
[88:04] times a week will have less blood flow
[88:06] in their brain.
[88:07] And will that have changed the shape of
[88:09] their brain?
[88:10] Yes, it'll be a little bit more
[88:12] shriveled.
[88:13] And then that means their behavior's
[88:14] going to change as well.
[88:16] They'll have a little bit less impulse
[88:18] control. And when you look at the brain
[88:20] of an A little bit less impulse control
[88:22] when you're doing hard things like
[88:24] marriage.
[88:26] Not a good thing. Or raising children,
[88:29] or managing a business. It's like
[88:33] you don't want a little bit worse
[88:36] decisions.
[88:37] Sex.
[88:38] Sex and libido. A lot of people are
[88:40] struggling with their sex lives, getting
[88:42] an erection, getting aroused, men and
[88:44] women.
[88:45] The brain and sex.
[88:48] I imagine you have people come to you
[88:50] and go, "Listen, me and my wife, me and
[88:52] my partner, me and my husband, we've
[88:53] stopped having sex. I've lost my
[88:55] libido." When you hear that
[88:58] and you offer people advice on libido
[88:59] and sex, what is what You fix your
[89:01] brain, right? Your sex life gets better.
[89:04] In large part, it's about blood flow.
[89:06] And if you're having erectile
[89:10] dysfunction or low libido, um you got to
[89:14] go, "Well, why?" Is what are the risk
[89:17] factors with that? And many of them
[89:20] relate to what's going on in your brain.
[89:23] And I I
[89:25] So often people go, "I did everything
[89:27] you said and my wife's so much happier
[89:29] with our sex life." Um
[89:35] You have to check your hormones. I think
[89:37] that's very important. You have to deal
[89:40] with whatever sexual trauma might be
[89:42] there.
[89:43] Um the biggest sex organ in the body is
[89:47] your brain.
[89:48] If there's no forethought, there's no
[89:51] foreplay.
[89:52] And so
[89:54] it's about the decisions that you make.
[89:57] What else do we need to know about sex?
[89:59] If I'm trying to get my partner in the
[90:00] mood and I'm trying to make them
[90:02] aroused.
[90:02] It depends on their brain. Okay, right.
[90:05] So, if your partner has a very busy
[90:10] frontal lobe, that part called the
[90:12] anterior cingulate gyrus,
[90:15] you can't go,
[90:17] "Come on, let's have sex." Because
[90:19] you've met people with the automatic no,
[90:23] that no matter what you say, they're
[90:24] going to say the opposite of it, or
[90:26] they're going to
[90:27] fuss with it. I mean, it's like, "It's a
[90:28] nice day today." "Oh, no, it was nicer
[90:30] yesterday." I mean, even simple things.
[90:32] "So, you going to want to have sex?"
[90:33] "No."
[90:34] Um
[90:36] I was at this lecture once, and
[90:39] somebody came up to me at a break and
[90:41] said, "You've helped me so much.
[90:44] Um I thought my wife just didn't love
[90:46] me. And what I realized is that part of
[90:48] her brain was just working too hard. So,
[90:50] now I ask everything in the opposite."
[90:55] It's like, "Oh,
[90:57] like if I wanted to go to the store,
[90:58] she'd never want to go with me. And I'd
[91:00] go, so now what I do is I go,
[91:03] 'I'm going to go to the store, you
[91:04] probably don't want to come.' 'What do
[91:06] you mean I don't want to come? Of course
[91:07] I want to come.'
[91:09] He said, "But it doesn't sound right to
[91:11] say, 'Well, you probably don't want to
[91:12] have sex.'"
[91:14] Oh, I go, "Okay, I know her brain do
[91:17] this." And I gave him natural things to
[91:20] boost serotonin.
[91:22] So, I said,
[91:23] "Take her out for a pasta dinner." So,
[91:25] I'm not a fan of pasta generally, except
[91:27] for these people.
[91:29] Take her out for a pasta dinner, because
[91:30] pasta increases serotonin. Then take her
[91:33] for a walk around the lake, cuz exercise
[91:38] increases serotonin. Then give her a
[91:41] piece of dark chocolate. Not too many,
[91:44] cuz if you get her too many, she'll have
[91:46] no need for you. But
[91:49] dark chocolate has PEA in it,
[91:51] phenylethylamines, that'll alert your
[91:53] brain that something fun is about to
[91:56] happen.
[91:57] And then,
[91:59] put on a little baby powder, because
[92:01] baby powder, it's been shown
[92:04] scientifically is a natural aphrodisiac
[92:06] for women cuz what do women
[92:08] unconsciously associate to baby powder?
[92:12] Babies. And unconsciously they want one.
[92:16] And then
[92:18] rub her back and don't ask for anything
[92:20] directly.
[92:22] And from about day 4 to about day 18 of
[92:25] her menstrual cycle, you're likely to
[92:27] get lucky.
[92:28] Why from day 4 to day
[92:31] Because she's The last week of a woman's
[92:34] menstrual cycle, especially people who
[92:36] have this brain type tend to be
[92:38] more irritable. Is that before their
[92:40] period?
[92:42] Yes, it's before the period. Okay, so
[92:43] the week before their period is when
[92:46] she's going to be
[92:46] weeks before their period is generally
[92:48] the best time. Do men and women have
[92:50] different brains?
[92:52] Significantly?
[92:52] Wildly so. Wildly different?
[92:54] whole thing about you can't put your
[92:57] gender on your medical forms is just
[93:01] insanely stupid. Uh
[93:04] because gender matters. Like estrogen
[93:07] and testosterone, they matter when it
[93:09] comes to brain function. I published a
[93:12] study on 46,000
[93:15] scans looking at the differences between
[93:18] male and female brains and they're wild.
[93:21] Uh women have much better frontal lobes
[93:25] function, that much better blood flow to
[93:27] the front part of their brain. Which
[93:29] makes them Which makes them good leaders
[93:33] if you think of impulse control and
[93:36] collaboration and communication.
[93:40] And the one statistic that just hammers
[93:42] this home is who goes to jail.
[93:45] Men.
[93:46] 14 times more than women.
[93:50] But women get depressed twice as much as
[93:53] men because their limbic or emotional
[93:56] brain is much busier than the male
[94:00] brain. And that's why in every um human
[94:03] society, women are primary caretakers
[94:06] for children. Um women have a bigger
[94:08] nesting instinct. So I told you we moved
[94:11] recently. And moving is much harder on
[94:15] women in general than it is in men
[94:18] because they feel like they lose their
[94:20] nest and they have to redo their nest
[94:22] and I was an army psychiatrist for 7
[94:25] years and I used to always tell the
[94:27] guys, I'm like, when you move, you stay
[94:29] home and help her put the house together
[94:31] cuz she's going to be way happier
[94:33] uh
[94:34] for you.
[94:35] On that impulse control bit, I remember
[94:36] reading the statistics that men
[94:39] suffer with gambling addictions and
[94:41] betting addictions significantly more
[94:43] than women.
[94:43] Drug addictions, alcohol, ADD five times
[94:47] more than
[94:48] women. Um
[94:51] But women get help
[94:54] because
[94:55] they're not afraid to ask for help.
[94:57] Where for men, it's often a macho thing.
[95:00] It's like there's nothing the matter
[95:01] with me, which is why women attempt
[95:06] suicide three to four times more than
[95:10] males, but males kill themselves three
[95:14] to five four times more than women do
[95:16] because men use more violent means. And
[95:19] men aren't communicating
[95:22] I'm in trouble.
[95:25] Saunas. Saunas and exercise on the
[95:27] brain.
[95:30] Good good for the brain?
[95:32] So I'm a huge fan of saunas
[95:35] uh
[95:35] because
[95:37] of the studies mostly from
[95:40] Northern Europe, people take the most
[95:42] saunas have the lowest incidence of
[95:44] Alzheimer's disease. And I told you
[95:47] about my mercury detoxing is really
[95:50] important. And you can detox in a lot of
[95:52] different ways, but sauna is one of the
[95:54] most effective ways.
[95:57] Um
[95:57] exercise is you want to stay young, walk
[96:01] like you're late.
[96:02] If you're 80 and you can walk 3 miles an
[96:05] hour, you have a 90% chance of living
[96:07] till you're 90. If you can only walk a
[96:09] mile an hour, you have a 90% chance
[96:11] you're not going to live until you're
[96:15] 90. So, exercise boosts blood flow, it
[96:18] increases
[96:20] uh brain-derived neurotrophic factor. It
[96:23] increases serotonin, increases dopamine.
[96:26] Um
[96:27] another interesting thing is should you
[96:29] do cold plunges? Because cold plunges
[96:32] have been found to fairly dramatically
[96:35] increase dopamine.
[96:37] So, you should do cold plunges?
[96:39] Not if you have heart problems. So, if
[96:41] you have heart problems, I wouldn't do
[96:43] that. But, if you have inflammation, if
[96:45] you have pain, if you tend to be
[96:48] depressed, there's evidence cold plunges
[96:51] can be helpful.
[96:53] What about weight in the brain?
[96:56] When you look at someone who is
[96:58] clinically obese and you look at their
[96:59] brain, what do you see? And if I'm
[97:01] trying to lose weight,
[97:03] what do I need to know about the brain?
[97:07] You know, I've thought a lot about this
[97:09] because I have obesity in my family. Um
[97:14] as your weight goes up,
[97:16] the size and function of your brain goes
[97:18] down.
[97:20] And that's horrifying.
[97:23] People who are in our society is against
[97:26] us. I mean, you just I wrote a book
[97:28] called The Brain Warrior's Way, and I
[97:30] argue you're in a war for the health of
[97:33] your brain. Everywhere you go, someone's
[97:35] trying to shove bad food down your
[97:37] throat that will kill you. I can see the
[97:40] emotion in your face when you say this.
[97:41] Yeah.
[97:42] Uh
[97:43] it's just horrifying, you know, to think
[97:45] of Carl's Jr. that will take these
[97:48] you know, Charlotte McKinney or
[97:50] Katherine Webb, these beautiful women
[97:52] and have them eat cheeseburgers and it's
[97:56] unconsciously people are like, if you
[97:59] eat those burgers these women will want
[98:01] you. Well, these women have spit buckets
[98:03] on those sets where every time they take
[98:06] a bite they spit it out because they'd
[98:07] never have those bodies if they ate
[98:10] that food. We are being manipulated
[98:14] and it is causing what I think is one of
[98:18] the greatest epidemics ever
[98:21] of obesity and if you're overweight
[98:25] lower blood flow, aging, inflammation,
[98:28] stores toxins, makes you feel awful
[98:31] about yourself.
[98:34] Takes healthy testosterone. We talked
[98:36] about, you know, why the low. Takes
[98:38] healthy testosterone and turns it into
[98:41] unhealthy cancer-promoting forms of
[98:45] estrogen. It's just a disaster what's
[98:48] happening.
[98:50] I think
[98:51] you have to start counting your
[98:53] calories.
[98:54] And, you know, I run up against all
[98:56] sorts of scientists go calories don't
[98:58] count. It's complete crap.
[99:01] Now, the quality of your calories is
[99:04] just as important but don't eat more
[99:07] than you need. And we live in a society
[99:10] where we're eating way too much and
[99:13] people don't know. If you think of the
[99:15] Cheesecake Factory and these monster
[99:18] portions, it's like, that's insane.
[99:22] And it's a big thing that changed.
[99:25] But the obesity epidemic really started
[99:28] as the US government, among others,
[99:32] demonized
[99:34] fat.
[99:36] Everything became low fat in the '80s.
[99:39] Low fat, low cholesterol.
[99:42] And
[99:44] they put sugar in things to replace it.
[99:46] And in fact, it just came out recently,
[99:48] it was in the '60s that some of the
[99:51] sugar companies paid scientists to say
[99:54] it's fat, not sugar. And it damaged
[99:58] millions of people.
[100:01] Last thing I wanted to ask you about is
[100:03] Well, there's really two outstanding
[100:05] questions that I have for you, doctor.
[100:06] The first one is about screen time.
[100:09] People want to know,
[100:11] does screen time, this generation that
[100:13] have grown up 11 hours a day on a screen
[100:15] or social media, up to 11 hours a day,
[100:18] according to some studies,
[100:20] does that have an impact on our brain?
[100:21] It does. It shrinks it. It's sad. I
[100:24] mean, what it does is it wears out your
[100:26] pleasure centers.
[100:28] So, you have these two
[100:30] areas in your brain called the nucleus
[100:33] accumbens, and they respond to dopamine.
[100:38] And they bring you happiness, and they
[100:39] bring you pleasure, and they bring you
[100:41] motivation, and they bring you drive.
[100:44] And
[100:46] when you're hitting them
[100:49] like every buzz on your phone, every
[100:53] notification,
[100:54] every time you scroll and you like
[100:57] something, you just got a little hit of
[100:59] dopamine.
[101:00] Well, the more you do it, pretty soon
[101:04] you thrill them to death. You begin to
[101:07] wear out those pleasure centers. And you
[101:10] Let's just take fame, for example. I've
[101:12] been blessed to see Justin Bieber and
[101:16] Miley Cyrus and a whole bunch of really
[101:18] fascinating, cool people
[101:20] who've been really depressed. It's like,
[101:22] how can you be depressed? You're Justin
[101:24] Bieber. Or how can you believe you're
[101:26] not enough?
[101:28] Right? Cuz their pleasure centers get
[101:30] worn out by being noticed over and over
[101:33] and over again. Well, when you allow
[101:36] that in your brain, the screen time, 3
[101:39] and 1/2 hours. If you're on for 3 and
[101:41] 1/2 hours
[101:43] a day, you have an increased risk of
[101:45] anxiety, depression, addiction, obesity,
[101:49] ADHD.
[101:50] And our society is on way more than
[101:52] that. And you go, "So, why are we having
[101:54] this epidemic
[101:56] of uh
[101:58] teenage suicide and mental health
[102:00] problems, especially in teenage girls?"
[102:02] Social media.
[102:04] It's one of the big issues of the day.
[102:06] And not only are you wearing out your
[102:08] pleasure centers, you hate yourself
[102:11] because you think everybody's better
[102:12] than you are. It's the comparison dragon
[102:16] that
[102:16] is damaging you.
[102:19] My last question is about happiness,
[102:21] which we're talking about there.
[102:25] I spoke to I think it was Tali Sharot
[102:27] that told me happiness takes on this
[102:29] kind of interesting arc through our
[102:31] lives where
[102:34] at the start of our lives we're a little
[102:35] bit happier, then in the middle of our
[102:36] lives we're a little bit sadder, and
[102:38] then as we age, we go back into being
[102:41] happy.
[102:42] Now, I was contrasting that information
[102:44] to what you said about how the brain
[102:45] withers with age. If the brain is
[102:48] withering with age, then how come a lot
[102:50] of neuroscientists think that happiness
[102:52] resembles this kind of U-shape in our
[102:54] lives, where in the middle of our lives
[102:56] we're less happy, and the start and the
[102:58] end we're more happy?
[103:03] That's a great question.
[103:07] We're less striving as we age, right?
[103:11] So, after 65, 70, we've sort of
[103:16] done
[103:17] much of the hard things that we need to
[103:19] do.
[103:20] And so, depression also goes up with
[103:24] age, too.
[103:25] And obviously, dementia goes up with
[103:28] age. So,
[103:30] I think it's because I don't have to
[103:33] accomplish things, which makes the
[103:35] middle part so
[103:37] hard.
[103:38] So, we're more satisfied with the nature
[103:40] of our lives because we're not trying to
[103:42] Well, if if we are, right? If If we're
[103:45] not, then that becomes a problem and
[103:48] increases the risk of depression.
[103:51] It's complicated though, isn't it?
[103:52] Because, you know, you get older, you
[103:53] probably have less connections as well,
[103:55] so that's a confounding factor and Yeah,
[103:57] so I wouldn't I mean, I I ended I have
[104:00] seen that research and I wrote a book on
[104:03] happiness
[104:05] because, you know, when I write a book,
[104:06] it'll take me 6 to 9 months to write it
[104:09] and I'm like, "So, what do I really want
[104:10] to think about for this next 6 to 9
[104:12] months?"
[104:14] And I
[104:15] loved it because
[104:17] like
[104:20] negative thinking is a bad habit,
[104:23] is happiness is also a habit.
[104:26] And when I go to bed and I go, "What
[104:28] went well today?"
[104:29] I'm feeding happiness. Or throughout the
[104:32] day, if I look for the micro moments of
[104:35] happiness, you know, "What's the
[104:36] smallest thing that's going to happen
[104:38] today that's going to make me happy?"
[104:41] Then I'm just happier.
[104:43] I I hear all of this and I read read all
[104:46] of this in your books and one of the
[104:47] things I've really taken away personally
[104:49] is because I have so much information,
[104:51] what I need to do is select a couple of
[104:53] these habits and basically put them into
[104:55] my calendar.
[104:57] Like you talked about the breath work
[104:58] and you talked about the gratitude
[105:00] exercise at night and those kinds of
[105:01] things. What I need to do is get a
[105:03] couple of them and just insert them into
[105:05] my calendar. Because, you know, if
[105:07] they're not scheduled, they probably
[105:08] won't happen in a life as busy as mine.
[105:11] So, as well as making small sort of
[105:12] changes to the, you know, maybe dietary
[105:14] things or water or whatever it might be,
[105:16] drinking a little bit less caffeine.
[105:17] I've already quit alcohol. Make sure I
[105:19] focus on my sleep. Some of these I want
[105:21] to make routines in my life, so that's
[105:23] what I'm going to do. That's what I'm
[105:24] going to take away from this. We have a
[105:26] closing tradition on this podcast where
[105:28] the last guest leaves a question for the
[105:29] next guest not knowing who they're going
[105:30] to be leaving it for.
[105:32] And the question that's been left for
[105:33] you is quite perfect. I think.
[105:36] What have you changed your mind about in
[105:39] the last decade?
[105:42] Well, the first thing that comes to my
[105:44] mind is this idea
[105:49] that I got from Dennis Prager.
[105:52] Which is happiness is a moral
[105:54] obligation.
[105:56] I never thought of it that way.
[105:59] I grew up Roman Catholic.
[106:01] That idea was nowhere
[106:04] in my family. It was nowhere in the
[106:08] Catholic school I went to. And and I'm
[106:10] grateful for my education.
[106:12] Uh and I'm grateful for my faith.
[106:16] But it was about should
[106:21] and shaming
[106:23] rather than
[106:26] elevation.
[106:28] And the fact that happiness is a moral
[106:30] obligation.
[106:32] There's this video that Dennis Prager
[106:35] produced that I just love called Why Be
[106:37] Happy.
[106:38] And
[106:40] and I never thought
[106:43] that
[106:47] how I feel
[106:50] influences everybody around me.
[106:54] That if I'm unhappy
[106:57] that's not just about me. That's about
[107:01] everybody I come in contact with. So
[107:03] working on myself
[107:08] is the most loving thing I can do
[107:11] for other people.
[107:14] Daniel G. Amen.
[107:17] Thank you so much. Thank you for an
[107:19] amazing conversation. And also thank you
[107:20] for taking the time to look at my brain.
[107:22] And you're totally right. Now that I
[107:24] have the awareness that that brain even
[107:25] exists, having seen it, it's almost like
[107:28] I feel like it's like a Pablo, my dog. I
[107:30] now feel a responsibility to take care
[107:32] of it. And I think that that coupled
[107:35] with everything that you've imparted on
[107:37] me about the fact that I can do
[107:39] something about it for me is
[107:41] life-changing.
[107:42] And you know, I could have sat here all
[107:44] day and read tens of thousands of
[107:45] comments that I saw online
[107:47] about the work that you're doing to help
[107:49] people live happier, healthier lives.
[107:51] And the
[107:53] consequence that has for generations, I
[107:55] think, is maybe the most special thing
[107:56] of all. Because if you can tilt
[107:58] someone's brain in a better direction,
[108:00] you're not just tilting their brain in a
[108:01] better better direction, you're tilting
[108:04] generations to come
[108:06] of brains in a better direction. And
[108:07] that alone will tilt society in a better
[108:09] direction. And that's exactly the work
[108:11] that you're doing. So, I know we talked
[108:13] about your father last time round.
[108:17] You know, often times we don't get the
[108:19] praise from the our parents that I guess
[108:22] we
[108:24] we always longed for.
[108:26] But I really hope you understand
[108:28] how proud everyone is of you.
[108:32] All the patience that you've
[108:34] invested time and love and energy and
[108:36] all the people that listen to this show
[108:38] that were tilted in a better direction
[108:40] because of you. And
[108:42] me as well.
[108:43] My life's been tilted in a better
[108:44] direction because of you. So, thank you.
[108:47] Thank you so much. What a joy.
