June 2, 2025 • 56 mins
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You MUST sign up for the FREE Reverse Aging Summit starting on May 30 and hear myself & some great speakers on how we can age BETTER:
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Tara Bonner, Chief Neuroeducation Officer inspires audiences to think differently about the brain and its capacity to change. Tara has spent nearly 20 years bridging the gap between neuroscience and education. An experienced educator, consultant, and speaker, Tara collaborates with educators and advocates worldwide. She can demystify common misconceptions in learning and discuss how neuroplasticity has the potential to reshape education as we know it.
The ability of our brains to change and adapt throughout life offers powerful opportunities for maintaining cognitive health as we age. Neuroeducation expert Tara Bonner discusses how neuroplasticity works, explaining that our brains are constantly changing in response to experiences, habits, and mental challenges.
• As we age, our brains naturally experience decreased processing speed, memory challenges, and reduced cognitive flexibility
• Repeated exposure and focused practice of any activity will change brain connectivity – for better or worse
• Stress, trauma, and addiction can negatively rewire the brain, while novel experiences create positive neural pathways
• Critical thinking abilities may be weakening due to convenience culture and passive information consumption
• Social engagement, especially intergenerational connections, provides essential brain stimulation
• Physical activity, proper nutrition, quality sleep, and stress management all contribute to brain health
• Seeking novelty and embracing challenges keeps the brain actively creating new neural connections
• The brain thrives on "effortful processing" – activities that are slightly challenging rather than automatic
• Cognitive programming can target specific brain functions like critical thinking and processing speed
Learn more about cognitive programming and brain fitness resources at ArrowsmithCA. Join Sandy for her Summer Reboot Series starting June 16th with valuable conversations to help you live your best life.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sandy Kruse (00:02):
Hi everyone, it's Sa ndy Kruse, of Sandy K
Nutrition, health and LifestyleQueen.
For years now, I've beenbringing to you conversations
about wellness from incredibleguests from all over the world.
Discover a fresh take onhealthy living for midlife and
(00:25):
beyond, one that embracesbalance and reason, without
letting only science dictateevery aspect of our wellness.
Join me and my guests as weexplore ways that we can age
gracefully, with in-depthconversations about the thyroid,
(00:48):
about hormones and otheralternative wellness options for
you and your family.
True Wellness nurtures ahealthy body, mind, spirit and
soul, and we cover all of theseessential aspects to help you
live a balanced, joyful life.
(01:10):
Be sure to follow my show, rateit, review it and share it.
Always remember my friendsbalanced living works.
Friends, balanced living works.
(01:31):
Hi everyone, welcome to SandyKay Nutrition, health and
Lifestyle Queen.
Today with me, I have a specialguest.
Her name is Tara Bonner and weare going to talk all about
neuroplasticity, what it is, howimportant it is as we age and
more.
It's going to be a greatdiscussion.
I'm really excited that I wasasked to speak at a free online
(01:55):
event.
It is called the Reverse AgingSummit, with some amazing
speakers coming on May 30th.
That's when the online freeevent starts, I'm going to have
a link in this podcastdescription for you to go and
sign up.
Be sure you don't miss it.
It's free and there are someincredible speakers on this
(02:19):
panel, so I would love to seeyou there.
Love to see you there.
June 16th, I am kicking off mysummer reboot series.
I'm going to be bringing to you12 episodes that I have
recorded in the last littlewhile.
That are incredible episodesthat I feel deserve even more
attention than they alreadyreceive.
(02:40):
These are really popularepisodes, and I'm going to start
it off with my episode with JenCouch of Sober Cis, because how
many of you people out theredrink too much and party too
much in the summer?
This is why this conversationwith Jen Couch of Sober Cis is
going to be so valuable to somany people who maybe just want
(03:01):
to cut back, or maybe there'ssome of you out there who really
want to learn how to live sober.
So that's how I'm going to kickoff the summer reboot series.
I think it's going to be agreat way to do it.
So please ensure that you arefollowing my podcast.
If you're not sure where tofollow it, go to sandykruse.
ca S-A-N-D-Y-K-R-U-S-Eca to findout where you can follow my
(03:28):
podcast so you don't miss someof these incredible episodes.
Now I'm not disappearing forthe summer, so make sure you
follow me on all my socials.
I am the most active onInstagram.
It is Sandy K Nutrition.
Everywhere Instagram, facebook,TikTok, threads, you name it
(03:48):
I'm probably there.
I'm also on YouTube.
I'm not that regular on YouTubewith posting, but I'm there.
Then there's also Rumble.
There's a bunch of other places.
I'm also a writer.
Most of you know I did releasemy essential thyroid guide back
in 2024.
It is a simplified guide justto help those who want to
(04:09):
understand from a non-clinicalstandpoint how to keep your
thyroid gland healthy andthriving.
Most of you know I had thyroidcancer in 2011,.
Lost my thyroid gland rightduring perimenopause, and I talk
a lot about how to keep thethyroid gland healthy during
(04:31):
menopause.
Perimenopause.
I mean, I don't have a gland,but I still have medication that
controls the gland, so this iswhy it still applies to me.
But follow me on Substack.
I have my new podcast therecalled Think About it, and it's
a short form podcast where Ijust come to you, you know, each
(04:53):
week with an episode to justhelp you think about your health
as it pertains to youpersonally.
There's so much unauthenticcontent out there with you know,
all these big healthinfluencers, you just don't know
who to trust.
So I always say trust yourself,and I write a lot about this.
(05:14):
Go to sandycruisesubstackcom tojoin If you want full access to
all of my content.
I think it's like eight bucks amonth to support me as a writer
and as a practitioner and as apodcaster.
So you know it's, it's.
I don't think it's a lot to ask, but I do provide free content
(05:38):
as well.
So it's S-A-N-D-Y-K-R-U-S-E dotsubstack.
S-u-b-s-t-a-c-k dot com.
Follow me there.
The very last announcement is Iam going to ask you to rate and
review and share my content.
(05:59):
So if you're on Instagram, ifyou share my content in your
stories, it helps me to gain newfollowers, new people to my
content, which is primarily allfree, just to help you think
about your wellness in adifferent way.
I also have amazing guestsevery week on my podcast.
So this helps me when you sharemy content.
(06:22):
The second thing that reallyhelps is to rate and review.
So I know on Spotify they havethat option, and on Apple, for
sure, where you can actuallyreview with a few nice words.
That goes so far, you guys,just to help keep me going in
(06:42):
this space and help help me tokeep getting amazing guests each
and every week.
I think I hit five years of mypodcast in February.
I'm going to keep going becausethis is my passion and for me
it's always passion over profit.
So now let's cut on through tothis amazing episode all about
(07:04):
neuroplasticity.
Hi everyone, welcome to Sandy KNutrition, health and Lifestyle
Queen.
Today, my guest is Tara Bonner.
She is a chief neuroeducationofficer and she inspires
audiences to think differentlyabout the brain and its capacity
to change.
(07:24):
Differently about the brain andits capacity to change.
Tara has spent nearly 20 yearsbridging the gap between
neuroscience and education.
An experienced educator, leader, consultant and speaker, tara
collaborates with educators,leaders and advocates worldwide.
She can demystify commonmisconceptions in learning and
(07:45):
discuss how neuroplasticity hasthe potential to reshape
education as we know it.
And today, tara and I are goingto talk about neuroplasticity,
but we're going to actually talkabout it as it relates to the
aging brain, and I know thatmost of you who follow me are,
(08:06):
you know, probably over 40 or so.
A lot of women follow me and alot of women going through
menopause, perimenopause and,hey, there are things that
happen even younger to ourbrains.
But for this conversation we'regoing to talk about how we can
support neuroplasticity as weage and as our brains age.
(08:30):
And with that, welcome Tara.
Thank you so much for coming.
Tara Bonner (08:34):
Lovely to be here, Sandy.
I'm excited to dive into this.
Sandy Kruse (08:38):
Me too.
So you have to let us know whatyour background is and why you
got into this field.
Tara Bonner (08:45):
Sure Well as you mentioned, I come from a
teaching background, a fairlytraditional teaching background,
where I helped students learn.
I worked in different schools.
I actually worked in differentcountries, different types of
schools, different types ofclassrooms, different types of
learners, but I was always drawnto the same learner, the same
(09:06):
type of learner, and these werelearners who were struggling.
They were underperforming orunderachieving or they had even
recognized learning difficulties.
And I was drawn to them because, despite their outcomes,
despite their underperformance,I could see they were working
(09:27):
incredibly hard.
It wasn't that they weren't.
If only they tried, if onlythey were more motivated.
I could see very clearly thatthey were working incredibly
hard and yet still falling short.
And I knew I was working hardas a teacher and I wasn't able
to reach them.
And I knew that they had allthe all resources and family
(09:47):
support, and yet it was still astruggle.
And I was always curious aboutthat.
What is that relationshipbetween effort and outcome?
And it wasn't until almost 20years ago now that I came across
a very different way ofunderstanding learning and
understanding the educationalsystem, which is a
(10:08):
neuroeducational perspectivethat the brain is responsible
for how we learn and why westruggle to learn, and that our
brains can actually be harnessedto improve that learning
experience.
So that really was a pivotalmoment in my career and, frankly
, in my personal pedagogy tounderstand what is the role of
(10:33):
the brain in our day-to-dayexperiences, in our learning,
our performance and our health,our mental health, our physical
health.
So it put me on a verydifferent trajectory of how I
can help myself and my studentsand, these days, others around
the world to think about thebrain, think about the brain
(10:53):
differently and make sure thatit's part of any conversation.
Sandy Kruse (10:57):
I think it's really important to start with what
happens to the brain as we age,because I think that we go
through a lot of changes.
obviously, you know I almostlook at our lives in the form of
decades right, Sure, this isthe decade that yeah it's like
this is the decade that if youwant to have kids, you're
(11:19):
probably going to want to do itaround this time.
This is the decade that you'regoing to have your
perimenopausal years and I'mspeaking from a woman's
perspective.
But what happens to the brainduring the times when we start?
Let's just even say whathappens from perimenopause or
menopause onward.
Tara Bonner (11:41):
I can speak to that and though, sandy, I love your
concept that our lives are thesedecades, these chapters, these
seasons of our lives, and I willsay the brain is a main
character throughout all ofthose different stages.
(12:02):
And you hear that, right, youhear that the teenage brain, or
the pregnancy brain, or themenopause brain, or the senior
brain, it's somewhat you knowthey're casual comments but what
we're talking about here arethese different stages of our
lives, or these differentperiods of our lives where it's
clear that the brain is or weare not operating optimally.
(12:26):
And the reality is, sometimesthere are external events that
are causing, uh us to notoperate optimally.
And there's also very specific,inevitable developmental
changes, hormonal changeshappening throughout our life,
uh life, that impact how wenavigate our lives.
(12:48):
And definitely our brains,again, are center and central to
all of that and to your point.
Of course, it's naturally,developmentally expected, that
throughout our lives, andparticularly when we hit
probably 40 or 50, our brainsstart to get weaker and they
(13:11):
actually are shrinking in volume.
Our brains are starting toshrink in volume.
There's a loss of synapticconnections, which essentially
just means slower communicationbetween different regions of the
brain.
There's changes inneurotransmitters, which are the
(13:31):
chemicals that help neuronscommunicate, and there are
degenerative diseases that mayhappen, sometimes quite early in
people's lives.
But even more practically,practically and this is
certainly where I want to talkand hopefully this is where our
conversation can focus is,practically speaking, that
(13:53):
inevitably there is anexperience of decrease in
function, right?
So thinking about, thinking,thinking about, at some point,
it takes us more time.
We notice it's taking us moretime to to think, to make sense
of something, to understandsomething, comprehend something,
we have to read something acouple of times before it makes
(14:14):
sense to us.
We have to ask someone torepeat themselves or speak more
slowly.
That is our processing speeddecreasing.
There's a specific cognitivefunction, cognitive process in
our brain that it's like thelight bulb that goes off in our
heads when we understandsomething and the functionality
(14:35):
of that function, of thatprocess, is decreasing as we age
.
There's also changes in memory,of course, not remembering new
information, or someone's justtold us their name and we can't
remember it.
Or where have we left our keys,or can we keep track of
multiple pieces of information.
And that starts, sure, as earlyas our our 40s, and certainly
(14:57):
in moving into the senior yearsit can be much more difficult
for us cognitively to hold on toinformation, to process the
information and even just tohold on to it.
The other piece that tends tohappen as we get older is what's
called our cognitiveflexibility, so the ability, the
cognitive ability, theintellectual ability to frankly
(15:21):
change our minds, to be able toswitch between tasks and
thoughts, to adjust to newinformation or changing
environments.
This is really interesting to methese days politically and
we've had this conversation,sandy that the world at times
feels very divisive there's acognitive piece at play here
(15:42):
that it is cognitivelychallenging as we get older to
change our minds, to receive newinformation and to process it.
So that certainly is happeningin our older generation.
My mother, for example, who's81, she describes that her kids
(16:04):
and grandkids have actually canhelp her process a new idea, a
new ideology, a new concept.
That is hard for her.
It's not that she's an oldfuddy-duddy, it's that it's
cognitively more challenging forher.
Her brain does not have thesame cognitive flexibility as it
(16:24):
did when she was younger.
So that's a big piece I thinkthat we often dismiss as a kind
of a personality trait.
We often dismiss as a kind of apersonality trait, you know, or
like he's just a grumpy old man, but there's something at play
here in our gorgeous three poundorgan in our skulls that is
(16:46):
more difficult.
Sandy Kruse (16:48):
So that actually goes to that whole saying you
can't teach an old dog newtricks, right, and so what
you're saying is we can teach anold dog new tricks and some of
the you know.
I read some research, and I'msure you know this, about how
when elderly parents,grandparents, hang out with
(17:14):
their grandchildren,great-grandchildren, it actually
helps their brains.
Did you read that?
Tara Bonner (17:23):
It certainly makes sense.
It's certainly well understoodthat social engagement is an
incredibly.
It's not just positive, it'snot just a nice to have, it's a
must have.
When we talk about brain health, social engagement is a must
have, you know, and we can movethere, Sandy, because if you
(17:45):
know, if your audience iscurious about taking care of
their brains, we can talk abouthow to intentionally improve our
brains.
But even at a baseline, thereare some key tenets to making
sure our brains are healthy.
I know you, Sandy, are anexpert in this idea of holistic
(18:09):
care, holistic health andwellness, and so I know you, I
will defer to you when it comesto things like nutrition, diet.
Sandy Kruse (18:16):
But I also want to go back, so before we get to
that.
I want to go back to somethingthat you said about flexibility
and thinking, because I alsoread some research about
critical thinking skills and howsomething has happened to many
individuals in the world wherethat has sort of been lost, and
(18:41):
I have actually read research toindicate.
Listen, I'm not going to insultanybody here who's listening to
my podcast, but if you're oneof those individuals that has
trouble critically analyzing apiece of information and you
(19:03):
don't have the flexibility,there are some studies out there
that say, you know, maybe workon your neuroplasticity or your
brain health.
I'm trying to say this in anice way, but maybe I should
just come out and say it.
There are some things out therethat indicate if you can't
think critically, you arelacking the skill set and the
(19:26):
intelligence to be able toprocess the information, and
there are ways that you canchange that.
But the research says that.
I don't usually mince my words,so that's what I'm going to say
.
Tara Bonner (19:40):
Very diplomatic of you, but I agree you don't have
to.
I think there's a real stigma.
I know, I know they're in theeducational field, but even in
the professional, corporatefield there's a stigma against
those who struggle with learningright that when someone is
having a hard time making adecision or completing a task on
(20:01):
time or completing a taskcorrectly, they are either not
intelligent or not trying hardenough, or they're inflexible or
they're stubborn.
So there are these tendencies.
There's a real stigma attachedto poor performance or
underperformance or lack ofcritical thinking, and I think
(20:24):
that's unfair and I think it'sunnecessary and it's inaccurate.
It's inaccurate because it'smisunderstood.
At the very least.
There are key parts of our brainthey're right here I'm pointing
I don't know if we're video andaudio, but if you're only
listening to this, I'm pointingright at my forehead there are
two key cognitive functions inour prefrontal lobe, often
(20:49):
called executive function areas,or the CEO of our brain, in our
left and right hemisphere, andthese are the brain areas that
that critically think, that areconstantly generating ideas and
analyzing ideas and making senseof what is worth focusing on
(21:11):
and what and what can bedismissed.
So it inhibits distractions andit stays focused on what's
critical, and if those cognitivefunctions are under-functioning
even just a mild degree, thenexactly what you're describing
critical thinking, processingcapacity, judgment,
decision-making that's going tobe weak, and there doesn't need
(21:36):
to be a stigma around someonewho might have those
difficulties because, as you say, they can be improved, and not
only they can be improved, theymust be improved, they must be
strong, particularly in theworld that we live in right now,
and I appreciate your audienceisn't necessarily a group of
educators, but there are manyparents or grandparents or just
(21:57):
individuals who are observing avery strange and fascinating
time in the world right now,where AI and technology in
general and convenience cultureis actually lessening our need
(22:23):
to think.
Everything is being done for usand so our brains are becoming
more passive because of thatconvenience, because of that
on-demand and ease with whichour society has very
intentionally been created, andthat is having a dramatic impact
on our brains.
We've seen it In our work.
(22:43):
We support individuals andschools and organizations to
provide cognitive programming,and what we have seen over the
decades is, when we measurepeople's cognitive function,
particularly in these areas ofcritical thinking and processing
and cognitive function, it'slikely that those areas are
(23:05):
getting weaker as the decades goon.
Now, speaking of sayingsomething dramatic or fatalistic
, I mean it's relatively smallsample sizes we're looking at in
the hundreds, not in the tensof thousands.
And automatic the world, theex-turtle world, is becoming.
(23:38):
It really behooves us to makesure that we don't lose the
opportunity of stayingcognitively active ourselves,
because it will affect our brainfunction, even structurally.
Sandy Kruse (23:46):
I think you just answered one of the problems of
the world right now.
Tara Bonner (23:52):
Sure, why not?
No, but think about it On youraverage Wednesday.
Sandy Kruse (23:58):
If you think about it, what you're saying makes a
lot of logical sense.
So I'm saying we're seeing alot less of the ability to
really critically think andanalyze and I'm speaking about
adults, so I'm not talking aboutchildren, who are born with
some certain developmentalissues or anything like that I'm
(24:19):
talking about people who arejust very, very unable to see
things on a broader scope, toanalyze the information.
So what I am seeing is that it'salmost like everything is
handed just what you said.
It's handed to us on a silverplatter without thinking about
(24:40):
it.
On a silver screen, yeah, on asilver screen.
Right, and I'm?
I am a 1970 baby.
I grew up in the era where if Iwanted to do a paper on
whatever it is that I'mresearching, I'd have to scour
through, you know, I don't knowhow many Encyclopedia
Britannicas that were on theshelves, but I had to work so
(25:04):
hard for that information.
That's making my brain work.
I still do that and I will see,tara.
People will go on social mediaand they will look at that 30
second clip from somebody who'slabeled an expert and who is
just simply reciting oneresearch article and they'll go
(25:27):
nope, this is how it is.
I saw it from so-and-so.
I'm like no, no, you need tolook at a number of research
articles.
You need to look at personalresonance.
You need to look at and I'mspeaking about health for
ourselves we need to look withinas well as what we're seeing
externally.
But people are not used to thatanymore.
(25:49):
We're used to gettingeverything handed to us, so that
is a big thing for people totake away.
Is that work for theinformation?
It's good for your brain right?
Tara Bonner (26:01):
It absolutely is.
And, to be clear, personally orprofessionally, I'm not
anti-innovation oranti-technology.
I think there's an incrediblepotential for, for example, ai
to really talk about the world'sproblems.
(26:23):
I mean really to solve someincredibly complex issues, you
know, by virtue of its abilityto take massive data points and
synthesize them very quickly.
I mean, there's no question.
However, to your point, sandy,we must make sure that we are
(26:44):
navigating this new world, thisnew landscape, with our brains.
It, it is our brains, that willbe the humanity and the true
intelligence, through thisconvenience culture and
particularly social media.
I'm not suggesting and I don'tthink you are either that social
(27:07):
media in and of itself is thedanger.
It's the human tendency to bepassive, cognitively passive,
when something is presented tous that is easy or convenient.
And we must push past thatbecause it will serve us better
(27:30):
if, as long as we keep franklyusing our brains.
Because the moment we, uh, weare on autopilot in the process
of thinking, thinking critically, thinking rationally, thinking
with judgment, even thinking, uh, skeptically I don't mean
critically, but, you know, with,with curiosity maybe that's the
(27:52):
better word to be curious aboutwhat we're reading and what
we're hearing and what we'relearning about.
That must be maintained inorder for us to stay healthy as
individuals and, frankly, as asociety.
Sandy Kruse (28:07):
Yeah, and you mentioned AI Interesting sidebar
, ai Interesting sidebar.
Somebody sent me a DM in mycommunity and said hey, like
what do you think of chat GPTand we're speaking directly as
it relates to health andwellness and do you use it?
And my answer was yes, I do.
However, what I have noticed isthat if you blindly ask a
(28:34):
question that you know nothingabout, you may not be getting an
answer that would be deemedcorrect.
And I'll give you an example.
My husband knows nothing abouthealth, like nothing, complete
opposite.
So if he was going to type inhey, tell me about testosterone
(29:01):
for men over 50, he would get avery different answer than if I
was using chat GPT, because Ihave a lot of knowledge.
So it goes to your point ofhaving your own brain and using
the technology just to kind ofenhance the function of what you
(29:22):
need it for, as opposed torelying on it entirely.
Tara Bonner (29:27):
Absolutely and I think I mean honestly I use AI
as Google.
In other words, you know, weknow that Google has become this
.
I don't mean to promote ordenigrate Google, but we use an
internet server, as you know, asour microfiche these days right
(29:51):
.
As our microfiche these days,right.
It gives us massive amounts ofinformation and we have to be
really smart with what out ofthose Google results, what we're
clicking on, what we read, howaccurate it is.
We need to cross-reference, weneed to do a lot more.
We can't just take what we findin Google as face value.
Same idea with AI.
It's absolutely impressivebecause it can again, it can.
(30:17):
It can take massive amountsinformation and give you a bit
of a summary about that in uh,detail, but it's still prone to
errors and it still requires ourcritical thinking.
And if we're not doing thatjust like if we were to do a
Google search and click thefirst thing that came up and not
(30:37):
notice that that first resultwas sponsored by or you know we
have it's no different.
I actually don't see it asbeing any significantly
different than, frankly, perhapseven the last few decades since
the written word, since thewritten word, even encyclopedia
(30:59):
britannica, even, uh, microfiche, we have to do the work
cognitively, intellectually, toto problem solve, to make sense
of it, to think independently,to adapt to new learning, to
talk about it, to talk about itwith people who you know.
(31:20):
That's one of the things thatthere's really interesting
research about, how important itis.
You mentioned social life, butmaybe talking to people that
don't have the same opinion asyou, maybe hearing other
people's points of view, so thatyou can stay cognitively
flexible.
I'm not saying uh to you know,to get into a necessarily an
(31:48):
aggressive debate, but there'snothing actually wrong.
There's something verycognitively healthy about
disagreeing with someone andultimately coming to a point,
perhaps, whether it's acompromise or just an agreeing
to disagree, but that's anintellectual exercise in and of
itself.
So I think there's so much here, sandy.
(32:10):
I mean I feel like we shoulddedicate another podcast to how
to make sure your brain ishealthy when navigating social
media and AI.
But in and of itself, it'sneutral, right, there's nothing
negative or positive about it.
The question is, how are wegoing to take control of it?
(32:31):
How are we going to harness ourown capacity to think and
problem solve and thinkcritically so that we can stay
ahead of it?
Sandy Kruse (32:40):
So let's get into neuroplasticity.
What exactly is the definitionof neuroplasticity?
What does it mean?
Tara Bonner (32:48):
So it, as I said, it is neutral.
Actually, the concept ofneuroplasticity is very simply a
very naturally occurringprocess in our brains that it is
constantly changing.
Our brains are constantlychanging.
They are plastic, they aremoldable, they grow new
(33:09):
dendrites, new neurons, theygrow new connections between and
within processes of the brain.
So, very simply put,neuroplasticity is our brain's
capacity to change, and it doesit throughout our lifetime, and
it can be for good or for evil.
(33:30):
In other words, our brains canneuroplastically respond to
chronic stress, to trauma.
Anything that we experiencerepeated exposure and practice
to can change our brains.
(33:51):
I'll say that again Anythingthat gets repeated exposure and
practice within can change ourbrains.
Okay, what does stress do, tara?
Sandy Kruse (34:03):
Talk to us about stress.
Tara Bonner (34:05):
So stress can absolutely change At a very
level.
It can change temporarily.
So when we are stressed ourcognitive function decreases
again, even temporarily.
And we all know that feelingright, if we're not on time,
(34:29):
when we're late for something,we can't find our keys.
Why is it only when we are verylate for something?
Suddenly the well-organizedmachine that is our front foyer
is in disarray.
It's because our cognitivecapacities to stay focused, to
problem solve, to remember, areunder functioning.
So stress will absolutely, eventemporarily, negatively affect
(34:53):
our cognition.
But when we talk about chronicstress, the research does
indicate that something evenmore significant is happening.
And when we move from chronicstress, even to trauma, there is
research suggesting that itprobably is having the same
(35:15):
effect.
Trauma and chronic trauma, ptsdfor example, can have the same
effect as brain injury, as braindamage, meaning the brain is
structurally changing because ofthat repeated exposure to
(35:35):
stress, to trauma, to negativeexperiences.
And it's the same principle,sandy, as addiction, because
when the brain is exposed to acertain behavior or a certain
tendency or a certain stimuliover and over and over and over
again, the brain will rewireitself to literally require that
(36:00):
.
So neuroplasticity in and ofitself, as I said, is a neutral
concept.
It can be our brain can berewired negatively, or it can be
rewired positively.
Sandy Kruse (36:17):
Okay, so you mentioned.
I just want to tap into whatyou just said because you
mentioned addictions, because Imean, I'm sure you've seen
Huberman.
He talks a lot about howcertain substances can affect
the brain starts to shrink.
(36:38):
But there are certain thingsthat can happen to the brain
with the addictions too, right,like too much alcohol.
Well, your brain's alreadyshrinking as we age, and then
(37:01):
you throw in a lot of booze.
It's going to shrink even moreright.
Aren't there certain habitssmoking, alcohol, drug use, all
of that?
What does that do to the brain?
Tara Bonner (37:14):
Well, as you say, it's their habits, it's habitual
and any habitual activity willrewire our brains, can create
new neurons, new connections,new pathways, until that that
habit pathways until that habitsorry for that habit to for that
(37:36):
activity or behavior to becomehabitual.
So anything we do in a veryrepetitive and focused way will
change our brain's connectivity.
Focused way will change ourbrain's connectivity.
(37:57):
So those tendencies of relyingon substances or using
substances in a repeated,sustained pattern of activity
will ultimately change theconnections within and between
our brains and it will obviouslyaffect ourselves functionally,
structurally.
It will likely have changes toour brains.
Therefore, functionally, inother words how we operate, and
(38:20):
then therefore, psychologically.
Right, there is a distinctionbetween our, our cognition and
our psychology, but it it's,it's starting in the same place.
In other words, it is ourbrains, our cognitive
functionings that aredetermining, uh, our psychology,
(38:41):
how we, how we respondemotionally, how we regulate
ourselves, how we perceiveourselves, how we perceive
others, how we even our socialinteractions.
That is all happening in ourbrains.
So the addictions piece andI'll be clear that it's
certainly not my area ofexpertise, but it again stands
to reason that anything that weare doing, any behavior that we
(39:05):
are doing in a repeated andsustained and even specific way
will lead to brain change.
Sandy Kruse (39:14):
I like how you described neuroplasticity, that
it's kind of like this scale,like I'm picturing what you're
saying.
It's like the scale.
So one of the things I wasactually saying I feel since I
started my podcast, I feel likeI've gotten smarter, like like I
(39:34):
feel I feel like I'm learningall the time.
Tara, I'm having incredibleengaging conversations like this
one today, where I'm alwayslearning and and and grasping
new concepts and and so I findit fascinating.
(39:54):
And listen, I used to be asmoker.
I smoked for 20 years and thehardest part for me was not the
nicotine side, it was the wholepsychological addiction Having
something going somewhere doingsomething, having that
(40:17):
connection with others.
Tara Bonner (40:18):
There was a psychological reliance on that
habit.
I absolutely understand that.
And I love, love, sandy, thatyou're seeing.
You know.
You say you're getting smarterand you, you are, you're, you
are experienced.
Every time you identify a newidea, even if that idea is in a
(40:41):
conversation, and you thinkabout it, you are stimulating
your brain, you are taxing yourbrain and as soon as you say not
interested, no, don't agree, no, I'm not, not for me, then
you're shutting down theopportunity, you are lessening
the stimulation to your brain.
(41:02):
Folks who that socialengagement being so important
that that cognitive experience,if you are experiencing and
making sure you are presentingyour brain with new ideas, you
are serving your brain.
(41:22):
You are giving your brain thebest you know antioxidant, the
best exercise it could possiblybe.
The brain loves new ideas.
Novelty is a huge, it's acritical element to
neuroplasticity, to positiveneuroplasticity.
Sandy Kruse (41:40):
You know my parents are elderly.
My dad is 88.
My mom or he's going to be 88this month.
I'm not going to add on ageright.
He's going to be 80 this monthand my mom is going to be 88
this month.
I'm not going to add on ageright.
He's going to be this month andmy mom is going to be 79 this
year.
And I talked to my parentsevery day.
They live in their own home.
Still they do all their ownstuff.
My mom cooks every day.
(42:00):
I'm Eastern, so we're big oncooking.
Anyway, I'll call her andshe'll be like oh, dad and I are
just playing a game, or youknow, dad, and I are going for a
walk, Dad's gone for a bikeride, you know, and I look at
them and I'm like wow, like theyare a perfect example of a
(42:25):
couple that is doing all theycan to really help their brains
age well and it doesn't matterwhat their genetics might be.
It doesn't matter that you knowsomebody may carry the APOE4
gene or whatever.
We are not our geneticsnecessarily, I mean, unless
(42:47):
you're talking about geneticmutations that are diseases that
you're born with or you know.
There are certain things,obviously, that we can't change,
but for the most part,epigenetics and diet, lifestyle,
what we do, all of that willserve us as we age.
I'm a big believer in that.
Tara Bonner (43:10):
Absolutely.
I mean we are not.
We absolutely can create ourdestinies.
I mean we know that intuitively, of course, I mean there's far
too many.
I will not be as profound asthe many people before me that
(43:30):
have described just howimportant and autonomous we are
in our health and our success.
Intentionally and cognitively,intellectually and social,
(43:53):
emotionally aware-ly, we canreally harness our brain's
ability to have a very, verypositive quality of life.
And it sounds like your parentsare hitting on some of these
key qualities, key principles,and one of them is that what you
described in terms of thatnovelty, the only thing I would
add to your mom's cooking is trya new recipe.
Sandy Kruse (44:18):
You know what?
It's funny that you say that?
Because we will talk about whatwe're cooking tonight, because
her and I love we considerourselves home chefs.
And she'll be like because herand I love we consider ourselves
home chefs, and she'll be likewhat are you making?
And then I personally cook alldifferent types of food.
And she'll be like oh, I likethat, I'm going to try that next
(44:40):
time.
How do you do it?
So she's very open to tryingnew things, which is great, like
I mean, I'm just very impressedwith my parents overall.
Tara Bonner (44:54):
I just would love to and it sounds like you're
playing a key role there too,because it's very common for
that.
When I say the aging brain, youknow people who are moving into
their senior years it's verycommon and very natural to uh,
you know, the concept ofretirement is taking it easy.
So it's.
It makes perfect sense thatthere's a tendency to kind of
(45:17):
sit back and adjust and take iteasy, and I'm here for that.
Absolutely.
There's no reason why, afteryou know decades of working hard
in your professional life, youcan't enjoy things, but make
(45:37):
sure that enjoyment is stillfresh and new and stimulating.
So you said you know travel,for example, really stimulating.
Why example?
Really stimulating?
Why?
Because you are having toproblem solve every second of
every moment of your travel time, of making sure you get to the
train on time, of looking at amenu of food that you've never
(46:00):
seen before, of trying tocommunicate with someone who
speaks a different language, ofeven just getting out of your
comfort zone.
That is cognitively stimulating.
So if we talk about novelty,keeping things fresh and new is
a huge benefit to our brain'shealth and also what we call
effortful processing.
(46:20):
Make sure it's a little hard.
Make sure it because if thetask is too easy.
If life is too easy, yourbrain's on autopilot.
You're not.
Your brain is not beingstimulated.
So give yourself the credit itdeserves.
You deserve to work a littlebit so to increase the demand of
(46:42):
that task, even just a littlebit, with a new recipe, with a
new puzzle, you know, with a newdance move, you know someone
learning how to dance?
Introduce a new element andmake it a little challenging
enough so that your brain isactually benefiting.
Sandy Kruse (47:01):
What are signs?
I guess signs that maybe we canyou know, we should.
Maybe I don't like to use theword should a good friend of
mine.
She's like you know we should.
Maybe I don't like to use theword should A good friend of
mine, she's like you know peoplewalk around shooting people a
little too much.
So let me put it in a differentway.
What do we need to look for aswe're aging?
(47:24):
That we could do more toimprove on a positive level, the
neuroplasticity in our brains.
Tara Bonner (47:33):
Hmm, I think I have two thoughts One, which is
again I will defer to you andother experts in the field of a
strong body.
In other words, all of thetenants that make our body
strong are serving our brains.
(47:53):
So nutrition, as you mentioned.
Diet is huge.
Sleep is massive.
Sleep is where our brainrecovers and repairs.
Social engagement is incrediblypositive.
Physical activity, alsomassively important for our
brains.
We talk about you know thatbeing.
(48:14):
Uh, lately there's a lot ofrecognition that movement, as
long as we are moving, ourbodies are thanking us.
It's the same for our brains,our, our movement physical
activity, particularly really,you know, hit activity.
So really intensive and shortactivities.
(48:34):
That's blood flow to the brain,that's stimulating neural
growth and connection.
So all of these again, it feelsalmost old fashioned, but make
sure you're exercising, makesure you're eating well, make
sure you're sleeping well, makesure you're staying socially
engaged.
And something else you'vementioned is stress management.
So, for sure, if we can lessenthe stressors in our life or
(49:02):
make sure we're handling them,make sure we are facing them
head on and developing tools tomanage our stress, like yoga,
meditation, exercise, again,therapy if necessary.
So keeping our stressmanagement in check is only good
(49:24):
for our brains and of coursethe other is cognitive
intentional, and of course theother is cognitive intentional,
purposeful cognitive stimulation.
So there are programs and youknow my organization is one of
them that has cognitiveprogramming, so brain exercises
that have been proven to improvecritical thinking, processing
(49:48):
speed, working, memory, all ofthese key elements of our
intellectual activity.
So I don't think I'm sharinganything too inspired.
If we're taking care of ourbrains is very similar to taking
care of our overall wellness,very similar to taking care of
our overall wellness.
Sandy Kruse (50:09):
Okay.
So what are signs that I wouldneed something like this?
Like am I going to be moreforgetful?
I'm only 55.
Like what are the signs?
When should I be concerned?
Tara Bonner (50:24):
So, sandy, I would argue that we shouldn't wait for
that.
And I know, know again, almostintuitively, you and your
audience are motivated when wetalk about health and wellness,
this idea of preventative.
So I would argue that ourbrains health, uh, should be
(50:46):
part of our daily health andwellness.
You wouldn't, uh, avoid takingcare of your body or your teeth
or your skin, you know, on a day.
We have these daily habits thatmake sure we're making sure
we're taking care of ourselves,uh, and we know those days where
we don't right, we feel them.
(51:07):
We feel those days, uh, wherewe haven't had enough water, we
haven't had enough sleep, wehaven't had enough exercise.
Now, it probably is the casethat our brains are so robust we
might not notice when there's aday or two that we're not
taking care of it.
However, there's two reasons whythat's the case.
One, because, in fact, ourbrains are really always working
(51:30):
.
Our brains are never you knowthis idea that only we're only
using 10% of our brain.
Absolutely Everything we do isrequiring a pretty constant
brain activity, but,cumulatively, as the days and
the weeks and the months and theyears go on, if we're not
(51:50):
taking care of our brains, therelikely is, as you noted,
there's going to be a pointwhere we are noticing some
decreased function.
We don't have to wait for that.
In fact, I would alwaysstrongly recommend again, we all
have a brain and we have itfrom the moment we're born, so
(52:12):
let's take care of it.
So certainly the idea of justrecognizing that your brain
health is as important as anyother aspect of your uh, of your
health and wellness and, forsure, as we get older,
particularly if you do see eventiny tendencies of memory or
(52:34):
cognitive flexibility or thatprocessing speed to consider
again intentionally working yourbrain or improving your brain
is a good idea.
Sandy Kruse (52:49):
Yeah, yeah.
This has been a greatconversation.
So you guys at Aerosmith, maybelet's wrap it up and you can,
you know, give me any finalpoints and let us know where we
can find you, because you doprograms to help with
neuroplasticity.
(53:09):
So yeah, let me know.
Tara Bonner (53:12):
Sure.
So yes, we have.
So you and I are both in theToronto area.
There is a flagship locationthat offers cognitive programs
to children, to teens, adultsand seniors.
There's online programs andthere's in-person programs.
We're in Midtown, toronto, andthe program also is available in
(53:36):
organizations around the world.
So there are organizations, beit schools or community centers
or private or publicorganizations, that provide
cognitive programs to theircommunities.
The best way I could suggestfinding one of those is just
popping onto our website.
It's Aerosmith not the band,but the bow and arrow.
(53:59):
So A-R-R-O-W-S-M-I-T-H.
Aerosmithca can give you lotsof information.
I would actually alwaysrecommend someone, rather before
or as they are exploring brainhealth, to just learn as much as
they can.
As you said, just be curiousabout what does my life look
(54:20):
like and what does my world andthose who are within my world?
How can I understand myself andthem differently through what
we call a cognitive lens?
How can I understand myself andthem differently through what
we call a cognitive lens?
What's happening in our brainswhen I am frustrated, when I am
confused, when I am forgettingsomething?
What's happening in the brainsof my spouse or my parent or my
(54:43):
child when they seem to react orrespond in a certain way.
What's the underlying cognitiveelement happening there?
So, that's for sure, ourwebsite, but even in general, to
be kind of curious about howour brain plays a role in our
day-to-day activity and ourwell-being, and if there's an
(55:08):
opportunity to strengthen it ora motivation to really improve
some parts of your brain.
Uh, yeah, there's, there'sproviders around the world that
that offer cognitive programming, uh, to their own communities.
So, uh, all around the us andcanada, australia, new zealand
uh, just thinking about how wideyour audience might be in Spain
(55:31):
, switzerland, malaysia, andI'll have the link in the show
notes.
Sandy Kruse (55:37):
The link will be in the show notes as well, so
anybody who's listening will beable to find you through the
links.
Great yeah, this has been great.
Thank you so much, tara.
I really appreciate you.
Tara Bonner (55:55):
I really enjoyed our chat.
You got me really excited forthe rest of my day to think
about all the possibilities ofhealth and wellness and where we
can go with it.
Sandy Kruse (55:59):
Great.
Thank you, tara.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
Be sure to share it withsomeone you know might benefit
and always remember when yourate, review, subscribe.
You help to support my contentand help me to keep going and
(56:22):
bringing these conversations toyou each and every week.
Join me next week for a newtopic.
Each and every week.
Join me next week for a newtopic.
New guest, new excitingconversations to help you live
your best life.
Hi everyone, it's Sa ndy Kruse, of Sandy K
Nutrition, health and LifestyleQueen.
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(00:25):
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(01:31):
Hi everyone, welcome to SandyKay Nutrition, health and
Lifestyle Queen.
Today with me, I have a specialguest.
Her name is Tara Bonner and weare going to talk all about
neuroplasticity, what it is, howimportant it is as we age and
more.
It's going to be a greatdiscussion.
I'm really excited that I wasasked to speak at a free online
(01:55):
event.
It is called the Reverse AgingSummit, with some amazing
speakers coming on May 30th.
That's when the online freeevent starts, I'm going to have
a link in this podcastdescription for you to go and
sign up.
Be sure you don't miss it.
It's free and there are someincredible speakers on this
(02:19):
panel, so I would love to seeyou there.
Love to see you there.
June 16th, I am kicking off mysummer reboot series.
I'm going to be bringing to you12 episodes that I have
recorded in the last littlewhile.
That are incredible episodesthat I feel deserve even more
attention than they alreadyreceive.
(02:40):
These are really popularepisodes, and I'm going to start
it off with my episode with JenCouch of Sober Cis, because how
many of you people out theredrink too much and party too
much in the summer?
This is why this conversationwith Jen Couch of Sober Cis is
going to be so valuable to somany people who maybe just want
(03:01):
to cut back, or maybe there'ssome of you out there who really
want to learn how to live sober.
So that's how I'm going to kickoff the summer reboot series.
I think it's going to be agreat way to do it.
So please ensure that you arefollowing my podcast.
If you're not sure where tofollow it, go to sandykruse.
ca S-A-N-D-Y-K-R-U-S-Eca to findout where you can follow my
(03:28):
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Now I'm not disappearing forthe summer, so make sure you
follow me on all my socials.
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Everywhere Instagram, facebook,TikTok, threads, you name it
(03:48):
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Then there's also Rumble.
There's a bunch of other places.
I'm also a writer.
Most of you know I did releasemy essential thyroid guide back
in 2024.
It is a simplified guide justto help those who want to
(04:09):
understand from a non-clinicalstandpoint how to keep your
thyroid gland healthy andthriving.
Most of you know I had thyroidcancer in 2011,.
Lost my thyroid gland rightduring perimenopause, and I talk
a lot about how to keep thethyroid gland healthy during
(04:31):
menopause.
Perimenopause.
I mean, I don't have a gland,but I still have medication that
controls the gland, so this iswhy it still applies to me.
But follow me on Substack.
I have my new podcast therecalled Think About it, and it's
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(04:53):
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There's so much unauthenticcontent out there with you know,
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So I always say trust yourself,and I write a lot about this.
(05:14):
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(06:42):
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I'm going to keep going becausethis is my passion and for me
it's always passion over profit.
So now let's cut on through tothis amazing episode all about
(07:04):
neuroplasticity.
Hi everyone, welcome to Sandy KNutrition, health and Lifestyle
Queen.
Today, my guest is Tara Bonner.
She is a chief neuroeducationofficer and she inspires
audiences to think differentlyabout the brain and its capacity
to change.
(07:24):
Differently about the brain andits capacity to change.
Tara has spent nearly 20 yearsbridging the gap between
neuroscience and education.
An experienced educator, leader, consultant and speaker, tara
collaborates with educators,leaders and advocates worldwide.
She can demystify commonmisconceptions in learning and
(07:45):
discuss how neuroplasticity hasthe potential to reshape
education as we know it.
And today, tara and I are goingto talk about neuroplasticity,
but we're going to actually talkabout it as it relates to the
aging brain, and I know thatmost of you who follow me are,
(08:06):
you know, probably over 40 or so.
A lot of women follow me and alot of women going through
menopause, perimenopause and,hey, there are things that
happen even younger to ourbrains.
But for this conversation we'regoing to talk about how we can
support neuroplasticity as weage and as our brains age.
(08:30):
And with that, welcome Tara.
Thank you so much for coming.
Tara Bonner (08:34):
Lovely to be here, Sandy.
I'm excited to dive into this.
Sandy Kruse (08:38):
Me too.
So you have to let us know whatyour background is and why you
got into this field.
Tara Bonner (08:45):
Sure Well as you mentioned, I come from a
teaching background, a fairlytraditional teaching background,
where I helped students learn.
I worked in different schools.
I actually worked in differentcountries, different types of
schools, different types ofclassrooms, different types of
learners, but I was always drawnto the same learner, the same
(09:06):
type of learner, and these werelearners who were struggling.
They were underperforming orunderachieving or they had even
recognized learning difficulties.
And I was drawn to them because, despite their outcomes,
despite their underperformance,I could see they were working
(09:27):
incredibly hard.
It wasn't that they weren't.
If only they tried, if onlythey were more motivated.
I could see very clearly thatthey were working incredibly
hard and yet still falling short.
And I knew I was working hardas a teacher and I wasn't able
to reach them.
And I knew that they had allthe all resources and family
(09:47):
support, and yet it was still astruggle.
And I was always curious aboutthat.
What is that relationshipbetween effort and outcome?
And it wasn't until almost 20years ago now that I came across
a very different way ofunderstanding learning and
understanding the educationalsystem, which is a
(10:08):
neuroeducational perspectivethat the brain is responsible
for how we learn and why westruggle to learn, and that our
brains can actually be harnessedto improve that learning
experience.
So that really was a pivotalmoment in my career and, frankly
, in my personal pedagogy tounderstand what is the role of
(10:33):
the brain in our day-to-dayexperiences, in our learning,
our performance and our health,our mental health, our physical
health.
So it put me on a verydifferent trajectory of how I
can help myself and my studentsand, these days, others around
the world to think about thebrain, think about the brain
(10:53):
differently and make sure thatit's part of any conversation.
Sandy Kruse (10:57):
I think it's really important to start with what
happens to the brain as we age,because I think that we go
through a lot of changes.
obviously, you know I almostlook at our lives in the form of
decades right, Sure, this isthe decade that yeah it's like
this is the decade that if youwant to have kids, you're
(11:19):
probably going to want to do itaround this time.
This is the decade that you'regoing to have your
perimenopausal years and I'mspeaking from a woman's
perspective.
But what happens to the brainduring the times when we start?
Let's just even say whathappens from perimenopause or
menopause onward.
Tara Bonner (11:41):
I can speak to that and though, sandy, I love your
concept that our lives are thesedecades, these chapters, these
seasons of our lives, and I willsay the brain is a main
character throughout all ofthose different stages.
(12:02):
And you hear that, right, youhear that the teenage brain, or
the pregnancy brain, or themenopause brain, or the senior
brain, it's somewhat you knowthey're casual comments but what
we're talking about here arethese different stages of our
lives, or these differentperiods of our lives where it's
clear that the brain is or weare not operating optimally.
(12:26):
And the reality is, sometimesthere are external events that
are causing, uh us to notoperate optimally.
And there's also very specific,inevitable developmental
changes, hormonal changeshappening throughout our life,
uh life, that impact how wenavigate our lives.
(12:48):
And definitely our brains,again, are center and central to
all of that and to your point.
Of course, it's naturally,developmentally expected, that
throughout our lives, andparticularly when we hit
probably 40 or 50, our brainsstart to get weaker and they
(13:11):
actually are shrinking in volume.
Our brains are starting toshrink in volume.
There's a loss of synapticconnections, which essentially
just means slower communicationbetween different regions of the
brain.
There's changes inneurotransmitters, which are the
(13:31):
chemicals that help neuronscommunicate, and there are
degenerative diseases that mayhappen, sometimes quite early in
people's lives.
But even more practically,practically and this is
certainly where I want to talkand hopefully this is where our
conversation can focus is,practically speaking, that
(13:53):
inevitably there is anexperience of decrease in
function, right?
So thinking about, thinking,thinking about, at some point,
it takes us more time.
We notice it's taking us moretime to to think, to make sense
of something, to understandsomething, comprehend something,
we have to read something acouple of times before it makes
(14:14):
sense to us.
We have to ask someone torepeat themselves or speak more
slowly.
That is our processing speeddecreasing.
There's a specific cognitivefunction, cognitive process in
our brain that it's like thelight bulb that goes off in our
heads when we understandsomething and the functionality
(14:35):
of that function, of thatprocess, is decreasing as we age
.
There's also changes in memory,of course, not remembering new
information, or someone's justtold us their name and we can't
remember it.
Or where have we left our keys,or can we keep track of
multiple pieces of information.
And that starts, sure, as earlyas our our 40s, and certainly
(14:57):
in moving into the senior yearsit can be much more difficult
for us cognitively to hold on toinformation, to process the
information and even just tohold on to it.
The other piece that tends tohappen as we get older is what's
called our cognitiveflexibility, so the ability, the
cognitive ability, theintellectual ability to frankly
(15:21):
change our minds, to be able toswitch between tasks and
thoughts, to adjust to newinformation or changing
environments.
This is really interesting to methese days politically and
we've had this conversation,sandy that the world at times
feels very divisive there's acognitive piece at play here
(15:42):
that it is cognitivelychallenging as we get older to
change our minds, to receive newinformation and to process it.
So that certainly is happeningin our older generation.
My mother, for example, who's81, she describes that her kids
(16:04):
and grandkids have actually canhelp her process a new idea, a
new ideology, a new concept.
That is hard for her.
It's not that she's an oldfuddy-duddy, it's that it's
cognitively more challenging forher.
Her brain does not have thesame cognitive flexibility as it
(16:24):
did when she was younger.
So that's a big piece I thinkthat we often dismiss as a kind
of a personality trait.
We often dismiss as a kind of apersonality trait, you know, or
like he's just a grumpy old man, but there's something at play
here in our gorgeous three poundorgan in our skulls that is
(16:46):
more difficult.
Sandy Kruse (16:48):
So that actually goes to that whole saying you
can't teach an old dog newtricks, right, and so what
you're saying is we can teach anold dog new tricks and some of
the you know.
I read some research, and I'msure you know this, about how
when elderly parents,grandparents, hang out with
(17:14):
their grandchildren,great-grandchildren, it actually
helps their brains.
Did you read that?
Tara Bonner (17:23):
It certainly makes sense.
It's certainly well understoodthat social engagement is an
incredibly.
It's not just positive, it'snot just a nice to have, it's a
must have.
When we talk about brain health, social engagement is a must
have, you know, and we can movethere, Sandy, because if you
(17:45):
know, if your audience iscurious about taking care of
their brains, we can talk abouthow to intentionally improve our
brains.
But even at a baseline, thereare some key tenets to making
sure our brains are healthy.
I know you, Sandy, are anexpert in this idea of holistic
(18:09):
care, holistic health andwellness, and so I know you, I
will defer to you when it comesto things like nutrition, diet.
Sandy Kruse (18:16):
But I also want to go back, so before we get to
that.
I want to go back to somethingthat you said about flexibility
and thinking, because I alsoread some research about
critical thinking skills and howsomething has happened to many
individuals in the world wherethat has sort of been lost, and
(18:41):
I have actually read research toindicate.
Listen, I'm not going to insultanybody here who's listening to
my podcast, but if you're oneof those individuals that has
trouble critically analyzing apiece of information and you
(19:03):
don't have the flexibility,there are some studies out there
that say, you know, maybe workon your neuroplasticity or your
brain health.
I'm trying to say this in anice way, but maybe I should
just come out and say it.
There are some things out therethat indicate if you can't
think critically, you arelacking the skill set and the
(19:26):
intelligence to be able toprocess the information, and
there are ways that you canchange that.
But the research says that.
I don't usually mince my words,so that's what I'm going to say
.
Tara Bonner (19:40):
Very diplomatic of you, but I agree you don't have
to.
I think there's a real stigma.
I know, I know they're in theeducational field, but even in
the professional, corporatefield there's a stigma against
those who struggle with learningright that when someone is
having a hard time making adecision or completing a task on
(20:01):
time or completing a taskcorrectly, they are either not
intelligent or not trying hardenough, or they're inflexible or
they're stubborn.
So there are these tendencies.
There's a real stigma attachedto poor performance or
underperformance or lack ofcritical thinking, and I think
(20:24):
that's unfair and I think it'sunnecessary and it's inaccurate.
It's inaccurate because it'smisunderstood.
At the very least.
There are key parts of our brainthey're right here I'm pointing
I don't know if we're video andaudio, but if you're only
listening to this, I'm pointingright at my forehead there are
two key cognitive functions inour prefrontal lobe, often
(20:49):
called executive function areas,or the CEO of our brain, in our
left and right hemisphere, andthese are the brain areas that
that critically think, that areconstantly generating ideas and
analyzing ideas and making senseof what is worth focusing on
(21:11):
and what and what can bedismissed.
So it inhibits distractions andit stays focused on what's
critical, and if those cognitivefunctions are under-functioning
even just a mild degree, thenexactly what you're describing
critical thinking, processingcapacity, judgment,
decision-making that's going tobe weak, and there doesn't need
(21:36):
to be a stigma around someonewho might have those
difficulties because, as you say, they can be improved, and not
only they can be improved, theymust be improved, they must be
strong, particularly in theworld that we live in right now,
and I appreciate your audienceisn't necessarily a group of
educators, but there are manyparents or grandparents or just
(21:57):
individuals who are observing avery strange and fascinating
time in the world right now,where AI and technology in
general and convenience cultureis actually lessening our need
(22:23):
to think.
Everything is being done for usand so our brains are becoming
more passive because of thatconvenience, because of that
on-demand and ease with whichour society has very
intentionally been created, andthat is having a dramatic impact
on our brains.
We've seen it In our work.
(22:43):
We support individuals andschools and organizations to
provide cognitive programming,and what we have seen over the
decades is, when we measurepeople's cognitive function,
particularly in these areas ofcritical thinking and processing
and cognitive function, it'slikely that those areas are
(23:05):
getting weaker as the decades goon.
Now, speaking of sayingsomething dramatic or fatalistic
, I mean it's relatively smallsample sizes we're looking at in
the hundreds, not in the tensof thousands.
And automatic the world, theex-turtle world, is becoming.
(23:38):
It really behooves us to makesure that we don't lose the
opportunity of stayingcognitively active ourselves,
because it will affect our brainfunction, even structurally.
Sandy Kruse (23:46):
I think you just answered one of the problems of
the world right now.
Tara Bonner (23:52):
Sure, why not?
No, but think about it On youraverage Wednesday.
Sandy Kruse (23:58):
If you think about it, what you're saying makes a
lot of logical sense.
So I'm saying we're seeing alot less of the ability to
really critically think andanalyze and I'm speaking about
adults, so I'm not talking aboutchildren, who are born with
some certain developmentalissues or anything like that I'm
(24:19):
talking about people who arejust very, very unable to see
things on a broader scope, toanalyze the information.
So what I am seeing is that it'salmost like everything is
handed just what you said.
It's handed to us on a silverplatter without thinking about
(24:40):
it.
On a silver screen, yeah, on asilver screen.
Right, and I'm?
I am a 1970 baby.
I grew up in the era where if Iwanted to do a paper on
whatever it is that I'mresearching, I'd have to scour
through, you know, I don't knowhow many Encyclopedia
Britannicas that were on theshelves, but I had to work so
(25:04):
hard for that information.
That's making my brain work.
I still do that and I will see,tara.
People will go on social mediaand they will look at that 30
second clip from somebody who'slabeled an expert and who is
just simply reciting oneresearch article and they'll go
(25:27):
nope, this is how it is.
I saw it from so-and-so.
I'm like no, no, you need tolook at a number of research
articles.
You need to look at personalresonance.
You need to look at and I'mspeaking about health for
ourselves we need to look withinas well as what we're seeing
externally.
But people are not used to thatanymore.
(25:49):
We're used to gettingeverything handed to us, so that
is a big thing for people totake away.
Is that work for theinformation?
It's good for your brain right?
Tara Bonner (26:01):
It absolutely is.
And, to be clear, personally orprofessionally, I'm not
anti-innovation oranti-technology.
I think there's an incrediblepotential for, for example, ai
to really talk about the world'sproblems.
(26:23):
I mean really to solve someincredibly complex issues, you
know, by virtue of its abilityto take massive data points and
synthesize them very quickly.
I mean, there's no question.
However, to your point, sandy,we must make sure that we are
(26:44):
navigating this new world, thisnew landscape, with our brains.
It, it is our brains, that willbe the humanity and the true
intelligence, through thisconvenience culture and
particularly social media.
I'm not suggesting and I don'tthink you are either that social
(27:07):
media in and of itself is thedanger.
It's the human tendency to bepassive, cognitively passive,
when something is presented tous that is easy or convenient.
And we must push past thatbecause it will serve us better
(27:30):
if, as long as we keep franklyusing our brains.
Because the moment we, uh, weare on autopilot in the process
of thinking, thinking critically, thinking rationally, thinking
with judgment, even thinking, uh, skeptically I don't mean
critically, but, you know, with,with curiosity maybe that's the
(27:52):
better word to be curious aboutwhat we're reading and what
we're hearing and what we'relearning about.
That must be maintained inorder for us to stay healthy as
individuals and, frankly, as asociety.
Sandy Kruse (28:07):
Yeah, and you mentioned AI Interesting sidebar
, ai Interesting sidebar.
Somebody sent me a DM in mycommunity and said hey, like
what do you think of chat GPTand we're speaking directly as
it relates to health andwellness and do you use it?
And my answer was yes, I do.
However, what I have noticed isthat if you blindly ask a
(28:34):
question that you know nothingabout, you may not be getting an
answer that would be deemedcorrect.
And I'll give you an example.
My husband knows nothing abouthealth, like nothing, complete
opposite.
So if he was going to type inhey, tell me about testosterone
(29:01):
for men over 50, he would get avery different answer than if I
was using chat GPT, because Ihave a lot of knowledge.
So it goes to your point ofhaving your own brain and using
the technology just to kind ofenhance the function of what you
(29:22):
need it for, as opposed torelying on it entirely.
Tara Bonner (29:27):
Absolutely and I think I mean honestly I use AI
as Google.
In other words, you know, weknow that Google has become this
.
I don't mean to promote ordenigrate Google, but we use an
internet server, as you know, asour microfiche these days right
(29:51):
.
As our microfiche these days,right.
It gives us massive amounts ofinformation and we have to be
really smart with what out ofthose Google results, what we're
clicking on, what we read, howaccurate it is.
We need to cross-reference, weneed to do a lot more.
We can't just take what we findin Google as face value.
Same idea with AI.
It's absolutely impressivebecause it can again, it can.
(30:17):
It can take massive amountsinformation and give you a bit
of a summary about that in uh,detail, but it's still prone to
errors and it still requires ourcritical thinking.
And if we're not doing thatjust like if we were to do a
Google search and click thefirst thing that came up and not
(30:37):
notice that that first resultwas sponsored by or you know we
have it's no different.
I actually don't see it asbeing any significantly
different than, frankly, perhapseven the last few decades since
the written word, since thewritten word, even encyclopedia
(30:59):
britannica, even, uh, microfiche, we have to do the work
cognitively, intellectually, toto problem solve, to make sense
of it, to think independently,to adapt to new learning, to
talk about it, to talk about itwith people who you know.
(31:20):
That's one of the things thatthere's really interesting
research about, how important itis.
You mentioned social life, butmaybe talking to people that
don't have the same opinion asyou, maybe hearing other
people's points of view, so thatyou can stay cognitively
flexible.
I'm not saying uh to you know,to get into a necessarily an
(31:48):
aggressive debate, but there'snothing actually wrong.
There's something verycognitively healthy about
disagreeing with someone andultimately coming to a point,
perhaps, whether it's acompromise or just an agreeing
to disagree, but that's anintellectual exercise in and of
itself.
So I think there's so much here, sandy.
(32:10):
I mean I feel like we shoulddedicate another podcast to how
to make sure your brain ishealthy when navigating social
media and AI.
But in and of itself, it'sneutral, right, there's nothing
negative or positive about it.
The question is, how are wegoing to take control of it?
(32:31):
How are we going to harness ourown capacity to think and
problem solve and thinkcritically so that we can stay
ahead of it?
Sandy Kruse (32:40):
So let's get into neuroplasticity.
What exactly is the definitionof neuroplasticity?
What does it mean?
Tara Bonner (32:48):
So it, as I said, it is neutral.
Actually, the concept ofneuroplasticity is very simply a
very naturally occurringprocess in our brains that it is
constantly changing.
Our brains are constantlychanging.
They are plastic, they aremoldable, they grow new
(33:09):
dendrites, new neurons, theygrow new connections between and
within processes of the brain.
So, very simply put,neuroplasticity is our brain's
capacity to change, and it doesit throughout our lifetime, and
it can be for good or for evil.
(33:30):
In other words, our brains canneuroplastically respond to
chronic stress, to trauma.
Anything that we experiencerepeated exposure and practice
to can change our brains.
(33:51):
I'll say that again Anythingthat gets repeated exposure and
practice within can change ourbrains.
Okay, what does stress do, tara?
Sandy Kruse (34:03):
Talk to us about stress.
Tara Bonner (34:05):
So stress can absolutely change At a very
level.
It can change temporarily.
So when we are stressed ourcognitive function decreases
again, even temporarily.
And we all know that feelingright, if we're not on time,
(34:29):
when we're late for something,we can't find our keys.
Why is it only when we are verylate for something?
Suddenly the well-organizedmachine that is our front foyer
is in disarray.
It's because our cognitivecapacities to stay focused, to
problem solve, to remember, areunder functioning.
So stress will absolutely, eventemporarily, negatively affect
(34:53):
our cognition.
But when we talk about chronicstress, the research does
indicate that something evenmore significant is happening.
And when we move from chronicstress, even to trauma, there is
research suggesting that itprobably is having the same
(35:15):
effect.
Trauma and chronic trauma, ptsdfor example, can have the same
effect as brain injury, as braindamage, meaning the brain is
structurally changing because ofthat repeated exposure to
(35:35):
stress, to trauma, to negativeexperiences.
And it's the same principle,sandy, as addiction, because
when the brain is exposed to acertain behavior or a certain
tendency or a certain stimuliover and over and over and over
again, the brain will rewireitself to literally require that
(36:00):
.
So neuroplasticity in and ofitself, as I said, is a neutral
concept.
It can be our brain can berewired negatively, or it can be
rewired positively.
Sandy Kruse (36:17):
Okay, so you mentioned.
I just want to tap into whatyou just said because you
mentioned addictions, because Imean, I'm sure you've seen
Huberman.
He talks a lot about howcertain substances can affect
the brain starts to shrink.
(36:38):
But there are certain thingsthat can happen to the brain
with the addictions too, right,like too much alcohol.
Well, your brain's alreadyshrinking as we age, and then
(37:01):
you throw in a lot of booze.
It's going to shrink even moreright.
Aren't there certain habitssmoking, alcohol, drug use, all
of that?
What does that do to the brain?
Tara Bonner (37:14):
Well, as you say, it's their habits, it's habitual
and any habitual activity willrewire our brains, can create
new neurons, new connections,new pathways, until that that
habit pathways until that habitsorry for that habit to for that
(37:36):
activity or behavior to becomehabitual.
So anything we do in a veryrepetitive and focused way will
change our brain's connectivity.
Focused way will change ourbrain's connectivity.
(37:57):
So those tendencies of relyingon substances or using
substances in a repeated,sustained pattern of activity
will ultimately change theconnections within and between
our brains and it will obviouslyaffect ourselves functionally,
structurally.
It will likely have changes toour brains.
Therefore, functionally, inother words how we operate, and
(38:20):
then therefore, psychologically.
Right, there is a distinctionbetween our, our cognition and
our psychology, but it it's,it's starting in the same place.
In other words, it is ourbrains, our cognitive
functionings that aredetermining, uh, our psychology,
(38:41):
how we, how we respondemotionally, how we regulate
ourselves, how we perceiveourselves, how we perceive
others, how we even our socialinteractions.
That is all happening in ourbrains.
So the addictions piece andI'll be clear that it's
certainly not my area ofexpertise, but it again stands
to reason that anything that weare doing, any behavior that we
(39:05):
are doing in a repeated andsustained and even specific way
will lead to brain change.
Sandy Kruse (39:14):
I like how you described neuroplasticity, that
it's kind of like this scale,like I'm picturing what you're
saying.
It's like the scale.
So one of the things I wasactually saying I feel since I
started my podcast, I feel likeI've gotten smarter, like like I
(39:34):
feel I feel like I'm learningall the time.
Tara, I'm having incredibleengaging conversations like this
one today, where I'm alwayslearning and and and grasping
new concepts and and so I findit fascinating.
(39:54):
And listen, I used to be asmoker.
I smoked for 20 years and thehardest part for me was not the
nicotine side, it was the wholepsychological addiction Having
something going somewhere doingsomething, having that
(40:17):
connection with others.
Tara Bonner (40:18):
There was a psychological reliance on that
habit.
I absolutely understand that.
And I love, love, sandy, thatyou're seeing.
You know.
You say you're getting smarterand you, you are, you're, you
are experienced.
Every time you identify a newidea, even if that idea is in a
(40:41):
conversation, and you thinkabout it, you are stimulating
your brain, you are taxing yourbrain and as soon as you say not
interested, no, don't agree, no, I'm not, not for me, then
you're shutting down theopportunity, you are lessening
the stimulation to your brain.
(41:02):
Folks who that socialengagement being so important
that that cognitive experience,if you are experiencing and
making sure you are presentingyour brain with new ideas, you
are serving your brain.
(41:22):
You are giving your brain thebest you know antioxidant, the
best exercise it could possiblybe.
The brain loves new ideas.
Novelty is a huge, it's acritical element to
neuroplasticity, to positiveneuroplasticity.
Sandy Kruse (41:40):
You know my parents are elderly.
My dad is 88.
My mom or he's going to be 88this month.
I'm not going to add on ageright.
He's going to be 80 this monthand my mom is going to be 88
this month.
I'm not going to add on ageright.
He's going to be this month andmy mom is going to be 79 this
year.
And I talked to my parentsevery day.
They live in their own home.
Still they do all their ownstuff.
My mom cooks every day.
(42:00):
I'm Eastern, so we're big oncooking.
Anyway, I'll call her andshe'll be like oh, dad and I are
just playing a game, or youknow, dad, and I are going for a
walk, Dad's gone for a bikeride, you know, and I look at
them and I'm like wow, like theyare a perfect example of a
(42:25):
couple that is doing all theycan to really help their brains
age well and it doesn't matterwhat their genetics might be.
It doesn't matter that you knowsomebody may carry the APOE4
gene or whatever.
We are not our geneticsnecessarily, I mean, unless
(42:47):
you're talking about geneticmutations that are diseases that
you're born with or you know.
There are certain things,obviously, that we can't change,
but for the most part,epigenetics and diet, lifestyle,
what we do, all of that willserve us as we age.
I'm a big believer in that.
Tara Bonner (43:10):
Absolutely.
I mean we are not.
We absolutely can create ourdestinies.
I mean we know that intuitively, of course, I mean there's far
too many.
I will not be as profound asthe many people before me that
(43:30):
have described just howimportant and autonomous we are
in our health and our success.
Intentionally and cognitively,intellectually and social,
(43:53):
emotionally aware-ly, we canreally harness our brain's
ability to have a very, verypositive quality of life.
And it sounds like your parentsare hitting on some of these
key qualities, key principles,and one of them is that what you
described in terms of thatnovelty, the only thing I would
add to your mom's cooking is trya new recipe.
Sandy Kruse (44:18):
You know what?
It's funny that you say that?
Because we will talk about whatwe're cooking tonight, because
her and I love we considerourselves home chefs.
And she'll be like because herand I love we consider ourselves
home chefs, and she'll be likewhat are you making?
And then I personally cook alldifferent types of food.
And she'll be like oh, I likethat, I'm going to try that next
(44:40):
time.
How do you do it?
So she's very open to tryingnew things, which is great, like
I mean, I'm just very impressedwith my parents overall.
Tara Bonner (44:54):
I just would love to and it sounds like you're
playing a key role there too,because it's very common for
that.
When I say the aging brain, youknow people who are moving into
their senior years it's verycommon and very natural to uh,
you know, the concept ofretirement is taking it easy.
So it's.
It makes perfect sense thatthere's a tendency to kind of
(45:17):
sit back and adjust and take iteasy, and I'm here for that.
Absolutely.
There's no reason why, afteryou know decades of working hard
in your professional life, youcan't enjoy things, but make
(45:37):
sure that enjoyment is stillfresh and new and stimulating.
So you said you know travel,for example, really stimulating.
Why example?
Really stimulating?
Why?
Because you are having toproblem solve every second of
every moment of your travel time, of making sure you get to the
train on time, of looking at amenu of food that you've never
(46:00):
seen before, of trying tocommunicate with someone who
speaks a different language, ofeven just getting out of your
comfort zone.
That is cognitively stimulating.
So if we talk about novelty,keeping things fresh and new is
a huge benefit to our brain'shealth and also what we call
effortful processing.
(46:20):
Make sure it's a little hard.
Make sure it because if thetask is too easy.
If life is too easy, yourbrain's on autopilot.
You're not.
Your brain is not beingstimulated.
So give yourself the credit itdeserves.
You deserve to work a littlebit so to increase the demand of
(46:42):
that task, even just a littlebit, with a new recipe, with a
new puzzle, you know, with a newdance move, you know someone
learning how to dance?
Introduce a new element andmake it a little challenging
enough so that your brain isactually benefiting.
Sandy Kruse (47:01):
What are signs?
I guess signs that maybe we canyou know, we should.
Maybe I don't like to use theword should a good friend of
mine.
She's like you know we should.
Maybe I don't like to use theword should A good friend of
mine, she's like you know peoplewalk around shooting people a
little too much.
So let me put it in a differentway.
What do we need to look for aswe're aging?
(47:24):
That we could do more toimprove on a positive level, the
neuroplasticity in our brains.
Tara Bonner (47:33):
Hmm, I think I have two thoughts One, which is
again I will defer to you andother experts in the field of a
strong body.
In other words, all of thetenants that make our body
strong are serving our brains.
(47:53):
So nutrition, as you mentioned.
Diet is huge.
Sleep is massive.
Sleep is where our brainrecovers and repairs.
Social engagement is incrediblypositive.
Physical activity, alsomassively important for our
brains.
We talk about you know thatbeing.
(48:14):
Uh, lately there's a lot ofrecognition that movement, as
long as we are moving, ourbodies are thanking us.
It's the same for our brains,our, our movement physical
activity, particularly really,you know, hit activity.
So really intensive and shortactivities.
(48:34):
That's blood flow to the brain,that's stimulating neural
growth and connection.
So all of these again, it feelsalmost old fashioned, but make
sure you're exercising, makesure you're eating well, make
sure you're sleeping well, makesure you're staying socially
engaged.
And something else you'vementioned is stress management.
So, for sure, if we can lessenthe stressors in our life or
(49:02):
make sure we're handling them,make sure we are facing them
head on and developing tools tomanage our stress, like yoga,
meditation, exercise, again,therapy if necessary.
So keeping our stressmanagement in check is only good
(49:24):
for our brains and of coursethe other is cognitive
intentional, and of course theother is cognitive intentional,
purposeful cognitive stimulation.
So there are programs and youknow my organization is one of
them that has cognitiveprogramming, so brain exercises
that have been proven to improvecritical thinking, processing
(49:48):
speed, working, memory, all ofthese key elements of our
intellectual activity.
So I don't think I'm sharinganything too inspired.
If we're taking care of ourbrains is very similar to taking
care of our overall wellness,very similar to taking care of
our overall wellness.
Sandy Kruse (50:09):
Okay.
So what are signs that I wouldneed something like this?
Like am I going to be moreforgetful?
I'm only 55.
Like what are the signs?
When should I be concerned?
Tara Bonner (50:24):
So, sandy, I would argue that we shouldn't wait for
that.
And I know, know again, almostintuitively, you and your
audience are motivated when wetalk about health and wellness,
this idea of preventative.
So I would argue that ourbrains health, uh, should be
(50:46):
part of our daily health andwellness.
You wouldn't, uh, avoid takingcare of your body or your teeth
or your skin, you know, on a day.
We have these daily habits thatmake sure we're making sure
we're taking care of ourselves,uh, and we know those days where
we don't right, we feel them.
(51:07):
We feel those days, uh, wherewe haven't had enough water, we
haven't had enough sleep, wehaven't had enough exercise.
Now, it probably is the casethat our brains are so robust we
might not notice when there's aday or two that we're not
taking care of it.
However, there's two reasons whythat's the case.
One, because, in fact, ourbrains are really always working
(51:30):
.
Our brains are never you knowthis idea that only we're only
using 10% of our brain.
Absolutely Everything we do isrequiring a pretty constant
brain activity, but,cumulatively, as the days and
the weeks and the months and theyears go on, if we're not
(51:50):
taking care of our brains, therelikely is, as you noted,
there's going to be a pointwhere we are noticing some
decreased function.
We don't have to wait for that.
In fact, I would alwaysstrongly recommend again, we all
have a brain and we have itfrom the moment we're born, so
(52:12):
let's take care of it.
So certainly the idea of justrecognizing that your brain
health is as important as anyother aspect of your uh, of your
health and wellness and, forsure, as we get older,
particularly if you do see eventiny tendencies of memory or
(52:34):
cognitive flexibility or thatprocessing speed to consider
again intentionally working yourbrain or improving your brain
is a good idea.
Sandy Kruse (52:49):
Yeah, yeah.
This has been a greatconversation.
So you guys at Aerosmith, maybelet's wrap it up and you can,
you know, give me any finalpoints and let us know where we
can find you, because you doprograms to help with
neuroplasticity.
(53:09):
So yeah, let me know.
Tara Bonner (53:12):
Sure.
So yes, we have.
So you and I are both in theToronto area.
There is a flagship locationthat offers cognitive programs
to children, to teens, adultsand seniors.
There's online programs andthere's in-person programs.
We're in Midtown, toronto, andthe program also is available in
(53:36):
organizations around the world.
So there are organizations, beit schools or community centers
or private or publicorganizations, that provide
cognitive programs to theircommunities.
The best way I could suggestfinding one of those is just
popping onto our website.
It's Aerosmith not the band,but the bow and arrow.
(53:59):
So A-R-R-O-W-S-M-I-T-H.
Aerosmithca can give you lotsof information.
I would actually alwaysrecommend someone, rather before
or as they are exploring brainhealth, to just learn as much as
they can.
As you said, just be curiousabout what does my life look
(54:20):
like and what does my world andthose who are within my world?
How can I understand myself andthem differently through what
we call a cognitive lens?
How can I understand myself andthem differently through what
we call a cognitive lens?
What's happening in our brainswhen I am frustrated, when I am
confused, when I am forgettingsomething?
What's happening in the brainsof my spouse or my parent or my
(54:43):
child when they seem to react orrespond in a certain way.
What's the underlying cognitiveelement happening there?
So, that's for sure, ourwebsite, but even in general, to
be kind of curious about howour brain plays a role in our
day-to-day activity and ourwell-being, and if there's an
(55:08):
opportunity to strengthen it ora motivation to really improve
some parts of your brain.
Uh, yeah, there's, there'sproviders around the world that
that offer cognitive programming, uh, to their own communities.
So, uh, all around the us andcanada, australia, new zealand
uh, just thinking about how wideyour audience might be in Spain
(55:31):
, switzerland, malaysia, andI'll have the link in the show
notes.
Sandy Kruse (55:37):
The link will be in the show notes as well, so
anybody who's listening will beable to find you through the
links.
Great yeah, this has been great.
Thank you so much, tara.
I really appreciate you.
Tara Bonner (55:55):
I really enjoyed our chat.
You got me really excited forthe rest of my day to think
about all the possibilities ofhealth and wellness and where we
can go with it.
Sandy Kruse (55:59):
Great.
Thank you, tara.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
Be sure to share it withsomeone you know might benefit
and always remember when yourate, review, subscribe.
You help to support my contentand help me to keep going and
(56:22):
bringing these conversations toyou each and every week.
Join me next week for a newtopic.
Each and every week.
Join me next week for a newtopic.
New guest, new excitingconversations to help you live
your best life.
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