Informed Aging

Episode 90: Make the Most of the Brain You've Got

• Robin Rountree and Edith Gendron • Season 1 • Episode 90

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Brain Science Final

Robin Rountree: [00:00:00] Welcome to Informed Aging, a podcast about health help and hard decisions for older adults. I'm Robin Roundtree. I'm a former family caregiver.

I've worked in the home care industry and now work for the Alzheimer's and Dementia Resource Center. The thoughts and opinions expressed belong to me and my guests, not our wonderful employers and sponsors. Before making any significant changes in you or your person's life, please consult your own experts. Today

our guest is Therese Houston, super smart woman who, uh, has written a book called Sharp 14. Simple Ways to Improve Your Life With Brain Science. Yeah, we're gonna take your brain and level it up a little bit, so stay tuned.

 [00:01:00] Today we are talking with Therese [00:02:00] Houston.

She's a cognitive scientist at Seattle University, her latest book, "Sharp". She blends rigorous research in neuroscience and psychology with clever, actionable strategies, so you and I can make the most of this wonderful brain that we've got inside of our heads, which I think is amazing. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Oprah's O Magazine, Forbes, Time Magazine, Ted Ideas, fast Company, the Los Angeles Times, and she's got tons and tons of degrees.

Now, should I call you Dr. Therese Houston because you have your PhD? You know, you could, but please, Robin, just call me Therese. That would be fine. Okay, that sounds good. So the new book is called "Sharp 14 Simple Ways to Improve Your Life With Brain Science." I love simple and going through the book it...so [00:03:00] many nonfiction books are like research, research, research, research and

you have to dig for the tips, and that's why I love your book 'cause the tips are right there. 

Therese Huston: And I , I try to be tip heavy. I'd much, yes. I know for myself, I'll often, uh, read like you a nonfiction book and be like, where's the practical side? Help me out here. That's why I picked up this book.

Right? And at the end of each chapter, then there's a summary to give you a, at a glance when you're done with a book. So you can go back and find like, okay, there was something about improving memory. What, what were those four tips again? And you can easily find them. 

Robin Rountree: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for that.

Mm-hmm. So, the book, "sharp 14 Simple Ways to Improve Your Life With Brain Science" Is this like a owner's manual for our brain? 

Therese Huston: I love the way you said that. In fact, I, I just gave a talk last night and, and the way I I put it was, your brain didn't come with an owner's manual until now, and now you've got one Oh.

Robin Rountree: Wonderful. I'm excited because so much that [00:04:00] we talk about at the Alzheimer's and Dementia Resource Center is about preserving our brain, right? Preserving our memories. How do I keep my brain healthy? But you can teach me how I can do more with my brain. 

Therese Huston: The way I like to think about it is your best brain days are not necessarily behind you.

Whatever your age, there's good news ahead And really two reasons that you can have even a sharper brain going forward. So, so one is this concept that neuroscientists are starting to talk about, which is something called brain reserve. So I'll first share the bad news, then I'll share the good news.

So before I define what Brain Reserve is, I'll give you the bad news. So the bad news is starting at about age 40, we lose about 5% of the neurons in two areas of our brain.

One is the hippocampus, which is crucial for forming new memories. Mm-hmm. The other is the prefrontal cortex, which is right here behind the forehead. And that's important for decision making and [00:05:00] planning and stopping yourself from being distracted. So if you find yourself getting more distracted, part of that could be, 'cause you're losing these neurons.

So at age 40 you probably don't notice it. 50, you may not notice it by 60. You might start to notice like, oh, it's harder to come up with words, right? Like. Right, things aren't coming to you as quickly. That would be both the prefrontal cortex as well as the hippocampus, losing neurons. So that's the bad news, 5% every decade.

The good news is you can build what's called brain reserve, and the idea here is you can actually add neurons to the hippocampus. It's the only area of the brain that we know of so far where you can actually add neurons in adulthood. And in the prefrontal. Yeah, it's great news, right? So you can build up, you know, whatever age you are, you can start adding neurons to your hippocampus so that you don't lose as much or you don't go below

what you had at age 40 because you're actually adding neurons and they haven't found the limit in terms of how many neurons you can add. So this is great news. And then the [00:06:00] prefrontal cortex, you can't add neurons as far as we can tell, but you can add more connections. You can add what are called dendrites so that there's more connections between the neurons that still exist, and so you're not going to lose as much gray matter there.

And so, oh, that's it's great news. So you can build your brain reserve, you can add neurons, you can add connections so that as your brain goes through that inevitable loss of neurons, you basically have, you'll think of a shrub that has lots of leaves and lots of branches. Yeah. Yeah. So even if you prune some, you've still got a very full shrub.

That's, that's one way that you can continue to get even stronger mentally as you grow. The, the other is you can make better use of the brain you've got now, I I, there's, it's completely false that you only use 10% of your brain. So I'm not saying you're gonna Yeah. So that's, um, some people find that discouraging, uh, we, we already use on a given day, on a normal healthy day, you'll use a hundred percent of your brain, so you're not increasing the amount that you use, but.

What I [00:07:00] teach you in the book is how to use your brain more effectively. So I'll give a quick example of that. When you multitask, which is part of everyday life now for all of us, when you, when you're trying to do two things at once, you may feel like you're getting more done, but what the research shows is that for whatever the main task is you're doing, you're actually decreasing that activity in that area of your brain

by, on average, about 37%. And it's not because you're getting more efficient, it's, you're actually making more mistakes. You're, you're basically, your brain can can't, you're switching back and forth between two things. You're not really doing two things simultaneously. So if you just, single task, and this becomes especially important as we get older.

If you just single task, say for 10 minutes, I'm just gonna do the one thing and then I'll switch and do the other thing. You won't suffer that loss in brain activity, so you'll be using your brain a lot more efficiently. So that's one of the things the book teaches you is the ways that we use our brains inefficiently right now and how to maximize [00:08:00] it.

Robin Rountree: Unfortunately, I have had to learn that lesson with audio books in the car. Oh, wow. I missed a lot of exits 'cause I got so wrapped up in the book, so I'm like, all right, we're just gonna put music on when I drive. 

Therese Huston: Good job. You know, it's funny, I, I have the opposite problem where I will be, I love to listen to podcasts as well in our audio books in the car, but for me, I will miss part of the book because I'm so focused on the driving, right?

You get to a crucial point, an intersection where there's a, you know, something hectic going on, and then I'll be like, wait, what is happening? I'll be listening to a mystery novel. I'll be like, wait. Who did it. Okay. Next. And then when I get to the next intersection with a a stoplight, I'm gonna have to go back three minutes.

So yes, that would be multitasking. And I'm guilty of it too. Um, , it's a way to get books read, but it's not an effective way to drive or get books read. 

Robin Rountree: Right, right. . So how do we build this neural reserve? I'm [00:09:00] very interested in that. 

Therese Huston: It's exciting, isn't it? So a number of things. Uh, one of the best documented, like internationally, not just in the United States, but one of the best documented ways for people over the age of 60 to add neurons to their hippocampus to build this brain reserve or neuro reserve, is to take a dance class.

 Who, right? Yeah. To take. It doesn't have to be a particular kind of dance. In Brazil and in South America, people do tango. In the United States, you could do line dancing or you could do waltz. You could whatever appeals to you. So it doesn't matter what kind, but the reason that it seems to be so effective at adding more neurons to the hippocampus is it's, it's this beautiful trifecta, right?

So think about it. First of all, you have to memorize the steps. So there's a memory component. Secondly, there's a physical component and exercise is really good for the brain. Things that are good for the heart tend to be good for the brain. [00:10:00] So exercise wonderful and it's, you're moving around. And then part three of the trifecta, it's social and things that have a social component tend to help the brain as we age.

So dance hits all three. Now going to a single dance class is not gonna add neurons to your hippocampus. Research indicates you probably need to go for about six months, but that might mean just signing up twice in a row for a dance class. You don't have to necessarily take a partner, it's gonna be social because there are gonna be other people that you're gonna meet.

So this is, this is a wonderful thing to think about doing in your retirement is sign up for a dance class, meet some new people. You'll have a good time and you'll add your brain. 

Robin Rountree: Yeah, that's incredible. All from a dance class and check your senior center. They may have it for free. Exactly. Even better. I love that.

So we're always talking, of course, here at the Alzheimer's and Dementia Resource Center, and often on the podcast about dementia and being a care partner to somebody [00:11:00] living with dementia. And we remind our care partners over and over again it is so stressful, and too often we lose our care partner before the person living with dementia because of that stress.

Now it's all well and good for us to say don't be stressed, but easier said than done. Do you have some tips in your wonderful book, "Sharp. 14 simple Ways to Improve Your Life with Brain Science" about how to work with that stress and bring it down a few notches. I, 

Therese Huston: I feel for everyone who's caring for someone with dementia or Alzheimer's, it's just.

It's exhausting and you often don't get a break, and maybe even if you have respite care come in for a few hours a week. You know, my mother-in-law's in this situation, I feel like sometimes I wonder if she just goes and sits in a parking lot and drives you, like, probably. Okay. Yeah, probably, you know, she's on, runs an errand, but before she even goes into the grocery store or Target, she just sits there for a while and [00:12:00] gets a break.

So I, I'm gonna talk about three quick strategies, and in fact we can demonstrate two of them right now. Okay. Okay. Yeah, if that's all right with you and people can follow along, they can do them with us, they can do them later. So the first one is a great breathing exercise and I'll explain how it works in just a moment.

Uh, I'll explain the neuroscience in a moment, but first let's demonstrate it. So I'll describe it and then we'll do it. So Robin, what I'm gonna ask you to do in a moment, I'm gonna ask you to exhale all of your air. Then I'm gonna ask you to inhale for a count of four. Then hold for a count of two and exhale for a count of six.

So the hardest part you, and that's a long exhale, but it's, it's often easier than you expect. Um, it's especially easy if you blow out and it's especially effective for reducing stress if you blow out like you're blowing through a straw or blowing on hot soup. Like with pursed lips and the inhale, the, the long inhale of four seconds is the hardest part for most people.

[00:13:00] If you get to three and find, you can't inhale anymore, just start holding your breath early. That's okay. The most important part is that long exhale. All right. You ready? Yes. Let's do do it. Okay, great. Okay, good. So I want you to exhale all of your air and inhale. 2, 3, 4, 

hold two. Exhale. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Again, inhale, 2, 3, 4.

Hold, two. Exhale. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Okay. How do you feel? 

Robin Rountree: Well, my shoulders went down an inch. Isn't that fabulous? Wow. That's just from two breaths. That's amazing. Exactly. 

Therese Huston: Yeah. It's a wonderful little, you know, neuroscientists called the mini breaks, so you can take these little mini restorative [00:14:00] breaks in the lab.

They'll often do that for two minutes. So we, we just did that for about 15 seconds, so you, that was two cycles for 15 seconds. So you would do eight cycles to reach two minutes. Eight cycles for two minutes. , And it's the slow exhale, that's the most important part.

And that slow exhale, um, sends a signal from your lungs to your brain via your vagus nerve . So it's your body sending a signal to your brain and actually your amygdala activation goes down, which means you feel less threatened. Your prefrontal cortex will actually

wake up if it wasn't awake. And that's gonna help you think and make better decisions. It actually, researchers find this improves decision making. So this is also an activity you could do if you're having trouble making a decision, do this for two minutes. Oh, and it will actually, it will. If, if, if there's any clarity to be had, it will offer you clarity.

And for that tough decision, and especially caregivers have a lot of hard decisions to make. So it's a, it's a twofer. You get, you get a stress reduction and you get improved decision making. So that's alright. 4, 2, 6, breath.

The other one, this [00:15:00] second one I'm gonna teach you real quick reduces cortisol and people have probably heard about cortisol being a stress hormone. And we, you know, cor cortisol serves a lot of good functions, but if it's elevated chronically, it's gonna lead to inflammation. It leads to a lot of problems.

It makes decision making harder. And it will make you irritable lots of ways cortisol is problematic if it stays high for too long. So here's a real quick way to reduce cortisol, and this is gonna be so simple. It's, um, it, it seems like it can't possibly work. All right? So what I'm gonna advise you to do is take both hands.

Okay. And put them on your, on your heart or in the middle of your chest, and just rub in slow, small circles. Just real, you know? And if that doesn't feel comforting to you, you can put your hands on the tops of your shoulders. Tops of your arms, and just resting, like in a, in a hug. Like in a hug. There you go.

Robin Rountree: Ooh, 

Therese Huston: yeah. Here you go. And then also just rub just a little bit, and you would wanna do this for about [00:16:00] 30 seconds. Again in the lab, either that hands on heart or that that gentle self hug on the tops of the arms and the shoulders, uh, 30 seconds worth will reduce your cortisol levels immediately. 

Robin Rountree: Wow. So care partners can use that and we can use it at work as well.

Yeah. Other stressful situations. Ah! 

Therese Huston: It's wonderful. Alright. I did it. This? Yes. Yeah. I was having a stressful morning this morning and I went for a 10 minute walk and the walk wasn't doing it. And at the very end of the walk, as I just approached my house, I put both hands on my heart and I just rub real gently.

I'm like, oh, that did it. There we go. Okay. So, so I, I love, those are two wonderful techniques. And then the third one is not so much a thing to illustrate, but a thing to describe. And that one is to focus on what you can control. Researchers find that when we're focused on what we can't control and we're thinking to ourselves, there's nothing I can do about this, that that quickly elevates stress levels.

Cortisol goes up, blood pressure will go up, [00:17:00] and it can have real long-term health consequences. I. By having the perception that you can't control things and there's so much you can't control when you're living with someone with dementia or Alzheimer's. Right? And so thinking about what you can control, and that might just be your own emotions or your own thoughts, right?

So it may not be the other person's behavior whatsoever. But you can control. How am I gonna respond to this? I'm gonna respond to this with you know, I'm gonna choose to respond with equanimity. I'm gonna choose to respond with calm. I'm gonna choose to do some soothing self touch, right? So you right Focus.

Yes. Focus on what you can control and , that is a great stress reduction technique. 

Robin Rountree: That is, that is very good advice for everyone, not just our, our wonderful care partners who certainly need it. And while we are on the topic of, uh, dementia and Alzheimer's, , I know we're all looking out for our brain health or, or we say we are, but everybody wants just an easy pill to take.

Um, is there anything at the local drug [00:18:00] store that, uh, is looking like a possibility for? Keeping our memory where it is, not losing our memory like you were talking about or mm-hmm. Anything to help us out there. 

Therese Huston: Sure. So the, unfortunately there's a lot of hype around things that haven't been well tested.

And so, and they're even commercials on tv. Or you can find things that are on Amazon or that, that aren't very effective. But I can list, give you two that, that research bears out. These are pretty good. So the one you, you can find in a typical drugstore, and that's to take Omega-3 fatty acids. Oh, so fish oil.

And, um, what you wanna look for is one that has high as a particular fatty acid you're looking for called DHA. So when you look at the back of the label on the fish oil, how much DHA does it? Does it say it has? What researchers find is about 500 milligrams. Per day. So one pill, like I checked mine this morning [00:19:00] to see like, well, how much does the, and mine has two 30 per pill, so you, I would wanna take, and I do take two a day.

So, so, so just check. You want it to total 500 and they find that reduces inflammation. Now if you already eat a lot of fish, this won't help you that much. It's for people who don't eat much fish. Right. So if you're someone who already eats salmon once or twice a week, you're probably set. But if you don't like salmon, right?

My husband doesn't like salmon. Yeah. If you don't like salmon or you just don't like fish or you haven't, you know, you don't like the smell that cooking fish creates, get some omega threes. Um, that will help And Okay. That's a great one as a, as either for mild cognitive impairment or as dementia prevention.

And then the other one, this, the second one is one you probably won't find in a typical drug store, but you can easily find, uh, on an online retailer like Amazon or pick your favorite supplement store. That would be something called alpha GPC, so alpha, GPC and , it [00:20:00] activates or appears to activate an increase in something called acetylcholine, which we don't need to go into.

But basically acetylcholine improves focus and memory. So if you are someone who has just fine memory and you're looking to like, be amazing at memory, this won't work. So it's, it's not, it's not gonna, it's, it's not gonna make you a genius, but what it does do for people who have either early mild dementia or people who are experiencing some mild cognitive impairment, like, you know, it's harder to remember things than it used to be.

This will bring you back up closer to normal. So alpha GPC. It's, uh, is a, is a good one. 

Robin Rountree: So if you don't have a problem, yes, it really wouldn't be worth taking it, but if you, it wouldn't, yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. But if you do have a little bit of something, then you would consider that. 

Therese Huston: Exactly. And some people find that out.

You know, you, you'll, if you look on like a look, if you look at Amazon reviews of Al Alpha, GPC, some people find it really helps them. [00:21:00] Have that Uber memory. Um, and, and, and the researchers find that it's just really dependent on the individual. If you have normal memory, some people it does elevate, others it doesn't, but it more consistently across the board helps people who have, are struggling a bit with some memory issues.

Interesting. Okay. 

And, and the thing is, is because it's increasing, it's increasing this neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. Chances are the people it's helping are people who are low in acetylcholine.

So you could have normal memory and be low an acetylcholine and that's why it's gonna give you a boost. 

Robin Rountree: Okay. Alright.

Now we talk a lot about, um. on Informed aging. Some things we should be doing, to make life better now and in the future. Exercising a plant-based diet, lots of fruits and vegetables. We got a lot of shoulds, right?

Yeah. Um, but how do you get the should into something that you do, a daily habit? Is there [00:22:00] a, a magic chapter in this book I should read? 

Therese Huston: Well, there is, there is a chapter about productivity and that's how to, to move from, I wanna to, I'm doing it right, so, okay. Um, it's, it's moving from those shoulds to I've got it.

So that's, that's a helpful chapter in the book about productivity. It's called Accomplish More is what that chapter's called. So maybe it doesn't sound like it's about habits, but it is about building habits. Unfortunately, the neuroscience of habit development isn't great yet. It's in its early stages.

But what we do know, and this is, this will lead to a helpful tip. Is that what we wanna do is activate reward centers of our brain. Right now, you know when something is a should, I mean, just think about it. You're just like, Ugh, I don't wanna do it. Right. 

Robin Rountree: Yeah. 

Therese Huston: Right. So it can be. It can be hard because you just don't feel, you don't feel rewarded before you do it.

You might not even feel rewarded after you do it. So a great strategy is something called [00:23:00] temptation bundling. Have you heard of temptation? Bundling? It's kind of tantalizing, right? What is that temptation, right? Does it involve chocolate cake? Oh, there you go. Oh my. We, we need to do research together. I like where your head's at.

Yes. So temptation bundling is where you take something that you should do that you are trying to develop a habit around and you bundle it with something that you really enjoy. So you're taking something that's intrinsically rewarding and you're bundling it with something that you're not that fond of doing.

And you're gonna then start to associate positive rewards. You know, our brains can be simple sometimes, and this is one of those times where we, it will start to, okay, associate the rewards. So I'll give you an example in my own life, um, I have, for a couple of years now, I've had knee problems. And I've seen doctors and they said, oh, you need to do these rehab exercises.

And I'll be honest, Robin, I'm good about doing them for a couple of weeks after I see the doctor and then I stop and then the knee problems come back. [00:24:00] So I had, I knew about temptation bundling. I thought I'm gonna put it to use. And so what I now do is, and I started this about a little over a year ago, I only let myself stream my favorite TV show while I'm doing my rehab.

So in order, in order to do my 15 minutes of rehab, then I get to watch my show and I don't get to watch it. I love that. Any other time. And let me tell you, I now do my rehab every single day just so I can get my little 10 minute, 15 minutes of my show, right. And I that'ss great. And I'm delighted to say I have been pain-free with my knee for over a year now because I do my rehab daily.

So finding things that you would find enjoyable. And trying to bundle it so that, you know, on the, there are some, there are times when I'm traveling and I can't watch my show because I just don't have, uh, access to the right tv. You know, I'm staying in someone's guest room or something. But now my, I still do my [00:25:00] rehab 'cause it's, it's fun now, even without the show, it's more rewarding than it used to be.

So that's a really nice way to, to build a habit that you've been, you know, is good for you and you're just not getting around to it. 

Robin Rountree: We're talking with Therese Houston, author of the new book, "Sharp. 14 Simple Ways to Improve Your Life With Brain Science". I love that. And I gotta ask you, because I know it's in this book, uh, we all talk about how the political climate is awful and it's all us and them, but you've got a way to help us see the other people, not like others.

Therese Huston: Mm. Yeah. This is chapter nine of the book about reducing bias and yeah, it's tricky. It's very tricky. , I think so many of us think of bias as we have negative views of a group we don't understand or a group that we have a negative perception of. And actually the research shows the bigger factor in bias is [00:26:00] in group bias.

Meaning we tend to really like and favor people who are like us. Same race, same age, same gender, whatever. You're in group, you know, if you're traveling abroad and you happen to see a couple of Americans, you're like, woo, that's my in group. You know? You don't say that. Yeah. But. You know, you start talking in a restaurant with people that in the United States you might not talk to, but, but because you're, you know, the, the four of you find yourselves in Belgium at the same time, you start up a conversation.

So we show more in-group bias. And , one of the things that chapter does is it provides some great strategies for reducing in-group bias. My favorite, and this one's again, so simple, it's like, wait, this actually works, is to watch a TV show. And you can make it comedy. You know, I, I particularly like to watch sitcom sitcoms.

Um, it doesn't have to be a drama, and in fact it's more important that they be relatable everyday characters. But watching a sitcom about a group that's different from your ingroup. So I'm a white, [00:27:00] middle aged female, so uh, I might watch a show that takes place where it's African Americans, teenagers in high school, right?

That would be such a different age group as well as race and, uh, maybe even socioeconomic status depending on the, you know, the population. But in any case that what the researchers find is that has extended effects. If you watch and you need to watch at least two hours, so a sitcom that would be, you know, like four episodes typically, right?

So you need, you can't just do a single dose, but do a couple of episodes and for weeks afterwards they find that people show less in group favoritism because they now see another group is like, oh, they're more like me than I realized. And uh, oh wow. So that's a great, great little strategy, kind of a sneaky strategy.

Robin Rountree: Yeah. And you can, you know, eat some popcorn while you're, eat some popcorn. Even better! 

Therese Huston: Yeah. And so often people feel that to understand another group, they need to, to watch a gut [00:28:00] wrenching drama, uh, about some terrible abuse, a documentary that upsets them and makes them not able to sleep at night.

No. Again, it can be very light. The point is just for you to see, wait, we have more in common than I realized.

Robin Rountree: Great advice and uh, I understand you've got a website I loved in the back of your book, you were like, I've put together the best research that is out there right now, but. Maybe in 2026 there'll be groundbreaking research.

So you say people can go to your website and keep up to date. Mm-hmm. So give us that website. 

Therese Huston: Yes. So it's just my name, therese houston.com. Um, I'm sure you can, you'll find my name in the show notes, but yes, therese houston.com. The, the next article I need to write, I just read a great paper on a couple of great papers about the, the benefits of dark chocolate for the brain.

I knew dark chocolate was good for cardiovascular health. It's also really good for your brain. So for those of you who are [00:29:00] looking for an excuse to eat more chocolate, that's the best news you ever could have given me. I know. Let's go help our brains this afternoon. Right, right.

Robin Rountree: Fantastic. Once again, the book is Sharp. 14 Simple Ways to Improve Your Life With Brain Science. Therese, thank you so much for giving us these great tips. I really appreciate it. 

Therese Huston: Thank you Robin, and I hope everyone who's listening today will take a few moments, some point today to do either that breathing exercise or that calming self touch on, on the heart as a way to, to give yourself a little treat or some dark chocolate in a hard day.

Robin Rountree: Please make sure to subscribe to our podcast Informed Aging, tell your family and friends about us. Give us a positive rating as well. Please, if you'd like to support the work that we do at the Alzheimer's and Dementia Resource Center, please go to adrc cares.org/donate. You can find us at facebook.com/informed Aging.

Today's episode was [00:30:00] recorded at ADRC's podcast Studio. That's it for now. We are looking forward to our next visit.