The mindbodygreen Podcast 645: The truth about cognitive decline and what you can do about it | Tommy Wood, M.D., Ph.D.
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Apr 12, 2026 
Tommy Wood, M.D., Ph.D., neuroscientist and author focused on brain health and performance. He explores how dementia risk is modifiable and why walking, HIIT, and resistance training boost the hippocampus and white matter. He covers nutrition basics for the brain, creatine’s potential benefits, the cognitive cost of convenience, and practical ways to stimulate the brain and build social connection.
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Do Intense Cardio Sessions Weekly
- Include higher-intensity cardio (HIIT) once or twice weekly to boost hippocampus size and memory.
- Studies show interval protocols (e.g., Norwegian 4x4) produced larger hippocampal gains retained five years later versus zone-two or low-intensity groups.
Lift Weights Twice A Week For Brain Health
- Do full-body resistance training twice weekly for 30–45 minutes to improve white matter and executive function.
- Any modality (machines, bands, free weights) that reaches fatigue across major muscle groups works to raise IGF-1 and muscle's brain benefits.
Exercise Helps Through Many Unknown Signals
- Exercise works via many overlapping mechanisms we don't fully understand, releasing myokines and exokines that act on the brain.
- This multiplicity explains why lifestyle interventions give big, durable benefits despite imperfect mechanistic knowledge.
