Dr. Tommy Wood (@DrRagnar) is an associate professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at the University of Washington, where his research focuses on brain health across the lifespan. This includes therapies for brain injury in newborns, prevention and treatment of adult brain trauma, and the factors that contribute to long-term cognitive function and cognitive decline. Tommy received an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge, a medical degree from the University of Oxford, and a PhD in Physiology and Neuroscience from the University of Oslo.
Alongside his academic work, Tommy is head scientist for Motorsport at Hintsa Performance, overseeing health and performance programs for multiple Formula 1 drivers. He also helped to found the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine, is head of research for the dementia prevention charity Food for the Brain, and serves as chief science officer for brain health coaching company BetterBrain. He has also trained and competed in multiple sports, coming in the top 20 in the world’s first ever fully off-road ironman triathlon, and 2nd at Washington’s Strongest Man in 2024.
Tommy is co-host of the Better Brain Fitness podcast and author of the forthcoming book The Stimulated Mind.
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Dr. Tommy Wood — How to Future-Proof Your Brain from Dementia
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Transcripts
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
- Connect with Dr. Tommy Wood:
Website | Better Brain Fitness Podcast | Instagram | Twitter
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TIMESTAMPS
- [00:02:30] The cognition conversation commences.
- [00:03:11] Why human babies are chubby little brain-fuel tanks.
- [00:05:16] Brain injury in newborns: Cooling, caffeine, and coming home.
- [00:09:07] Adult concussion protocol: Fever management, ketones, and why you shouldn’t chug Powerade.
- [00:18:59] Washington’s 2nd Strongest Man talks omega-3s, methylation, and why your brain needs the whole orchestra.
- [00:29:34] Auguste Deter, Alzheimer’s mystery patient, and the 45-70% dementia prevention sweet spot.
- [00:39:22] From CGM monitoring to the “use it or lose it” glucose paradox.
- [00:55:54] VO2 max training as cardio insurance against dementia.
- [01:01:32] Jiu-jitsu, sleds, and the Norwegian torture method (4×4 intervals).
- [01:03:37] Lactate training: Forget the finger prick, embrace the misery.
- [01:06:40] Announcing The Stimulated Mind: Tommy’s brain-saving book.
- [01:07:35] Foundation supplements: Omega-3s, B vitamins, vitamin D, iron, and magnesium.
- [01:08:58] Polyphenols, choline, and the case for eating more liver.
- [01:10:40] Creatine: Tommy’s 10-gram cognitive stimulant ritual.
- [01:11:58] Cheap creatine temptation leads to lavatory lamentation.
- [01:14:16] Blood flow restriction training: High lactate, low load, maximum travel convenience.
- [01:21:45] Language learning, music, StarCraft, and why your brain needs to fail.
- [01:38:04] Sleep anxiety, air pollution, and gum disease: the overlooked dementia risk factors.
- [01:45:32] Air purifiers, CO2 levels, and sleep optimization hacks.
- [01:51:52] DORAs for sleep quality: when cognitive stimulation isn’t enough.
- [01:54:55] The thesis behind The Stimulated Mind: Practical, referenced, and sustainable.
- [01:56:32] Kelly and Juliet Starrett’s stamp of approval.
- [01:57:44] The beautiful compounding effect of fixing just one thing.
- [01:58:59] Who is Dr. Ragnar, and does he make housecalls to Valhalla?
- [02:01:06] Tommy’s open invitation for complaints and scientific debates.
- [02:02:21] Parting thoughts.
TOMMY WOOD QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW
“If you look at human babies compared to pretty much every other mammalian species, we are the only species that’s born fat, even compared to other primates. And it’s thought that the primary reason for this is that, that fat is a repository for things that the brain needs in order to develop.”
— Tommy Wood
“There are actually some very nice studies that looked at brain activation and glucose uptake in response to cognitive stimulus in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. And what they see is that yes, at baseline, there’s less glucose being taken up into the brain of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, but if you stimulate that brain cognitively, it can take up glucose just fine so that you get into the range of a normal healthy brain in early Alzheimer’s disease.”
— Tommy Wood
“Studies in depression, as well as studies looking at different activities that people do [to alleviate] the risk of dementia … dance seems to have the highest sort of effect size compared to other types of physical activity.”
— Tommy Wood
“What it looks like is that those who grew up bilingual perform better on tasks requiring executive function — so things like response inhibition, which is you kind of want to do something but you stop yourself just in time.”
— Tommy Wood
“As you increase in expertise in these different creative, complex arts, you see improved structure and discreteness of these really critical networks that are susceptible to aging as we get older. But the effect was similar in tango dancers versus those who are bilingual versus those who are artists versus video gamers. So there’s some core effect of these complex multisensory stimuli that require us to gain significant expertise and skill in order to perform them that seem to have this broad effect.”
— Tommy Wood
“Does picking just one thing help to support the overall function of the brain? And the answer is yes, it does. … If you focus on improving sleep, you’re more sociable, you’re more likely to engage in cognitively challenging tasks. Your blood sugar improves, your blood pressure improves, right? So just changing one area, suddenly the whole network shifts in your favor.”
— Tommy Wood
Want to hear another episode about preventing Alzheimer’s disease and optimizing for longevity? Listen to my conversation with Dr. Peter Attia, in which we discussed longevity drugs, Alzheimer’s disease prevention, the three most important levers to pull for health span, VO2 max optimization, blood testing protocols, and much more.
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