Brain Wash by David Perlmutter and Austin Perlmutter

The authors talk about how we’re infinitely more connected today thanks for modern technology, but very few of us are actually connecting.

That is to say, that very few of us are able to live life full of energy, intent and engagement¹.

We are constantly nudged to compare ourselves with an unattainably ideal life and when our actual life inevitably comes up short, our fear steeped attention is then sold to the highest bidder. Our brains and bodies are starved of true nourishment as we are sold energy dense but nutrient poor foods. We are told that likes and shares are equivalent to actual human to human, eye to eye physical contact but no matter how much we stay on social media we are left unfulfilled.

This happens when perverse incentives and outdated brain circuitry come together. Capitalism’s victory in the 1980s cemented it as the model to develop society around and as more and more people started thinking about how to make more and more money they quickly realised: fear will make you more money more quickly than hope ever will.

Capitalism in itself is not wrong, it is just that the incentives it generates are too unidimensional (“make more money”) and the human brain, built for a time far removed from what we live in today, is predictably exploitable. It can get nasty if left unchecked with higher order goals, though I think humanity is slowly realising that, even though we are slow to change our ways (again because we’re so concerned with money all the time).

The authors contend “Participating in our modern consumerist existence is physically changing our brains.” and “… modern life conspires to keep our brains from taking full advantage of the prefrontal cortex.“.

Even though we have left our caveman past behind, the incentive structures today would rather have us thinking we’re still in that scary world because that makes more money than being balanced and thoughtful.

This “disconnection syndrome” has the following symptoms:

1. Mindless activity
2. Loneliness
3. Chronic inflammation
4. Instant gratification
5. Narcissism
6. Poor relationships
7. Chronic stress
8. Impulsivity

The brain is sense making, pattern recognising, learning machine – and for a very long time, it was thought that after childhood your brain does not really change, but now that has been proven to be false. Our brains are plastic through much of our lives and also interestingly the way they are plastic is by the literal change of their physical structure – neurons disconnect and connect with each other basis the life you encounter. Your brain’s structure physically changes whenever you learn something new, and further the new brain structure is a more fertile ground than before for similar ideas.

You may have heard of the phrase “neurons that fire together, wire together“, I had heard myself several times before as well. But only when I read this book did it dawn on me that because the brain is plastic I can mould it to my liking by “consuming” only that knowledge and information that is aligned with my life’s intent. Also, that I should be very careful when other people attempt to do so (which happens a lot, I mean, every ad is an attempt to re-wire my brain).

The Three Brain Model

At this stage, it makes sense to talk about the “three brain model” that the authors introduce. The basic premise is that our brains evolved with three specific parts that came in serial order.

The first part to come was the brain stem and this part controls our most basic functions such as breathing. In computing parlance the brain stem is like the BIOS, without it you cannot have a higher order OS on top.

The second part to come was the limbic system, it includes things like the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, and cingulate gyrus. The goal of the limbic system is to try and make sense of the world so that the organism can successfully propagate its genes to the next generation.

It is for that reason that the limbic system is very quick and binary in figuring out what is “good” and what is “bad”. It takes quick decisions and does not think too much of the consequences.

The third part to come was the cerebral cortex. Slow and measured. Responsible for analytical thinking, empathy, reflection, contemplation and methodical thought. Regulates impulsivity and emotion.

Importantly, the cerebral cortex and amygdala take turns at the driver’s seat depending on the situation. The amygdala is the teen driver and the cerebral cortex is the fifty year old. Our modern world keeps the teen at the wheel – “The shift away from the prefrontal cortex represents [our] gravest existential threat …”.

Our brains evolved a self-reinforcing loop, that is, to keep behaving in a way that had in the past been proven to be “good” or helped avoid the “bad”. Likely because in a dangerous prehistoric environment, quick decisions were crucial.

The brain developed shortcuts to avoid having to analyse every situation from scratch. If a particular action led to safety or food in the past, reinforcing that behaviour made it more likely to be repeated quickly in similar situations. This saved valuable time and energy.

This proclivity of the brain to self-reinforce is primarily a limbic system function (initial “gut reaction”) with the cerebral cortex playing the role of modulator (stepping in to regulate that response, considering factors like consequences, long-term goals, and the specific circumstances).

Ideally, we should strengthen our cerebral cortex’s ability to regulate our limbic system, making more thoughtful, less impulsive decisions.

Unfortunately, during times of stress, whether real or imaginary and whether external (man with weapon coming at us) or internal (lack of sleep, extreme hunger) our amygdala takes over, like the teen grabbing hold of the wheel when the 50 year old is too tired to operate.

The kicker? Our modern lives keep us in chronic stress.

And finally, because of the brain’s self-reinforcing nature, the more the teen gets to drive the more it wants to drive – by which I mean the more we operate from the reactive part of our brain the more we tend to operate from it going forward.

“… chronic stress leads to changes in the physical structure of the prefrontal cortex, rendering it increasingly unable to suppress the impulsive amygdala.” (emphasis mine).

The authors spend time explaining how the modern world, in pursuit of its incentives, has ancient circuits designed to keep us safe operating against us.

I like to think about this in terms of “what goes in the brain” and “what goes in the stomach“.

What Goes in the Stomach

The authors call this the “… biological warfare taking place on our plates.“, by which they mean, similar to news and social media, the “foods” we eat today are engineered to hook us and keep us coming back for more.

They talk about how we eat food today laden with sugar, that is, one way or the other have a very high glycemic index – High GI foods activate inflammation pathways in the body, limit serotonin and impair the ability of the cerebral cortex to control and contain the impulses of the amygdala.

So again the loop is bing used against us – the more we eat sweet and savoury foods not only do we become less healthy in the moment but we also become less capable of resisting their urge in the future. We get addicted to them and eschew real food that will make us stronger and agile.

What Goes in the Brain

By this I mean the content that we consume whether knowingly or unknowingly. Specifically, I am talking about three things: advertisements, news, and social media.

All three of these, aided by ever powerful and ever more ubiquitous technology (specifically with the advent of the smart phone), lead to our brains chronically in “fight or flight” mode.

News: this is where things get insidious because news operators are supposed to be impartial, reporters of facts, but increasingly more so, and again out of compulsion, because the incentives are stacked in that way, news outlets tend to report “news” in a sensationalist and fear mongering way because that leads to more eyeballs and that insidious metric, engagement. And because of the brains, reinforcing nature, the more we look at negative news. The more we see the world negatively (confirmation bias, availability bias) and seek out the negative.

Social media: the same goes for social media, in a drive to “grow” and get more VC funding social media platforms go after increasing “engagement”. And just training an algorithm to increase engagement without regard for anything else creates “filter bubbles” where your social media platform presents to you only those ideas that you are already convinced by and invested in. Our brains are more receptive to fear and bad news than they are to good news. This leads to our social media feeds quickly becoming a torrent of negativity that severely impact our mental health.

The Data Is In

The authors point to a sources that show that despite us living in the most peaceful and abundant time ever to be seen by humanity, we are not markedly happier or satisfied with life or compassionate.

They talk about how internet addiction is inversely associated with life satisfaction. How over use of modern technology is correlated with mental health issues.

Take the T.I.M.E.

The authors reveal a test on whether or not to engage with a technology.

1. Time Restricted: There should be strict tabs on the time we will allow ourselves to use that particular technology, especially if it is one that has the potential of sucking us in, such as social media apps.
2. Intentional: we should be clear about our intent with that particular interaction, and what we hope to get out of it. We should not be mindlessly engaging like sheep.
3. Mindful: While using the technology, we should be very aware of what that technology is making us feel such as angry, anxious or happy, hopeful.
4. Enriching: We should be able to point to a clear and tangible way the technology improved our life.

After telling us about how our mind has been held hostage by the fear mongering news cycle, the social media filter bubbles, the addictive sugary foods, the authors turn their focus to telling us what we can do to free our brains from these bonds.

The thing I like best about this book it that the interventions are so accessible – the authors aren’t telling us to join fancy programs or go on exotic diets or go for expensive treatments, instead they tell us to do the simplest of things.

And indeed, I am not doubtful that these recommendations will work because our bodies did not have the luxury of evolving in abundance and so they learned to make use of things commonplace.

The authors paint a picture of how our world today looks nothing like our ancestors even just a few generations ago.

Though they could have spared the effort because this does not need imagining – we live in houses filled with artificial light, we work in hermetically sealed glass castles, our cities are concrete jungles and the only time we see a big tree is in a local park.

In fact, According to the United Nations, it’s projected that by 2050, around 7 of 10 people will live in urban areas.

But convenient as it may be to live in densely packed cities, the Perlmutters warn us against getting too comfortable indoors.

They remind us of the hygiene hypothesis and the nature deficit disorder.

They cite several studies that show how spending time outdoors, in nature and in the sunlight have extremely powerful effects, including:

• Reducing inflammation
• Decreasing stress
• Increasing immunity
• Increasing empathy

Mechanisms behind this are not fully understood but some parts are clear:

• Smell: The real outdoors, say, a vast field or a forest has a certain smell. This smell is due to phytoncides, volatile organic compounds emitted by plants, particularly trees. Studies have shown that inhaling phytoncides can increase the activity of natural killer (NK) cells, a type of white blood cell that plays a crucial role in fighting infections and cancer.

• Sunlight: Dr. Huberman has already made this very popular but it bears repeating – getting morning sunlight is especially beneficial for you. It’s a well-established scientific fact that our skin produces vitamin D when exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation from sunlight. Vitamin D is crucial for various bodily functions, including calcium absorption, bone health, immune function, and cell growth. Plus, there is growing evidence linking vitamin D to brain function and mood regulation, including its potential role in serotonin synthesis.

What you should do:

1. Wake up to natural sunlight, spend 15-20 minutes taking it (and keep your phone away!)
2. Put some plants inside your home and office, go for the low maintenance varieties like snake plant or spider plant if you’re concerned about their upkeep.
3. Spend time in nature, even if it’s your local park at least 30 minutes per week. You can also engage in Shinrin-yoku a few times a month.
4. Exercise outdoors if you can. Keep the windows open if weather permits.

The authors talk about processed foods as “an experiment that failed”. About how what passes for food today are actually chemicals whose names we won’t be able to pronounce much less know what they do. They talk about how the assault starts early with food companies marketing to young children and making them lifelong sugar and refined carb addicts.

They also talk about how our diets became less varied with the advent of agriculture (“history’s biggest fraud”) which had downstream effects on our health, referencing popular authors: Jared Diamond of “Guns, Germs, and Steel” and Yuval Harari of “Sapiens”.

They talk about how food is information that the body consumes and reacts accordingly. By which they mean that food changes our epigenome (the parts of our DNA that are active), which then changes how we feel and what we want to do. This is a double edged sword (refer earlier point on brain’s self-reinforcing nature) but is also empowering if you decide to do something about it – stop eating foods that are likely to get your teenage driver amygdala to take the wheel and eat that which get’s the mature driver prefrontal cortex to the driver’s seat.

Even I have written about the need to eat real food (using the “grandmother test” or mostly at a level 1 or 2 on the NOVA scale). And I think the authors are saying something similar: “… our DNA works best with an ancient diet.“.

What you should do:

1. Eat unsaturated fats, limit saturated fats, completely avoid trans fats.
2. Eat foods that cultivate a healthy microbiome – prebiotics (fertilisers for your microbiome, greenish bananas, oats, apples, legumes etc.), probiotics (like yoghurt, sauerkraut, kimchi and so on).
3. Limit added sugar and refined carbohydrates.
4. Have tryptophan rich foods like sesame seeds, flax seeds etc.
5. Eat organic when possible.
6. Eat non-GMO.
7. Eat the rainbow.
8. Eat grass fed meat, free range eggs.
9. Do not eat 3 hours before bed.

10. Eat wild fish.
11. Eat locally sourced and culturally appropriate foods. Experiment carefully with exotic diets.
12. Cook food at home. Prefer single-ingredient plant based foods.
13. Supplement with: DHA/EPA (fish oil), vitamin D, curcumin, MCT oil.
14. Modest quantities of gluten-free unrefined grains.
15. Have a vegetable garden at home if you can, or at least grow sprouts in a pot in the kitchen or windowsill.

The authors talk about the disastrous effects not getting enough sleep over the long term can have on our health – basically, you will die sooner if you don’t sleep well, and the time you’re alive won’t be as fun either.

Virtually every system in the body is affected by poor sleep:

• Sleep deprivation is linked with poor memory and comprehension.
• Lack of sleep increases inflammation in the body.
• Lack of sleep reduces your immunity.
• Lack of sleep makes you more irritable and less capable of handling emotions.
• Lack of sleep gives more control to the amygdala and you tend to make poor decisions. Which may further exacerbate the poor sleep problem.
• Poor sleep limits the effectiveness of the glymphatic system. Basically our “brain trash” does not get cleaned out. Not good.

The real offence however is that lack of sleep kicks off negative loops:

• Poor sleep ➡️ Poor food choices ➡️ Obesity ➡️ Poor sleep
• Poor sleep ➡️ Social withdrawal ➡️ Loneliness ➡️ Poor sleep
• Poor sleep ➡️ High inflammation + Compromised immune system ➡️ Increased susceptibility to disease ➡️ Poor sleep

Therefore, if there is one thing that I focus on fixing if everything in my life is going awry – it is to fix my sleep first. Everything can then be built from the sturdy foundation of a good night’s restorative sleep.

What you should do:

1. Have a sleep routine i.e., a consistent pattern of habits and activities that prepare your body and mind for sleep, helping you fall asleep easily and sleep well.
2. Limiting alcohol intake, as it can disrupt sleep later in the night.

3. Sleep in a dark room (use thick curtains if needed), do not bring your phone or anything else that emits blue light into your bedroom. Using earplugs or a white noise machine if needed.
4. Do not use your bedroom for anything else, especially anything that is stressful or stimulating like taking work calls. Your bedroom should be a sanctuary.
5. Avoiding caffeine and nicotine close to bedtime. I personally do not have coffee after 2 PM.
6. Your bedroom should be cool.

I think I read somewhere that if the benefits of exercise could be packaged in a drug, it would be the biggest blockbuster drug humanity would ever see.

There are just so many benefits to regular exercise – which includes both cardio and weight training, along with flexibility and stability exercises thrown in for good measure:

• Improves brain function, cognition, plasticity and prevents cognitive decline
• Reduces inflammation
• Reduces insulin resistivity
• Keeps cortisol in check
• Increases white matter, strengthens connection with pre-frontal cortex
• Reduces stress, counters depression, promotes a good mood

• Exercise increases Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), BDNF helps strengthen the connections between neurons, which is crucial for forming new memories and learning new things. It protects brain cells from damage and degeneration.
• Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, delivering more oxygen and nutrients. This is vital for brain function and overall brain health.
• Regular exercise promotes better sleep, which is essential for cognitive function and memory consolidation. In that way exercise and sleep can combine to make a positive loop.
• Weight training can lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer.

What you should do:

• The authors recommend at least thirty minutes of moderate exercise a day, five days a week.
• Having a gym buddy or an exercise group will help you stick to the schedule.
• Keeping your workout clothes by the door and other hacks can help you stick with the plan till the time exercising becomes second nature.

Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings or motivations of another and is a mark of a socially sophisticated mind. There are two kinds of empathy – cognitive (ability to understand the motivations of another) and affective (ability to feel the emotions of another).

“… high levels of empathy are associated with life satisfaction, rich social networks, healthy relationships, heightened workplace performance, and greater overall well-being.”.

Mindfulness and meditation in general has been shown to lower blood pressure and benefit the immune system. It also limits the activation of the default mode network (DMN), which is the network of interconnected brain regions that are most active when we’re not focused on the outside world or a doing specific task.

Think of it as your brain’s “idle mode” or “daydreaming network. The DMN isn’t “bad.” It’s actually crucial for many important cognitive functions. However, excessive DMN activity, especially when it’s focused on rumination or worry, can be linked to negative mental states.

Meditation cultivates a state of present moment awareness, shifting attention away from self-referential thoughts and mind-wandering, which are key activities of the DMN. This translates into lesser anxiety, rumination and worry.

There are many meditation activities that one can do such as the loving-kindness meditation, ecological meditation, mindfulness and so on.

Similarly, the effects of a daily gratitude practice have been well documented by researchers such as Dr. Laurie Santos and others.

Like meditation, gratitude helps to improved mental health (reduced depression and anxiety, increased happiness and positive emotions, greater resilience to stress), stronger relationships (increased empathy and compassion) and so on.

Gratitude practices direct our attention away from what we lack and towards what we have, fostering a more positive outlook.

So, in effect, the trio of meditation/mindfulness, gratitude and empathy is a powerful cocktail to mental well-being which lays the ground work for positive action in the rest of your life. Over time this should help. These practices are especially helpful (though as hard to practice) when times are stressful.

What you should do:

• The authors recommend twelve minutes of mindfulness practice per day.
• Put moments of silence in your calendar – Just after waking up or just before going to bed. This time can then be utilised towards gratitude or mindfulness or whatever else.
• Deep breathing helps relax the sympathetic nervous system and prime you for further mindfulness exercises.
• Keep a gratitude journal.
• Thank someone daily for something specific they did for you.

The authors reference the popular “longest study on happiness” whose key finding was that meaningful social connection is the biggest contributor to a healthy and happy life. The study also highlights how strong relationships act as a buffer against life’s stressors.

What you should do:

• Actively invest time and energy in connections with family, friends, community. This is not a tangential aspect of well-being; it’s central.
• Lean on your support systems during challenging times.

• Focus on quality over quantity: Few meaningful relationships where you feel understood, supported, and can be vulnerable.
• At least ten minutes of unbroken connection time with someone per day.