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Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal

Change Your Brain: The Power Of Neuroplasticity And Braincare - Dr Tara Swart

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Dr. Tara SwartguestAli Abdaalhost

Oct 20, 20222h 1mWatch on YouTube

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CHAPTERS

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Chapter summaries

Tara's Career Path from Psychiatry to Heights
Ali introduces Dr Tara Swart and asks how she ended up where she is. Tara walks through medical school, her PhD, psychiatry training, quitting medicine in 2007, coaching, speaking, MIT Sloan teaching and joining Heights as chief science officer.
- •Tara trained in medicine in London and Oxford, did a PhD in neuropharmacology, and trained in psychiatry
- •She quit medicine in 2007 and began as a coach at the bottom of the pile in an office
- •She started her own coaching practice in 2008 and later taught at MIT Sloan
- •Heights' founders found her on social media; she was already carrying many supplement bottles when travelling
Why She Left Psychiatry
Ali asks why Tara left medicine in 2007. She describes two years of deliberation, wanting more intellectual challenge, the chief of psychiatry's "in your sleep" remark, and the belief that coaching senior leaders would reach more people.
- •She thought about leaving for two years because patients depended on her
- •She felt she would not get enough intellectual stimulation over thirty or forty years
- •The chief of psychiatry said she could do the job in her sleep, which tipped her decision
- •Lifestyle was not the reason, since psychiatry on-calls suited her
- •She believed influencing senior leaders would reach more people than treating individuals
Neuroscience for Business and the Basics of Brain Performance
Ali asks how neuroscience and business fit together and what improves brain performance. Tara explains that leaders are paid to use their brains and lists rest, nutrition, hydration, exercise, breathing and mindfulness, noting how much energy the brain consumes.
- •Leaders are paid to use their brains but often don't know how the organ works
- •The brain uses up to about 30% of the breakdown products of food, especially under stress
- •Tara advocates a brain care first attitude to health choices
Finding Executive Coaching and Burning the Boats
Tara explains how a school friend introduced her to coaching and why she quit without a backup plan. She also describes how her work shifted from coaching to speaking once neuroscience became a business buzz topic.
- •A school friend who worked at McKinsey introduced her to coaching
- •Her two years of thinking relate to neuroplasticity's tipping point
- •She refused to do locum work, though she says this isn't right for everyone
- •Around 2010 neuroscience became a business buzz topic and speaking became a revenue source
Eating and Fasting for the Brain
Ali asks about nutrition and Tara lays out levels of eating well and fasting. She covers dark-skinned foods rich in anthocyanins and the link between aerobic exercise and neurogenesis.
- •Level one is three healthy, mostly plant-based meals a day
- •Time-restricted eating and intermittent fasting come only after the basics like sleep, water and movement
- •Dark-skinned foods like blueberries and dark chocolate contain anthocyanins that contribute to neurogenesis
- •Returning to aerobic exercise after a break can boost neurogenesis
Neurogenesis, Synapses, Myelination and Playing to Strengths
Tara explains the three ways of growing the brain and maps them onto A-grade, B-plus and harder skills using her own examples. They conclude that neuroscience supports playing to your strengths.
- •Neurogenesis, synaptic connection and myelination are the three mechanisms
- •Myelination relates to things you are already good at, like her language learning
- •Synaptic connection relates to B-plus skills that effort can turn into an A
- •Neurogenesis in adulthood is limited, so very hard new skills such as golf are costly
- •Passions usually align with strengths, and the neuroscience supports playing to them
Coaching Executives and Building New Neural Pathways
Tara describes coaching talented executives with low emotional intelligence, using the field-path analogy for neuroplasticity. She gives a graduated listening exercise, timelines for habits versus emotional skills, and her nine-month rebirth theory, then tips on emotional intelligence.
- •Executives who were great at their jobs but shouted or made people cry were referred to her
- •The field-path analogy explains how repetition makes a new behavior effortless
- •She had clients practise listening without interrupting, starting with their children and moving to difficult colleagues
- •Simple habits take two to three weeks, emotional intelligence six to twelve months, and a nine-month focus could rewire pathways
- •Emotional intelligence involves naming your emotions and reading other people's cues
Stress Resilience, Heart Rate Variability and the Nervous System
Ali asks how to train resilience to stress. Tara explains heart rate variability, the sympathetic and parasympathetic states, why high-powered executives are stressed all day, and why we need to actively recover.
- •Resilience rests on sleep, diet, hydration, exercise and mindfulness
- •Heart rate variability monitors show whether the body is in a stress state or a rest state
- •Her executive clients were often in a sympathetic state all day and sometimes at night
- •Magnesium is depleted by stress, and 70-75% of Western people are more stressed than they should be
- •Modern information overload means we must deliberately recover, unlike our cave-dwelling ancestors
Breathing, Nature and Quick Nervous System Resets
Tara stresses sleep and then oxygenation, including deep breathing, and explains why nature benefits the brain. She offers quick resets: alternating close and distant focus, a sharp inhale with a long sigh, and the half salamander.
- •Sleep is the most important foundation for recovering resilience
- •Stress leads to shallow breathing or breath-holding, and ten deep breaths give the brain oxygen
- •Time in nature matters partly because of evolution and the loss of gut flora diversity
- •Looking at something close then something distant rests the brain
- •Knowing you can reset your nervous system gives a sense of control
Long-Term Resilience and the Power of Journaling
Ali asks about longer-term resilience-building. Tara lists journaling, gratitude, meditation and curating inputs, then explains journaling as an emotional download and describes how rereading her journal revealed her magnesium deficiency.
- •Long-term practices take around nine months or more to build
- •Holding emotions and unfinished tasks in the mind raises cortisol like a pressure cooker
- •Rereading a journal reveals patterns in thought, behavior and decisions
- •Her journal showed recurring muscle twitches while travelling, pointing to magnesium
Magnesium and Supplement Skepticism
Tara explains why magnesium matters and why it should be absorbed through the skin. Ali raises skepticism about supplements, and they discuss vitamin D, noticing effects, and Ali's omega ratio.
- •Magnesium underlies sleep, mood and neuromuscular function and is easily depleted by stress
- •Tara baths in magnesium flakes and cites a study comparing transdermal absorption to IV
- •Medics accept electrolyte correction yet distrust supplements, even while neglecting their own hydration
- •Tara says most people are low in vitamin D and she supplements it, along with magnesium and a probiotic
- •Both Ali and Tara say they can't easily feel the effects of their supplements
The Gut-Brain Axis and Probiotics
Ali asks about the gut-brain axis and Tara explains it is bidirectional, working through nerves, cytokines and hormones. They cover gut health markers, probiotics, prebiotic and fermented foods, and genetic differences in food tolerance.
- •The gut-brain connection is bidirectional via nerves, cytokine signaling and hormones
- •Sleep, nutrition, exercise and mindfulness also affect gut bacteria
- •Regular stool and noticing changes are signs of gut health, while a sample can be sent for microbiome testing
- •Probiotics replenish good bacteria and prebiotic foods like onion and garlic feed them
- •Fermented foods are beneficial, while processed food, smoked food, alcohol and antibiotics harm the gut
Mindfulness, Yoga and Everyday Practices
Ali asks how a rational person should approach spirituality, and Tara explains how she researched the laws of attraction through cognitive science. They discuss mindfulness, Ali's fast-audiobook walks, her pandemic experience, mindful eating and barefoot walking.
- •Tara researched the laws of attraction with cognitive science and found most could be explained
- •Yoga and meditation are forms of mindfulness, under which she includes eating mindfully and time in nature
- •At 28, Ali can handle high stimulation, but Tara says not to wait for deterioration before building mindfulness
- •Mindful eating means sitting, giving gratitude, and not rushing or doing anything else
- •She names paying attention to people you love as the most important practice
Vision Boards, Selective Attention and Manifestation
Tara describes how to make a vision board and explains the science of selective filtering and value tagging. She shares examples of things that came true and answers Ali's confirmation bias challenge.
- •A vision board is a handmade collage, which Tara prefers to call an action board
- •She keeps hers visible, looks at it twice daily and takes small steps toward it
- •Selective filtering and value tagging explain how it steers attention to relevant opportunities
- •Using magazines rather than printouts exposes you to unexpected images
- •She acknowledges confirmation bias but says her hit rate seems far beyond chance
Relationship Reflections and Closing
Ali asks what Tara learned between her first and second marriages. She credits personal growth but mostly luck in finding a compatible partner, and then shares her Instagram, book and upcoming podcast.
- •Her nine years between marriages involved reading Jung and Buddhism, journaling and resilience training
- •She says meeting a compatible partner made the second marriage easy
- •She still speaks highly of her first husband and says they were just young
- •She promotes her Instagram, book and new podcast Reinvent Yourself with Dr. Tara

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