The Empowering Neurologist Podcast

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉ 🌱 Thank you to our sponsors: EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter and the code perlmutter26 will be auto-applied to your order to get 10% off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). 3x4 Genetics - https://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutter for a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available! Discover how to protect your brain and future health - grab your copy today at https:/www.braindefenders.com. ==== Why do some people feel exhausted, mentally foggy, metabolically unwell, or simply older than they should even when their routine laboratory results are considered “normal”? That question is at the heart of this episode of The Empowering Neurologist , featuring functional medicine practitioner Dr. Will Cole, coauthor with Dr. Josh Axe of Heal Your Cells: Reversing the Irreversible . Dr. Cole and Dr. Perlmutter explore the idea that long before disease becomes obvious, dysfunction may already be developing at the cellular level. This concept takes on particular importance when we consider the brain, which accounts for only about 2% of body weight but consumes roughly 20% of the body's energy at rest. The conversation examines how seemingly separate factors including metabolic dysfunction, chronic inflammation, poor sleep, environmental exposures, physical inactivity, and prolonged psychological stress can converge on the same cellular systems and ultimately influence brain health. 00:00 — Why Your Cells May Be Aging Before You Feel It 03:44 — Meet Dr. Will Cole 04:50 — What Is Cellular Dysfunction? 09:25 — Why Healthy People Can Still Develop Disease10:32 — The Environmental Factors Affecting Cellular Health 15:47 — Why Mitochondria Are Central to Health 16:37 — How Mitochondrial Dysfunction Drives Inflammation 19:57 — How Much of Aging Can We Actually Change? 20:47 — The Connection Between Mitochondria and Insulin Resistance 25:43 — Mitochondria, Microglia, and Brain Inflammation 29:28 — Why There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Diet 32:03 — Training Your Cells to Become More Resilient 32:46 — What Are “Adversity Mimetics”? 35:51 — Why Intracellular Health Matters 36:32 — Why Conventional Medicine May Be Missing Cellular Dysfunction 37:58 — What Do We Really Know About Peptides? 40:16 — Is Ozone Therapy Worth Considering? 42:30 — Ozone and the Science of Cellular Resilience 43:41 — What Is Therapeutic Plasma Exchange? 45:38 — Who Might Benefit From Plasma Exchange? 46:45 — The Everyday Habits That Support Cellular Health 51:35 — Your Cells Are Responding to the Choices You Make Dr. Will Cole is a leading functional medicine expert specializing in thyroid health, autoimmune conditions, hormonal imbalances, digestive disorders, and brain health. He is the host of The Art of Being Well podcast and a New York Times bestselling author of Intuitive Fasting , Ketotarian , The Inflammation Spectrum , and Gut Feelings . - - - - - Connect with Dr. Will Cole Website: https://drwillcole.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drwillcole LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drwillcole Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doctorwillcole Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6z1lJ5dfKNHwGGQPOFTc7E Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-art-of-being-well/id1539535133 - - - - - Connect with Dr. David Perlmutter, MD Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidperlmutter/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidPerlmutterMD/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidPerlmutterMD X (Twitter): https://x.com/DavidPerlmutter - - - - - PODCAST Thank you for listening. Please subscribe and share. This podcast is produced by DrTalks.com https://drtalks.com/podcast-service/

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱====Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available! Discover how to protect your brain and future health - grab your copy today at https://drperlmutter.com/books/brain-defenders/.====What if one of the most important windows for protecting women’s brain health happens decades before Alzheimer’s symptoms ever appear?On this episode of The Empowering Neurologist, we explore the growing conversation around women, hormonal transition, and long-term brain health with two guests bringing very different, and deeply complementary, perspectives: Emma Heming Willis and Dr. Nicole Beurkens.Together, they examine a critical question: Why are women disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s disease, and what role might hormonal changes play?00:00 Intro04:47 The First Signs of Bruce Willis’ FTD06:37 Receiving a Diagnosis With No Roadmap08:08 Emma’s Journey From Caregiver to Advocate10:18 How Understanding the Brain Can Reduce Fear12:06 From Brain Fog to Brain Health15:45 Why Women Face a Higher Risk of Alzheimer’s17:44 The Missing Conversation Around Brain Health21:37 Building Brain Health in Your 20s and 30s24:16 It’s Never Too Late to Support Brain Health26:53 Why Connection Matters for People With Dementia30:01 What Happens to the Brain During Perimenopause35:53 The Debate Around Hormone Replacement Therapy38:34 Why Does Frontotemporal Dementia Happen?40:11 Modifiable Risk Factors and Alzheimer’s Prevention44:43 Teaching Kids Brain-Healthy Habits46:40 Why Mainstream Medicine Is Missing the Brain Health Conversation50:48 Empowerment vs. Blaming Patients53:04 Alzheimer’s Is a Disease of Decades56:19 The One Thing Every Woman Can Do for Her Brain56:50 Emma’s Message to Families Facing Dementia58:29 From Fear to Empowerment====Emma brings the perspective of lived experience. As the wife of actor Bruce Willis, who was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, she has experienced the realities of caregiving firsthand. Rather than stepping away from that experience, she has used it to advocate for caregivers and women’s brain health. She is the co-founder of Make Time Wellness and the author of The Unexpected Journey, which combines personal experience with practical guidance for navigating the challenges of caregiving.Dr. Nicole Beurkens brings nearly three decades of clinical and nutritional expertise. A licensed psychologist and Board-Certified Nutrition Specialist, Dr. Beurkens focuses on the intersection of brain function, metabolism, nutrition, and lifestyle—and how these factors can influence long-term neurological health.___________________________Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidperlmutter/Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/Subscribe to our channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDRl_UAXxbHyOOjklnA0dxQ/?sub_confirmation=1

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Thank you to our sponsors:EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter and the code perlmutter26 will be auto-applied to your order to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). 3x4 Genetics - https://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutterfor a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations.====Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com. ====We dig into why 94% of US adults have some metabolic dysfunction, how the body can enter a full stress response with no psychological trigger, why GABA supplements work for some people and not others, and what that reveals about gut health. 00:00 - Introduction00:06 - The Sympathetic Spiral of Doom01:04 - Brain Defenders: A New Way to Think About Brain Health03:25 - Welcoming Dr. Scott Sherr04:42 - Why Stress Has a Metabolic Component Most People Overlook06:00 - 94% of Adults Have Metabolic Dysfunction07:00 - Mitochondria 101: Why Some Cells Have Thousands and One Has None07:58 - Insulin Resistance08:50 - Toxins, Infections, and Other Roads to Metabolic Breakdown09:28 - How Mitochondrial Stress Triggers a Stress Hormone Spiral10:47 - The Cell Danger Response13:49 - Brain Defenders: How Mitochondrial Dysfunction Polarizes Microglia15:22 - Stress Without a Stressor: How Metabolism Alone Can Trigger Fight-or-Flight16:01 - Straws on the Camel's Back: Situational vs. Metabolic Stress17:01 - GABA, the Brain's Brake Pedal, and Why Oral GABA Doesn't Work18:20 - 40 Hz Light Therapy and Cognitive Decline21:00 - GABA vs. Glutamate: The Balance Behind 80% of Brain Signaling22:17 - The Depression-Serotonin Myth and the Real Role of GABA23:04 - Why GABA Supplements Stop Working Once You Heal Your Gut24:18 - Kava, CBD, and the Amanita Mushroom Compound That Calms the Brain25:06 - How to Know You're in Sympathetic Overdrive Without a Wearable26:16 - 70,000 vs. 120,000 Thoughts a Day: The Stress Math27:33 - Recovery Is the Real Marker of Resilience28:05 - Heart Rate Variability Explained29:22 - Why Going From the Gym Straight to a Cold Plunge Backfires30:07 - How to Actually Use Your HRV Data (Trends, Not Absolutes)31:21 - 3X4 Genetics: Your DNA Isn't a Verdict33:16 - Why Dr. Perlmutter Quit Drinking Wine34:13 - The Apollo Device and Its Impact on HRV35:20 - Blue Light, Melatonin, and the Sleep Routine That Actually Moves the Needle35:46 - Turn Off the News: How Constant Stimulation Feeds the Sympathetic Spiral39:22 - Interleukin 6, AMP Kinase, and the Inflammatory Signals You Actually Need39:29 - Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Mitochondrial Biogenesis42:00 - Why Timing and Sequencing Matter More Than "More Is Better" With HBOT43:08 - The Aviv Clinic Research on Oxygen Delta and Blood Vessel Growth44:01 - Methylene Blue: The Redox Cycler That Boosts Energy Without the Crash45:14 - Why Liquid Supplements Fall Short and What to Use Instead46:20 - The Problem With Relying on Coffee for Energy47:00 - Methylene Blue as a Historic Antimicrobial: From Malaria to WWII48:09 - Glyphosate, Rotenone, and the Environmental Toxins Destroying Complex One49:14 - The Gut-Brain Connection and Sympathetic Activation50:09 - The Gut-Brain Connection and the "Soft Kiss" Typo Story53:08 - Why Sitting Down to Eat Actually Matters53:52 - Healing the Gut First: The Fastest Path to Calming the Brain54:37 - Psychedelics as a Tool to Break the Sympathetic Spiral57:06 - Mitochondrial Medicine as the Common Denominator58:14 - Closing Thoughts ___________________________Instagram: / davidperlmutter Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: / @davidperlmuttermd

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter's newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱====Dr. Perlmutter's groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com .What if everything you've been told about Alzheimer's, that it's caused by sticky plaque building up in your brain, is missing the real story? In this episode, Dr. David Perlmutter makes the case that the true driver of neurodegeneration isn't plaque at all. It's your own brain's immune cells turning against you.For decades the field blamed beta-amyloid protein for Alzheimer's. Perlmutter walks through a mechanism reshaping the science: the dysregulation of microglia, the immune cells that can either protect your brain or actively destroy it depending on how you live.We dig into the chilling Parkinson's case where contaminated heroin froze patients like statues and revealed immune cells still attacking the brain decades later, why the same self-perpetuating inflammation shows up in CTE, long COVID, and PTSD, how your gut and blood sugar flip these cells into attack mode, the 14 metabolic risk factors that could prevent up to half of dementia cases, and the MIT-pioneered 40 Hz light and sound therapy that slowed cognitive decline and stabilized brain volume in human trials. 00:00 - Introduction 00:22 - The Plaque Theory and Why It's Incomplete 00:32 - Meet the Microglia: Your Brain's Immune System 00:57 - Supportive vs. Threatening: The M1/M2 Switch 01:43 - Why This Underlies Nearly Every Neurodegenerative Disease 02:35 - The Frozen Patients: A Parkinson's Mystery at Stanford 03:06 - Contaminated Heroin and the MPTP Discovery 04:09 - How a Mitochondrial Toxin Destroys Dopamine Cells 05:46 - Microglia Still Attacking Decades Later 06:27 - The Self-Perpetuating Inflammatory Cycle 07:21 - The Same Pattern in CTE, Long COVID, and PTSD 08:08 - Paraquat, Pesticides, and Parkinson's Risk 10:45 - What Flips Your Cells Into Attack Mode 11:57 - Leaky Gut, the Microbiome, and Your Brain 13:59 - Imaging Threatening Cells in Living People 15:44 - Immunometabolism: Why Brain Cells Change Function 18:05 - 14 Risk Factors That Could Prevent Half of Dementia 18:41 - The Breakthrough: Reprogramming Your Microglia 21:19 - Don't Wait for Symptoms: Intervene Early 22:56 - The Toolkit: Diet, Exercise, Fasting, Sleep, and More 25:26 - 40 Hz Gamma Frequency: MIT's Pioneering Technology 26:20 - Light Flicker Studies and Beta-Amyloid Reduction 27:38 - Human Trials: Slowing Cognitive Decline 30:28 - Stabilizing Brain Volume on MRI 31:10 - Conclusion: You Are the Architect of Your BrainDr. David Perlmutter, MD is a board-certified neurologist and Fellow of the American College of Nutrition whose work sits at the intersection of neurology, nutrition, and preventive medicine. He received his M.D. from the University of Miami School of Medicine and completed his neurology residency there before entering private practice in Naples, Florida. He serves as Director of Neuroscience Research at Bryan Therapeutics and sits on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. A six-time New York Times bestselling author published in more than 30 languages, his books include the #1 bestseller Grain Brain, Brain Maker, The Grain Brain Whole Life Plan, Brain Wash, and Drop Acid. His next book, Brain Defenders: Harness the Power of Your Immune Cells to Protect Your Brain for Life (Avery / Penguin), focuses on microglia and is scheduled for publication in August 2026.___________________________Instagram: / davidperlmutterWebsite: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel:/ @davidperlmuttermd

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Thank you to our sponsors:EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter and the code perlmutter26 will be auto-applied to your order to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). 3x4 Genetics - https://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutter for a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com . ====What if the gene you've been told to fear isn't actually a verdict on your future, and the disease you're racing to treat has already been silently progressing for two to three decades before anyone notices? In this episode, Dr. Jonathan Fellows joins me to challenge how we think about Alzheimer's risk, diagnosis, and treatment, making the case that early detection and lifestyle intervention matter more than the medications most people pin their hope on. Dr. Jonathan Fellows is a neurologist with more than 25 years of clinical experience and serves as the Director of the Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorder Center at the Michigan Institute for Neurological Disorders, part of Corewell Health in Farmington Hills, Michigan, the largest private practice neurology group in the state. 00:00 - Introduction 00:39 - Brain Defenders: A New Way to Think About Brain Health 02:59 - Welcoming Dr. Jonathan Fellows 03:51 - Why Neurology School Doesn't Teach Prevention 05:27 - Inside the Michigan Institute for Neurological Disorders 07:44 - Starting the Conversation When a Family Gets the Alzheimer's Diagnosis 08:00 - Apraxia and the Real Warning Signs of Cognitive Decline 09:00 - Why Amyloid Alone Doesn't Equal an Alzheimer's Diagnosis 09:55 - The Centiloid Score: Measuring Amyloid in the Brain 11:21 - Blood-Based Biomarkers and the Rise of P-tau 217 13:19 - Elevated P-tau 217 at 40: A Wake-Up Call You Can't Ignore 13:32 - Habits in Your 30s and 40s vs. Disease in Your 60s and 70s 16:53 - 40 Hz Light Therapy and Cognitive Decline 18:53 - Why Not Every Amyloid-Positive Patient Should Get Anti-Amyloid Drugs 21:00 - Alzheimer's Drug Therapy Today vs. Where MS Treatment Stood in the 90s 23:59 - Why Early and Presymptomatic Detection Matters 25:21 - Will Anti-Amyloid Drugs Be Pushed to Presymptomatic Patients? 25:39 - What We Know for a Fact About Lifestyle and Disease Progression 26:27 - A Real Patient Case: When to Say No to Anti-Amyloid Drugs 28:30 - APOE Explained: The Gene That Changes Your Alzheimer's Risk 31:49 - 3X4 Genetics: Your DNA Isn't a Verdict 33:47 - How Exercise Can Offset APOE4 Risk 34:10 - APOE4 Is Not Deterministic — and Saying Otherwise Is Malpractice 34:51 - Down Syndrome, Presenilin, and the Truly Deterministic Cases 35:42 - ARIA Risk and Why Europe Restricts Anti-Amyloid Drugs for APOE4 Carriers 38:00 - Where Anti-Amyloid Drugs Still Fit in Treatment 39:14 - Current Clinical Trials at the Michigan Institute 39:49 - Programmable Microglia: The Brain's Immune System Explained 41:01 - Good Twin, Bad Twin: How Microglia Switch From Protector to Threat 42:09 - Beta-Amyloid as an Antimicrobial Defender? Rethinking the Enemy Narrative 42:49 - Insulin Resistance and the Brain-Metabolism Connection 43:41 - The Diabetes Epidemic Hiding in Plain Sight 43:58 - The Rainbow Lunchbox: A Preschooler Who Got It Wrong and Right 44:49 - Why a Third of Americans Are Pre-Diabetic and Don't Know It 46:30 - Closing Thoughts ___________________________Instagram: / davidperlmutter Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: / @davidperlmuttermd

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Thank you to our sponsors: EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter and the code perlmutter26 will be auto-applied to your order to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). 3x4 Genetics - https://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutter for a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com . ==== What if Parkinson's isn't the genetic lottery we've been told it is, but a largely man-made disease driven by what we breathe, eat, and walk through every day? In this episode, Dr. Ray Dorsey returns to the podcast for his third conversation, this time to make the case that Parkinson's, ALS, Alzheimer's, and the rising tide of brain diseases sweeping the modern world are not inevitable inheritances but environmental consequences we have the power to change. Dr. Ray Dorsey is the Director of the Center for the Brain and the Environment at the Atria Health and Research Institute, where the mission is to identify the root causes of brain diseases from autism to Alzheimer's so they can be prevented. He is the co-author of Ending Parkinson's Disease and author of the new New York Times bestseller The Parkinson's Plan , which lays out a new path to preventing and treating one of the world's fastest growing diseases. 00:00 - Introduction: The Smoking Gun of Modern Brain Disease 00:42 - A New Way to Think About Brain Health: Brain Defenders 03:03 - Why Parkinson's Is Pretty Much Preventable 03:21 - Welcoming Dr. Ray Dorsey 04:36 - The Big Thesis: Parkinson's Is a Man-Made Disease 05:24 - What Defines a Man-Made Disease 05:59 - From 6 Cases in 1817 to 11.8 Million Today 06:53 - The Lung Cancer Parallel 07:22 - The PD GENEration Study: 87% Have No Genetic Cause 08:35 - Why Rising Cases Prove It's Environmental 09:55 - TCE and Perc: The Dry Cleaning Chemicals Linked to Parkinson's 11:08 - Glyphosate, Paraquat, and Mitochondrial Damage 15:13 - Practical Steps to Lower Your Exposure 16:58 - Sponsor: 40 Hz Light Therapy with EVY Light 18:58 - The South Dakota Cluster: Living Next to Cornfields 20:25 - Paraquat: Banned in 70 Countries, Still Used in the US 22:54 - Chlorpyrifos and the IQ Drop in Children 25:38 - The Audacity: Why 1 in 31 Kids Have Autism 26:10 - Pesticides in Breast Milk and Across the Placenta 30:00 - Misfolded Proteins and Loss of Smell as Early Warning 32:25 - Air Pollution: The Hidden Driver of Neurodegeneration 33:46 - The $50 Billion Economic Burden of Brain Disease 35:00 - Dr. Langston's MPTP Discovery: The First Environmental Cause 37:00 - Microglia, Mitochondria, and the Inflammation Cascade 40:30 - The Diabetes-Parkinson's Connection 42:00 - The Parkinson's 25: Practical Steps in the Book 47:30 - Carl's Story: Parkinson's at Age 17 from a Golf Course 50:00 - Why Golf Courses Could Spray Less 51:30 - Secondhand Exposure: You Don't Have to Apply It 53:00 - Soccer Players, ALS, and Heading the Ball 55:50 - Michael J. Fox, CTE, and the Multiple-Hit Hypothesis 57:30 - Resources: Environmental Working Group and Non-Toxic Neighborhoods 1:00:30 - The Mission of Neurology: Asking Why 1:01:30 - The Rising Tide of Brain Disease 1:03:30 - The Lancet Report on Modifiable Risk Factors 1:04:43 - Closing Thoughts ___________________________ Instagram: / davidperlmutter Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: / @davidperlmuttermd

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Thank you to our sponsors: EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter and the code perlmutter26 will be auto-applied to your order to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). 3x4 Genetics - https://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutter for a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com . ==== What if the future of medicine isn't a smarter doctor, but a thinking partner that can hold your entire biology in mind at once? In this episode, Dr. Don Brown joins me to make the case that AI in medicine isn't a replacement for the clinician. It's an ally capable of seeing patterns no human brain could hold together on its own. Dr. Don Brown is a physician, computer scientist, and serial entrepreneur whose last software company sold for $1.4 billion in 2016. He returned to graduate school in his mid-50s to study biotechnology at Johns Hopkins, founded Lifeomic in 2017, and now leads Bioscope, a platform that uses AI to integrate a patient's entire biological picture into one dynamic view of health. We dig into why fragmented medicine fails at prevention, how Bioscope ingests the whole genome, microbiome, epigenome, and medical records into a single synoptic view, the real case where AI flagged arsenic toxicity in a patient misdiagnosed with restless leg syndrome, and what it looks like when AI personas begin guiding patients through their own protocols in real time. 00:00 - Introduction 00:53 - A New Way to Think About Brain Health: Brain Defenders 03:18 - Welcoming Dr. Don Brown 06:46 - From Physics to MD to Software Entrepreneur 09:01 - Back to Grad School at Johns Hopkins 10:35 - The Lifeomic Years: Cancer Care in the Cloud 12:34 - The Spark Behind Bioscope 15:27 - Building the Ultra-Secure Health Data Repository 16:26 - 40 Hz Light Therapy and Cognitive Decline 18:26 - The Epigenome: Why Your Genes Aren't Your Destiny 19:32 - Decoding the Microbiome and Mitochondrial Genetics 22:25 - What AI Actually Does With Your Health Data 23:39 - The Synoptic View: Borrowing From Aviation 26:36 - The 15 Dimensions of Health 29:23 - Why the Patient History Still Matters 30:23 - Inside the Bioscope Interface 31:38 - A Real Case: AI Catches Arsenic Toxicity 33:13 - Personalized Brain Health: 3X4 Genetics 35:10 - The Driverless Car Moment for Medicine 37:07 - Marketing to Concierge Physicians 40:33 - How Patient Data Gets Into the System 42:30 - Image Analysis and Specialized AI Partners 45:33 - The Biggest Misconception Patients Have About AI 47:14 - Meet Lumina: The Physician's AI Persona 48:00 - Cairo and the Future of AI Health Coaching 50:13 - Different AI Personas for Patients and Physicians 51:39 - Why Concierge Doctors Are Mobbing the Booth 55:00 - Closing Thoughts ___________________________ Instagram: / davidperlmutter Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: / @davidperlmuttermd

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱Thank you to our sponsors:EVY - Go to https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). 3x4 Genetics - https://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutterfor a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations.====Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com.====What if your anxiety, brain fog, and burnout aren't mental health problems, but metabolic ones?In this episode, Dr. Robin Berzin joins Dr. David Perlmutter to make the case that the brain and body are not separate systems, and that treating them as if they are is costing millions of people their health.====00:00 - Introduction00:46 - Brain Defenders: A New Framework for Brain Health03:00 - Welcoming Dr. Robin Berzin05:23 - Why Smart, Motivated People Still Feel Terrible08:37 - From Columbia Med to Founding Parsley Health12:15 - The Problem With 15-Minute Appointments and Stacks of Prescriptions14:37 - What Is Functional Medicine, Actually?17:07 - Precision Medicine: Treating the N of One19:45 - How AI Is Changing the Doctor's Ability to Connect the Dots22:41 - State Change: Shifting Your Mind Through Your Body25:35 - Why Anxiety and Depression Start in the Body27:09 - 40 Hz Light Therapy and Cognitive Decline29:43 - Exercise, Sugar, and Nutrient Deficiencies as Mental Health Levers32:30 - SSRIs as a Tow Truck, Not a Destination34:16 - Psychedelics and Trauma: Tools in the Toolkit36:01 - Metabolic Flexibility and Why Losing It Wrecks Your Hormones38:04 - Sleep, Wearables, and the One Night That Breaks Your Metabolism40:37 - Continuous Glucose Monitors as a Mirror for Your Choices42:19 - 3X4 Genetics: Your DNA Is a Roadmap, Not a Verdict44:37 - Alzheimer's as Type 3 Diabetes: The Metabolic Brain Connection46:21 - The Lab Work Your Doctor Isn't Ordering49:22 - Fasting Insulin, Heavy Metals, and the Tests That Actually Matter51:14 - What's Next: AI, Wearables, and the Future of Functional Medicine53:56 - If You Feel Stuck: Own Your Biological Data55:34 - Closing Thoughts====Dr. Robin Berzin, MD is a functional medicine physician and health tech entrepreneur leading the push to bring root-cause, precision medicine into mainstream healthcare. She earned her MD at Columbia, completed internal medicine residency at Mount Sinai, and trained in functional medicine under the field's top practitioners. Before medicine, she produced the Oprah and Friends Dr. Oz Radio Show, and she later worked in health tech during med school, sharpening her understanding of how digital platforms could expand access to personalized care.Today, she is founder and CEO of Parsley Health, the only national functional and longevity medicine clinic in the U.S., delivering virtual care across all 50 states plus physical clinics in NYC and LA. Under her leadership, Parsley has grown to nearly 30 clinicians and 40 health coaches and nurses, treated over 50,000 patients, and built a team-based, insurance-accessible model that puts functional medicine within reach beyond the wealthy. She also sits on the medical advisory board of Whoop.She is the author of State Change, which challenges the divide between mental and metabolic health and offers a practical framework for transforming mood, energy, and cognition through the body. Her work is widely featured across major health and wellness media, and she is recognized as a defining voice in the future of preventive, personalized medicine.====Instagram: / davidperlmutterWebsite: https://www.drperlmutter.com/Subscribe to our channel:/ @davidperlmuttermd

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 ==== Thank you to our sponsors: EVY - Go to https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). 3x4 Genetics - https://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutter for a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com.==== What if AI isn't on a path to become a better human — but a fundamentally different kind of mind altogether? In this episode, Tom Griffiths joins me to challenge how we think about intelligence itself — and to make a compelling case that AI systems are best understood not as smarter or dumber than humans, but as "alien organisms" solving problems in ways our brains never could. Tom Griffiths is a cognitive scientist, the Henry R. Luce Professor of Psychology and Computer Science at Princeton University, and head of Princeton's AI Lab. He is the co-author of the international bestseller Algorithms to Live By and author of the new book The Laws of Thought — an ambitious survey of three centuries of attempts to capture human thinking in mathematics. We dig into the three mathematical frameworks scientists use to model thought, why a human toddler can learn language from a fraction of the data a large language model requires, what "resource rationality" reveals about mental health and decision-making, and what we stand to lose — and gain — as we increasingly outsource our thinking to machines. ==== 00:00 - Introduction 00:46 - A New Way to Think About Brain Health: Brain Defenders 05:27 - Welcoming Cognitive Scientist Tom Griffiths 06:04 - The Great Mystery: Can Math Explain How We Think? 08:23 - Three Threads of Cognitive Science: Rules, Networks, Probability 10:17 - Why AI Needs 10,000x More Data Than a Child 12:27 - Intuition Decoded: How Neural Networks Mirror Implicit Learning 15:03 - The Creativity Gap: Why AI Can't Think Outside the Box 18:06 - 40 Hz Light Therapy and Cognitive Decline 20:07 - Inductive Bias: The Evolutionary Head Start of the Human Brain 22:41 - Mental Health Through Three Levels of Analysis 25:25 - Resource Rationality: Why Humans Aren't Actually Irrational 29:33 - Free Will Through the Lens of the Laws of Thought 31:35 - Rethinking Education With Cognitive Science 34:33 - Evolutionary Mismatch: The Mind Meets Modern Technology 37:23 - AI as Alien Intelligence: A New Mental Model 38:04 - Personalized Brain Health: 3X4 Genetics 39:55 - Uncertainty: The Hidden Engine of Human Cognition 43:34 - Bayesian Inference: The Math of "Best Guessing" 44:37 - The Biggest Misconceptions About Intelligence 47:14 - Algorithms to Live By: Optimizing Daily Decisions 49:22 - Five Years From Now: The AI Forecast 51:33 - The Calculator Effect: What Happens When We Outsource Thinking 53:56 - Metacognition: Becoming the Manager of AI 55:34 - Closing Thoughts ==== Instagram: / davidperlmutter Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: / @davidperlmuttermd

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Thank you to our sponsors: EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter and the code perlmutter26 will be auto-applied to your order to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). 3x4 Genetics - https://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutter for a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com. ==== Why is psychiatry the only medical specialty that doesn't look at the organ it treats? In this episode, Dr. Daniel Amen joins me to challenge how mental health is diagnosed and treated — and to make a compelling case that "depression" is as vague a diagnosis as "chest pain." Dr. Amen is a double-board-certified psychiatrist, 18-time New York Times bestselling author, and founder of Amen Clinics, where his team has performed nearly 300,000 SPECT brain scans — the largest functional brain imaging database in the world. We dig into what these scans actually reveal: hidden traumatic brain injuries patients never reported, the inflammatory aftermath of COVID, why SSRIs work for some and fail for others, and why the brain you have today is not the brain you're stuck with. ==== 00:00 - Introduction 01:42 - Psychiatry's Missing Link: The Organ of Treatment 03:22 - The Divergence of Neurology and Psychiatry 05:18 - Beyond Symptoms: Patterns of Brain Health 08:34 - Machine Learning and Autism Insights 10:45 - The Role of the Cerebellum in Thought Coordination 12:46 - The Impact of Undiagnosed Traumatic Brain Injury 14:58 - Reversing Damage: NFL Brain Study Results 16:26 - What SPECT Imaging Reveals About Metabolic Activity 17:38 - COVID-19 and Infectious Causes of Psychiatric Issues 22:11 - Neuroplasticity: Growing a Healthier Brain at Any Age 25:54 - New Technologies: 40 Hz Light and Sound Stimulation 28:27 - Metabolic Health: How Weight Affects Brain Volume 30:25 - Chronic Stress and the Overactive Limbic Brain 31:38 - Predicting Suicide Risk Through Imaging 33:41 - Volunteering and the Default Mode Network 35:01 - Concerns Over Psilocybin and Marijuana Scans 40:12 - Chronic Pain: Breaking the "Doom Loop" 43:12 - Lightning Round: Daily Habits for a Better Brain ==== Daniel G. Amen, MD is a double board-certified psychiatrist, clinical neuroscientist, and brain imaging specialist whose pioneering clinical use of SPECT (single-photon emission computed tomography) has built the world's largest functional brain imaging database, with nearly 300,000 scans on patients from 155 countries. A graduate of Southern California College (now Vanguard University), Dr. Amen earned his medical degree from Oral Roberts University School of Medicine. His training includes a general psychiatric residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and a child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu. Currently, Dr. Amen serves as founder and CEO of Amen Clinics, with eleven locations across the United States, and is the founder of BrainMD and Amen University. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a multiple-time New York Times bestselling author whose books have been translated into 50 languages, and the lead researcher on the world's largest brain imaging and rehabilitation study on professional football players. His work has been published in Molecular Psychiatry, Translational Psychiatry, PLOS One, and the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. ___________________________ Instagram: / davidperlmutter Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: / @davidperlmuttermd

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Thank you to our sponsors: EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter and the code perlmutter26 will be auto-applied to your order to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). 3x4 Genetics - https://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutter for a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com. ==== Loneliness is no longer a private struggle, it’s a public-health issue that we’ve discussed quite a bit in my recent books. Research increasingly links social isolation to cognitive decline, depression, cardiovascular disease, and shortened lifespan. Yet despite these findings, we rarely explore how to build and sustain meaningful connection in a modern world designed for distraction. That’s why I invited Barnet Bain to join me on The Empowering Neurologist podcast. Barnet is a filmmaker, author, and educator whose work bridges psychology, spirituality, and lived human experience. You may recognize his work from films such as What Dreams May Come or Milton’s Secret, but his newest contribution may be his most relevant yet. His book, How to Be a Friend (In an Unfriendly World), is not about social performance or personality traits. It’s about safety, presence, listening, and emotional responsibility, qualities that directly influence nervous-system regulation and mental health. What makes this work especially important is that it reframes friendship as a skill set rather than a personality trait. Bain shows how fear, shame, unresolved trauma, and cultural conditioning quietly erode our relationships, and how conscious awareness can restore them. From a neurological perspective, this matters deeply. The brain is a social organ. Connection shapes stress responses, inflammation, cognition, and emotional regulation. Friendship isn’t a luxury, it’s foundational. This conversation isn’t about having more friends. It’s about being a better one. To others. And to yourself. In a world that feels increasingly fast, cold, and fragmented, this is a conversation worth having. ==== 00:00 Intro 02:58 Why Friendship Matters for Health and Resilience 06:24 From Columbia to the Practice of Presence 10:41 Friendship as Non-Transactional Love 14:20 The Childhood Stories That Shape the Self 21:39 Ad: Optoceutics 23:39 Projection, Parenting, and Conditional Love 30:08 Friendship as a Crucible for Self-Awareness 35:42 Why Connection Feels Harder in Modern Life 39:03 Safety, Self-Knowledge, and the Ground of Friendship 41:34 Ad: 3X4 Genetics 44:34 Boundaries, Values, and the Meaning of Honor 49:16 Friendship, Self-Forgiveness, and Inner Change 56:25 Presence as the Greatest Gift 58:34 Why Feeling Is Harder Than Doing ==== Barnet Bain is a Canadian filmmaker, author, and educator. His film credits include “Milton’s Secret” (director, writer), Oscar winner “What Dreams May Come” (producer), Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding TV Movie “Homeless to Harvard” (executive producer), “The Celestine Prophecy” (writer, producer), and “Jesus,” translated into more than 2,245 languages and often cited as the most widely seen film in history by The New York Times. ___________________________ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidperlmutter/ Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDRl_UAXxbHyOOjklnA0dxQ/?sub_confirmation=1

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Thank you to our sponsors: EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter and the code perlmutter26 will be auto-applied to your order to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). 3x4 Genetics - https://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutter for a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com. ==== On this episode of The Empowering Neurologist, I spend time with Dr. Trisha Pasricha, gastroenterologist and author of the provocative and important new book, You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong. Yes, the title makes you smile, but the science inside should make all of us pay attention. Dr. Pasricha is part of a new generation of neurogastroenterologists exploring one of the most fascinating frontiers in medicine: the deep, bidirectional communication between the brain and the gut. Raised as the daughter of renowned gastroenterologist Dr. Pankaj “Jay” Pasricha and trained at Johns Hopkins, she brings both personal insight and rigorous science to a topic that too often lives in the shadows. What makes this book so important is that it dismantles myths we’ve carried since childhood. For example, at one point in the book she describes how students taking an oral exam nearly doubled their intestinal permeability, simply from psychological stress. That single experiment powerfully illustrates how the brain can alter gut biology in real time. And in another unforgettable section, she shares her early research showing that when subjects lied, their stomach’s electrical rhythm shifted into chaos, an arrhythmic pattern detectable on electrogastrogram. The stomach as a lie detector! That’s not just fascinating, it underscores how emotionally and neurologically integrated our digestive system truly is. ==== 00:00 Intro 03:05 Why We Need to Talk About Pooping 07:17 The Stigma Around Bowel Symptoms 09:31 Why Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer Is Rising 12:11 Should Screening Start Earlier? 14:59 Colonoscopy vs. Stool and Blood Tests 18:34 Ad: Optoceutics 20:35 Why Colonoscopy Still Matters Most 31:00 What “Leaky Gut” Really Means 34:42 What Worsens Intestinal Permeability 36:10 Ad: 3X4 Genetics 38:09 Gut Permeability, Inflammation, and Brain Disease 48:45 Could Fecal Transplants Help Parkinson’s? 56:52 The Different Causes of Constipation 1:02:23 The Myth of One Bowel Movement a Day 1:05:42 Final Takeaways on Gut and Brain Health ===== Trisha Pasricha, MD, MPH is an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the “Ask A Doctor” columnist for The Washington Post where she translates complex medical topics into must-read insights—with a touch of humor—for millions each week. A graduate of Harvard College, Dr. Pasricha earned her medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and a Master of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her training includes an internal medicine residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and gastroenterology and motility fellowships at Massachusetts General Hospital. Currently, Dr. Pasricha serves as director of the Institute for Gut-Brain Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, leading an NIH-funded research laboratory at the forefront of gut-brain science. Her work has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA Network Open, and Nature Reviews. ___________________________ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidperlmutter/ Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDRl_UAXxbHyOOjklnA0dxQ/?sub_confirmation=1

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Thank you to our sponsors: EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter and the code perlmutter26 will be auto-applied to your order to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). 3x4 Genetics - https://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutter for a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com. ==== 00:00 Intro 01:06 The Promise of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy 05:16 Why Psychedelics Faced Decades of Pushback 09:40 Psychedelic Therapy Requires Guidance 11:27 The Failure of the “Pill Fixes Everything” Model 15:31 Risks of Unregulated Psychedelic Retreats 24:20 Psychedelics Within Integrative Medicine 25:30 Ad: Optoceutics 27:31 What “Integration” Really Means 30:08 Why Psychiatry Still Resists Psychedelics 38:52 Why Lifestyle Still Matters After Therapy 41:45 Psychedelics and Addiction Treatment 50:50 Microdosing vs Full Therapeutic Doses 53:52 Ad: 3X4 Genetics 57:28 The Rise of Ketamine Clinics 1:00:54 Ibogaine: Risks, Duration, and Safety 1:04:50 Final Thoughts on Psychedelic Responsibility ==== Will Van Derveer, MD is a psychiatrist and author of Psychedelic Therapy: Restore Your Mental Health and Reclaim Your Life which will be published by ShambhalaPublications in the Spring of 2026. He is co-founder of Integrative Psychiatry Institute, which has provided comprehensive training for 2500 mental health professionals in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy several thousand professionals in other continuing education programs. He is medical director of Integrative Psychiatry Center of Boulder, CO, providingintegrative psychiatry for a broad range of conditions and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression and PTSD. In addition to his clinical practice and teaching, he has staffed clinical trials sponsoredby MAPS, investigating MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD. Dr. Van Derveer is co-host of the Higher Practice Podcast, where he explores what it takes to achieve optimal mental health. ___________________________ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidperlmutter/ Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDRl_UAXxbHyOOjklnA0dxQ/?sub_confirmation=1

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Thank you to our sponsors: EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter and the code perlmutter26 will be auto-applied to your order to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). Fresh Pressed Olive Oil - https://www.getfresh389.com For a complimentary bottle of one of the greatest olive oils I've ever discovered. 3x4 Genetics - http://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutter for a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com. ==== 00:00 Intro 04:49 Andrew Koutnik’s Story Obesity Type 1 Diabetes and Metabolism 09:44 Ketogenic Diets and Type 1 Diabetes 20:15 Sponsor Break - Optoceutics 21:28 Why This Goes Far Beyond Type 1 Diabetes 26:59 Why Low Carb Diabetes Care Was Abandoned 31:49 Ketosis vs Diabetic Ketoacidosis 35:10 Sponsor Break - Fresh Pressed Olive Oil 37:04 How to Measure Ketone Levels 39:13 Are Breath Ketone Tests Reliable 40:15 What Beta Hydroxybutyrate Actually Does 42:39 Exogenous Ketones and High Altitude Performance 45:49 Sponsor Break - 3X4 Genetics 48:33 MCT Oil and Ketone Production 52:52 The Carb Loading Myth in Sports Performance 1:00:06 Metabolic Flexibility and Keto Adaptation 1:03:17 Rethinking Hypoglycemia in Keto Adapted Athletes 1:07:19 How Carbohydrates Shut Down Fat Burning 1:09:58 Body Fat vs Glycogen as Fuel 1:14:34 What This Means for Endurance Athletes 1:16:17 Fat Metabolism as a Survival Mechanism 1:18:09 The New USDA Dietary Guidelines 1:20:46 Ultra Processed Food and Alzheimer’s Risk 1:22:40 Final Thoughts on Metabolic Flexibility ==== Dr. Andrew Koutnik is a research scientist focused on how nutrition, metabolism, and lifestyle can optimize human health, performance, and resilience. Living with type 1 diabetes for over 17 years, his work bridges personal experience with cutting-edge science across chronic disease and extreme environments. He earned his PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of South Florida and has led research funded by organizations including NASA, the Department of Defense, and the NIH, contributing to over 100 scientific publications and presentations. His work spans exercise physiology, cardiometabolic health, and therapeutic nutrition. At Florida State University, Dr. Koutnik studies dietary strategies for diabetes, obesity, and performance under metabolic stress, collaborating with leading institutions worldwide. His mission is to advance evidence-based approaches that empower individuals to improve metabolic health and performance. ___________________________ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidperlmutter/ Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDRl_UAXxbHyOOjklnA0dxQ/?sub_confirmation=1

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Thank you to our sponsors: EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter and the code perlmutter26 will be auto-applied to your order to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). Fresh Pressed Olive Oil - https://www.getfresh389.com For a complimentary bottle of one of the greatest olive oils I've ever discovered. 3x4 Genetics - http://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutter for a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com. ==== If you’ve followed my work for any length of time, you know that one of the central themes we return to on The Empowering Neurologist is this: your brain is far more adaptable, resilient, and improvable than conventional wisdom ever allowed us to believe. This week, I’m thrilled to share a conversation with someone who has spent more than three decades proving exactly that. Dr. Majid Fotuhi, neurologist, neuroscientist, Harvard- and Johns Hopkins-trained physician, and now author of the new book The Invincible Brain, has dedicated his career to helping people reclaim their cognitive potential. His message aligns powerfully with the philosophy behind my upcoming book, Brain Defenders: that the trajectory of your brain is not predetermined, and that meaningful change is possible at any age. In our interview, we explore the groundbreaking ideas that shaped The Invincible Brain. Dr. Fotuhi lays out why intelligence is not fixed, how memory can be strengthened through surprisingly simple practices, and why Alzheimer’s disease is not the single, linear condition we once imagined, but rather a complex “soup” of abnormalities with multiple entry points for intervention. ==== 00:00 Intro 01:44 Choices influencing brain trajectory and resilience 04:25 Redefining intelligence beyond IQ 08:20 Synergy of memory and habit change 13:09 Challenging genetic determinism with epigenetics 18:00 Ad Break: Optoceutics 20:23 Alzheimer's as a metabolic and inflammatory soup 29:45 Ad Break: Fresh Pressed Olive Oil 38:04 Exercise and metabolism in brain health 43:45 Ad Break: 3x4 Genetics 49:38 Brain training and five pillars of brain health 54:55 Mindset as key to becoming a superager ==== Dr. Majid Fotuhi earned his PhD in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University in 1992 and his Medical Degree from Harvard Medical School in 1997. Currently, he serves as an adjunct professor at the Mind/Brain Institute at Johns Hopkins University, while also teaching at George Washington University and Harvard Medical School. With 37 years of experience in teaching, clinical practice, and neuroscience research, Dr. Fotuhi has pioneered a multidisciplinary approach to enhancing brain vitality and cognitive performance at any age. His groundbreaking “Brain Fitness Program” combines a comprehensive baseline “Brain Portfolio” assessment with 12 bi-weekly brain training sessions. This program targets lifestyle optimization and cognitive stimulation to improve memory, focus, and overall brain health. Dr. Fotuhi’s program has delivered measurable success for patients dealing with memory loss due to aging, concussions, and ADHD, as documented in several peer-reviewed journals. ___________________________ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidperlmutter/ Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDRl_UAXxbHyOOjklnA0dxQ/?sub_confirmation=1

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Thank you to our sponsors: EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter and the code perlmutter26 will be auto-applied to your order to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). Fresh Pressed Olive Oil - https://www.getfresh389.com For a complimentary bottle of one of the greatest olive oils I've ever discovered. 3x4 Genetics - http://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutter for a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com. ==== On this episode of The Empowering Neurologist, I’m joined by Dr. Sarah Marzi, a neuroscientist at King’s College London and a principal investigator at the UK Dementia Research Institute, whose work is transforming how we understand neurodegenerative disease risk. Dr. Marzi’s research focuses on gene regulation in the human brain, particularly within microglia, the immune cells that orchestrate inflammation, synaptic pruning, and repair. Her studies show that genetic risk for diseases like Alzheimer’s is concentrated not in protein-coding genes, but in regulatory regions of the genome, epigenetic switches that control immune behavior in the brain. This conversation with Dr. Marzi is not just about disease. It’s about agency. Understanding epigenetics helps explain how lifestyle, environment, and immune balance can influence brain destiny. It’s science that empowers prevention, resilience, and hope. ==== 00:00 Intro 03:12 Epigenetics and Neurodegenerative Disease 04:49 Why Alzheimer’s Is Not a Single Gene Disorder 09:18 Protein Aggregation and Brain Cleanup Failure 10:55 Microglia vs Neurons in Alzheimer’s 19:04 Blood Brain Barrier and Inflammatory Signaling 20:39 ApoE Genetics Explained 23:37 Human Microglia Transplanted Into Mouse Brain 30:02 Vitamin D Receptor and Protective Gene Programs 38:18 Environmental Toxins and Parkinson’s 44:59 C1q Activation and Synapse Loss 49:33 Why Substantia Nigra Is Uniquely Vulnerable 51:39 Paraquat, Mitochondria and Converging Toxic Pathways 53:00 Epigenetic Memory of Toxic Exposure 54:09 Histones and Gene Regulation in Alzheimer’s 57:41 Oligodendrocytes as a Hidden Player 59:32 Why Single Target Drugs May Fail 01:02:10 Detecting Disease Through Blood and Machine Learning 01:04:41 Can Lifestyle Modify Epigenetics ==== Dr Sarah Marzi is a Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience at King’s College London and a Group Leader at the UK Dementia Research Institute. Her work focuses on how our genes and environment change cellular processes in the brain and can predispose us to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and motor neuron disease. An expert in epigenetics – the chemical switches that turn genes on and off – Dr Marzi uses cuttingedge genomic techniques on human brain tissue as well as cell and animal models. Her team combines these experiments with advanced statistics, bioinformatics and AI to map the earliest molecular changes that make brain cells vulnerable to disease, particularly in immune cells of the brain called microglia. This work aims to reveal how both genetic variants and environmental exposures, including pesticides, contribute to disease risk and to uncover new avenues for therapy. ___________________________ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidperlmutter/ Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDRl_UAXxbHyOOjklnA0dxQ/?sub_confirmation=1

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Thank you to our sponsors: EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter and the code perlmutter26 will be auto-applied to your order to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). Fresh Pressed Olive Oil - https://www.getfresh389.com For a complimentary bottle of one of the greatest olive oils I've ever discovered. 3x4 Genetics - http://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutter for a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com. ==== On this episode of The Empowering Neurologist, I sit down with one of the most influential voices in modern nutrition and women’s health, Rachel Swanson, MS, RD, LDN. Her new book, Trying! A Science-Based Plan to Optimize Your Fertility, is poised to reshape how we think about fertility, moving it out of the narrow confines of hormone-focused conversations and into the broader landscape of systems biology, metabolism, environmental exposure, and cellular health. Swanson’s work begins with a powerful premise: fertility is not a mystery, and it’s certainly not something women should feel powerless about. Instead, she argues, fertility is a measurable, improvable expression of whole-body health. And her book provides the first integrated blueprint to understand and support that health. The conversation starts with the microbiome, which Swanson calls the “mission control headquarters” of fertility. Who knew that our gut bacteria were playing an important role in determining fertility? Drawing from her book, she describes how the gut, vaginal, and even oral microbiomes create the biochemical environment that influences hormone balance, inflammation, implantation, egg quality, and partner sperm health. What makes this book, and this podcast episode, so compelling and empowering is Rachel’s rare combination of scientific precision and heartfelt dedication to women’s autonomy. She refuses to oversimplify fertility into quick fixes or fad-driven advice. Instead, she offers deeply practical strategies rooted in peer-reviewed research and years of high-level clinical practice. ==== 00:00 Intro - Rachel Swanson04:38 Fertility as Whole-Body Health11:37 Metabolic Health Comes Too Late18:48 Ad - EVY21:17 The Microbiome as a Foundation of Health27:28 PCOS Is a Metabolic Disease, Not Just Hormonal35:15 Ad - Fresh Pressed Olive Oil37:07 Menstrual Products and the Vaginal Microbiome40:41 Inflammation and Metabolism Drive Fertility49:06 Ad - 3x4 Genetics50:26 Personalized Fertility Over One-Size-Fits-All56:16 Closing Thoughts ==== Rachel Swanson, MS, RD, LDN, is a registered dietitian and one of America’s most sought-after nutritionists, known for optimizing human performance through science-backed, personalized care. Her clients include celebrities, professional athletes, and Fortune 500 executives who trust her expertise in concierge medicine and private practice. Rachel is a highly principled, intellectually rigorous, and passionately empowering expert, whose communication and sentiment are consistently driven by a profound conviction in her book's unique, holistic framework as the transformative solution to outdated and fragmented fertility advice, reflecting a deep commitment to women's health and autonomy. ___________________________ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidperlmutter/ Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDRl_UAXxbHyOOjklnA0dxQ/?sub_confirmation=1

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Thank you to our sponsors: EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com/perlmutter and the code perlmutter26 will be auto-applied to your order to get $200 off & free shipping (90 days risk-free). Fresh Pressed Olive Oil - https://www.getfresh389.com For a complimentary bottle of one of the greatest olive oils I've ever discovered. 3x4 Genetics - http://3x4genetics.com/DrPerlmutter for a special offer when you sign up to decode your genetics and get personalized, science-backed health recommendations. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com. ==== Gene therapy is no longer a distant promise, it is rapidly becoming one of the most disruptive technologies in medicine. And few figures embody the urgency, controversy, and pioneering spirit of this field more than Elizabeth Parrish, CEO of BioViva and widely recognized as the world's first self- engineered "GMO human." In this episode of The Empowering Neurologist, we dive deep into her bold vision to treat aging not as an inevitable decline, but as a disease that can be targeted, modified, and potentially reversed. Again, treating aging as a disease. Her journey into genetics began with a simple but profound realization: the diseases that kill most of us, including Alzheimer's, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and overall frailty, are rooted in the biology of aging itself. Instead of waiting for late-stage decline, she argues that medicine should intervene upstream, correcting the genomic and cellular faults that accumulate over time. This perspective led her to take an extraordinary step: undergoing experimental gene therapy on herself in 2015, outside traditional regulatory frameworks. ==== 0:00 Intro 3:16 Treating Aging as a Disease 12:16 Launching a Radical Biotech Company 15:49 Why Telomere Length Mattered Most 18:51 Fear at the Edge of Experimentation 24:19 Ad: Optoceutics 26:08 Alpha-Klotho, The Longevity Gene 30:02 Why Alzheimer’s Still Has No Cure 32:21 Mitochondria at the Center of Brain Health 36:04 Ad: Fresh Pressed Olive Oil Club 39:04 Keeping PGC-1 Alpha Switched On 42:43 Tracking Telomere Length Year After Year 47:11 Ad: 3x4 Genetics 48:37 Myokines and Whole-Body Health 51:48 Glutathione Deficiency and Neurodegeneration 1:00:20 Closing Thoughts ==== Elizabeth (Liz) Parrish, MBA, is the Founder and CEO of BioViva Sciences USA Inc., a pioneering biotechnology company committed to extending healthy human lifespan through advanced gene therapies. Under her leadership, BioViva is developing next-generation combinatorial gene treatments powered by its proprietary CMV delivery platform, positioning the company at the forefront of therapeutic innovation. An accomplished entrepreneur, author, and visionary thinker, Liz is one of the leading global voices behind the Best Choice Medicine (BCM) initiative—a regulatory framework aimed at accelerating access to genetic therapies worldwide. She is deeply involved in international scientific education and has delivered keynote talks at major conferences and institutions, including WIRED, TEDx, and numerous other high-profile venues. https://www.instagram.com/lizlparrish/?hl=en https://bioviva-science.com/ ___________________________ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidperlmutter/ Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDRl_UAXxbHyOOjklnA0dxQ/?sub_confirmation=1

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Thank you to our sponsors: EVY - https://www.optoceutics.com Use code perlmutter26 to save $200 & get free shipping on EVY (90 days risk-free). Fresh Pressed Olive Oil - https://www.getfresh389.com For a complimentary bottle of one of the greatest olive oils I've ever discovered. ==== Dr. Perlmutter’s groundbreaking new book, Brain Defenders, is now available for pre-order. Discover how to protect your brain and future health - reserve your copy today at https://www.braindefenders.com. ==== In this week’s episode of The Empowering Neurologist, I sit down with registered dietitian, personalized-nutrition pioneer, and longtime friend, Ashley Koff, RD, to explore what may be one of the most misunderstood areas in all of health: weight, metabolism, and the pursuit of sustainable well-being. As the founder of The Better Nutrition Program, Nutrition Course Director at UC Irvine’s Integrative Health Institute, and faculty member at IFNA, Ashley brings a depth of clinical and practical insight that few can match. Her new book, Your Best Shot, tackles one of the most talked-about questions of our time: Is the GLP-1 shot your best shot—or not? But this is far from a book about medications. Instead, Ashley reframes the entire conversation around personalization, body-ecosystem thinking, and the liberating shift from perfectionism to her signature philosophy: better, not perfect. In our conversation, Ashley explains why most people aren’t struggling with a lack of knowledge, but rather an overwhelming flood of it, something she calls “INFObesity.” She discusses the Switch Framework she developed to help individuals identify the key metabolic levers that matter most for them, and she shares compelling patient stories that demonstrate how real transformation happens when we align nutrition and lifestyle choices with our unique biology. What emerges is a far more hopeful, empowering narrative about weight-health, one that acknowledges the complexity of modern life while giving us practical tools to navigate it. If you’ve ever felt frustrated or confused by the conflicting messages around diet, GLP-1 medications, metabolism, or weight-loss strategies, this episode is an essential listen. It offers clarity, compassion, and a science-based path toward truly optimal health. ==== 0:00 Intro 3:39 Misinformation in the world of weight loss 8:28 Calories in vs calories out 12:52 The importance of satiety related hormones 18:10 The experiment of GLP-1 24:49 Ad: Optoceutics 26:37 GLP-1 agonist drugs and the brain 37:16 Ad: Fresh Pressed Olive Oil Club 40:27 GLP-1 and mental health 50:02 Disconnect between food policy and obesity solutions 55:09 Conclusion ==== Ashley Koff, RD is the founder of The Better Nutrition Program (BNP), the Nutrition Course Director for UC Irvine’s Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute's Integrative and Functional Medicine Fellowship, and a faculty member at the Integrative and Functional Nutrition Academy (IFNA), where she teaches “An Integrative and Functional Nutrition Approach to Obesity and Weight Management.” She is also the author of the upcoming book, Your Best Shot (Harper One, January 6, 2026). A practitioner for over 25 years, Koff is leading a transformative movement in personalized nutrition, turning “better, not perfect” choices into practical, sustainable strategies that deliver real health outcomes. Through patient stories and personal experience, she shows that optimal health is not just possible—it’s essential to living your fullest life. Koff has been recognized as one of CNN’s Top 100 Health Makers, featured in InStyle as “Hollywood’s Leading Dietitian,” and has been selected as Westin’s Global Nutrition Ambassador.

🧠 Stay ahead with the latest in science, nutrition, and wellness by subscribing to Dr. Perlmutter’s newsletter at: www.drperlmutter.com. ✉️🌱 Today on The Empowering Neurologist podcast we are going to explore PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder, a pervasive issue that can be profoundly debilitating. PTSD is experienced by about 6% of the US population at some point in their lifetime and at any given time approximately 5% of American adults are living with this disorder. Certainly, we see high risk and veterans with PTSD affecting about 11 to 20% of veterans who served in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Vietnam veterans experience a lifetime prevalence somewhere in the neighborhood of 30%. PTSD symptoms usually begin within three months of a traumatic event, but can actually surface many years later making the diagnosis and the relationship to a traumatic event challenging. In about 1/3 of cases, PTSD becomes chronic and can last for years or even decades. We know that there are significant comorbidities associated with PTSD, including other mental health conditions like depression or anxiety disorder, substance use disorders, and even cognitive decline. While cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT, and pharmaceutical intervention are the “go to” treatments for this problem, hyperbaric oxygen therapy presents us with a new and emerging therapy now receiving global recognition. We will review research on this podcast demonstrating the profound effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen in treating PTSD, research that makes it clear that this is one of the most powerful interventions ever developed for treating this challenging disorder. We will visit the Aviv Clinic in Central Florida, and spend time with Dr. Mohammad Elamir. ==== 0:00 Intro 4:55 Why Hyperbaric Works for PTSD Patients 8:44 Evaluating patients with PTSD 12:30 How the Protocol Was Chosen & Implemented 16:40 Potential Side Effects 18:00 Youngest People Treated with This 19:32 Combining Therapy Modalities for PTSD 20:14 Other Conditions that Can Be Helped By This 22:04 Amazing Results From These Studies 24:06 Using this with Our Military 26:00 Getting to the Root Problems 26:48 Treating Traumatic Brain Injuries 28:54 Why This Isn’t More Widely Being Offered 29:49 The Right Formula for This 32:55 Get Involved Today ==== Dr. Mohammed Elamir, or “Dr. Mo”to his patients, has been part of the Aviv Clinics team in The Villages since the clinic opened in 2020. As lead physician, he oversees the medical treatment for all clients in the Aviv Medical Program, collaborating with other members of Aviv’s clinical team to provide truly comprehensive care. As a presenter, his seminars often sell out, thanks in part to his ability to translate complex scientific concepts and data into easily-relatable language. Prior to joining Aviv Clinics, Dr. Elamir practiced internal medicine at the MM Jersey Breathing Center while also owning a medical spa in New Jersey. He completed his internal medicine internship and residency at RWJ-Barnabas: Jersey City Medical Center where he was chief resident and a member of the ethics committee. Dr. Mo has a passion for helping others who are pursuing a career in medicine and continues to mentor pre-med and medical school students. Dr. Elamir became involved with Aviv Clinics after his late father suffered a stroke, which sparked Dr. Mo’s interest in novel approaches to healing the brain. He is the father of two children, including a son with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Dr. Elamir considers it his life’s mission to help progress his son’s development and better understand the causes and treatment of ASD. ___________________________ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidperlmutter/ Website: https://www.drperlmutter.com/ Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDRl_UAXxbHyOOjklnA0dxQ/?sub_confirmation=1