back to indexHow Brain Health Leads to a Disciplined Mind ft. Dr. Daniel Amen // Michael Porter Jr
Chapters
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4:39 Ever Have a Concussion or Head Injury
6:51 Moment of Truth
7:19 Example of a Healthy Scan
10:24 Caffeine Decreases Blood Flow
12:9 Myelinization
19:26 The Hippocampus
21:37 Everything in Moderation
31:2 Things To Avoid
00:00:09.020 |
>> Here with another episode of Curious Mike, 00:00:19.940 |
I've been wanting to do something like this for a while. 00:00:22.740 |
But you actually, you worked in the army for 10 years, 00:00:28.460 |
So you've always wanted to help get people better. 00:00:31.400 |
How did you get into the more this side of it, 00:00:34.000 |
looking at people's brains and helping people get better from that standpoint? 00:01:00.780 |
and when I was a second year medical student, 00:01:10.740 |
that ultimately it would help her children and her grandchildren. 00:01:14.100 |
So I fell in love with psychiatry because I realized it can change generations of people. 00:01:20.000 |
But I fell in love with the only medical specialty that never looks at the organ it treats. 00:01:24.700 |
Most people go, "I'm depressed," and they get medicine, 00:01:31.660 |
So we started looking at the brain about 30 years ago, 00:01:37.940 |
Because what I learned is depression is not one thing, 00:01:49.660 |
or sometimes it's because no one knows how to manage their mind. 00:01:57.500 |
And then I realized, well, your brain's an organ like your heart's an organ, 00:02:05.220 |
or you're more vulnerable to not being your best. 00:02:12.540 |
Self-control was an area I wanted to get better at. 00:02:15.100 |
But a lot of people, like you said, deal with depression, anxiety, 00:02:25.260 |
especially, you know, we're both men of faith, 00:02:28.220 |
like the church a lot of times will judge people and say, 00:02:39.620 |
all this stuff that could be affecting your brain. 00:02:41.420 |
So you're looking at it from a completely different standpoint 00:02:44.500 |
and saying, "No, like, when your brain gets more healthy, 00:02:49.500 |
"and do the things you want to do more effectively." 00:03:01.300 |
Um, I think... I was just talking to them about this, 00:03:04.100 |
but I think I'm very, like, disciplined in some areas, 00:03:08.940 |
Like, when it comes to, like, my workouts and my health 00:03:11.180 |
and all this different stuff, I'm very disciplined. 00:03:13.500 |
But then other areas, I'm sometimes not consistent, 00:03:23.860 |
getting on a schedule and then maintaining it 00:03:26.700 |
and, you know, consistently making the right choices. 00:03:31.900 |
And then, obviously, you're more mentally, like, there. 00:03:34.700 |
When you're making mistakes or things you don't want to do, 00:03:37.660 |
then it can take a toll on your mental, I feel like. 00:03:49.060 |
Consistency as far as the decisions you make... 00:03:58.660 |
or what I put in my body or things like that, 00:04:08.380 |
or consistency, you know, hanging around the right girls. 00:04:12.180 |
Things like that, for me, are kind of like a hindrance at times. 00:04:17.540 |
Like, I don't feel like I have an addictive personality 00:04:28.420 |
that I wish wasn't there, you know what I mean? 00:04:32.180 |
-And so if you had a bit better self-control, that would help. 00:04:50.700 |
I don't know if you can see that scar right there, 00:05:08.660 |
and his mom was with us, and his mom was like, 00:05:19.060 |
Ended up going to the emergency room and everything. 00:05:24.460 |
I don't know how severe it was, but I definitely hit my head. 00:05:27.980 |
That's the only, like, major head trauma that I've had, though. 00:06:03.180 |
and when your brain works right, you work right, 00:06:06.420 |
and when your brain is troubled for whatever reason, 00:06:24.660 |
It, like, it almost lifts a weight off your shoulders 00:06:27.100 |
'cause you realize, no, not everything is your fault. 00:06:31.620 |
or something that caused you to be the way you are, 00:06:39.060 |
and there's a way to heal and things like that. 00:06:42.220 |
So, for me, looking at my brain and everything, 00:06:45.980 |
what did you see was, like, my kind of issues 00:07:27.580 |
and it should be full, even, and symmetrical. 00:07:33.020 |
So, this view, we're looking underneath the brain. 00:07:41.340 |
which I would expect in an NBA player to just be great. 00:07:48.940 |
Red and white are the most active parts of the brain, 00:08:18.820 |
you're going on a bike, and you're turned this way, 00:08:29.380 |
Your brain is the consistency of soft butter, 00:08:33.220 |
tofu, custard, somewhere between egg whites and Jell-O. 00:08:46.500 |
He goes, "Who knew they would play football?" 00:09:01.740 |
And when you go, "I want to make this decision," 00:09:07.940 |
But we need to fix this, 'cause five years from now, 00:09:19.340 |
and some of the things you see other NBA players do, 00:09:51.720 |
With the holes, and you don't have holes in your brain. 00:09:55.020 |
How I make these pictures is I tell the computer 00:10:00.540 |
Anything below it shows up as a hole or a dent. 00:10:05.540 |
But what it means is your brain isn't healthy, 00:10:11.960 |
you'll have the best season you've ever had, right? 00:10:14.700 |
'Cause it's about consistency, and decision-making, 00:10:22.700 |
And with blood flow, caffeine decreases blood flow, 00:10:28.420 |
- Everybody wanna say caffeine's good for 'em. 00:10:41.620 |
So, for probably a couple of different reasons, 00:10:48.700 |
your head hit another car, right, in a bike accident. 00:10:52.540 |
That mattered, I mean, I can still see evidence of that. 00:11:05.240 |
And the cool thing is we're gonna reverse that, 00:11:24.920 |
So, I almost think of it like hardware and software. 00:11:27.820 |
If we get the physical function of your brain 00:11:43.480 |
But you show me some brain scans of people who are 55, 00:11:54.260 |
And then like what is there you can do after that? 00:12:09.060 |
So, there's this process in the brain called myelinization 00:12:20.620 |
And when they get wrapped, they become more efficient. 00:12:27.340 |
And myelin starts to be deposited in little kids 00:12:30.660 |
at two months in their visual cortex in the back, 00:12:40.980 |
And that's why early drug abuse is a disaster 00:12:44.820 |
because it stops that beautiful developmental process 00:12:52.180 |
the same stupid mistakes you made before, right? 00:12:56.380 |
But if the organ of decision-making isn't healthy, 00:13:01.060 |
it's not properly developed, that's a problem for you. 00:13:12.700 |
And so, every day, your brain is becoming better or worse 00:13:23.140 |
the nutrients you took, the amount of stress you're under. 00:13:30.980 |
Depression in children doubled during the pandemic 00:13:35.660 |
because of the isolation, the fear, the social unrest, 00:13:43.740 |
We need to teach children to love their brains, 00:13:46.900 |
take care of it, and then discipline their minds, right? 00:13:56.140 |
It's something you do over and over and over again 00:13:59.320 |
so you can maintain a high level of performance. 00:14:06.060 |
so we can maintain a high level of mental performance. 00:14:11.660 |
And you just, I actually was gonna get into this, 00:14:13.540 |
but you're saying, you said before COVID and after COVID, 00:14:20.460 |
but general population, it's a big difference 00:14:24.760 |
- Big difference, in part because of the stress. 00:14:31.060 |
And COVID can activate the emotional centers of the brain 00:14:35.540 |
and put people at higher risk for emotional issues. 00:14:40.540 |
So obviously not everybody has the money or the time 00:14:43.140 |
to come scan their brain, although everyone should. 00:14:46.020 |
So what's like, for the majority of brains you saw, 00:14:48.980 |
especially for young people, and then we'll go to old people, 00:14:52.500 |
what are some practical things everyone can do 00:15:01.140 |
- Well, I mean, the first thing is to love your brain. 00:15:13.180 |
and you can do something when you're unhappy with it. 00:15:16.160 |
But because most people never look, they don't care. 00:15:19.980 |
When I looked at my brain first time in 1991, 00:15:24.260 |
I was the top neuroscience student in medical school. 00:15:33.640 |
And then when I saw it and it wasn't healthy, 00:15:36.460 |
'cause I played football in high school, I had bad habits, 00:15:43.460 |
And then I've spent the last 30 years making it better. 00:16:13.140 |
I mean, there's this whole discussion in society, 00:16:15.340 |
but second graders know it's not good for your brain. 00:16:45.220 |
'cause I'm someone that eats a lot of fruits and vegetables 00:16:47.820 |
and I was always told like the sugar between the two 00:16:54.500 |
would actually be good for your brain, like orange. 00:16:56.500 |
- Oranges are good for your brain, not the juice. 00:17:00.540 |
So whenever you unwrap sugar from its fiber source, 00:17:09.580 |
So fructose can actually give you fatty liver. 00:17:17.580 |
called "Sugar, the Bitter Truth" by Robert Lustig. 00:17:21.660 |
If you watch that, you'll never drink fruit juice again. 00:17:30.380 |
Obviously like alcohol or getting hit in the head 00:17:33.540 |
that's bad for you or going to McDonald's every day, 00:17:51.060 |
Like all these people that are making these assumptions 00:17:53.900 |
they're not looking at what it does to your brain 00:17:59.500 |
marijuana's definitely a negative for your brain. 00:18:14.940 |
And now, is it bad in every situation all the time? 00:18:29.100 |
Some people with resistant seizures seems to be helpful. 00:18:38.500 |
I published a study on 62,000 scans on how the brain ages. 00:18:45.740 |
And then we looked at, well, what accelerates aging? 00:18:59.580 |
It ages the brain and I don't know about you, 00:19:12.220 |
and that came out public last year and I love her. 00:19:24.720 |
There's a part of your brain called the hippocampus. 00:19:35.360 |
And every day, it's one of the few areas of your brain 00:19:56.620 |
And her eyes got big 'cause she knew what I was doing. 00:20:03.040 |
I said, "You're murdering the seahorses, right? 00:20:07.900 |
"If you wanna grow your brain, you can grow your brain. 00:20:12.420 |
"You have to put it in a healing environment." 00:20:15.820 |
And the problem with marijuana, it's fat soluble. 00:20:23.280 |
or you do an edible today, we can measure it for 30 days. 00:20:28.280 |
So it's like you make this one decision today, 00:20:31.360 |
you're sort of making this decision for a month. 00:20:34.720 |
I asked you this earlier, but I was like, okay. 00:20:38.080 |
So say you're not an alcoholic or you don't drink a ton, 00:20:55.000 |
But some of these things, even though you do 'em 00:21:02.120 |
And we talked earlier about is it helping heal my brain 00:21:09.480 |
Or what's the consequences of doing these things? 00:21:13.880 |
And I thought that that was pretty interesting 00:21:18.160 |
like they'll justify making certain decisions 00:21:23.600 |
and now they just wanna wild out for a night, 00:21:32.920 |
that make people fat, depressed, and feeble-minded. 00:21:35.840 |
And one of the little lies is everything in moderation. 00:21:39.440 |
Everything in moderation is the gateway thought to hell. 00:22:05.080 |
And there's this quote that I knew he would keep it off. 00:22:23.240 |
it's like, well, it's something that you love 00:22:32.240 |
because I love the shake I have in the morning. 00:22:36.560 |
I generally love a big salad with protein on it, 00:22:46.000 |
Like I make a brain-healthy hot chocolate every night, 00:22:49.120 |
raw cacao, unsweetened organic, vanilla almond milk, 00:23:07.040 |
- There's plenty of good things you can find, 00:23:13.200 |
There's so many good restaurants that have healthy food. 00:23:25.600 |
in a bad brain that you see versus like a very healthy brain? 00:23:28.480 |
What is the outward difference in how they live, 00:23:36.600 |
- Well, with a healthy brain, you're a better friend. 00:23:44.240 |
You care about what's going on with the other person. 00:23:54.060 |
People sort of like you more because you're consistent, 00:24:23.960 |
all these different things and you put them all into one. 00:24:31.320 |
And you were saying earlier like your brain helps you 00:24:36.280 |
or how you hear him or how you can be effective for him 00:24:41.120 |
in your purpose, how do you put all those things together? 00:24:47.400 |
they'll be like, oh, let me just get in the gym, 00:24:49.160 |
work on my body, then I'll be happy after that. 00:25:00.840 |
what do you need to put all of them together? 00:25:10.640 |
And he's like, never think of people as their diagnosis. 00:25:19.840 |
So that person that's unhappy that's going to the gym, 00:25:51.820 |
So I call them ants, automatic negative thoughts 00:26:00.780 |
I'll never be my best or whatever the negative thought is. 00:26:05.780 |
So learning how to kill the ants is what I talk about. 00:26:08.980 |
There's a social circle, which is how do we get along 00:26:12.220 |
and what's going on in our society and our level of stress. 00:26:15.540 |
So being effective at living is really helpful. 00:26:22.020 |
And just one tip is if you notice what you like 00:26:26.020 |
five times more than you notice what's wrong, 00:26:53.180 |
How's your life gonna be better if your brain is better? 00:26:59.660 |
you just gave me a lot of things that I could do 00:27:05.140 |
And you show me the graph of there's this program 00:27:12.260 |
But if they stick with the program, they'll see change. 00:27:14.740 |
And if you scan your brain later, it'll be better. 00:27:21.460 |
Like gives you data and you don't look at bad days 00:27:29.860 |
like I'll look at a bad day and then get guilty. 00:27:32.060 |
But those bad days can turn into multiple bad days. 00:27:35.180 |
But you were saying earlier how you turn it into data. 00:27:39.700 |
Like why did I make this choice that I didn't wanna make? 00:27:44.780 |
'cause I think especially people that watch this 00:27:52.060 |
It might turn into like a bad month or a bad year. 00:27:56.860 |
and end up with Lexapro or Adderall or sleeping pills, right? 00:28:16.660 |
and then they'll continue to make the bad decisions. 00:28:20.980 |
I have a patient that has an eating disorder. 00:28:26.660 |
And then she came in and she was ashamed of herself 00:28:40.180 |
And went out with her friends and had a drink 00:28:51.420 |
more vulnerable 'cause she had a super low blood sugar, 00:29:02.020 |
I'm like, so yes, you can shame yourself if you want to, 00:29:14.500 |
so when they offer you the alcohol you can go, not for me. 00:29:21.180 |
And it's like someone's struggling with an addiction. 00:29:35.860 |
I want people to be clear with what they want 00:29:39.740 |
and then just go, is my behavior getting me what I want? 00:29:44.140 |
Like you can't just relapse and then feel ashamed 00:30:01.860 |
- And nobody's perfect, which is why Jesus died on the cross. 00:30:07.340 |
How important is having people to be all the way healthy, 00:30:17.180 |
So you have to be careful who you surround yourself with. 00:30:41.020 |
Polar bears, they're good at being by themselves, right? 00:30:56.900 |
- I just got a couple more questions for you, my guy. 00:31:15.860 |
I have a new book called "Your Brain is Always Listening." 00:31:19.980 |
And I would avoid the oblivious bad habit dragon. 00:31:25.140 |
I mean, I get conscious about loving my brain. 00:31:55.500 |
I think 30% of the mental health problems in America 00:32:18.100 |
That the gadgets are causing us to be more sedentary, 00:32:58.380 |
I worked with B.J. Fogg at Stanford for six months. 00:33:11.940 |
But the mother tiny habit is just ask yourself 00:33:21.340 |
And if you can answer that with information and love, 00:33:29.260 |
why you're on the planet, love of your family and friends, 00:33:40.020 |
you've already made such a huge difference in the world. 00:33:47.620 |
What is your overall goal and what you wanna do 00:34:07.100 |
It shames people, it's stigmatizing, and it's wrong. 00:35:04.100 |
You know, I thought everything was cool in my brain. 00:35:12.300 |
and it's just, it's cool to look at it from that angle 00:35:17.060 |
- Well, let's make your brain the best it can be.