Skip to content

By playing, you agree to uListen's Terms and Privacy Policy and YouTube's Terms of Service.

Lewis HowesLewis Howes

DO THIS First Thing In The Morning To COMPLETELY HEAL Your Body & Mind | Dr. Daniel Amen

- Sign up for my FREE newsletter & get a dose of inspiration from our world-class guests, learn how to improve your life!

Dr. Daniel AmenguestLewis Howeshost
Apr 1, 20222h 17mWatch on YouTube

Summaries, chapters, transcripts, and FAQs on this page are made by uListen, not YouTube.

Great conversations run long. Their best ideas don't have to.

uListen is free on iPhone, iPad, Android, Chrome, and Claude.

See how

Transcript

  1. 0:00 – 1:58

    Positivity-bias training: bookending the day with “great day” and “what went well”

    1. DA

      Every day you're making your brain a bit better or a bit worse.

    2. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    3. DA

      You're not stuck with the brain you have. You can make it better.

    4. LH

      Mm.

    5. DA

      But you gotta-

    6. LH

      This video is brought to you by the Ergatta Rower, and you'll hear more about them in just a moment. I think you gotta have a dream. The School of Greatness. Really? [laughs] Yeah. Please welcome Lewis Howes. What are some of the other techniques or nutritional things that we should be thinking about to optimizing the brain and body beyond ping pong?

    7. DA

      Well, the first thing, and I did it this morning, is you go, "Today's going to be a great day." And that way you get your brain looking for what's right rather than what's wrong. And I get to be with you today, and that makes me happy.

    8. LH

      Yeah.

    9. DA

      Um, I end every day, and I recommend everybody do this, what went well today? So I, whenever I put myself to sleep, I say a prayer and then I go, "What went well today?"

    10. LH

      Mm.

    11. DA

      And I start at the beginning of the day and I purposefully look for the smallest things that went well that I like, that make me happy. Now, along that you'll find the big things, but you know, we're both busy.

    12. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    13. DA

      And great things happen, but you often don't stop and reflect on those great things that happened.

    14. LH

      Right.

    15. DA

      And if you make it a habit... Like the day my dad died, my dad died almost two years ago, and that day when I went to bed, I went, [laughs] "What went well today?" And the voice, the critic in my head was so upset.

    16. LH

      Mm.

    17. DA

      It's like, "You're a bad human being." But it's my habit, and then I thought about all the things that went right that day.

    18. LH

      Mm.

    19. DA

      And even though I was sad and grieved, I went to sleep.

    20. LH

      Right.

    21. DA

      Because I have my brain trained. We live in a society of undisciplined minds, and there's a science to disciplining it.

  2. 1:58 – 5:22

    Negativity vs. positivity bias—and why some anxiety is useful

    1. LH

      Yeah. So what would you call that? Is it a, uh, in the beginning of the day and the end of the day, what is it, what is that strategy called? Is it just mental focus?

    2. DA

      S-

    3. LH

      Is it gratitude? Is it-

    4. DA

      Well, when people come to my clinic, we often do some neuropsych testing, and one of the tasks is negativity bias versus positivity bias. And-

    5. LH

      What's the difference between those two?

    6. DA

      Well, negativity bias is you're focused on what's wrong. Your brain quickly, almost immediately goes to what you're afraid of, what's negative. And the news will tell you all sorts of things to be afraid of.

    7. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    8. DA

      Um, positivity bias is you go to what's right. And so those two techniques are part of what I talk about in the new book, positivity bias training.

    9. LH

      Mm.

    10. DA

      How do you train your brain to look for what's right, not for just what's wrong? Now, it's not over the top because, uh, I've been thinking about this Bible verse a lot lately. Uh, the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord, and it used to always sort of bother me.

    11. LH

      Yeah.

    12. DA

      I'm like, "Why do I have to be afraid?"

    13. LH

      Yeah.

    14. DA

      And then I realize people who have low levels of anxiety die early from accidents or preventable illnesses.

    15. LH

      They're not worried about anything, they die early is what you're saying.

    16. DA

      Right.

    17. LH

      So-

    18. DA

      And often the people, um, that go to jail, they have low levels of anxiety. They actually have slower heart rates. They have lower sweat gland activity.

    19. LH

      Interesting.

    20. DA

      Right? Like, if I think I'm gonna go rob a store, well, I don't because I don't wanna be caught.

    21. LH

      [laughs] Right.

    22. DA

      And [laughs] I don't like institutional food, and I don't-

    23. LH

      Mm

    24. DA

      ... really look good in an orange jumpsuit.

    25. LH

      Yeah, yeah. [laughs]

    26. DA

      Right? And so I'm always thinking ahead. And one of the lies of happiness, so I open You, Happier with the lies of happiness, is don't worry, be happy. So Bobby McFerrin's, um, Grammy Award-winning-

    27. LH

      Mm

    28. DA

      ... song, uh, Don't Worry, Be Happy, is a lie.

    29. LH

      Mm.

    30. DA

      Because p- you need some anxiety so you do the right things.

  3. 5:22 – 8:32

    Dementia risk factors: weight, blood sugar, and protecting blood flow

    1. LH

      So what would you say are the three main causes of someone more likely to reach a dementia state over 85 or before then even? What would those things be, the three bad habits or the thing, you know, the causes of dementia would you say?

    2. DA

      So, um-

    3. LH

      That increase those chances

    4. DA

      ... in the book I actually talk about our Bright Minds approach-

    5. LH

      Yes

    6. DA

      ... to preventing dementia, so there's 11. But if I had to pick a couple, it would be being overweight.

    7. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    8. DA

      Because if you're overweight or have high blood sugar, there's something I call diabesity. It's a combination. You actually have seven of the 11 risk factors because I published three studies, the last one on 33,000 people that said as your weight goes up, the actual size and function of your brain goes down virtually in a linear pattern. So-

    9. LH

      Does it happen if you're 30 years old and you're younger, or is it, like, only when you reach-

    10. DA

      Happens in children.

    11. LH

      Really?

    12. DA

      Yeah. So we had two data sets, one in children, one in adults. Drops because-

    13. LH

      The function and the size of the brain shrinks

    14. DA

      ... the function and size because it lowers blood flow to the brain. Obesity lowers blood flow to the brain. It ages the brain. It increases inflammation. Fat cells store toxins. It changes your hormones.

    15. LH

      Mm.

    16. DA

      Takes healthy testosterone and turns it into unhealthy cancer-promoting forms of estrogen. This is not a good thing. And, uh, so if I had to go, don't be overweight. Now, don't be underweight. Underweight's-

    17. LH

      Yeah

    18. DA

      ... not good for you, right? Have a reasonable-

    19. LH

      Be a healthy weight

    20. DA

      ... BMI. Be a, a healthy weight. Um, and you don't want anything to damage your blood vessels because they found neurons, brain cells, actually don't age. It's your blood vessels that age.

    21. LH

      Okay.

    22. DA

      And if your blood vessels-

    23. LH

      Huh

    24. DA

      ... aren't feeding your brain cells, they begin to die. And so with all of these risk factors, how do I know if I have it? So SPECT, the st- imaging study I do, looks at blood flow. Um, if you're drinking caffeine, if you're using nicotine, if you're sedentary, if you have any form of heart disease, if you have high blood pressure, all of those decrease blood flow-

    25. LH

      Really?

    26. DA

      ... to your brain. So you always wanna increase blood flow. And I, I love this part because when I get someone brain healthy, their sex lives get better. 'Cause if you have blood flow problems anywhere, like you have erectile dysfunction, you have brain dysfunction. And if you have brain dysfunction, odds are you also have sex dysfunction-

    27. LH

      Interesting

    28. DA

      ... because they're connected. It's about blood flow.

    29. LH

      Uh-huh.

    30. DA

      Right? The healthier your blood flow... And so, you know, I see a lot of 50, 60-year-old guys, and they're worried about their mom had Alzheimer's disease. They don't wanna get it. But when they get on the program, their sex lives are better.

  4. 8:32 – 13:47

    Accurate thinking with a positive bias: defining and spotting toxic positivity

    1. LH

      Now, there's something you touched on a little bit ago about the negativity bias and the positivity bias. I like to believe that I think in a positive way. I see the perspective of a situation. I try to look at the good perspective of the situation. I try to appreciate the things that I have as opposed to things that I lack. I try to see, have compassion and empathy for certain situations and say, "That's really unfortunate," so I should be extremely grateful for where I'm at. You know, in all areas of my life, I try to have that perspective. I feel like it's a positive bias, right? Because it makes me feel better. There's been a lot of talk lately with different researchers and professors talking about the negative effects of, call it toxic pox- uh, positivity or too much positivity, I guess. Is there, you know, a negative... Is there really a negative effect to the brain if you're thinking positively all the time? And if so, can you be toxic in the way you think in a positive way?

    2. DA

      So I'm actually not a fan of positive thinking. I'm a fan of accurate thinking with a positive bias.

    3. LH

      Hmm.

    4. DA

      Because positive thinking is I can have this third brownie, and it won't hurt me. I can drive at 125 miles an hour down the freeway in the rain, and it's not dangerous. I can give my phone number to a woman I met in a bar and not be thinking about the potential downsides-

    5. LH

      Mm-hmm

    6. DA

      ... of that, um, especially if I'm married and I wanna stay married. [laughs]

    7. LH

      [laughs] Yeah, exactly, yeah. Interesting.

    8. DA

      Right, I have this one friend. Um, he came in, and he told me about this woman he'd met at a medical conference, and they were on a plane together, and she'd been to his office. And I looked at him, and I'm like, "Do you like attorneys?"

    9. LH

      [laughs]

    10. DA

      And he's like, "What do you mean?" I said, "You're married. You have ADD. You're not gonna cover up this affair. Your wife's gonna find out."

    11. LH

      Oh, yeah.

    12. DA

      "You're gonna lose half your net worth, and you're gonna be visiting your children-

    13. LH

      Oh

    14. DA

      ... on the weekends." And he's like, "Oh, I hadn't thought about that," which is... means his frontal lobes weren't working 'cause the front part of your brain not only thinks of the moment, it thinks of all of the moments.

    15. LH

      Hmm.

    16. DA

      Right? If I do this, what happens? And too often, people that have the most sadness, it's because they've made bad decisions, and that can be toxic positivity. Like, oh, I'm in the moment, where I want people to be in all of the moments.

    17. LH

      Sure.

    18. DA

      [laughs]

    19. LH

      Not living.

    20. DA

      Not just, not just now.

    21. LH

      The future moments.

    22. DA

      Now and later, right?

    23. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    24. DA

      I want people to feel better quickly-

    25. LH

      Yes

    26. DA

      ... with things that help them feel good now and tomorrow.

    27. LH

      Right. Okay, so I like that. Accurate thinking with a positive bias.

    28. DA

      Yeah, accurate thinking.

    29. LH

      Okay. Is there such thing as toxic positivity in your world?

    30. DA

      Well, it could be.

  5. 13:47 – 17:57

    Brain types and happiness: five primary types based on imaging

    1. DA

      Most books on happiness, and there have been a lot of books on happiness, is they go, "Okay, here are the things that make you happy, from gratitude and purpose and novelty."

    2. LH

      Working out and this and that and-

    3. DA

      And, and I'm like, "Well, it depends on what your brain type is." So for some people, helicopter skiing makes them happy.

    4. LH

      [laughs]

    5. DA

      Or jumping out of an airplane makes them happy. And for other people, that makes them flat out miserable.

    6. LH

      Mm.

    7. DA

      It's like, "No, I'm not gonna do that."

    8. LH

      Right.

    9. DA

      "I'll be anxious. I'll be afraid. No." And what, what I learned... So at Amen Clinics, I have 10 clinics around the country, we do brain imaging. So if you have anxiety, depression, temper problems, relationship problems, memory problems, head trauma, whatever, we'll talk to you and then we'll scan you.

    10. LH

      Yes.

    11. DA

      And it's been my big love affair in life, is looking at people's brains.

    12. LH

      Yeah.

    13. DA

      Um, and early on I realized, 'cause I was looking at like, well, what does ADD look like in the brain? Or what does depression look like or bipolar disorder or autism? And early on, quickly I learned they're not one thing, that each of those things have subtypes. And I've written books like Healing ADD: The Seven Types of ADD.

    14. LH

      Mm.

    15. DA

      And then when I was thinking about happiness, I'm like, it's clearly not one thing. And I've identified five primary types. There's the-

    16. LH

      Brain types.

    17. DA

      Brain types.

    18. LH

      Okay. What are those?

    19. DA

      Based on imaging. So there's the balance brain type, where quite frankly, most anything will make you happy. You're focused, you're flexible, you're positive-

    20. LH

      Mm-hmm

    21. DA

      ... and relaxed.

    22. LH

      Okay.

    23. DA

      And type two is the spontaneous type. Type one you have a generally healthy brain. Two, you have sleepy frontal lobes, the front part of your brain, low, lower in activity. And, um, you're very creative, often.

    24. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    25. DA

      Often. A lot of the young superstars I see are the spontaneous type. They need novelty.

    26. LH

      Mm.

    27. DA

      They love surprises.

    28. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    29. DA

      Uh, they hate routine.

    30. LH

      [laughs] Yeah.

  6. 17:57 – 19:48

    Applying your brain type: goals, routines, and team-building for strengths and weaknesses

    1. LH

      What can we do once we know which type we're at? What, what do we do then with that information?

    2. DA

      Well, for the balance people, it's just keep it that way.

    3. LH

      [laughs]

    4. DA

      For the spontaneous people, here are some supplements that might help your type. Here's the right diet for your type.

    5. LH

      Mm.

    6. DA

      Here are the right exercises. ... for your type. So if the spontaneous person, it is critical for them to know their goals-

    7. LH

      Mm-hmm

    8. DA

      ... in great detail. And they love the exercise, and then every day they ask themselves the question, "Does it fit?"

    9. LH

      Mm.

    10. DA

      "Does my behavior fit?" Because the break in their brain is vulnerable. It's a little weak. And so often they'll go off here, they'll go off there. And a lot of CEOs are the spontaneous types.

    11. LH

      Yeah.

    12. DA

      Especially entrepreneurs.

    13. LH

      Right.

    14. DA

      Not maybe CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, but for their own companies, which can be wildly successful, but they need a persistent person to organize them.

    15. LH

      Yes.

    16. DA

      Because they're really good at gr- at starting businesses, they're not good at growing businesses.

    17. LH

      Ah.

    18. DA

      So just know, "Oh, is that me?" Then make sure you don't hire someone like you-

    19. LH

      Mm-hmm

    20. DA

      ... with your type to grow your business, because they won't.

    21. LH

      Right.

    22. DA

      They'll get you in trouble with the IRS. [laughs]

    23. LH

      [laughs] Exactly. So once we know the... And what's your brain type?

    24. DA

      So I'm balanced.

    25. LH

      Balanced, yes.

    26. DA

      But I have features-

    27. LH

      Mm

    28. DA

      ... of cautious and sensitive.

    29. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    30. DA

      'Cause I crave relationships. So when Tana and I get along-

  7. 19:48 – 24:42

    Falling in love with the brain: personal wake-up call, scanning, and relationship implications

    1. LH

      I know that feeling. What do you, what do you say is the biggest lesson you've learned about your own personal life of assessing, I think it's 200,000 brain scans now, over 30 years? How long, how long has it been? 30 years of work of just assessing the world's brains and these different types, what's the biggest lesson you've learned about yourself in personal life, relationships, you know, all these things?

    2. DA

      So I started imaging in 1991, and I'm 37. I'd been a psychiatrist nearly a decade.

    3. LH

      Uh-huh.

    4. DA

      I was the top neuroscience student in medical school, and I didn't care about my own brain.

    5. LH

      So what did that mean?

    6. DA

      [laughs] I-

    7. LH

      You were eating whenever, you were sleeping whenever, you were-

    8. DA

      I only slept four hours. And I, and I thought I was special 'cause I could do that. [laughs] Then I realized it wasn't special-

    9. LH

      And you're bragging-

    10. DA

      ... I was stupid

    11. LH

      ... "Oh, I only need four hours and I sleep-

    12. DA

      Yeah

    13. LH

      ... and I can function." Yeah.

    14. DA

      Yeah. I was eating fast food. I was overweight, uh, chronically stressed. And when I, the week before I scanned myself, I scanned my mother. And she was 60, and at 60 she had a stunningly beautiful brain. She's 90 now, and she still has a stunningly beautiful brain. It's a little irritating. And then the next week I scanned myself, and it wasn't good. My brain looked older than her 60-year brain.

    15. LH

      No way.

    16. DA

      But it reflected her life, her brain. She's, could manage my difficult dad. She has seven children. She now has 54 grandchildren-

    17. LH

      Wow

    18. DA

      ... great-grandchildren. She's the most consistently loving person. She knows everybody's birthday.

    19. LH

      Wow.

    20. DA

      She knows what's going on in everybody's life. She's qui- she's just always interested. My brain wasn't healthy. I played football in high school. I had meningitis twice when I was a young soldier, and that's a bad thing for your brain.

    21. LH

      Right.

    22. DA

      And I didn't care. Right? I never drank or smoked, I just didn't wanna do that. I fell in love with my brain, and every day I'm like, "Is this good for my brain or bad for it?" You know, I don't take red-eyes-

    23. LH

      Mm

    24. DA

      ... because I know that's bad for my brain. I mean, I'd rather give up a half a day to travel than take a red-eye.

    25. LH

      Tell me why. Why is that a-

    26. DA

      Because-

    27. LH

      ... bad for your brain

    28. DA

      ... you're not gonna sleep right. You're, when you're sleeping, you're changing time zones. And now, sometimes if you go to Dubai or something like that-

    29. LH

      Yeah, yeah

    30. DA

      ... you don't have a choice. But-

  8. 24:42 – 30:15

    Thoughts, attachment, and mental noise: naming the mind and creating distance

    1. LH

      And could that be through thoughts alone, or is it you can see the difference between a th- a toxic thinking versus toxic, uh, substance taking?

    2. DA

      It's different.

    3. LH

      Is it?

    4. DA

      So toxic thinking will often activate your emotional brain.

    5. LH

      So I'm like-

    6. DA

      So your limbic brain will be more active. Mold exposure or marijuana or alcohol, your brain starts to shrivel.

    7. LH

      Really? So you can tell. So say someone is, eats perfectly, you know, has all the right things to eat, they sleep well. Well, they may, they may not be able to do this if they're thinking negatively all the time, but let's just hypothetically say they, they try to work out consistently, they're healthy weight, they're not taking any s- harmful substances, but they have extremely low self-esteem. They're constantly saying to themselves internally, "I'm an idiot, I'm stupid. Uh, why did I do that?" You know, doubting themselves. What does that look like to a brain, but they're doing all the other things semi-correctly?

    8. DA

      Well, one, we would have to look.

    9. LH

      Oh.

    10. DA

      'Cause I always say how do you know unless you look?

    11. LH

      Yeah, sure.

    12. DA

      Because they may have been kicked in the head by a horse when they were 10-

    13. LH

      Oh

    14. DA

      ... and it damaged their frontal lobes, and nobody knows about it because-

    15. LH

      Right

    16. DA

      ... they were unconscious and had amnesia-

    17. LH

      Yeah

    18. DA

      ... for the event. Um, but say they're doing everything physically right, but mentally-

    19. LH

      Mm

    20. DA

      ... their mind is undisciplined-

    21. LH

      Yes

    22. DA

      ... and it's negative. They're gonna have a relatively healthy brain, but their emotional structures are gonna be really busy. And so it's like the chatter-

    23. LH

      Uh-huh

    24. DA

      ... in their head, the internal dialogue, um, is just too active.

    25. LH

      Yes.

    26. DA

      And one of the fun techniques in the book, I love this technique, is give your mind a name. And so you can gain psychological distance from it. Um-

    27. LH

      Yes. It's like you're coaching yourself

    28. DA

      ... you know, sort of like the man in your head-

    29. LH

      Yeah, yeah

    30. DA

      ... or the woman in your head that's always running a dialogue on you. Name him or her and separate from it.

  9. 30:15 – 36:17

    How thoughts shape the body: questioning beliefs and using Byron Katie’s framework

    1. LH

      Mm-hmm. So what should we be aware of about thoughts? Are we the creator of thoughts? Do thoughts randomly come to us? Can we shift the thoughts? Should we believe every thought we have or realize, "Okay, that's just a thought. That doesn't mean that's who I am and it doesn't define me"? What's your overall principle around thoughts?

    2. DA

      They come from all over the place.

    3. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    4. DA

      They come from your genes. They're actually written in your genetic code, so trauma from a past generation can actually show up in future generations. It's really interesting.

    5. LH

      Mm.

    6. DA

      Last time I was here, we talked about your brain is always listening, and I talk about the ancestral drag, where the issues you have may not be your issues.

    7. LH

      Right.

    8. DA

      They may be from your mom or from your dad. So knowing your family history is really important. Thoughts come from the voices of your mom and dad. I have six siblings. Your siblings' voices come from your friends, from your enemies-

    9. LH

      Mm

    10. DA

      ... from the news, from the music you listen to, and they lie a lot.

    11. LH

      Your thoughts lie a lot.

    12. DA

      Your thoughts lie a lot. Now, every time you have a thought, your brain releases chemicals. Every time you have a good thought, positive thought, happy thought, hopeful thought, your brain releases chemicals that make you feel good.

    13. LH

      Mm.

    14. DA

      Immediately, your hands get warmer.

    15. LH

      When you think a positive thought.

    16. DA

      When you think a positive thought. Your hands get drier, your muscles become more relaxed, your breathing becomes slower and deeper, and your heart rate variability goes up. And it happens immediately. When you have a sad thought, a hopeless thought, a helpless thought, a stressful thought, your body immediately produces chemicals that make your hands colder and wetter, muscles more tense, breathing shallower and more erratic, heart rate variability goes down.

    17. LH

      Right.

    18. DA

      That's a sign of heart health. And it happens immediately.

    19. LH

      So our, so-

    20. DA

      Thoughts

    21. LH

      ... how are, how connected are our thoughts to our nervous system and our body?

    22. DA

      They're completely connected.

    23. LH

      Wow.

    24. DA

      Every thought you have impacts every cell in your body.

    25. LH

      Really?

    26. DA

      And thoughts lie. And it's not the thoughts you have that make you suffer, it's the thoughts you attach to. So whenever you feel sad or mad or nervous or out of control, write down what you're thinking, and then just ask yourself if it's true.

    27. LH

      What if you think it's true? How do you switch that thinking?

    28. DA

      Well, so I, I, I love Byron Katie's technique.

    29. LH

      She's great. Yeah, yeah.

    30. DA

      And I talk about it. It's like-

  10. 36:17 – 41:12

    Happiness as a moral obligation—and the dopamine trap of fame and hedonism

    1. DA

      Is it accurate? And we haven't talked yet about this. I love this idea that happiness is a moral obligation. 'Cause wh- when I grew up in Catholic school I went to Our Lady of Grace Elementary School in Encino and then Crespi High School. The idea that happiness is a moral obligation, that was nowhere to be found

    2. LH

      In, in Catholic school growing up?

    3. DA

      Yeah, or in most religious-

    4. LH

      Right, right

    5. DA

      ... growing up. Or in most families growing up.

    6. LH

      Why, why is that not something that people think about it? And why-

    7. DA

      Because they think of it as fluff

    8. LH

      ... yeah.

    9. DA

      It's like, "Oh, so you're happy?" Uh, but when you ask someone who was raised by an unhappy parent or married to an unhappy spouse whether or not happiness is an ethical issue, and I guarantee you the answer will be yes. You're not happy, it's sort of like having bad breath that impacts everybody else. So it's not selfish to seek happiness. Now, in the same breath, I wanna say hedonism is the enemy of happiness.

    10. LH

      What's hedonism?

    11. DA

      Where you just seek pleasure for pleasure's sake.

    12. LH

      Mm.

    13. DA

      And so-

    14. LH

      I'm gonna have sugar all day. I'm gonna have sex all day. I'm gonna watch movies all day. I'm gonna, whatever it is your pleasure trap is

    15. DA

      Right, because it wears out your pleasure centers.

    16. LH

      Uh-huh.

    17. DA

      Before we were on, we started talking about fame and how fame-

    18. LH

      Yes

    19. DA

      ... can wear out the pleasure centers in your brain. Um, you wanna be very careful with the happiness you seek.

    20. LH

      What is the fame trap? Like, how does it, how does fame bring happiness or bring sadness to people? 'Cause I feel like a lot of people want money, they want power, they want fame, is what they think they want growing up. But what have you seen from the brains that have a lot of fame, money, power, followers, if they don't have the right habits to help cultivate a healthy brain, what happens?

    21. DA

      So there's these two areas in your brain. They're called the nucleus accumbens.

    22. LH

      Okay

    23. DA

      And it responds to dopamine, and dopamine is often thought of the molecule of more.

    24. LH

      Mm-hmm

    25. DA

      And pleasure and focus and being high or happy. Um, when you hit it hard, so think fame or think cocaine, you feel great. But the more you hit it, you begin to wear it out.

    26. LH

      Mm.

    27. DA

      And then it takes more and more-

    28. LH

      To feel?

    29. DA

      ... to feel anything at all.

    30. LH

      Interesting.

  11. 41:12 – 44:39

    Service, hippocampus growth, and skill-first mental health (before pills)

    1. LH

      Yes. And what happens to the brain, we were talking about this before, of a brain that is in service to something greater than themselves, whether it's locally, whether it's with a friend or family member, they're being in service to someone, or they're making it their mission of a cause greater than them or their own accomplishments. What happens to a brain that's on service mentality, more focused towards that, versus a brain that's focused on self, success, acknowledgement? Can you just compare those?

    2. DA

      So it part of depends on your brain type because... And, and I want people to know, so what makes you uniquely happy? Um, but there's this great study from Baltimore. It's part of the Baltimore Longevity study, where they did MRI scans on two groups, and one group volunteered at least once a week for a year, and the other group just did their regular-

    3. LH

      Life

    4. DA

      ... life.

    5. LH

      Yeah.

    6. DA

      So that was the intervention.

    7. LH

      Interesting.

    8. DA

      Volunteering was the intervention. At the end of the year, they did MRI scans on them again, and the volunteer group had grown their hippocampus. Now, why is that important? The hippocampus, one of my favorite structures in the brain.

    9. LH

      Where is that in the brain?

    10. DA

      So it's on the inside of your temporal lobe, so behind your eyes.

    11. LH

      Okay.

    12. DA

      Um, back maybe-

    13. LH

      Few inches

    14. DA

      ... an inch and a half.

    15. LH

      Okay.

    16. DA

      And the hippocampus is Greek for seahorse. Because it's shaped like a seahorse.

    17. LH

      Mm.

    18. DA

      They're about the size of your thumbs, so they're big in your brain, and they're very special. They're in, hippocampus is involved in memory, so it gets memory into long-term storage. Did you ever see the movie 50 First Dates?

    19. LH

      Yes.

    20. DA

      With Drew Barrymore-

    21. LH

      Yeah, yeah

    22. DA

      ... and Adam Sandler. It's a great movie. I love that movie. Well, she had damage, both of her hippocampi, so she couldn't... Something happened today, she didn't remember-

    23. LH

      Mm

    24. DA

      ... tomorrow. So it's heavily involved in memory but also in mood.

    25. LH

      Mm.

    26. DA

      And spatial orientation. And it's very special because the hippocampus produces stem cells every day, about 700.

    27. LH

      Mm.

    28. DA

      And when you put the hipp- the baby seahorses, called baby seahorses, in a healing environment, you grow them and they become part of your brain. And volunteering was good-

    29. LH

      Mm

    30. DA

      ... for the baby seahorses.

  12. 44:39 – 48:43

    Addiction and behavior change: defining what you want, “does it fit?”, and daily micro-moments

    1. LH

      Here's the thing, addiction is hard for a lot of people to overcome.

    2. DA

      It's really hard.

    3. LH

      It's an addiction for a reason and people stay addicted for a long time because they probably try multiple times on whatever it is, marijuana or cigarettes or alcohol or porn or sex or whatever it is people are addicted to or just negative thinking. So how does someone who feels like, "I've been trapped. I've been, uh, you know, addicted for years or a long time on something," how do they really get to the root of healing that addiction or stopping it without taking on a, a different negative addiction?

    4. DA

      In my last book, Your Brain Is Always Listening, I actually wrote a new 12-step program.

    5. LH

      Mm.

    6. DA

      'Cause the t- original AA program was written in the '30s.

    7. LH

      Wow.

    8. DA

      And I'm like, "There's no neuroscience." It's basically a psychological, social, spiritual program. And step number one is know your life is out of control. That's actually step number two.

    9. LH

      Mm.

    10. DA

      Step number one is what do you want? What do you want in your relationships?

    11. LH

      Get clear on what you want, yeah.

    12. DA

      What do you want in your work? What do you want in your money? What do you want in your physical, emotional, spiritual health?

    13. LH

      Mm.

    14. DA

      You gotta get really clear. What do you want? And then you ask yourself, "Is my behavior getting me what I want?" And if it's not, that's step two. My life is out of control. It's being controlled by something I don't want.

    15. LH

      Yes.

    16. DA

      But so often people don't go to step [laughs] number one, what do you want? And, you know, people go, "More money." It's like, well, that's probably not what you want, 'cause money doesn't make people happy.

    17. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    18. DA

      I mean, up to about $75,000, right, if you're poor-

    19. LH

      Sure

    20. DA

      ... you're not happy.

    21. LH

      Right.

    22. DA

      So there's a baseline of happiness, but above that there is no connection-

    23. LH

      Mm-hmm

    24. DA

      ... to money and happiness. And so when you really get to what most people want, and, and I'm quite shocked by this. I've been a psychiatrist 40 years and I ask people what they want and they don't know.

    25. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    26. DA

      Or they'll say things like a promotion or they'll... a girl or-

    27. LH

      Mm

    28. DA

      ... um, money. But no, no, what do you want? And let's balance it because when you're not balanced, I mean, you and I work very hard, but when you're not balanced you get burned out.

    29. LH

      Yes.

    30. DA

      And so what do you want in your relationships? I start there. What do you want for work? And money, 'cause that's important.

  13. 48:43 – 1:17:17

    Seven neuroscience “secrets”: brain optimization, food, supplements, mind mastery, and giving happiness away

    1. LH

      What's another neuroscience secret?

    2. DA

      Optimize the physical function of your brain. So I did a study for this book. We looked at 500 consecutive new patients, Amen Clinics. And I gave them the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. So how happy are you on a scale of one to six? We compared the high happiness group with the low happiness group. The low happiness group had lower function in their frontal lobes.

    3. LH

      And so how do you increase the, the function in your frontal lobe?

    4. DA

      So hyperbaric oxygen-

    5. LH

      Oh

    6. DA

      ... certain supplements-

    7. LH

      Yeah

    8. DA

      ... not hitting soccer balls with your head. If you're boxing, don't let people hit you in the head. [laughs]

    9. LH

      [laughs] Yeah, yeah.

    10. DA

      Um, I mean, you protect them. And I have thousands of before and after scans if you do the right thing. So we just... You're on our series Scan My Brain. We just did Troy Glaus. So Troy was the third baseman for the Anaheim Angels.

    11. LH

      Okay.

    12. DA

      He was the 2002 World Series MVP.

    13. LH

      Wow.

    14. DA

      Hit 320 home runs. I mean, he's a very successful-

    15. LH

      Wow

    16. DA

      ... baseball player. And, um, but he was drinking too much, and had four concussions when he played, had no purpose, and he came to see me, and his brain looked terrible, especially his frontal lobes.

    17. LH

      Really?

    18. DA

      And he was really sad. And which meant his family was really sad. People don't get it. It's why it's not all about you. It's about everybody.

    19. LH

      That's why you say-

    20. DA

      You connect

    21. LH

      ... the moral obligation.

    22. DA

      Moral obligation. And I love Troy because he just did what I asked him to do. He stopped drinking. And-

    23. LH

      It's an athlete mindset. He's like, "Coach me up, I'll do what you tell me to do." Yeah. [laughs]

    24. DA

      Yeah. No, that's why I love treating athletes. Uh-

    25. LH

      So he stopped drinking.

    26. DA

      He stopped drinking. He took the supplements I gave him. He ate better. He lost 15 pounds and e- increased his exercise. 'Cause a lot of athletes, they got so burned out from working out-

    27. LH

      They stop

    28. DA

      ... they stop. And you can't stop. I mean, you can shift-

    29. LH

      Mm-hmm

    30. DA

      ... but you can't stop. And two months later, I scanned him again. His brain was so much healthier.

  14. 1:17:17 – 1:24:46

    Values, grief, and protecting yourself while processing loss

    1. DA

      Live each day based on clearly defined values, purpose, and goals.

    2. LH

      What happens if we don't have clear values, purpose, or goals?

    3. DA

      You're thrown around by the news cycle, by the weather, by what other people's values, purpose, [laughs] and goals are.

    4. LH

      Yeah. I, and I'm, I'm a big believer that when you have this and you're seeing progress towards these things, it makes you happier, as opposed to not seeing progress on anything.

    5. DA

      That's what Tony Robbins says, "Happiness is progress."

    6. LH

      Yeah. Absolutely. You mentioned one-

    7. DA

      But, but so doing-

    8. LH

      Yeah

    9. DA

      ... this exercise, One Page Miracle, is so important.

    10. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    11. DA

      It's called The One Page Miracle-

    12. LH

      Yes

    13. DA

      ... because on one piece of paper, if you can put down what you want and then just ask yourself every day, "Am I getting it?" you become so much more successful.

    14. LH

      It's huge.

    15. DA

      And I think it's one of the foundational reasons for my success, besides building a team.

    16. LH

      Mm-hmm.

    17. DA

      Getting people, getting the right people on the bus.

    18. LH

      This is a very powerful and inspiring book with just so much tools, so many, uh, strategies, tools, research, images showing before and after, um, and lessons, and nutritional facts and studies, all these different things that people can dive into. I wanna make sure people get the book, um, Powerful You, Happier: The Seven Neuroscience Secrets of Feeling Good Based on Your Brain Type. And it's important for us to be aware of what our type is first so we can make actions that'll improve that type. Over 200,000 brain scans from people all, all over the world, 155 countries, um, backing kind of this research and information. So I want people to get a few copies of this, give it to their friends. You give a 30-day game plan on how to improve all these different things. And the least you can do is try some of this, and if it doesn't work, then you can try something different, but this is an amazing solution to start working towards.

    19. DA

      So based on, um, the book, I did a 30-day happiness challenge.

    20. LH

      Yes.

    21. DA

      We actually have it at Amen University. People can sign up for it. Um- People who finished it were 32% happier after 30 days.

    22. LH

      Right. That's what I saw. Yeah.

    23. DA

      And that's what I-

    24. LH

      That's pretty cool

    25. DA

      ... said their energy was better, their memory was better. Um, you know, w- all of my books, I sort of tend to wrap everything I know into, okay, what's this issue? If people pre-order the book or order the book in the first week, I'll give them a bottle of Happy Saffron and the 30-day happiness challenge and a workbook-

    26. LH

      Wow

    27. DA

      ... and a new cookbook. So-

    28. LH

      Where do they go for that?

    29. DA

      Go to youhappier.com.

    30. LH

      And they can get all the information there. Okay, cool. Youhappier.com. I wanted to ask you one final question or two about how death and grief affects the brain. You lost your father a year ago; is that right?

  15. 1:24:46 – 2:17:43

    Extended Q&A: blood sugar, sleep and oxygen, dopamine dumping, substances, trauma tools, and memory training

    1. DA

      50% of them. Get this, Lewis. It, uh, just shocking. 50%, 5-0% of the population is either diabetic, 14%, or pre-diabetic, 36%.

    2. LH

      Mm.

    3. DA

      That's a disaster, and that comes from the simple carbs we're pouring and pounding in our body. It's an insulin response.

    4. LH

      So if we're diabetic or pre-diabetic, what is that s- doing to our brains?

    5. DA

      It's atrophying, making your brain smaller, and it's murdering the hippocampus.

    6. LH

      Yeesh.

    7. DA

      You know, those baby seahorses we talked about.

    8. LH

      600, 700 a day you said?

    9. DA

      700 a day.

    10. LH

      700 a day were, were just-

    11. DA

      Yeah

    12. LH

      ... they're being born and dying right away.

    13. DA

      Right.

    14. LH

      As opposed to connecting and multiplying functionality, neurons in the brain.

    15. DA

      And helping your mood and helping your memory.

    16. LH

      Interesting.

    17. DA

      And what's interesting, I'm 66. My- Um, youngest is 17 getting ready to go off to college and we produce the same number of stem cells every day.

    18. LH

      Mm.

    19. DA

      Hers are more likely to stay than an older person's because the blood flow to my brain, not my brain, but the blood flow to most 66-year-olds is not healthy and that's why aging is progressive. And did you know, this will horrify you, 50% of people 85 will have dementia? And I'm not okay with that. That-

    20. LH

      50% of people?

    21. DA

      85.

    22. LH

      Wow.

    23. DA

      So if I'm fortunate enough to live to 85 or beyond, I have a one in two chance of having-

    24. LH

      Man

    25. DA

      ... lost my mind. That's why I'm serious about this.

    26. LH

      Yeah.

    27. DA

      I love my four children. I never wanna live with them. I just don't. [laughs]

    28. LH

      [laughs]

    29. DA

      I just don't and I never wanna be a burden to them.

    30. LH

      Right.

Episode duration: 2:17:43

In the uListen app, the transcript lights up word by word as you listen. Get uListen

Transcript of episode MDt_9CGfoEk

Get more out of YouTube videos.

Read along on your phone, search it beside the video, or ask your favorite AI app what was said.

iOSAndroidClaudeChatGPTChrome