Change Your Brain: #1 Neuroscientist’s Exercise Protocol for Peak Energy and Focus

Mel Robbins (00:22:20):

Dr. Suzuki's standing up and she has gloves, rubber gloves on top of a hat box.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:22:27):

Yes.

 

Mel Robbins (00:22:27):

Okay, so what do we got here?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:22:29):

Okay.

 

Mel Robbins (00:22:31):

Well, nervous

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:22:33):

putting the gloves on. I, I'd love to show you what's in my hat box now.

 

Mel Robbins (00:22:40):

Okay.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:22:45):

This is a real preserved human brain, like in a person that was in a human being. Yes. This is a real preserved human brain. Her name is Betty, and she's the most photographed, preserved human brain on the east coast. Can I give you some gloves?

 

Mel Robbins (00:23:06):

You want me to hold it?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:23:07):

Yeah.

 

Mel Robbins (00:23:09):

Okay. I think, oh my God.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:23:12):

There you go.

 

Mel Robbins (00:23:14):

Okay. Let me put the gloves on. Hold on. Oh God.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:23:17):

Okay.

 

Mel Robbins (00:23:19):

Is it normal to be nervous about handling a brain?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:23:22):

Absolutely. Well, so every time I pick this human brain up, I think this was somebody's life. This was somebody's whole personality here. And I feel so lucky that I get to have this specimen that has been in our department for over 26 years. So it's preserved in formaldehyde, but it does represent this person, and so it is, I pick it up with reverence every single time. So can I ask you to stand up and come over here so we can do it over?

 

Mel Robbins (00:23:58):

Sure. Okay. Okay. IdDon't want to drop her. Oh, it's Lighter. No, it's not. It's heavier than I thought.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:24:11):

It's heavier. Yeah. Look, so the,

 

Mel Robbins (00:24:14):

I can't believe this was in a person.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:24:15):

Yes, but look.

 

Mel Robbins (00:24:17):

Oh, okay.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:24:19):

If you open. Okay. Can you hold on a second?

 

Mel Robbins (00:24:22):

I can definitely look, I'm not going to drop it, but so she is pulling apart the top of the brain. Does everybody's brain do that?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:24:30):

Yes.

 

Mel Robbins (00:24:30):

You can pull It. It's supposed to do that.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:24:32):

It's supposed to do that. There's a right and the left hemisphere, but I'm just pulling it apart so you can see how deep the folds of the outer covering go. You know how much surface area is represented in this folded thing? If I put it out, it's probably as big as this dining room table.

 

Mel Robbins (00:24:50):

Meaning if you took the macaroni and put it as one big noodle, it would cover the table.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:24:55):

Yeah, exactly.

 

Mel Robbins (00:24:56):

No way.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:24:56):

Yep.

 

Mel Robbins (00:24:57):

And what are those like tubes? What Is the macaroni?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:25:01):

These are folds. These are folds of a sheet of what's called the outer covering the neocortex, and we get more bang for our buck because it's folded in a rat cortex is completely smooth. Sorry, rats. You don't have as much computing power as you do from all of this. Yes.

 

Mel Robbins (00:25:21):

It's kind of like, I can't believe how heavy it is

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:25:26):

Yeah. Well, there's a lot densely packed in there. This is controlling everything from our breathing to our movement to our memories, to the way you feel right now. Holding a human brain for the very first time.

 

Mel Robbins (00:25:40):

I feel so weird. Well, only because I don't think about my brain and to think that there is something this heavy, I would say, I'm trying to think of an object. It's literally like if you were to put not a half gallon, but a quart of milk in your hands. Is that about the right weight?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:26:00):

Yeah, I think that's right. It's like three pounds.

 

Mel Robbins (00:26:02):

Yes. Yeah. Yes. And it is like two chicken breasts bone in terms of the size. It's like in my full palm now. Where's the front of it?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:26:11):

Frontal lobe here. Then paral lobe, visual spatial functions where things are in space, occipital lobe. Primary visual cortex is back here. Wait, visual? Yeah. We see from the back of the brain, we see from this part of the brain. If this part of the brain is damaged, you are blind.

 

Mel Robbins (00:26:29):

So when parent or grandparent says, I got eyes in the back of my head, they weren't kidding. Almost like for real. It's like it's back there.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:26:39):

Yeah. They have their visual cortex in the back of the head. They are seen from the back of their head. Absolutely.

 

Mel Robbins (00:26:44):

If you had a concussion, would you see damage to the surface or

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:26:49):

Yeah, sometimes it causes a bruise kind of thing. But what I always tell people is have you had that experience where you bonk the back of your head and you see stars?

 

Mel Robbins (00:26:59):

Yes.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:27:00):

It's because you are physically stimulating the visual cortex, and that physical stimulation is causing visual imagery of the stars. What's happening? That's not normal vision, of course.

 

Mel Robbins (00:27:13):

And is every human being's brain pretty much the same color?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:27:17):

Yes. This is the temporal lobe here, the last lobe. And if we flip it over, there you go.

 

Mel Robbins (00:27:25):

God, what is that ugly thing on the bottom?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:27:27):

The nub is the start of the spinal cord. So it goes, yeah, it got cut off. So sorry. And then this thing,

 

Mel Robbins (00:27:36):

I feel like I shouldn't be looking at this part of Betty. This is like, oh my god.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:27:41):

It's all good. It's all good. This is a cerebellum critical for fine motor movement, so we can walk smoothly because of our cerebellum, but I love the bottom part of the brain because right here is the bottom part of the temporal lobe. And right below this cortex here and below this cortex here, that's where the hippocampus sits.

 

Mel Robbins (00:28:01):

Your favorite part,

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:28:02):

You can't see it. My favorite part, you can't see it from the surface, but it's right below this area right here. Okay.

 

Mel Robbins (00:28:08):

Where is that annoying little amygdala? The part that is creating fight or flight. The part that keeps us in an alarm state also protects us. But where is that sucker?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:28:19):

It is right in front of the hippocampus. It's an almond shaped structure right about here, but below the surface. Gotcha. So the hippocampus is like a curved structure like this. So here and here, and the amygdala is just my fist that sits right here. This is the front of the temporal lobe. So it goes like that.

 

Mel Robbins (00:28:37):

Wow. And this here looks different than the foldy stuff.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:28:43):

Yeah. This is the orbital frontal cortex, and the olfactory bulb got pulled off of this brain. So it looks a little bit different because there's a little bit of damage. But can you see this X right here? That is the optic nerve.

 

Mel Robbins (00:29:01):

No way.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:29:02):

Yes. Yes. The optic chiasm. Chiasm means cross the cross, you see? Right there is the crossing of all the fibers from one side of your visual field going to the other side of your visual cortex.

 

Mel Robbins (00:29:16):

Now, is that why, this is a random question, but is that when somebody has a stroke, is that what gets impacted if they're

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:29:24):

Well, the whole brain gets impacted in different parts. So the strokes that cause motor impairment, you can't move your arm anymore. It's damaging the arm motor area of your motor cortex.

 

Mel Robbins (00:29:36):

That's wild. Dr. Suzuki, Betty and I are going on a walk, right? And so we're moving our bodies. How does that cause just the movement itself in the limbs triggers information that goes up into your brain? Is that how that works?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:29:51):

Yeah, that's a great question. The exact mechanism of how dopamine and serotonin is triggered with physical activity is not that well known, but I go back evolutionarily to the fact that we are physical beings despite the fact that all of us are just sitting in chairs all the time, and that is a long-term survival mechanism. That's why it makes us feel good because we were made to move our bodies, and I guess we could just take advantage of it more because we're not moving enough. But that's what you get every single time you move. That is so cool. The other thing, sorry, we have to go back to the bottom. This is the brainstem area right here, right before the spinal cord. This is that area that controls our heartbeat, our respiration, and so brainstem damage. If this goes, then your heartbeat will no longer beat. That is lethal, but such a critical part of the brain.

 

Mel Robbins (00:30:55):

So you have now taught the class, you've done the experiments, you've written the international bestselling books on the topic. What does the power of moving your body do to your brain?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:31:07):

Every single time you move your body, you are releasing literally a flood of neurochemicals in your brain. That is the physical thing that happens. And I'm not talking about run a marathon. I'm talking about even taking a walk. A 10 minute walk gets that flood of neurochemicals going. Is it different if you do get your heart rate up? Yes, it is. But the power starts with a 10 minute walk. That is one of the take homes from our conversation today, Mel, is the neurochemical flood. It starts with a 10 minute walk. What is in that flood of neurochemicals? Dopamine, serotonin, noradrenaline, endorphins, growth factors. The first three, dopamine, serotonin, neuro adrenalin. What's that going to do? It's going to make you feel great. Well, you've just given your brain this flood of neurochemicals that I like to call a neurochemical bubble bath for your brain. And I love that image 

Mel Robbins (00:32:27):

I love that image. I love the image of being outside for just a 10 minute walk. Every one of us can find 10 minutes. And you can imagine that flood happening. And I also, I personally am a bath person. So when you say bubbles and a bath in my brain and bubbles are fluffy, and I don't know that I wanted a body part to be big and fluffy, but now I do want a big and fluffy brain that a 10 minute walk at a minimum causes that flood of really positive chemicals. And this goes back to what you were saying, which is neuroplasticity and growing your brain works in the positive and not doing these things, I suppose works in the negative.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:33:16):

Well, the negative comes from the most common negative brain plasticity. Drivers, very familiar to all of us. Stress, chronic stress, chronic anxiety are two things that will cause retraction. So

 

Mel Robbins (00:33:32):

Is the flood of all of those superpower, do you call them chemicals or what are they called?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:33:40):

Neurochemicals. Neurotransmitters. Gotcha. So

 

Mel Robbins (00:33:42):

Does the flood of all those neurochemicals relieve anxiety? Is that why taking a 10 minute walk if you're feeling anxious, can make you feel better? It's because of the release of the neurochemicals.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:33:54):

Yes. Yeah. The most common drugs that one gets prescribed for depression or anxiety are releasing forms of noradrenaline and dopamine and serotonin. So this is a natural way to get that. It's free. You don't even have to change your clothes. So that is just the magical power of moving your body for your brain.

 

Mel Robbins (00:34:18):

I love that. How does

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:34:20):

Exercise improve focus? Improved focus is the most common positive effect that has been reported from studies of exercise on the brain. Easiest to find improved focus. We know it's affecting the prefrontal cortex and the mechanism of that and what exactly is happening is less clear than some of the other brain areas. We think that growth factors are also involved and that it involves not growth of new brain cells in the prefrontal cortex, but new synapses, you get an immediate positive effect of focus from that same 10 minute walk. And with long-term regular exercise, your baseline levels of focus and attention go up, and that's where you expect to get real physical change in your brain.

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:35:29):

One of my favorite findings is in groups that were assigned the exercise condition, the motivation to exercise increased in them. So more exercise improves motivation to exercise. And the energy piece that you're talking about is likely due to the flood of dopamine and serotonin that go to your brain. Do you feel more energized when you're happy and when the reward that you get with dopamine? Yes, you are. So I'm going to say that it's probably most likely due to those same newer chemicals we've been talking about.

 

Mel Robbins (00:36:03):

Well, I was just thinking about this morning. So this morning the alarm goes off at 5 35. We've got a huge day in the studio. I'm super excited to meet you and to talk to you. And as I was rolling out of the hotel bed, my husband was down here with me. He's like, where are you going? I'm like, I got to go exercise. He's like, but you have a huge day. And I'm like, because I need to be energized. And I know that if I go exercise at six o'clock in the morning when I walk in that studio, I will be a different person. And so it was something that I realized I'm doing, especially on days that I want to perform.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:36:43):

Yeah, me too.

 

Mel Robbins (00:36:44):

And can you explain a little bit about why, if you've got something big going on today, starting your day with exercise is a really smart thing to do?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:36:53):

Well, so it is going back to that wonderful flood of neurochemicals. You are starting your day in a good mood. You're improved your focus and attention, which we all need for a big day. You're also increasing your adrenaline in your body with exercise. What I love to do to supercharge that adrenaline boost every morning is hot cold contrast showers. So I do my regular hot shower, but at the end I push it all the way to maximum cold and boost. Okay. It was hard the first time I did it, it's really, but 

Mel Robbins (00:37:55):

So Dr. Suzuki, I want to stop you right there because that is a second huge free takeaway. We talked about the 10 minute walk. Yes. We have talked about this flood of neurochemicals that you can get by moving your body. Now you are talking about a habit that you have as a neuroscientist where you end every shower by spinning the dial from that amazing steamy awesome warm shower. Oh, I love that feeling, don't you? When you start feeling a little tired, you're like, oh, do I really want to get out of the shower? And then Dr. Suzuki's like, right, and she turns it up cold and now she's staring a freezer cold water. How long do you there? Yeah. And do you actually let it hit your head or do you cheat like I do when you hit a shoulder?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:38:40):

So I let it hit everywhere, but now I'm used to it. The first time it was only a tiny little shell it enough. But you get used to it and now it's longer. I could do it much, much longer. And now I'm much more sensitive because different places you take showers have different coldness of the water. So yeah, I like it when places are really cold so I could really test myself because the colder it is, the bigger adrenaline boost that you get. And so now I'm sensitive to what that feels like in me. So the cold doesn't bother me. What I'm kind of addicted to is the adrenaline that comes with it.

 

Mel Robbins (00:39:25):

So for the person listening, if they wanted to try this and they're going to do it today or first thing tomorrow morning and you turn the shower to cold, how long would you want them to try to stay in there? And what does it feel like when that adrenaline rush hits? Because I think when you do it the first time, your immediate reaction is get out of the shower. Is that what you're waiting to feel or is it the get out of the shower thing and then you stay for a second or two to feel this like, ah, hit your body. What are you looking for? So the person listening can try this at home.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:40:02):

Yeah. So it is a shock as everybody imagine the very first time. And so you do feel shocked and you want to try to stay as long as you could handle it, but if you felt the shock, that's the point. Get out, dry yourself off. That is going to last. I'm going to say easy. The rest of the morning you are going to feel that adrenaline. I mean, that's why I do it. If it only lasted for two seconds, I wouldn't bother to do it. I do it because this is a boost of physiological adrenaline that is natural from this cold and it stays in your system. And I feel the energy difference when I do that

 

Mel Robbins (00:40:46):

In case it's helpful the way that I have developed this as a habit in my life. I agree with you. It's shocking both what it feels like and it is shocking the difference that you feel like I can go from super sleepy to laser focused by simply turning the dial on the shower. And the way that I do it is once you put the conditioner in your hair, when you go to rinse it out, turn the shower to cold.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:41:13):

Wow, that's a good long.

 

Mel Robbins (00:41:14):

Yeah, it's 20 seconds about. I'm pretty fast in rinsing it out now, but it's a way to really try this and get the brain changing and life affirming and focus increasing benefits that you're talking about. That's so cool. How movement and exercise improve your memory. Exactly.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:41:37):

When you move your body, and here there is a level that's very important, aerobic activity that is any kind of movement that gets your heart rate up, think dancing, think power, walking those count for aerobic activity. Aerobic activity is critical because there are these growth factors that you need to get that hippocampal growth. They come from muscle movement, so you have to have enough muscle movement. They come from release of ketones from your liver, and these growth factors get released kind of peripherally, go up into the brain, go directly to your hippocampus and go into that part of the hippocampus where new brain cells are being born all the time for anybody, whether you exercise or never exercise, you get new brain cells. But with more exercise, more growth factors get released and more new brain cells are born and those new brain cells grow and integrate. And the cool thing we know about these new brain cells that are born in adulthood is they're kind of like teenage brain cells. They're really hyperactive and they want to get involved in all the memory circuits that they hippocampus is involved in. So they make your hippocampus work better. And we know an enormous amount about the physiology, the detailed physiology of the power of those brand new adult hippocampal brain cells.

 

Mel Robbins (00:42:57):

What type of memory does it help? Because if you think about memory, I am one of these people that I think due to chronic anxiety and undiagnosed A DHD, I don't have a lot of memories from my childhood, at least not that I'm conscious of. I know they're in there somewhere, but I can't quite access them. I know I was there for my childhood, but I can't quite remember a lot of it, and I know that's a very common thing. So is it impacting that kind of memory or the short-term working memory that you need? If you're learning a new subject and you got to take a test,

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:43:33):

Yeah. It is affecting your ability to form new long-term memories for facts and events, all the things you learn, all the students learning stuff, and school right now that is because you have a working hippocampus and more shiny new hippocampal cells will make those memories easier to form that kind of memories for facts and events. Also, I need to emphasize that the hippocampus is critical for spatial memory. Your ability to weigh find is also really, really dependent on the particular kinds of

 

Mel Robbins (00:44:05):

What does that mean spatial memory.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:44:07):

Spatial memory means how to get from here to the subway, how to get from one place to the other where the supermarket is relative to my childhood home, that memory or learning a new route. Highly, highly dependent on the hippocampus.

 

Mel Robbins (00:44:22):

Have you done any research on the impact of exercise and dementia or Alzheimer's, how, I don't even know the technical way you describe

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:44:33):

That

 

Mel Robbins (00:44:33):

Type of memory impairment that people face.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:44:37):

Yeah, yeah. I haven't done direct research. A lot of my research is done in younger populations for the reason that I want to change the movement patterns in younger people. Because the longer and the more you move your body, the better off your brain is in older age. What we haven't said, which is key to understand, is that the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus are most susceptible to both aging and neurodegenerative disease states. That is cells die synapses kind of melt away in these two brain areas. I go, oh, so that means that if I'm moving my body and get aerobic exercise, I'm making these two key vulnerable brain areas as big and fat, as fluffy as possible. I'm not curing aging or dementia, but I'm staving it off. That is the power of long-term regular movement in your life related to aging.

 

Mel Robbins (00:45:43):

If somebody's listening to this and they're thinking, oh, Dr. Suzuki, I am living that life you described of you and a lab with no friends, and I am alone on a raft trip in the river of life and I have not been exercising for decades, is it too late?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:46:04):

No, it's never too late to start moving. And the reason I say that is that we know people that have mild cognitive impairment, which is on the way to more severe levels of dementia, put on an exercise program, you can see the improvement in them. So never too late movement is going to continue to have this great thing. It's always there for us. It's amazing.

 

Mel Robbins (00:46:29):

I love that. So tell us what to do. I'm imagining you in your exercise clothes, Dr. Suzuki. Tell us what kind of exercise.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:46:39):

Okay, so what kind of exercise? What I would recommend, and this comes from studies that I've done in my lab. First, we did studies in people that are low fit. They move their bodies less than 20 minutes a week for the last three months. Then we put them on an exercise regimen, aerobic exercise, 45 minutes three times a week. Okay. It was a spin class,

 

Mel Robbins (00:47:03):

So

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:47:03):

45 minutes spin class. But the point is that it was aerobic. They did that and compared to 45 minutes, three times a week of power scrabble competition in my lab, so that was the non aerobic control experiment. 

Mel Robbins (00:47:56):

Okay, so mid fit.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:47:57):

Yeah.

 

Mel Robbins (00:47:58):

Trying to see if I actually fit in that category. How three times, right? Two to three times a week you're working out. And that could be lifting weights, it could be going for a long walk. It could be yoga class. Like you're just doing

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:48:10):

Something. Yes. Got it. Okay. So we asked what will change their brain? And we said, okay, you could go to this spin class as many times as you want during the week. And so we had people staying at two to three times a week and those that went up to seven times a week. The take home from that study is that the more you worked out, the more brain changes you got. And that's great. It's democratic, you earn what you get. So it works on a continuum. And I used to say every drop of sweat count, but then it turns out there's a lot more people than I realized that don't sweat. So now I say every turn of the exercise bike route wheel that counts. What I'm doing counts. Walking, dancing, gardening, all of that counts. And the inspiration is just do it a little bit more. You're going to get the benefit. It's not like it's not going to count, it is going to count. Just find a way to get it into your life, importantly in a way that you enjoy and in a way that you're going to do.

 

Mel Robbins (00:49:15):

If somebody is wheelchair bound or they are injured or they're combating an illness, so they are very sedentary, is there some kind of something that you can do? I mean, I would imagine if you're wheeling yourself, that's a very aerobic activity. Absolutely. So you are moving your body, but where do you recommend somebody start? If they are sending this episode to someone that they're worried about and the person who is listening to this is thinking, I can't do any of that.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:49:49):

Right? For most of us that we might send this episode two, it's that there is lack of a habit of movement. And there I say so many times, walking counts. Do you walk, wow, I walk, walk to the car. Can you walk a little bit more? Can you park the car farther away? All these things that you're already going to do, can you take the stairs up so that it doesn't feel so much like Jim going? That is off-putting to people, and I understand that, but it turns out that maybe it's a walk with a loved one, a walk with your pet. 

Mel Robbins (00:50:39):

What I really love about your message and your research is the visual of this flood of neurochemicals and the fact that so many of us reach for something in a bottle and you have something in your body that you can unleash. And I'm not shaming anybody at all because medications save lives. They're a very important tool in the toolkit. But don't forget about the one that's actually designed by your own body. And when you understand the science, it makes your resignation over the fact that you've let yourself go or you don't have a lot of time. Or what difference is a 10 minute walk or turning the dial to cold to get the blast of adrenaline. It actually makes a profound difference.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:51:26):

It does make a profound difference. Little things. That's the thing. You don't have to completely change your lifestyle. In fact, it might be scary to say I completely changed my life, but it started with that first class that I went, I still remember it was a hip hop dance class. I'm a terrible hip hop dancer, but I still went and I was like, even though I was terrible, I still feel better. It might be different for you, it might be, I love this park and I'm just going to walk around this park that's near my house. It's convenient. The park's not going anywhere. It's always going to be there. What is that thing that you can do that will be easy for you to do to move your body?

 

Mel Robbins (00:52:04):

How does exercise improve longevity and decrease your risk for disease?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:52:12):

So I have to turn to my friend Robert Wallinger, when you talk about longevity, because his wonderful studies at Harvard that he oversees shows how important social connection is for longevity. That is the number one thing. And of course, physical activity that increases your heart rate and decreases your propensity for getting cardiovascular disease, that's great too. But for longevity, it is social connection. And so taking those walks with a friend, including your pets, all those things, I like to multiply all these effects that come from great science. My father, a very smart guy. He was an engineer and one day he drove back from the seven 11 that's only about eight blocks from our house. He would go there to get his afternoon cup of coffee, and he told my mom that he had a hard time finding his way back home. That's the spatial memory I was talking about.

 

(00:53:18):

That's so dependent on the hippocampus. And as a hippocampal expert, when my mother told me that, I knew immediately there was a problem with his hippocampus. That is the structure that is first affected in dementia, including Alzheimer's dementia. And that is what he ended up being diagnosed with. I wish I could say. So therefore, I had him immediately on an exercise plan. He was in his early eighties, maybe late seventies when that happened. I can't remember exactly his age. He was a little bit wobbly on his feet. He did going for a walk. So he would go do that. But there was a little bit of danger. As we all know with older people, there's a little risk taking. Again, going back to social interaction, the more time that I could spend with him, the more time that we can get him together with family where he came alive and he can talk about all the memories that he had is a great way to go.

 

(00:54:21):

As Japanese Americans, I'm third generation Japanese American. My parents are second generation Japanese Americans, other Japanese Americans out there will know. We don't say, I love you to each other, not because we don't love each other, just you don't have to say that. It's just not part of our culture. But when my father had this dementia diagnosis, I was like, gosh, you know what? I want to start saying it. But it's very awkward when you're an adult child and you've never said, I love you to your parents as an adult. Do you just blurt it out? It's like, what should I do? I had a long internal conversation about this and I realized that I should ask permission. Let's talk about it. And I didn't want to say, oh, because you have dementia, I want to say I love you. I was like, let's keep it light.

 

(00:55:11):

Let's just ask. But I wanted to do it for my mom and my dad and I would call every Sunday, and when I called, my mom would always answer the phone and I would tell her about the week, and then she would hand the phone to my dad and I'd tell him all the same stories. And then that's how the conversation went. But this Sunday I decided, I'm going to ask whether we can start saying, I love you for the first time in our whole adult lives. So it started out normally, and at some point in the middle I said, mom, I realize we never say I love you. At the end of these conversations, 

(00:56:59):

And so I had the conversation with my dad, and it was a little less awkward with him because I knew my mom says yes, and I knew my dad would say yes. And so we agreed with my dad. We said, I love you. Hung up the phone and burst into tears because I had kind of changed the whole family dynamic of generations of not saying, I love you. And that was a tipping point in my family kind of history from not saying, I love you to saying I love you. But the reason why I started telling this story is that the following week I called back again, and I love you with my mother was significantly less awkward. But my father said, I love you first. And he remembered after a whole week he was in the middle of dementia. He didn't remember anything, but he remembered that we had agreed to say, I love you. And he said it first. And because I'm a neuroscientist that studies memory, I know why. And it's because emotional resonance makes hippocampal dependent memories stick. And his hippocampus was not working well, but the emotional resonance of his adult daughter asking for the very first time to say, I love you. It formed a new memory in my dad. And that was obviously something that I'll always remember because the last time I spoke to him, we also said, I love you.

 

Mel Robbins (00:58:45):

It's so beautiful. Oh my God, I crying over the brain for crying out loud. I am really proud of you. Thank you for recognizing what you needed and also recognizing what your parents needed and asking for it.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:59:08):

Yeah.

 

Mel Robbins (00:59:10):

And the story demonstrates something you said earlier, which is the brain is the intricate, complicated, amazing, beautiful thing about a human.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:59:26):

Yes.

 

Mel Robbins (00:59:27):

And you have the ability to change it for the better. And for anyone that's listening, that feels like you are in a family dynamic that you wish would change, all it takes is one person to do it.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:59:47):

Yeah.

 

Mel Robbins (00:59:47):

What a gift you gave to your parents and to yourself.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (00:59:52):

Yes, it was. And I still enjoy that gift in my regular conversations with my mother. So yes, I think about that, that day often.

 

Mel Robbins (01:00:03):

What did it teach you as a scientist to have that personal experience?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (01:00:09):

It really brought home how precious our memories are. It defines who we are. It defines our personal histories. And if you lose that personal history, you still have your same personality characteristics. But that's what's so sad to see as the family member, those memories slip away. But when they come back or one is created anew, you celebrate it in a different way. So it really kind of brought all of my science home to me.

 

Mel Robbins (01:00:50):

It's beautiful. So beautiful. I am so struck by what a profound experience this has been to be with you. And one of my missions is to take the smartest people in the world like you and some of the most complicated research and to try to make it personal and useful. And you have done that for us today.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (01:01:24):

Oh, thank you.

 

Mel Robbins (01:01:25):

In a way that not only, I know that I personally feel so much more empowered and motivated, but I have a bigger reason for why this truly matters. And is there anything that you want to say to the person listening as your parting words?

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (01:01:47):

So my parting words for everybody listening to this podcast is that you have a beautiful brain. We all have beautiful brains. That is the message that I try and bring and the recommendations that I give are so that you can keep that beautiful, big, fat and fluffy brain going as you can.

 

Mel Robbins (01:02:12):

Well, you certainly empowered us to do that. It is such an honor to meet you, to get to spend time with you. Thank you, thank you. Thank you for being with us.

 

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (01:02:22):

The honor is mine. Thank you so much.

 

Mel Robbins (01:02:25):

And for you, I just wanted to say in case no one else does that, I love you and I believe in you, and I believe in your ability to create a better life. And it has been such an honor to spend time together today and to learn from Dr. Suzuki. And I know that if you take to heart everything she just shared with you, not only from her brain but her heart, that you hold the keys in your hands to take better care of your brain, which will lead you to living a better life. And I truly hope you do. I'll see you in the next episode, and I want to thank you for being here with me on YouTube and making it all the way to the end of this extraordinary episode. Wasn't this unreal? I just love this conversation. I hope you did too.

 

(01:03:14):

And since you made it this far, could you do me a favor? Would you click right there and hit subscribe. I'm going to tell you why it's my goal that 50% of the people that watch these videos subscribe to this channel. It's just a way that I know that you're enjoying the content and it supports the team and bringing you more amazing videos and experts like this. And by the way, I know you're thinking, well, what am I going to watch next? You're going to want to check out this one too, because if you loved this episode, you're going to love this one. Next. This is with world renowned brain specialist medical doctor, Dr. Daniel, a Amen where he is going to share secrets and strategies and tools and tips, everything that he's learned from doing over 200,000 brain scans. I cannot wait to see you there.