Accelerate Learning & Increase Cognitive Capacity | Dr. Tommy Wood

Dr. Tommy Wood, BM, BCh, PhD, is a professor of neuroscience at the University of Washington and an expert on brain health, neuroplasticity, and cognitive performance. Dr. Wood explains how to use specific forms of exercise, dietary strategies, and compounds to enhance the rate and stability of mental and/or physical skill development. We also discuss science-based tools to preserve cognitive function, reduce dementia risk, and offset loss of memory after a concussion or other brain injury. This episode provides practical, science-based tools for learning new information and skills and for improving your overall ability to learn.

Articles

• Long-Term Improvement in Hippocampal-Dependent Learning Ability in Healthy, Aged Individuals Following High Intensity Interval Training (Aging and Disease)
• An online multidomain lifestyle intervention to prevent cognitive decline in at-risk older adults: a randomized controlled trial (Nature Medicine)
• Structured vs Self-Guided Multidomain Lifestyle Interventions for Global Cognitive Function: The US POINTER Randomized Clinical Trial (JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association))
• A 2 year multidomain intervention of diet, exercise, cognitive training, and vascular risk monitoring versus control to prevent cognitive decline in at-risk elderly people (FINGER): a randomised controlled trial (The Lancet)
• Effects of cognitive training interventions with older adults: a randomized controlled trial (JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association))
• Impact of cognitive training on claims-based diagnosed dementia over 20 years: evidence from the ACTIVE study (Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions)
• Mental speed is high until age 60 as revealed by analysis of over a million participants (Nature Human Behaviour)
• Why Have the Benefits of DHA Not Been Borne Out in the Treatment and Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease? A Narrative Review Focused on DHA Metabolism and Adipose Tissue (International Journal of Molecular Sciences)
• A randomised controlled trial of dietary improvement for adults with major depression (the 'SMILES' trial) (BMC Medicine)
• Trial of the MIND Diet for Prevention of Cognitive Decline in Older Persons (The New England Journal of Medicine)
• Mediterranean diet adherence is associated with lower dementia risk, independent of genetic predisposition: findings from the UK Biobank prospective cohort study (BMC Medicine)
• Demand Coupling Drives Neurodegeneration: A Model of Age-Related Cognitive Decline and Dementia (Cells)
• The will to persevere induced by electrical stimulation of the human cingulate gyrus (Neuron)
• The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance (Psychological Review)
• Maintaining excellence: deliberate practice and elite performance in young and older pianists (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General)
• Psychological States Underlying Excellent Performance in Sport: Toward an Integrated Model of Flow and Clutch States (Journal of Applied Sport Psychology)
• Can molecules explain long-term potentiation? (Nature Neuroscience)
• Not so smart? "Smart" drugs increase the level but decrease the quality of cognitive effort (Science Advances)
• Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America)
• Does resistance training in older adults lead to structural brain changes associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer's dementia? A narrative review (Ageing Research Reviews)
• Homocysteine-lowering by B vitamins slows the rate of accelerated brain atrophy in mild cognitive impairment: a randomized controlled trial (PLOS ONE)
• DHA status influences effects of B-vitamin supplementation on cognitive ageing: a post-hoc analysis of the B-proof trial (European Journal of Nutrition)
• Homocysteine Status Modifies the Treatment Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Cognition in a Randomized Clinical Trial in Mild to Moderate Alzheimer's Disease: The OmegAD Study (Journal of Alzheimer's Disease)
• Effects of cocoa extract and a multivitamin on cognitive function: A randomized clinical trial (Alzheimer's & Dementia)
• The effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis (Frontiers in Nutrition)
• A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia (Nature)
• Herpes Zoster Vaccination and Dementia Occurrence (JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association))
• The recombinant shingles vaccine is associated with lower risk of dementia (Nature Medicine)
• Cognitive decline after hospitalization in a community population of older persons (Neurology)
• Mitigating Traumatic Brain Injury: A Narrative Review of Supplementation and Dietary Protocols (Nutrients)
• Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission (The Lancet)

Books

• Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity – A Social Science Self-Help Book to Overcome Procrastination and Distraction

Other Resources

• BrainHQ
• True Lies
• The Dark Wizard
• Mediterranean Diet
• MIND diet
• DASH diet
• Natural Strongman

People Mentioned

• Santiago Ramón y Cajal: neuroscientist, Nobel laureate
• Michael Merzenich: professor of otolaryngology, UCSF
• Gloria Mark: professor of informatics, UC Irvine
• Tim Ferriss: author, podcaster
• Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: psychologist, father of flow
• Steven Kotler: author, journalist, flow
• Ayrton Senna: F1 driver
• Twyla Tharp: choreographer
• Jeffery Bland: author, human health
• Alia Crum: professor of psychology, Stanford University
• Hans Selye: endocrinologist, stress research pioneer
• Tom Haviland: strongman