November 25, 2025 • 10 mins
George Noory and Dr. Majid Fotuhi explore the power of the human mind, his research into Alzheimer's Disease, dementia and PTSD, and the damaging effects of stress and anxiety to brain health.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now here's a highlight from Coast to Coast AM on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
And welcome back to Coast to Coast George Nori with you.
We've got a fascinating program for you tonight. Doctor Majid
Fortouohei with US, earned his PhD in neuroscience from John
Hopkins University back in nineteen ninety two and his medical
degree from Harvard Medical School in ninety seven. Currently, he
serves as an adjunct professor at the Mind Body Institute
(00:25):
at John Hopkins University, while also teaching at George Washington
University and Harvard's Medical School. With thirty seven years of
experience in teaching, clinical practice and neuroscience research, doctor Fortouhi
has pioneered a multidisciplinary approach to enhancing brain vitality and
cognitive performance at any age, and he has a book
(00:48):
coming out called The Invincible Brain. Doctor Magid, welcome to
the program.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Thank you very much for inviting me, George, that's such
an honor for me.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Well, we're looking forward to this and my gosh, how
did you get involved in brain study?
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I was fascinated by the brain since I was a child.
My father told me the story of a girl who
was born without arms and had learned to paint and
do everything in the house, from cooking to weaving carpets
with her toes. And he said, you know, Maji, your
brain has no limit, and the more you use it,
the stronger it gets. So I became fascinated by my brain.
(01:27):
And he said, by the way, I want you to
learn some languages and become an author, become a researcher,
become a professor. You can do anything. So I was inspired,
and when I was fourteen years old, I wrote a
book How to Become Successful. Seven Secrets have Become Successful,
talking about how anyone has the potential to do amazing
things with their brains.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
At fourteen, you wrote the book that's about with your
father was your father was right? He was right for sure.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
What is it about the brain that is so different
from the kidneys, the liver that allows itself to perform
memory and do the things that it does.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
I think one of the most fascinating thing about the
brain is neuroplasticity, which means that our brain has a
capacity to change, adapt, and rewire at any age. Our
brain is constantly changing, actually on a daily basis. Our
brain changes at a microscopic level our brain. Habits can
(02:36):
change our brain for worse. So habits like stress and
poor diet and obesity can shrink the brain, whereas habits
like exercising, avoiding stress, reading, learning new things can grow
the brain. So our brain is unique in its capacity
(02:57):
to have neuroplasticity.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Let's talk about some of the ailments of the brain.
Doctor that they are out there. There's dementia, all Heimer's disease,
all kinds of other issues. What causes those things?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Okay, so let's get some terminologies straight for your audience.
So memory loss is something that many people have, and
when you get older, there's something called age associated memory impairment,
which means that when you're in sixties, you're entitled to
forget your keys, forget an appointment. You know it is
what it is. And then there's a condition called mild
(03:37):
cognitive impairment, which is more than just forgetting your keys.
You may repeat yourself a few times during the day.
And then there is dementia. Dementia means that you have
lost your capacity to function independently because your brain has degenerated,
and different forms of dementia. For example, a person can
(03:58):
have alcoholic dementia. Too much alcohol can shrivel the brain
and make a person become dependent on others for daily life,
and there is no Parkinson's related dementia and vascular dementia
when somebody has too many strokes, and then it is
Alzheimer's dementia which is characterized by these proteins were called
(04:20):
amyloid plaques and tau tangles. So, in short, Alzheimer's is
a form of dementia, and we believe that a soup
of problems cause brain atrophy, which then causes Alzheimer's disease.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Is any of this reversible?
Speaker 3 (04:42):
That's an excellent question, George. Many people believe that these
plaques and tangles are the whole story when it comes
to Alzheimer's disease. But my research and the work of
many other neurologists and neuroscientists have shown that the super
problems cause a brain atrophy which then causes alzheimer to cease.
(05:04):
And those risk factors are diabetes, will be ct sleep, apnea, insomnia,
too much stress. These things individually can shrink your brain
at the microscopic level every day, and if you continue
to have these then your brain will shrink a lot
(05:25):
by the time you get to your seventies and.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Eighties, when our military comes back from war, some of
them have PTSD. Is that part of the brain.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Yeah, PTSD is when somebody can't forget something. You know,
many of us complain that we forget things. And actually
sometimes forgetting things is a good thing, you know, if
something bad happened to you when you were in your twenties,
it's a good thing to forget them. Yeah, And patients
will have PTSD have difficulty forgetting something bad that happened
(05:59):
to them, and they keep remembering it and many things
trigger those memories. We call that PTSD, and it is
a brain problem. It's rewarding the brain in a negative
way where a person goes over the same memory over
and over and over again.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Now, what doctor, What kind of doctor is the one
that diagnoses all Heeimber's for example? Is that a neurologist
that would do that?
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Yes, So Alzheimer's disease is a condition that neurologists usually
evaluate and treat.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Is how do they come up with that rationale that
you know, you've got this or you've got that.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Yeah, it's actually quite challenging, you know, because you know,
as people get old, many things can affect their memory.
And for example, you know, a person can have steep apnea,
which means the snore at night and they feel tired
in the day, they feel sleeping in a day, and
(07:06):
they may forget things, and so the neurologist has to
determine is this memory loss because of the sleep issue,
or there's a brain degeneration going on. And something exciting
that has happened in recent years is that for the
first time, you have a blood test that can show
(07:28):
the abermalities in the brain. This is a total revolution
in the field of neurology. In the past two three years,
new blood tests have become available where neurologists can look
at them and say, oh, it looks like you have
high levels of these bad proteins in your brain.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
I hear a lot about dopamine these days. Doctor. What
does it and what does that do to the brain?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Dopamine is a molecule that associated with our sense of pleasure.
So for example, when you eat a delicious chocolate, when
you kiss someone you're like when you win a prize.
You know, in some cases drugs, the things that make
(08:15):
you feel good make you feel good because there is
high levels of dopamine in the brain. So, dopamine is
a small molecule which, when acts on specific cells in
the brain, gives the sensation of pleasure. Now, dopamine is
related to memory in that if you do something and
(08:37):
you like it, you're more likely to remember. For example,
let's say you go to a small town and you
stop by store and you get some ice cream and
it turns out to be delicious. So next time you
go to that town, you remember that place where you
get the ice cream, you go back and get the
(08:58):
ice cream. And so the dopamine and the pleasure systems
in the brain help us remember things better.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
What causes stress and anxiety in the brain?
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Yeah, yeah, that's a that's an excellent question. A lot
of times we generate our own stress because we have
certain expectations of our family members, of our co workers,
of you know, how things should be running in the
country in general, and when things happen that are below expectations,
(09:38):
we get disappointed and stress out. And so a lot
of stress and anxiety is self generated. And unfortunately, when
you stress out, there are these chemicals in the brain
called cortisol, and high levels of cortisol can actually shrink
(10:00):
the brain. The more a person stresses, the more their
brain shrinks. In fact, chronic stress when a person is stressed,
you know, a year after year after year can shrink
the brain in a dose dependent manner, which means the
longer they they have stress and anxiety, the more their
brain shrinks. And again, as I mentioned, stress and anxiety
(10:25):
are often self generated. You know, people do it to themselves.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Listen to more Coast to Coast AM every weeknight at
one a m. Eastern and go to Coast to coastam
dot com for more
Now here's a highlight from Coast to Coast AM on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
And welcome back to Coast to Coast George Nori with you.
We've got a fascinating program for you tonight. Doctor Majid
Fortouohei with US, earned his PhD in neuroscience from John
Hopkins University back in nineteen ninety two and his medical
degree from Harvard Medical School in ninety seven. Currently, he
serves as an adjunct professor at the Mind Body Institute
(00:25):
at John Hopkins University, while also teaching at George Washington
University and Harvard's Medical School. With thirty seven years of
experience in teaching, clinical practice and neuroscience research, doctor Fortouhi
has pioneered a multidisciplinary approach to enhancing brain vitality and
cognitive performance at any age, and he has a book
(00:48):
coming out called The Invincible Brain. Doctor Magid, welcome to
the program.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Thank you very much for inviting me, George, that's such
an honor for me.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Well, we're looking forward to this and my gosh, how
did you get involved in brain study?
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I was fascinated by the brain since I was a child.
My father told me the story of a girl who
was born without arms and had learned to paint and
do everything in the house, from cooking to weaving carpets
with her toes. And he said, you know, Maji, your
brain has no limit, and the more you use it,
the stronger it gets. So I became fascinated by my brain.
(01:27):
And he said, by the way, I want you to
learn some languages and become an author, become a researcher,
become a professor. You can do anything. So I was inspired,
and when I was fourteen years old, I wrote a
book How to Become Successful. Seven Secrets have Become Successful,
talking about how anyone has the potential to do amazing
things with their brains.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
At fourteen, you wrote the book that's about with your
father was your father was right? He was right for sure.
Speaker 4 (01:58):
What is it about the brain that is so different
from the kidneys, the liver that allows itself to perform
memory and do the things that it does.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
I think one of the most fascinating thing about the
brain is neuroplasticity, which means that our brain has a
capacity to change, adapt, and rewire at any age. Our
brain is constantly changing, actually on a daily basis. Our
brain changes at a microscopic level our brain. Habits can
(02:36):
change our brain for worse. So habits like stress and
poor diet and obesity can shrink the brain, whereas habits
like exercising, avoiding stress, reading, learning new things can grow
the brain. So our brain is unique in its capacity
(02:57):
to have neuroplasticity.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Let's talk about some of the ailments of the brain.
Doctor that they are out there. There's dementia, all Heimer's disease,
all kinds of other issues. What causes those things?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Okay, so let's get some terminologies straight for your audience.
So memory loss is something that many people have, and
when you get older, there's something called age associated memory impairment,
which means that when you're in sixties, you're entitled to
forget your keys, forget an appointment. You know it is
what it is. And then there's a condition called mild
(03:37):
cognitive impairment, which is more than just forgetting your keys.
You may repeat yourself a few times during the day.
And then there is dementia. Dementia means that you have
lost your capacity to function independently because your brain has degenerated,
and different forms of dementia. For example, a person can
(03:58):
have alcoholic dementia. Too much alcohol can shrivel the brain
and make a person become dependent on others for daily life,
and there is no Parkinson's related dementia and vascular dementia
when somebody has too many strokes, and then it is
Alzheimer's dementia which is characterized by these proteins were called
(04:20):
amyloid plaques and tau tangles. So, in short, Alzheimer's is
a form of dementia, and we believe that a soup
of problems cause brain atrophy, which then causes Alzheimer's disease.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Is any of this reversible?
Speaker 3 (04:42):
That's an excellent question, George. Many people believe that these
plaques and tangles are the whole story when it comes
to Alzheimer's disease. But my research and the work of
many other neurologists and neuroscientists have shown that the super
problems cause a brain atrophy which then causes alzheimer to cease.
(05:04):
And those risk factors are diabetes, will be ct sleep, apnea, insomnia,
too much stress. These things individually can shrink your brain
at the microscopic level every day, and if you continue
to have these then your brain will shrink a lot
(05:25):
by the time you get to your seventies and.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Eighties, when our military comes back from war, some of
them have PTSD. Is that part of the brain.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Yeah, PTSD is when somebody can't forget something. You know,
many of us complain that we forget things. And actually
sometimes forgetting things is a good thing, you know, if
something bad happened to you when you were in your twenties,
it's a good thing to forget them. Yeah, And patients
will have PTSD have difficulty forgetting something bad that happened
(05:59):
to them, and they keep remembering it and many things
trigger those memories. We call that PTSD, and it is
a brain problem. It's rewarding the brain in a negative
way where a person goes over the same memory over
and over and over again.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Now, what doctor, What kind of doctor is the one
that diagnoses all Heeimber's for example? Is that a neurologist
that would do that?
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Yes, So Alzheimer's disease is a condition that neurologists usually
evaluate and treat.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Is how do they come up with that rationale that
you know, you've got this or you've got that.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Yeah, it's actually quite challenging, you know, because you know,
as people get old, many things can affect their memory.
And for example, you know, a person can have steep apnea,
which means the snore at night and they feel tired
in the day, they feel sleeping in a day, and
(07:06):
they may forget things, and so the neurologist has to
determine is this memory loss because of the sleep issue,
or there's a brain degeneration going on. And something exciting
that has happened in recent years is that for the
first time, you have a blood test that can show
(07:28):
the abermalities in the brain. This is a total revolution
in the field of neurology. In the past two three years,
new blood tests have become available where neurologists can look
at them and say, oh, it looks like you have
high levels of these bad proteins in your brain.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
I hear a lot about dopamine these days. Doctor. What
does it and what does that do to the brain?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Dopamine is a molecule that associated with our sense of pleasure.
So for example, when you eat a delicious chocolate, when
you kiss someone you're like when you win a prize.
You know, in some cases drugs, the things that make
(08:15):
you feel good make you feel good because there is
high levels of dopamine in the brain. So, dopamine is
a small molecule which, when acts on specific cells in
the brain, gives the sensation of pleasure. Now, dopamine is
related to memory in that if you do something and
(08:37):
you like it, you're more likely to remember. For example,
let's say you go to a small town and you
stop by store and you get some ice cream and
it turns out to be delicious. So next time you
go to that town, you remember that place where you
get the ice cream, you go back and get the
(08:58):
ice cream. And so the dopamine and the pleasure systems
in the brain help us remember things better.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
What causes stress and anxiety in the brain?
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Yeah, yeah, that's a that's an excellent question. A lot
of times we generate our own stress because we have
certain expectations of our family members, of our co workers,
of you know, how things should be running in the
country in general, and when things happen that are below expectations,
(09:38):
we get disappointed and stress out. And so a lot
of stress and anxiety is self generated. And unfortunately, when
you stress out, there are these chemicals in the brain
called cortisol, and high levels of cortisol can actually shrink
(10:00):
the brain. The more a person stresses, the more their
brain shrinks. In fact, chronic stress when a person is stressed,
you know, a year after year after year can shrink
the brain in a dose dependent manner, which means the
longer they they have stress and anxiety, the more their
brain shrinks. And again, as I mentioned, stress and anxiety
(10:25):
are often self generated. You know, people do it to themselves.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Listen to more Coast to Coast AM every weeknight at
one a m. Eastern and go to Coast to coastam
dot com for more
The Best of Coast to Coast AM News
Host
George Noory
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