B R AI N
WA S H
Detox Your Mind for Clearer Thinking, Deeper
Relationships, and Lasting Happiness
DAVID PERLMUTTER, MD,
and
AUSTIN PERLMUTTER, MD
WITH KRISTIN LOB ERG
Little, Brown Spark
New York Boston London
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Contents
INTRODUCTION A New Reality 3
PA R T I
LIVI N G U N D ER TH E I N FLU EN C E
CH A P T ER 1 Disconnection Syndrome
A Sad State of Affairs 13
CH A P T ER 2 Mind Blowing
The Incredible History of Your Brain 23
CH A P T ER 3 The Brain’s Highs and Lows
The Route to Reward 39
CH A P T ER 4 High-Tech Hijack
How Digital Life Disconnects 54
CH A P T ER 5 The Gift of Empathy
Freedom from Disconnection Syndrome 69
PA R T I I
B R E AK I N G TH E S PELL
CH A P T ER 6 It’s Not Man Versus Nature
Getting Back to Our Roots 85
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Contents
CH A P T ER 7 Clear the Table
Food for Thought 105
CH A P T ER 8 Sweet Dreams
The Overnight Brain Wash 128
CH A P T ER 9 Happy Body, Happy Brain
A Body in Motion Stays in Motion 144
CH A P T ER 10 Quiet Time
Be Mind Full 156
CH A P T ER 11 The T
en-Day Brain Wash
Putting It All Together 169
CH A P T ER 12 The Brain Wash Recipes
Finding Connection in the Kitchen 191
C ONC LUSION We Need You 253
AC K NOW LED GM E NTS 259
I LLUS T R AT ION C R EDITS 261
NOT E S 263
I NDE X 285
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CHAPTER 2
Mind Blowing
The Incredible History of Your Brain
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in
your way of thinking.
— Marcus Aurelius
In a single second, our brains fire off a dazzling number of signals,
propelling essential information through our neurons at up to 268 miles
per hour. Neurons — basic cells of the nervous system that send and
receive communications through chemical and electrical impulses — fire
at a staggering rate relative to our slow-beating heart. It’s remarkable,
really, when we pause to appreciate the human brain, an encapsu
lated three-pound organ that contains more connections than there
are stars in the known galaxy. It creates our entire experience of life,
constantly helping us make sense of an unbelievably complicated and
ever-changing world and making decisions for us before we are even
aware of them. Our exquisite brains have allowed us to thrive on this
planet in the face of countless challenges, including real threats to our
survival.
In modernized countries, we’ve removed most of the barriers to basic
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Mind Blowing
WH AT FI R E S TO G E TH ER WI R E S TO G E TH ER
The brain is an electrical marvel. Each moment, electrical signals zip down
your neurons to convey information between your brain cells. When each
signal reaches the end of the neuron, a chemical messenger called a neu-
rotransmitter is released into the tiny gap, called a synapse, that links neu-
rons. These gaps are complex zones of constant communication between
neurons, and the strength of this communication determines how tightly
neurons are linked. Examples of common neurotransmitters that you’ll be
reading about include dopamine, serotonin, adrenaline, noradrenaline,
and endorphins.
Each neuron can form thousands of links to neighboring brain cells,
giving a typical human brain trillions of synapses. Neurotransmitters are
received in neighboring cells by dendrites, which convert the neurotrans-
mitters back into electrical signals, and the message moves on. This com-
plex wiring allows neurons to communicate with one another and
generate biological wonders such as thought, sensation, and movement.
One of the most revelatory discoveries of our lifetimes has been that
the brain is plastic, meaning it can reorganize itself by forming new neu-
ral connections throughout a person’s life. It’s pliable, impressionable,
moldable. This means you can change the wiring of your brain right now.
As it is said in neurology circles, neurons that fire together wire together:
when one brain cell sends signals to another, the connection between
the two gets stronger. The more signals sent between them, the more
robust the connection becomes. Every time you experience something
new, your brain slightly rewires to accommodate that new experience.
And the more you engage in a particular activity, the more indelible and
influential the connections needed to perform that activity become. In
simplest terms, the more you do something, the more you do something.
This is true whether that something is good or bad for you.
In fact, the way you choose to use your brain helps determine how your
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Living Under the Influence
brain is organized overall. As you learn and experience the world, the links
among your neurons are modified. New connections are created while
unused connections die off. This is how we build a more efficient brain. It
constantly and dynamically shapes and reshapes itself — both structurally
and functionally — in response to experiences, learning, and even injury.
Our good friend Dr. Michael Merzenich, a neuroscientist and pioneer in
brain plasticity research, describes it perfectly in Sharon Begley’s Train Your
Mind, Change Your Brain: “Experience coupled with attention leads to
physical changes in the structure and future functioning of the nervous
system. This leaves us with a clear physiological fact . . . moment by moment
we choose and sculpt how our ever-changing minds will work. We choose
who we will be in the next moment in a very real sense, and these choices
are left embossed in physical form in our material selves.”1
Dr. Merzenich’s description of plasticity is a key point, because it
means that neuroplasticity — the ability of the brain to form and orga-
nize synaptic connections — can either work for or against us. That is, if
we choose to engage in activities that constantly bombard us with nega-
tivity or provoke a sense of fear, our brains will be rewired to respond to
this negativity and fear-driven state. In the cogent words of His Holiness
the 14th Dalai Lama, “The brain we develop reflects the life we lead.”
If you’re wondering just how the brain enhances and protects its con-
nections, it’s largely through the help of a protein called b rain-derived
neurotrophic factor, or BDNF. In the brain, BDNF is active at the synap-
tic connections. Much of what science knows about this protein comes
from studying people who suffer from a lack of it. For example, studies
have demonstrated decreased levels of BDNF in Alzheimer’s disease
patients.2 This is an illness that w orld-renowned neurodegenerative dis-
ease expert Dr. Dale Bredesen has indicated is characterized primarily by
the loss of connections (synapses) between brain cells.3 And we’ll be
connecting the dots so you can see how disconnection syndrome may be
a factor in the development of diseases like Alzheimer’s. Indeed, prevent-
ing cognitive decline is very much in line with the central premise of this
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Mind Blowing
b ook — preserving and amplifying purpose, joy, and health across one’s
life span. Optimizing brain health to preserve our thinking and intellect
is critical: it’s the goal of the Brain Wash program.
In light of this, it should be no surprise that scientists are looking for
ways to increase BDNF in the brain. It turns out that our lifestyle choices
are highly influential in this regard. You can harness this amazing bit of
information to form new connections in your brain, targeting critical areas
such as the prefrontal cortex to help you make good, conscious decisions
based on what you’ve learned from past experience and what you can
expect from potential future consequences. The Brain Wash program will
include strategies to increase your BDNF so you can change your brain.
O U R TH R EE B R AI N S
In addition to being an electrical marvel, the brain is also an evolutionary
wonder. You can think of yourself as having three separate brains, each
reflecting a different stage in human evolution.4 The current scientifically
accepted model of brain activity is more complex, but the simplicity of the
three-brain model is helpful for the purposes of our discussion.
Our Original Brain
Our first and oldest brain dates back to the time of prehistoric reptiles (go
ahead, think dinosaurs). We continue to share this part of the brain with
modern reptiles and birds. In humans, this part of the brain is housed in the
brainstem. Not surprisingly, it governs very basic but vital functions and
receives direct input from the entire body. For example, the brainstem is
involved in the regulation of our heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, circu-
lation, digestion, and the famous fight‑or‑flight response. What stands out
about this part of the brain is that it’s strictly instinctual and automatic. It is
critical to our survival but doesn’t require us to think or feel in order to work.
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