Your Brain Isn't Declining — It's Waiting for You to Do These Five Things

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: Raising Good Humans

Episode: Your Brain Isn't Declining — It's Waiting for You to Do These Five Things

Host: Dr. Aliza Pressman
Guest: Dr. Majid Fatouhi
Date: July 17, 2026

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dr. Aliza Pressman is joined by Dr. Majid Fatouhi, neurologist and author of "The Invincible Brain." They explore the science behind adult brain growth, debunking the myth that our brains inevitably decline after a certain age. Dr. Fatouhi details five pillars of brain health—exercise, sleep, nutrition, stress reduction, and brain training—emphasizing how small lifestyle changes, even for busy parents, can meaningfully increase brain volume, improve function, and support generational brain health. The conversation is actionable and optimistic, emphasizing neuroplasticity and practical, realistic steps for parents.

---

Key Themes & Insights

1. Neuroplasticity: The Brain’s Ongoing Transformation

• Neuroplasticity Defined:
  • “Our brain is not a fixed structure like our ears. It's a dynamic structure that's constantly changing.”
    (Dr. Majid Fatouhi, 02:26)
• The brain can “grow” or “shrink” based on lifestyle choices—even in later adulthood.
• MRI evidence: Visible hippocampus growth even after 12 weeks of positive lifestyle changes.

2. The Five Pillars of Brain Health

(05:32–07:16, 18:41–20:11)
Dr. Fatouhi explains five core lifestyle strategies to foster brain growth:

• Exercise:
  • “The minimum we could do every day is to walk or do some kind of exercise for at least half an hour a day.”
    (07:16)
  • 5,000 steps or moderate daily movement is accessible and powerful.
• Sleep:
  • “During deep sleep, your brain goes through a rinsing and cleaning process ... your brain will shrink if you don't get at least six hours of sleep on a regular basis.”
    (07:16–10:55)
  • Glymphatic system clears waste; chronic sleep loss can reduce hippocampal size significantly.
• Nutrition:
  • “Multiple studies have shown the more junk food ... the smaller the brain.”
    (18:41)
  • Direct, linear relationship between processed food intake and brain shrinkage.
  • Sugar is addictive; minimizing junk food is akin to avoiding smoking.
• Stress Reduction/Healthy Relationships:
  • “There’s a direct correlation between higher cortisol levels and more shrinkage in hippocampus.”
    (31:58–33:09)
  • Mindset, relationships, and doing joyful things all cut stress and improve brain structure and function.
• Brain Training:
  • “Anything that challenges your brain is good for your brain ... if you're frustrated a little bit, then you are challenging your brain.”
    (36:19)
  • Learning, puzzles, new languages, and games like mahjong qualify as “brain workouts.”

3. Minimal Effort, Maximum Gain: Practical Tips

• “What's the brushing teeth like—the minimal equivalent—to these five core pieces?”
  (06:34)
• For each pillar, focus on consistency and small steps:
  • Exercise: Daily walking.
  • Sleep: Minimum 6 hours; fix the bedroom environment; use supplements like magnesium glycinates if needed.
  • Nutrition: Cut junk food by 50% for a few weeks as a start.
  • Stress: Distinguish unrelenting stress from everyday annoyances; save your stress response for truly important events.
  • Brain Training: Replace passive pastimes with engaging mental activities.

4. Repair Is Possible: The Brain’s Forgiving Nature

• Even if you’ve neglected sleep or brain health for years, improvement is possible.
  • “Our brain has this repair kit that's in place at all times ... if you change now, your brain will change.”
    (12:40, 43:52)
• Framing self-care as an act of parenting—what benefits you benefits your kids.

5. Role Modeling and Family Impact: Intergenerational Brain Health

• Children absorb parents’ behaviors through modeling, not just instruction.
• Environment can override genetic predispositions via epigenetics (Montreal Ice Storm, rat pup studies: 37:35–42:36).
  • “It’s not destiny ... if you change the environment, especially in childhood, then you will see the environment you create is shaping their brain, literally.”
    (42:36)

6. Mindset and Narrative: Shape Your Brain with Daily Attitude

• Narrative and attitude have “hard” scientific effects on the brain.
• “If you have a positive view about aging, you will have a better brain as you grow older.”
  (49:21)
• Practical exercise: Start each morning naming a gratitude and picturing your day positively.

7. Memorization & Brain Training in Everyday Life

• Practical strategies for remembering names: Emotional engagement, repetition, and eye contact.
• Remind yourself: “The narrative determines the outcome.” (53:05)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On brain care:

  • “Taking care of the brain should be the same thing as taking care of your teeth or your skin ... if you don't, they fall apart.”
    (Dr. Majid Fatouhi, 05:32)

• On sleep deprivation:

  • “If you don't get at least six hours of sleep, your brain will shrink ... Insomnia can significantly shrink your brain.”
    (07:16–10:55)

• On sugar and food addiction:

  • “I think that people who keep eating sugary food need to go to a rehab, just like people who gamble or use drugs or smoke.”
    (27:10)

• On genetics vs. environment:

  • “Whatever genes you have, you pass it on. But if you change the environment for your children, that is what matters.”
    (37:35, 42:36)

• On gratitude and daily practice:

  • “The first thing I do before I get out of bed ... I just think about how life is a lot of gratitude, you know, and I feel lucky.”
    (43:52)

• On mindset:

  • “Simple interventions in your mindset can change the trajectory of your brain.”
    (49:21)

• On memory tricks:

  • “Tell yourself you’re good with remembering names ... the narrative determines the outcome.”
    (53:05)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|--------------------| | 02:26 | Explanation of neuroplasticity and adult brain growth. | | 05:32 | Introduction of the Five Pillars of Brain Health. | | 07:16 | Practical daily minimums for each pillar. | | 10:30 | Sleep’s impact on hippocampus and practical sleep tips. | | 12:16 | Brain repair after chronic neglect; hope for improvement. | | 18:41 | Scientific evidence for the Five Pillars’ effect on brain volume. | | 24:30 | Effects of obesity, GLP-1s, and specific food relationships to brain health. | | 31:58 | Stress, cortisol, and their direct physical impact on the hippocampus. | | 36:19 | Brain training and rewarding “difficult” mental activities. | | 37:35 | Intergenerational impact: Environment, modeling, and epigenetics. | | 49:12 | The power of narrative and practical daily mindset shifts. | | 53:05 | Concrete name-recall strategies; forming emotional associations. | | 59:16 | Brain training examples and invitation to use Dr. Fatouhi's free app. |

---

Practical Takeaways for Listeners

• Start with small changes.
  • Add short walks, improve your sleep setting, cut junk food, or try a new hobby that challenges your mind.
• Sleep is non-negotiable: Aim for 6+ hours; fix bedroom distractions and consider magnesium.
• Be mindful of stress triggers: Only let truly important issues trigger a stress response.
• Model healthy behavior for your children.
• Reframe your narrative: Practice daily gratitude and positive expectation.
• Try Dr. Fatouhi’s free Invincible Brain app for personalized recommendations (59:55).

---

Resources Mentioned

• Dr. Fatouhi’s Book: The Invincible Brain
• The Invincible Brain App (available on the App Store)
• Dr. Fatouhi on social media and other platforms (Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube)

---

The science discussed reveals a hopeful truth: you can powerfully influence your brain’s structure and function at any age with modest, manageable lifestyle shifts. The benefits, for parents and their children, can last a lifetime and beyond.

Transcript

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Whatever genes you have, or whatever genes you have, and you pass it on. But if you change the environment for your children, then that is what matters.

[Elisa]

It's not destiny.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

It's not destiny, and it's not the genes. I mean, the genes are the default of what will happen to you. But if you change the environment, especially in childhood, then you will see the environment you create for them is really shaping their brain, literally.

[Podcast Host/Producer]

There are five things that you can do today that will change your brain from possibly doing worse to actually growing. Dr. Majid Fatoui has spent decades studying how the adult brain actually changes. Not just how it shrinks, but how it grows. So we don't need to have this narrative that we get to a certain point as all over for us. He has an amazing book called the Invincible Brain, where he lays out the research on how to protect, restore, and even build brain volume at any age, which is what we're talking about today. We're talking about these concrete ways that we can build brain volume, which I am personally very excited about. And they're all in the context of being a parent who's super busy, who doesn't have time for this, and who's feeling overwhelmed. I hope you enjoy this conversation.

[Dr. Eliza Pressman]

I'm Dr. Eliza Pressman, Developmental psychologist, New York Times bestselling author, associate clinical professor at the Icahn School of Medicine, and the host of Raise Good Humans podcast. I am so glad you're here.

[Elisa]

I don't know if it's me or my, you know, the. The era that I'm in or the conversations that are happening, but I think there's such renewed interest in the adult brain and how our adult brains are developing, but a lot of misunderstandings. And so I really wanted you to talk to us about your research and how there are concrete ways to continue to shape our brain, because we so often talk about the developing brain and forget that the brain is a dynamic thing that is always developing. And I think we often think it's just declining at a certain point and would love to take measures that it sounds like there are to support brain health. So. So that's why I wanted to talk to you today, and I wanted to just kind of start with the basics.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

What I find fascinating about the brain and what has kept me studying the brain for the past 40 years now is neuroplasticity. It means that our brain is not a fixed structure like our ears. It's a dynamic structure that's constantly changing. Every day, our brain changes slightly at a microscopic level. Many lifestyle choices can either shrink their brain just a little bit or grow their brain just a little bit. But if you do the same things every day for a decade, your brain will definitely change in a measurable way, for better or for worse. And even if you, for example, learn a new language for three months or learn a new musical instrument for three months, we can see how the parts of the brain which are activated are physically larger. The MRI before and after can show how the brain literally grows. It's important to appreciate that our brain has the highest degree of neuroplasticity during childhood. And that's why childhood environment and childhood exposures to proper lifestyle choices can have a profound effect on the brain for decades to come. But in my practice of neurology, I have been seeing patients from 8 years old to people in their 80s. So I see the whole spectrum of patients. And I have seen firsthand how every brain has malleability. Every brain can change. When I did our 12 week program for our patients their 70s and early 80s, we could see that the part of the brain from memory called hippocampus, which is roughly the size of your thumb, literally grows in 12 weeks. I am so fascinated by this, and I can talk about it for hours.

[Elisa]

We're in.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

I teach a course at Johns Hopkins titled Advances in neuroplasticity and its applications in neurology, and I give 26 hours of lectures to my students on this topic, so I can answer any questions you have.

[Elisa]

I want to start with something that I think happens often during the transition to parenthood, and then all of the things that sort of come our way, which is the reprioritization of kind of what we're focusing on. And I wonder if you can talk to us about when we're reprioritizing to support our kids. Are there things that you can see that we might not want to reprioritize? Obviously, when you have a newborn, you're not gonna get great sleep. That's just an inevitability. But are there things. If sleep is impacting our brains and we need to get sleep, what are the realistic ways that we can start to think? Okay, we should be focused on this. Here's where we're prioritizing it. On our list of things that we have to give up, how and why does it matter? And what actually do we need?

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

I think that moms need to appreciate that taking care of the brain should be the same thing as taking care of your teeth or taking care of your skin. There are things you do every day to take Care of your teeth and take care of your skin. And if you don't do it, they fall apart. You know, if you don't brush your teeth every day, if you don't, plus every day, if you don't see a dentist twice a year or more, your teeth will decay. And by the time you get to your 70s, you would need whole denture. What most people don't appreciate is that the brain needs care. And there are five pillars of brain health which are the most important thing you need to prioritize. These are exercise, optimal sleep, healthy nutrition, stress reduction, and brain training. These five things are the five most important things to do if you want to keep your brain sharp as you grow older.

[Elisa]

I want to go through each one of those things in, in this way. What is the lowest lift that makes the biggest difference? And I hate to ask you to do that, but, you know, I can hear parents feeling like putting it off. And so at the risk of, you know, oversimplifying, what do you want to say to parents who are like, I don't have time to really focus on these things right now, but it's obviously imperative. So what's the brushing teeth like the minimal equivalent to these five core pieces? And then I also want to just point out, like, I'm curious, where does relationship fall in to these principles?

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Yeah, so under pillar of stress reduction, I talk about mindset, healthy relationships, joy, doing things that bring satisfaction to your life. So it's not just stress reduction. It's sort of state of mind. The minimum we could do every day is to walk or do some kind of exercise for at least half an hour a day. You don't need to necessarily go to a gym and do classes or, you know, do vigorous exercise every day. If you walk 5,000 steps a day, that's more than enough. And, you know, many moms are pretty active during the day anyway, so they actually do meet their minimum requirement for physical activity. From the time that you're taking care of the kids and, you know, getting their food ready and, you know, whatever else you do on a daily basis and how much the spouse has helped you are. Most moms are active, actually maybe too much active at the expense of not taking care of themselves for other things. Sleep is very important. During deep sleep, your brain goes through a rinsing and cleaning process. There is this thing called glymphatic system, which is the glial cells or who. Which work like the lymphatic system of the body. They take care of any broken things, waste byproducts and they clear the brain and keep it fresh and vibrant. If you sleep fewer than six hours a night, you increase your risk for stroke. Five folds. And so you can't really sacrifice your sleep on a regular basis. If you had a newborn and, you know, you could miss sleep for a few weeks here and there, that's understandable. But if you don't get at least six hours of sleep on a regular basis, your brain will shrink. Remember I mentioned earlier that there are things that can either grow your brain or reduce the size of your brain. Well, insomnia. Sleeping fewer than six hours a night can significantly shrink your brain, because when the glymphatic system doesn't work, your brain doesn't get rid of the waste byproducts, and a waste management system in the brain falls apart, which means a lot of dirt accumulates inside your brain, and that prevents your brain from functioning well and leads to inflammation and shrinks the brain significantly. If somebody has 20 to 30 years of insomnia, their hippocampus would be almost half of the size it would have been otherwise. And that means that they will have significant memory problems, and they may even get labeled as having Alzheimer's disease. They have created their own Alzheimer's disease. Wow. So you need to have at least six hours of sleep, ideally seven to eight hours. And one way to get seven to eight hours sleep is to make sure your body is physically tired. I mean, again, a lot of moms are pretty active throughout the day anyway. But if they have too many things on their mind, they may not fall asleep, or they may wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to return to sleep. And, you know, in my book the Invincible Brain, I have a whole chapter about sleep, and I have, like, list of 20 recommendations. You can also google it or ask, you know, chat or. These days, this information is already available, but do it. In my experience, I've seen patients, a lot of people say, well, everybody else has sleeping problems, as if it's acceptable. And it's not. Just because a lot of people are stressed out, it doesn't mean that you need to be stressed out. And the one thing I find that a lot of moms do is that they sacrifice their own health to make sure the kids, you know, go to their four classes a day. They go to piano class, to soccer class, to, you know, gymnastic class. And the moms are just driving from one place to other one, and they come home and they take care of everything else. They never take care of themselves. So I think we need to have a balance between taking care of our kids and taking care of our own health.

[Elisa]

And I think if we can frame it as taking care of our own health is part of taking care of our kids, it's sort of a side door into convincing everyone to take care of themselves. Because it's true. We know this in all of the developmental research, like we need to do this. And I think your tools and these principles are very important. One of the things that I'm curious about is let's say you've been chronically like losing sleep and you've been exhausted and it's been a decade and you hear this, do we correct, like what happens to the brain when it's been depleted of sleep and deprived of sleep for many years? And then we start to really pay attention and say, okay, I'm going to commit to six hours.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Our brain has neuroplasticity, which means that it can rewire and change in response to lifestyle choices. And several studies have shown that if somebody has sleep problems, more specifically sleep apnea, and they have had shrinkage in their hippocampus, if they then they receive treatment for their sleep problems, the hippocampus grows back.

[Elisa]

Amazing.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

And I find that amazing. Our brain is so forgiving. I mean, our brain has this repair kit that's in place at all times, and it's our choices that determine which way our brain would go. And the other thing in terms of parenting is that when you're sleep deprived, you're grumpy. You don't choose to be grumpy. You just, your brain can't function because all that junk and waste that has accumulated in your brain is blocking the neurons to function normally.

[Dr. Eliza Pressman]

Right?

[Elisa]

And then people like me say co regulate, but you're exhausted. So.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Yes. So what you need to do is to really appreciate that if you want to be a good mom and a good spouse and a good co worker and a good family member, you need to take care of yourself. And when you take care of yourself, you can be more efficient. You know, one of the most important thing to have a successful life is, is to organize things and be on top of things. Instead of life being on top of you, you should be on top of life. And that happens when you make creative decisions. You decide, you know what, I'm not going to take that course or I'm not going to take that extra responsibility at work, or I'm going to get my spouse to do things or else he will have consequences. Something creative that causes you to have a better life and do less and enjoy life more. So you need to sit down, write down all the things you do and see which one of them can be removed without major consequences. And if you can't sleep on a regular basis, there are simple things you could do. Make sure you don't drink caffeine in the afternoon.

[Elisa]

Make sure.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Make sure your bedroom is dark and quiet. Don't bring, you know, exercise equipment or laptop or things in a bedroom. The bedroom should be used for three things. Sleeping, reading, and sex. Nothing else. So you should really not, you know, have a busy bedroom with a lot of other things. Should be a serene, quiet place. And make sure that curtains block all the light. If there. If you live in a city and there's a lot of light, you should figure out, maybe you can put blinds on your eyes so it can be dark, dark. And if the mattress is not comfortable, that needs to be fixed. There are little things that can really make a difference. And there are a lot of herbal teas, chamomile pill. I don't recommend people take sleeping medications on a regular basis, but if you're transitioning to not having slept for a long time and you need to sort of start sleeping well, you may need to take some supplements for a short period of time.

[Elisa]

And what do you think of magnesium? Because when I take magnesium, I fall asleep very quickly. Is that. Is that okay?

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Yes, magnesium is great, actually. Magnesium as well. Okay, cool. Yeah, yeah. It's surprising because it's such a simple supplement, you know, and there are different subtypes. Like the Magnesium Glycanate is a better one. If you're taking a magnesium supplement, it's not working for you. You may take a different magnesium to see if that works better for you. This Magnum Succinate Glycanate and a few other ones.

[Elisa]

I just wrote that down.

[Dr. Eliza Pressman]

I love Merit Beauty. I'm going to tell you about their new Clean Volume mascara. Every addition to their collection feels intentional. It's such a good staple. It has a small and precise brush that just leaves you with lashes that are lifted, defined and voluminous. But no mess, no heaviness, no flaking. It's not like a fake lash.

[Podcast Host/Producer]

Look.

[Dr. Eliza Pressman]

This is Merit's version of volumizing mascara. Buildable, lifted and defined. They call it Clean Volume because it delivers just that, clean volume. Zero clumps, zero flake, no mess. If you still haven't tried Merit now, now is the perfect time. The new Clean Volume mascara is available in the Best Sellers kit, which I love and it comes along with cult favorites like the Minimalist Foundation Stick, the Flush Balm and more. It's all you need right now. Merit Beauty is offering our listeners their signature makeup bag with your first order at meritbeauty.com that's M E R I T beauty.com to get your free signature makeup bag with your first order. Merit Beauty

[Elisa]

I want to tell you about Uma.

[Dr. Eliza Pressman]

Give your young people their first phone,

[Elisa]

but not their first addiction.

[Dr. Eliza Pressman]

As middle schoolers think about ways to connect and build communication skills, they are craving a phone. So for kids to have ways to build connections and communication skills, but in a way that's safe and age appropriate, My Phone is here protecting kids from

[Elisa]

from too much screen time while giving

[Dr. Eliza Pressman]

them opportunities to connect and build relationships. My Phone by uma. It's a modern home phone made just for kids, built for simple stress free calling without apps or fees or distractions. Backed by uma, a trusted national telecom provider with decades of experience, kids can receive calls from a trusted circle of

[Elisa]

approved contacts and parents can set quiet

[Dr. Eliza Pressman]

hours, monitor activities and even get alerts if an emergency call is made. Go to uma.commyphone to shop phones and learn more. It's everything you need and nothing you don't.

[Elisa]

Okay, now I want to ask you a little bit about what we can do and I assume these are all in the context of the five kind of lifestyle suggestions you're talking about, but you identified specific interventions that actually grow brain volume. Can you kind of go through the specific interventions that have the most evidence for volume growth, positive volume growth?

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

These five pillars of brain health all have strong scientific evidence for growing the size of the brain. Exercise, for example, has been shown to grow the size of the hippocampus and a part of the brain called cortex, which is the outer layer of the brain, very important for cognitive functions. Sleep has been shown to dramatically affect the size of the brain. And when people sleep better, the size of hippocampus grows back. Nutrition has been shown to have a major impact on the size of the brain. People who eat junk food, things like high trans fats, things that spice, sugar level, the standard American diet, a lot of fast food and sodas and french fries and donuts and things like that have a smaller brain. Multiple studies have shown that. And then stress reduction and things like meditation, slow breathing exercises have all been shown to grow the size of the hippocampus. And of course, brain training. It's one of the most well studied factors for growing the size of the brain and most of these interventions make it a significant change in the size of the brain in a matter of months, not decades, not years. A lot of studies are done within three months or six months and show before and after MRIs demonstrate a significant increase in volume.

[Elisa]

That's incredible.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

If you want me to, I can just give you specific references for each of them.

[Elisa]

We believe you. No, tell us. We're science fans here.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Yes. So in one study they took a group of people in their 30s, actually this was a younger group, and they put them in two groups. One group started to exercise four times a week on a stationary bike and they were encouraged to do a vigorous exercise. I think they're four or five times a week for about an hour each time and they got a good sweat. And the other group was also brought to the university where the study was done and they were asked to play football. So they had some activity. And so this was a control group, the closest that you can get in having a randomized group. And they were randomized and then they did MRI at the baseline. And then after 12 weeks and the group that had done the vigorous exercise four to five times a week had measurable increase in the size of the hippocampus. Again, hippocampus size of the thumb. And, and it's easy to see if there's a difference because you put two pictures side by side and you can see with naked eyes that oh, this is bigger. In fact, that was one of the reasons I started my neurology practice and put together a 12 week program because I saw that 12 weeks of just exercise alone can grow the size of your carrier so much. So we can see with naked eyes. Imagine if, how much better it would be if you combine it with other four other pillars of brain health. Oh, and then everybody increased side hippocampus. It's not like some people did, some people didn't. And on average there was growth. Every single person who did this exercise four, five times a week had a measurable increase in their, well, hippocampus. Then there are many studies that I've shown that the more fit you are, the larger is the size of hippocampus in a dose dependent relation in a dose dependent manner. So for example, let's say hippocampus 1 to 10 and then fitness 1 to 10. So if your fitness is 3, hippocampus is 3. If your fitness is 8, hippocampus is 8. It is the case that at some point it plateaus. Okay, if you're fit, let's say, you know There's a measure of Fitness called VO2 Max, which is the measure of your stamina. And it can go 40, 30, 40, 50. So being 40, 30 to 40 for a middle aged person is pretty good. And then you know, if you're 40 or 50, the entity campus bigger and bigger. But if your VO2 max goes to 70, 80 or 90, then hippocampus doesn't keep going the plateau. Hippocampus goes plateau. It's like a muscle. When you work out a lot, it increases in volume. But if you keep exercising, unless you're taking steroids or something else, that your arms never become the size of your legs.

[Elisa]

Right, Right.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

There's a plateaus. Same applies to your brain. And then several studies have shown that changing nutrition can have significant change in the biology of the brain. The nutrition studies haven't shown the increase, a dramatic increase you see in the brain volume as we see with exercise. But reverse has been shown that people who eat a poor diet have a dose relationship with shrinkage in the brain. So if somebody, for example, obesity, if someone has a small belly, then hippocampus is normal. But if they have a big belly inverse relationship in a linear fashion, that the bigger the belly, the smaller hippocampus.

[Elisa]

Since you mentioned that, may I ask one thing? I'm sure you know what I'm going to ask, but I'm trying to gauge brain health. And if everybody's taking GLP1s, not to exaggerate, but so many people are taking GLP1s, is that helpful to the brain if it's adjusting your diet, not just your muscle ratio, but it changes how you eat.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

I think GLP1s are helpful for keeping your brain healthy. Fat has toxic effects on the brain. And studies have shown that the more fat you have inside your liver, inside your peritoneum, not only the brain is smaller, but you have higher levels of these biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease called amyloid and tau. So anything that reduces the fat will be a good thing for the brain.

[Elisa]

Wow. Okay, so when you say healthy, like the unhealthy eating is more associated with the shrinkage, just to orient us because I, I can't tell if you're talking about something that's like that, where people have to be laser focused on fresh foods, on, you know, whole foods, et cetera and quantity, or if you're talking about the difference between a Doritos diet and like a typical diet that's a little bit more healthy but not quite as perfect as I'm envisioning right now,

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

studies have shown that there's a direct correlation between what's called a standard American diet, fast food and sodas and donuts and cookies and muffins and chips and things like that, and the brain size, the linear relationship. I think the one thing that people need to do is to absolutely avoid junk food. Think of junk food like smoking, which it is actually. It's not as harmful to the brain, just like smoking would be. And if you do that now, whether you eat vegetables or you eat fruits or you eat, you know, whatever else you eat, it's pretty safe. You don't have to eat A or B or C. Right. Several studies have shown that keto diet is great for the brain, and many studies have shown a vegetarian diet is great for the brain. And there's some controversy as to which one is better. I personally favor a Mediterranean diet, for one thing. It's not restrictive. You can eat whatever you want. Just don't eat junk food, basically.

[Elisa]

What if you have a sweet tooth? What can you do? Just asking for a friend.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Well, tell your friend that you could sin once in a while and have some sugary food. Sugar is addictive, and that's why people who drink sodas, they crave more sodas. Or if you have a cookie, you crave for more cookie.

[Elisa]

Yeah, that's true.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Sugar is what our brain uses for fuel. So our system is set up to take pleasure in eating sweet food. Now, our brain is meant to have some sugar, not loads and loads of it. And when people eat cookies or donuts or sugary ice creams or things like that, the sugar spikes and it sort of hits the reward parts of their brain, and then they want more of it. And since it's readily available, they eat more of it and they become addicted. I think that people who keep eating sugary food need to go to a rehab, just like people who gamble or use drugs or smoke.

[Elisa]

It's that hard to stop.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

The craving is so strong. And the thing is that when you have the craving, the part of the brain for reward lights up, and a part of the brain next to it for decision making is sort of goes out of the picture.

[Elisa]

Right.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

So interesting. There are two parts of the brain. And actually I have a brain model I can show you here. So this is the front of the brain.

[Elisa]

Oh, I like that one.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Yeah. So there's a part of brain right inside called orbitofrontal lobe, and that's a part of the brain that lights up when something's rewarding and then its decisions are based on rewards. And there's a part next to it, it's called lateral dorsal prefrontal cortex or just called prefrontal cortex on the lateral part. And this is more for logical thinking. You make a decision, I should buy this scar or I should not buy this car. I should eat this food or I should not. At any given moment, there's a sort of yin yang between the orbitofrontal which says let's have fun. The logical part of the brain which says, let's do the right thing. And what happens is that when you see a delicious tiramisu that is just, you know, you've had it before and you love it, then this area becomes so active it just quiets. It blinds the logical part of our brain. And at that point that, that part is overshadowed by the strong signal in the orbital frontal cortex. Most of the time there's a. It's got equal balance and each person is different. Some people are more logically oriented in day to day life and some people go with their feelings. So what needs to happen is if you have a sweet tooth and you're going to have ice cream, and I said, alisa, you can have this ice cream, but it will give you cancer. Then the logical part of the brain says, hey, orbitoflontal, hold it. Yeah, I know you enjoy this thing, but cancer is not something we want to deal with. And then you will not eat it. So what needs to happen for people who have a sweet tooth and they just see something delicious is to pause, just count to 10 and say, sugary things are addictive. And the more of this I eat, the more addicted I will be and the more difficult it will be to wean myself off. So I'm just gonna have one spoonful and that's it. And then really work on it.

[Elisa]

Really work on just like once in a while. Summer ice cream scoop.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

I think what you should do is to say, okay, make a deal with yourself. Say one hour of running and then, you know, give yourself a reward and be pretty religious about that. Be pretty strict. You're not going to have the ice cream unless you had a good workout and then enjoy it.

[Elisa]

I'm glad you said religious about it because I do think it's important to know the difference between the health, the things that are, you know, nice to have, and the things that are like, no, be religious about this. This is going to have a huge impact. So one of the things that if we kind of make sure that we're taking care of what's what we're putting inside our bodies and we're sleeping and we're exercising. I think that alone probably reduces the stress levels, which is part of what makes sure that our brains are growing and staying healthy. I don't want to stress anybody out. I just want to motivate people. So, like, what happens to a brain with chronic stress? Part one, part two is, can you distinguish between the stressors, the everyday stressors that might cause problems and the stressors that are unrelenting and harmful?

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Yeah. So those relationship I mentioned to you earlier about, for example, obesity or junk food, also apply to stress. When you're stressed, the cortisol levels rise in your blood. There's a direct correlation between higher cortisol levels and more shrinkage in hippocampus. This has been shown in multiple studies. For example, one study in Japan invited a group of people to have an MRI and the cortisol levels measured. They were not instructed to do anything. They just said, thank you very much, and they went. And then seven years later, they brought them back and measured their hippocampus again and also measured the cortisol levels again. Those who had low cortisol from the beginning to the end had increased of hippocampus, and those who had higher cortisol levels had smaller hippocampus. And this is a very well done study because everybody was controlled based on themselves. Usually you can't say, okay, you guys go stress out and you guys don't stress out.

[Podcast Host/Producer]

Right.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

That's what they did. Because people who stress out, they usually are that type and they continue to stress. And there's a difference between stressing over minor things like telling your kid to brush their teeth or minor things. And there are major things where you stress about your mortgage, about your relationships, about things that are really important to you. And the solution is choose what things are important and reserve your stress response to only significant things. I mean, we can't go through life and not have stress. Whether it's childhood, you know, whether our kid has cancer or our parent have Alzheimer's disease or, you know, our spouse lost his job or something like that. Those are real stresses. And every life, you know, has to deal with them. But don't stress over everything like the traffic or why the house is not clean enough or why things are not perfect. Unfortunately, some people are just constantly stressed. I think the problem is this. Most people don't appreciate that the choices they have either shrinks or grows their hippocampus. And the size of hippocampus determines whether or not they develop Alzheimer's disease. If the size of hippocampus was something they could see somehow, like there was a measure in the palm of their hand and they could see that hippocampus shrinking visually, then they would stop.

[Elisa]

It's so true. If I wore a watch that had a picture of my brain growing and shrinking, I feel like I would stop before I make certain decisions.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Exactly.

[Dr. Eliza Pressman]

I want to tell you about these delicious snacks by Kodiak, which is the same brand that I use for my pancakes and waffles. Kodiak bars are a protein packed snack made with whole grains and real ingredients that help keep busy families fueled, satisfied, and ready for whatever the day brings. So you can get the chewy bars that have s' mores and chocolate chips and they've got protein and real ingredients and they're convenient. And look, you're gonna need convenient grab and go snacks. Like if you're a parent that's busy, it's going to happen. So make everyday parenting easier, feel good about your snack choices and enjoy Kodiak. Find [e-mail] or your local grocery store. They're the ones with the bear on the box.

[Elisa]

Now I need, I need you to say, this is good. I just started playing mahjong fairly.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Oh, yeah.

[Elisa]

I love it so much. And I keep wanting to believe that the shift in the focus and then the shifting of strategies and the paying attention and the social aspect is going to be good for my brain. And I would like to hear you say that.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Yes, absolutely. Yeah. Anything that challenges your brain is good for your brain. Whether you play mahjong or learn a new language or play, play Sudoku or take photography lessons or crossword puzzles, anything that's a little difficult. You know, if you do something that's easy and you've done it a thousand times and you don't really feel challenged. Like if you play mahjong or if you play card games with someone who's below your level and it's very easy for you, that's not going to be helpful because you're not challenging yourself. But if you're frustrated a little bit or if you're so into the game because you really are focusing on the cards and what card has gone first and which card is coming next, then you are challenging your brain.

[Elisa]

This is great news. I'm trying to think of things that are low lifts, that are fun and joyful, that also do benefit us. What part of this is passed down to our kids and what mechanism is it passed down Is it modeling? Is it genetics? Is it epigenetics? What can we do right now to sort of support our children's future brain development?

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

For one thing, you need to be a good role model. Our kids learn so much from watching us than from us telling them what to do. They observe and they learn, and they continue to do the things which were done at home by their parents. So the first thing to do is stay calm, eat well, be nice to other people, smile. I think we should really take time to cherish all the good things in our lives and have gratitude for all the good things that are around us and not focus on the few things that are not right. See, our tendency is to take for granted that we live in a nice house, we have a paycheck, we have a car, we have healthy kids. And you dwell on a neighbor being too loud or the cousin not showing up. So we need to sort of realize that life is amazing and just watching what's going on in the world, we need to really feel lucky and privileged to see, to live in a place where our problem is the cost of gas, which is a bad thing. But let's not forget that we are having an amazing standard of life here. So apart from being a good role model for our children, I think we need to teach them that these five pillars of brain health are as important as brushing their teeth. Because these five pillars of brain health can improve the health of their brain. And the brain is going to be shiny and bright as they grow older. They're going to have better jobs. They're going to be successful in what they do. Now, what's really interesting from a scientific point of view is that what you do affects your genes as a mom. And when you have a child, some of the exposures that you've had is transmitted to your newborn. For example, in Montreal, there was a major snowstorm. I think it was about eight years ago, Seven, eight years ago. And the whole province of Quebec had lost electricity. And for two, three weeks, it was a major, major problem. All the electrical lines had fallen. There was no transportation. Communication was limited. It was a major problem. So scientists had looked at children born to mothers who were pregnant at that time. And they found that there are genetic footprints in their genes which were different than kids which born like a year earlier or a year later. And these are have. These have been documented very well in animal studies. Let me give you a really interesting study. So they did a study in mice, and there are two types of moms, those who tend to groom their offsprings and those who just say I don't have time for you now, just you take care of yourself, I'll check with you later. And then look at the offsprings of these two types of mouse moms and they found that the children, the offsprings of moms with a lot of grooming and licking were calmer and the receptors for stress related proteins were lower in their brains. Then they looked at moms who were busy and didn't have time for kids and they were not into licking, grooming. And they saw that offsprings of those mice had low levels of the proteins for stress management in the brain. So then they looked at offsprings of these offsprings, the grandchildren. They saw that the grandchildren of those types of mouse had the better or the worst version of these receptors in the brain. In other words, what happens to you as a mom to children passes on to the next generation. This has been shown in human studies as well. Here's an interesting study, was that scientists switched the offsprings of these two types of moms so that the moms that were licking and grooming their babies, those babies were given to the other groups of moms and the moms which were, you know, the offspring of the other group were given to the moms that licking groom. And then they saw that the mice adopted of the foster mom and their brains, the genetic markers in their brains were those of the foster mom, not the original mom. That's amazing. Which tells you that whatever genes you have, or whatever genes you have and you pass it on, but if you change the environment for your children, then that is what matters.

[Elisa]

It's not destiny.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

It's not destiny and it's not the genes. I mean the genes are the default of what will happen to you. But if you change the environment, especially in childhood, then you will see that the offspring will take on the genetic profile of the foster moms. That's really important when you think about your kids and the environment you create for them is really shaping their brain literally. And it will help them to either have a good experience in life or be stressed out type who will continue to stress and they will then pass on to next generation.

[Elisa]

And I think the rat pup studies are, they're a good reminder and inspiring in the sense that today the changes that you make matter and that this whole conversation about brain plasticity is so inspiring because I don't want people to think oh I've messed up so much or I'm so unhealthy or oh no, this is a disaster. I think what's so incredible is we can make certain commitments today, and it will change the course of what's going on with our brains.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Yeah, I talk that to my patients all the time. You know, sometimes the patient comes and says, my mom didn't treat me well when I was a kid, and that's why I can't do things. And the answer is, yes, you have a point. However, if you change now, your brain will change, and the brains of your kids will change. Your brain has malleability. The narrative you have for yourself really determines the kind of life experiences you will have. And that narrative is something that you started when you were a child. If the narrative is I'm good at things, or the narrative is things always work out for me, then things will work out for you. And that's why every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do before I get out of bed, before I check the time or I check the new, my emails, whatever, I don't touch anything. I wake up and I just think about how life is a lot of gratitude, you know, and I feel lucky. I have a wife, I have two grown children. Life is good. And then I picture the kind of things I'm going to have that day, and I picture them being wonderful. Like, I'm going to have a podcast today with Elisa. It's going to be so much fun. She's so famous, and she's such an authority in her field, developmental biology. And it's going to be great conversation ahead of time. I picture it to be good. And so when I start my day, the narrative is, today is going to be a good day. And the narrative could be just as easily negative one, like, I'm so busy. Why don't I have any time to myself? This job is horrible.

[Elisa]

Why do I have to do this podcast?

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

I had to drive all the time. And, you know, you know, I would never say why. Anyway, I think the narrative is something you choose to have. And one of the things we did is for our patients was to help them create a new narrative. Just because you have repeated the same narrative for decades, it doesn't mean that it will continue to be that way. Let me give you one patient story. I had this woman. I remember her so vividly. I think she was late 60s, and she had come to see us for a memory, and we worked with her memory. And during her first visit, I talked about her stress issues and says, you know, my financial situation is not the best. And my mom passed away about 30 years ago. And at the time, my brother tricked me to sign something which gave my share of inheritance to him. So I didn't get more than a million dollars 30 years ago. And if I had that money, my life would have been so much better. And it turns out that she's been repeating that narrative in her brain for all these 30 years. And I said, I think her name was Jean. I said, Jean, you know, 30 years has passed. How many hours have you repeated that thought and it hasn't helped you, so why not just stop saying it and say, you know, a bad thing happened. But I could have also had a car accident 30 years ago and I would have lost my legs and I'll be on a wheelchair now, which I, you know, if I'd given choices, I rather have lost money than to be on a wheelchair. And so, you know, she worked with our social worker and when she came for her six week follow up, said, Dr. Fatui, you know, I realized how, how much of my life was wasted on me repeating this negative thought. And I'm a new person because I realized that it is what it is and I still have so many good years ahead of me. And she was so relieved. She was like a new person because she had changed her narrative. People need to appreciate that a narrative that they have can be changed. And if they create a positive narrative, they will benefit from it every day.

[Elisa]

I think it's such a wonderful note to, to end on, because you can't fake that narrative, but maybe you can start to force yourself to just do what you're doing every morning as a practice. And as you practice, it grows stronger and it actually changes your brain. And I think what's so wonderful hearing from you is these are hard things to do, but they're not that heavy of a lift for so much payoff. Like, and I think that these are ways to orient our kids, even if they're not naturally inclined to kind of consider the awe of just being a human. That's hard to do for some people, but what a practice. Like, it's such a doable practice. Just as you're saying that, I'm thinking about so many things that used to be considered soft science that actually make changes in the structure of your brain. I mean, that's so cool. And hearing it from you, you know, it just feels like more legit.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Yeah, I think, I don't know, I think we shouldn't call it soft science. There's hard data for these kind of things.

[Elisa]

Yeah.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

You know, simple interventions in your mindset can change the trajectory of your brain. For example, if one study showed that if you have a positive view about aging, you will have a better brain as you grow older. And it has to do with your narrative. If you think that with aging everything falls apart and that you'll be slower and you won't be able to do things that will happen. And if you tell yourself, you know, with aging, some things get a little slower, but I'm still capable of enjoying life and exercising and having a full life, travel, take classes, you know, organize things, make a change in the world, you will have a better brain. And which, which way you end has to do with the narrative, you tell you. And the thing is, the trick is to make people realize that narrative can be changed, that the narrative is not fixed. People have repeated the same narrative millions of times in their head. For example, they say things like, it runs in my family to be obese or memory loss runs in my family. So they have already decided that it

[Dr. Eliza Pressman]

is what it is.

[Elisa]

I'm predisposed, right? Right.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

I'm doomed to begin with. When they fall into that trap, they say, see, it worked. The most common form of that is when people say, I'm not good with names. You know, sometimes I'm giving a lecture to a thousand people and I ask how many of you have difficulty remembering names? Raise your hand. Always like 99% of people raise their hands. Only like 3 or 4 in a huge crowd that says, actually we are good with remembering names. Now, it can't be that there's a disease that affects 99% of people. And if you ask those people what do you think is causing your memory loss, Most of them say they're worried about Alzheimer's disease, which is unfortunate. So if you tell yourself you're not good remembering names, you meet somebody new, you really don't give it your best effort to memorize their names. And then you don't remember it. And then you tell yourself, see, I'm not good with names. It's a self fulfilling prophecy. Now let's do the opposite. Tell yourself, I'm good with remembering names. And when you meet somebody, genuinely try to remember their names. And, and picture that you would get $10,000 if you go home and tell your family members the name of the person you met. $10,000 in $100 bills. Just picture those $100 bills in the stack and you're getting it. Now, do you think they would forget the name like Majeet Fatouhi? You know, it's a difficult name, but $10,000 is M A J I D F O, T, U, H, I. What's the big deal about that? Majid Fatouhi. I remember that. And you go home and you spell M, A, J, I, D, F, O, T, H, I. I mean, it's done. So if you have the attitude I'm not good with names, you say it was me. I don't know. I don't know. It's just weird names. These people, you know, these days have so many international names. I don't, can't memorize. You know, what happened to Nancy and Jim and John. You know, everybody has such a unusual names. And the opposite of course, is you go home and it says Majid Fatouhi. It was so interesting. And you know, you remember it. So tell yourself you're good with remembering names and you will be.

[Elisa]

So you tell yourself. And what I just heard is you tell yourself. And then you also have a strategy like you make an effort. And that effort wouldn't happen if you just wrote it off as I'm not good with names.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Yes, the narrative determines the outcome. If you tell yourself that I will remember Alisa's name, then you will remember it. Now one thing you have to do is when you see someone's name that's not a common name, like Majeed Fatouhi, Majeed or Alisa. Alisa. Because sometimes, you know, there's also Eliza.

[Elisa]

I know.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

So then you ask the person, is it Alisa or Elisa? And then is it Alisa? Alisa? And then you make sure you get it right and then you just repeat it. And the trick is during the conversation, you want to repeat the name at least a couple of times. You don't want to overdo it. That sounds weird. The other thing I do is that I try to pay attention to people's eyes and to do eye to eye connection. Because what happens when we meet somebody, we see them in a room or a bigger place and they are not nearly the focus of our attention. When I look at people's eyes, it brings their face into full focus of my vision. And now they are the center of my focus. And I try to see like the color of the eyes, the eyebrows, the chin, the ears, the hair. And when I say Lisa, I will make a point of remembering the name and the face. Because it's one thing to remember the name of the face right now is a nice thing to like meet the same person in a supermarket or a different setting. And then, you know, so I remember I've seen her. I know. One reason people remember faces better than names is that faces make an emotional connection with you. You have an emotional experience. When you look at someone's face, are they happy? Are they kind?

[Elisa]

Are they.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Are they rushed? Are they ambitious? Are they tired? There's an emotional connection, whereas Name is abstract. There's nothing emotional about Name. But when you look at someone's eye to eye and tell, use the name in the conversation, you are creating a connection with them. You're creating an emotional bond with them. And it doesn't always have to be a good one. You can say, this person looks so annoying.

[Elisa]

I remember her.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

As long as there's emotion involved, it's going to help. But even if you don't do that, and if it were really the case that you get $10,000, there's no way you would forget that name.

[Elisa]

Also, as an added bonus, it feels very connected to sit with someone who's paying attention to you and remembering your name and mentioning it a couple of times and looking into your eyes like, I'm in a better mood for it. I am. Like, it just shows that you're there and present.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

People love to hear their name. There's an expression, I heard that the most beautiful sound in the world is sound of your name for people. And also it shows that the person is very humble. Like, you know, if somebody pays attention to you, it's great because, you know, they. They're really into you, that you're important to them, you are somebody to them, and they make you feel important. And that's a good feeling to receive if somebody has a conversation with you.

[Elisa]

Majid, this was so, so wonderful. You know, when you know things that you're supposed to be doing, but you don't do them, maybe that's not your. Not your jam. I feel like the. Some of the things that you mentioned so casually today, I feel pretty sure that I'm going to start. There's such, like, concrete tools to just, like, make things better. So thank you.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

My pleasure. It was wonderful talking to you, Elisa.

[Elisa]

It was so wonderful to talk to you. I mean that. I was just with some people last night. They were all new people, except for

[Dr. Eliza Pressman]

one friend of mine.

[Elisa]

And I noticed that. That one of the, you know, one of the people at this dinner, you know, there were two times when she addressed me and said my name, and I remember thinking, like, I saw two things. I saw that strategically, she was one of those people that really wants to remember the names of the people and the faces of the people that she's connecting with. But also I was like, that is so effective. Like, it's such a small thing and it really, it feels different. I think just generally speaking, parents are overwhelmed and put aside their diet, their exercise and their sleep and their stress. And those are four of the things that you said are the most important things to grow our brains and prevent our brains from shrinking. I hate to say the word shrinking, but six. So it's very motivating and I appreciate it.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Thank you. I think the bottom line is this. Now that you understand how exercise, sleep, diet, stress management, and brain training can make a difference in your brain, you need to make small changes in your day to day life. You don't need to run a marathon or, you know, stress out over the fact that you're not getting enough sleep or that you stress too much or. Yeah, just make a simple change in your life for two, three weeks. For example, cut back on junk food by 50% for two weeks. If you have french fries or, you know, donuts or cookies or something, just eat half, 50% in two weeks. Or say, I'm gonna walk for 20 minutes or 30 minutes twice a week. Start small and then incorporate those lifestyle changes in your daily life, little by little. What matters is consistency over time. Not that you do a lot of things for a short period of time, but that you incorporate those changes into new habits.

[Elisa]

When you said brain training, I just want to make sure that like some of the things we talked about, for example, remembering names and the sort of ways that the strategies you have. That's brain training, right?

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

That's right. Anything you do that's a little difficult for you, Mahjong, taking a dance class, you know, traveling and learning about a new country, new culture, Reading, not just for two minutes but, you know, reading an article and, you know, paying attention to details. Anything that maintains your attention and it's a little difficult is good for your brain.

[Elisa]

Fantastic.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

I have developed an a free app which is available on App Store. It's called the Invincible Brain. It has a series of questionnaires for brain fitness and two questionnaires for determining what kind of symptoms you have. So these three questionnaires really help you learn about yourself and all the things that are affecting your brain. And then the app gives you specific recommendations of what to do and it allows you to monitor your progress every week so you get a weekly progress and it can chart your progress. We had this 12 week program in my brain center and more than 80% of patients improved and about half of them increased the size of the hippocampus by 1 to 3% in 12 weeks. I've talked about all of those things in my book, the Invincible Brain.

[Elisa]

The Invincible Brain. I'm going to put the link in the Show Notes.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Yes. So the program is in detail in my book, but it's also available for free in the app. I also have an Instagram Dr. Fatouhi and then something on LinkedIn and YouTube. So if you put the Invincible Brain in Google search, you will find a lot of things I do and most of them are free.

[Elisa]

This is so wonderful. I'll put everything in the show notes and I'm going to write about this on my sub sub stack and I'll link to your book and your app and people can follow you on social media. It's good when very smart people are giving very smart tools instead of people making things up. That's always very exciting. Thank you. And when is this book coming? Did the book come out already?

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Yes, the book came out and it's a bestseller book, actually.

[Elisa]

Oh, fantastic. Okay. I'm so excited, so I'll keep spreading the word, but I just. I'm thrilled that you came and took the time to talk to me today.

[Dr. Majid Fatouhi]

Sure, My pleasure.

[Dr. Eliza Pressman]

Thank you for joining me for this conversation. Please stick around and subscribe to this channel for more episodes and practical content that you can learn from and use in your parenting in real time. Watch the next video here or sign up for my substack [e-mail] and consider becoming a paid subscriber for access to me live each month in our subscriber Q and A.