Is Screen Time Robbing Your Brain? How to Fix It

This is Women Road Warriors with Shelly Johnson and Cassie Ticcaro from the corporate office to the cab of a truck. They're here to inspire and empower women in all professions. So gear down, sit back and enjoy. Welcome. We're an award-winning show dedicated to empowering women in every profession through inspiring stories and expert insights. No topics off limits on our show. We Power Women on the Road to Success with expert and celebrity interviews and information you need. I'm Shelly and Kathy's on assignment. Too many of us are on our electronic gadgets. Too much. Parked in front of the computer or staring at our cell phones. Research shows excessive screen use can disrupt sleep, attention and memory, and over time may even affect areas of the brain tied to focus and emotional regulation. We all love our screen time, but maybe we shouldn't. Our guest today is an expert in how to strengthen your brain at any age. Dr. Terry Lindsay is a Harvard and UC Berkeley trained educational psychologist. She's certified in neuropsychology and the founder of Brain Matters, a brain optimization program used internationally. With more than 30 years in education, she's helped people improve focus, memory, executive functioning and processing speed. Her techniques have helped students improve test-taking skills, executive functioning and increasing processing speed. She's vastly improved issues with dyslexia, concussions and ADHD. She's also the author of Measuring Up, a science-based guide that explains how neuroplasticity works and how to train your brain for better performance. Today Dr. Lindsay is going to share some practical strategies like social connection, brain boosting games, movement and nutrition to help you continue mentally sharp and resilient. She's got some amazing insights, so we invited her on the show. I'm looking forward to talking to her. Welcome Dr. Lindsay. Thank you for being on the show. Thank you so much. This is going to be a fascinating conversation and you know your work has got to be so rewarding. And the discoveries and strides you've made had helped so many people. Could you tell our listeners how you began and what guided you in this direction? Oh gosh, that's an interesting story, so I'll try to tell you the short version of that. I'm a previous women's basketball coach and I played college basketball. I was hired in the capacity of a neuropsychologist at a private school in Santa Barbara, California. They heard that I'd coached basketball team at Beverly Hills High, so they wanted me to coach the basketball team as well. And apparently they hadn't won any games in years. And so when I took the job, that was one of the prerequisites of taking that job. So I just gave them some basic fundamental skills and the girls really did well and went all the way to CIF that year and the headmaster's daughter was on the basketball team. And so he came to me after the season was over and he said, can you do what you just did with that basketball team? Can you do that with academics? And I said, I don't know, what are you thinking? He said, if we send you to Harvard and to Berkeley and all these different colleges, can you gather the new brain research, bring it back and see if we can build something? Wow. I know. And I said, oh my gosh, that would be amazing. So that's what we did. So I went and I gathered all this new brain research, no one was using it. I brought it back and I developed skill building activities just like a coach developed skill building activities for a basketball team. And so I used the research and then we just funneled the kids in kind of like a pilot program. And then we got to see what worked and what wasn't working and how many hours did we need in all of this. So it was fabulous and they started raising their SAT scores and they started reading faster and all these things were happening and it was so exciting. And so I stayed there a few years and then finally I said, look, I need this program is too valuable and we need to do our clinical trials and then I need to get it out to everyone, to lots of kids. I said, I'll run the Brain Lab for you every summer and I'll continue to test your students. If you'll let me just take the program and go do something with it. And he said, great. And that's how it happened. So if I hadn't gone to Kate's school, this would have never been possible. So I'm so grateful to them. That's amazing. And what a fortuitous man he was to ask you to do that. Oh, I know. I know. And it was fabulous because it was right in my wheelhouse because, you know, there's fundamentals of sports. Like if you were playing tennis, for example, you need a forehand, a backhand and a serve to do well, right? Well, if you were learning in the classroom or you have just an everyday life, you need visual processing speed, you need auditory processing, you need working memory. Those are the fundamental skills for learning in the brain. And so when I realized that the brain trained exactly the way muscles trained, I thought, my gosh, I was built for this. Like, you know, it was so, it was like breathing for me to be able to develop those, those activities for people to go through them. And then it was so rewarding to see how much it helped them. So it was, yeah, I'm really grateful to have had this experience. What a concept that the brain is a muscle, essentially. It's not something that I don't think that most people usually use as an analogy, but it makes sense. And is it true as we learn we increase our gray matter? Is that true or? It is. It is. I mean, neuroplasticity is just the brain's ability to grow and adapt and change based on its experience. And so what you practice is what you hardwire. Now, it's important to make sure you're practicing the things that will move you in the direction of your goals, because the brain is always practicing. So you kind of have to ask yourself, is my brain practicing things that are going to move me in the direction of my goals? Or is my brain practicing something that's going to move me away from that? Does that make sense? Yes. And you have to wonder, with all of the gadgets we have today, are people really moving in the right direction to expand their gray matter and really exercise their brains? Well, I think that, I mean, don't get me wrong, technology is a wonderful thing, and there's a lot of convenience in it, and it can be really helpful. There's also some downsides to that, and I think it's really helpful. And I think it's really important that as we use technology that we also do the things that offset any, you know, damage that we may do by staying on screens too long or, you know, offloading to AI and those kinds of things. So I think it's really important that we offset that by doing things that keep the brain fit, right? So we're using technology as a tool instead of a crutch. Yeah, a lot of people are addicted to their phones, and I've heard that it's actually, based on the way social media is structured, it's lowering our attention spans, because we're used to seeing things that are in short little spurts. So that makes it problematic if you're trying to sit in class or learn something that's going to take a lot longer than that. Oh, I know, I know. And what are they saying? Like 61 or 67 research projects now that show that those short videos on TikTok or just the short videos in general are affecting not only attention, but self-control. So the recommendation is that you sit down and watch a movie, you know, something that lasts, something that where you sustain your attention to offset that, because if we're just doing those little snippets, and then we definitely are eroding our attention. Is it making our brains lazy? You think? Well, I don't know about making it lazy, but you know, you have to use something, you use it or you lose it, right? Yeah. And so we've known that for a long time. So, and again, you know, we only have preliminary research regarding AI right now, but you know, even the preliminary research says that if we're offloading, you know, our critical thinking skills and our memory and all of those kinds of things, to AI, our creativity, then we are eroding our own skills somewhat. So again, using it to enhance our thinking and not do the thinking for us. I agree with that. Yes, we don't want to AI to be the new creators of marvelous things, but it seems like it's going in that direction. And I think sometimes people like shortcuts, especially if it's boring. Our brains don't like to do things that are boring for some reason. I know it's interesting because it does take a lot of repetition to train an athlete or even to train a brain. It takes repetition. And sometimes the students, when they're going through, I run brain labs at Stanford and here in Pebble Beach and different places and in those brain labs, kids have a lot of repetition. And they'll ask me, the kids will say, oh, we doing this again? And I'll say, you know, when your coach has you step on that free throw line and shoot 53 throws? And they say, uh-huh. And I say, and that's repetition, right? And I said, this is what we're doing here with your brain. We're using repetition to wrap myelin around those brain circuits. So, and then once they understand that, they're like, oh, okay, okay, now I know. But you're right. You have to, our kids today, they like to know the why. You know, why are we doing that? And so I try to make sure that I tell them. Of course, as a child, I always wanted to know the why too. I think I drove the adults nuts. It does, doesn't it? Well, some of it seems stupid. It's like, why am I doing this? You know. Stay tuned for more of Women Road Warriors coming up. If you're enjoying this informative episode of Women Road Warriors, I wanted to mention Kathy and I explore all kinds of topics. So, if you're interested in the idea of women road warriors, you can find the link to the website at the bottom of the screen. And if you're interested in the idea of women road warriors, you can find the link to the website at the bottom of the screen. For this episode of Women Road Warriors, I wanted to mention Kathy and I explore all kinds of topics that will power you on the road to success. We feature a lot of expert interviews. Plus, we feature celebrities and women who've been trailblazers. Please check out our podcast at womenroadwarriors.com and click on our episodes page. We're also available wherever you listen to podcasts on all the major podcast channels like Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Amazon Music, Audible, you name it. Check us out and bookmark our podcast. Also, don't forget to follow us on social media. We're on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube and other sites. And tell others about us. We want to help as many women as possible. We're talking today about something so many people are experiencing but may not even recognize it. Mental fatigue from nonstop screen time and digital overload. Our guest, Dr. Terry Lindsay, says the good news is our brains are far more adaptable than we once believed. Through neuroplasticity, the brain can actually strengthen, heal and form new neural connections throughout our lives. Dr. Lindsay has spent more than 30 years helping both kids and adults improve focus, memory and processing speed, as well as executive functioning. We're diving into practical ways to sharpen our mental clarity and improve that long-term brain health. We all need that. Dr. Lindsay, let's continue with that conversation. Okay, so repetition. Obviously, you do that when you're trying to build muscle and strength and all of that. What does repetition do in the brain? It wraps myelin around the brain circuit so it makes whatever you're trying to do easier to do the more myelin you have wrapped around the circuit, then the easier something becomes. When you're a beginner in something, you need that repetition too. You need to make mistakes because mistakes are a huge part of success in the brain. So you make a mistake and then the brain says, oh, okay, we'll need to do it differently this next time. So that repetition is that process of learning is really, really important to do it over and over, make a mistake, then redo it and do it again. And so we talk to kids about that all the time in brain labs, how mistakes are a huge part of success. We're so glad you made that mistake in the practice because when you get in the classroom in a testing situation, you won't make it if we've made the practice harder than the game. Now you said myelin. What is that? Myelin. It's just interesting without going into all the science of it. So if you can just think of it that the thicker the myelin is wrapped around the circuit, the easier something becomes. So think of something that you do really well, something that you've done well for a long time. That means that you have a lot of that wrapped around your brain circuits in that area. And then if you think about something you don't do really well, then you're going to need more of that. Now what happens, I'm trying to think of something that I've experienced. I used to play piano a lot. I have gotten away from that. If I were to sit down and play the piano again, I'd have to do remedial practice. Obviously I haven't used the same muscles in quite some time, so it's a matter of the dexterity issues. But what's going on in the brain there? It takes a while to get back in the swing of things. It does, but remember that I'd still go back to the athlete scenario. Remember athletes don't lose their skill in the off season. They're just better when they're in the season where they're practicing. So as soon as you go back to it and you start practicing, you'll pick it up much quicker because you're like an athlete not in season right now. Okay. So you never really lose it. It's still there. It's just kind of what dormant. Yes. Right. You're just better when you're in season, when you're practicing. That makes sense. So what are the things we should avoid if we want to be really on top of our game? What are the things that we should do? How can we strengthen our brains? And how much, well I know this is kind of a loaded question, how much screen time is too much screen time? Oh gosh, I think that depends because everybody's brain's different, right? I encourage parents to use screen time as a reward instead of an everyday practice. Now I know some of the schools are on screens constantly, but I encourage them to use it in moderation as much as possible. We've known for a long time that it affects our visual processing speed. And when I do neuropsych testing, I can see it very clearly in their visual processing speed, how quickly they can take in visual information around them is impaired by the screens, along with attention and other things. But I tell parents to try to use it in moderation. And we all know that's tricky now, right? Because there are phones and everything else. But I think what's more important is to offset it, right? So to do the things that actually make the brain more fit and keep it healthy. So we know that we're going to do the technology and we're going to have our phones and we're going to have those out, right? But if we can do things that offset it like exercise, what exercise does for the body is a drop in the bucket compared to what it does for the brain. So if you're exercising and you're keeping your kids active, that's huge. If you're doing, if your socialization is huge for the brain. Jigsaw puzzles. People think it's crossword puzzles, but crossword puzzles don't keep the brain fit. It doesn't hurt the brain, but it's jigsaw puzzles that are great for the brain. And then board games, brain, something called brain cards, which are hard categorization as, you know, as fast as you can. Those are the things that you can do. Racquet sports are really great for the brain. Anything like ping pong is huge and tennis and even badminton, pickleball, those anything where you're using your eye hand movement is great for the brain. So I always tell people if you've got to be on the screen a lot, then try to do a lot of activities or a lot of things that offset that screen time. Does that make sense? Yes, it does. And of course, when you're exercising, you're introducing oxygen. Is that part of the reason that it's so good for the brain too? It is. It's just all around exercise is just super great for the brain that it gives the brain the right chemicals it needs. It's just overall the number one thing I tell in my adult brain lab classes and with the students that exercise is amazing for your brain. And you're saying socialize, that's something we're starting to lose. I know, I know and it's so important. It is so important that we stay social. And it's hard for me because I'm very much an introvert. So it's one of those things I really work at. I make myself get out and be social. I make myself be around my friends and have conversations and those kinds of things. It's not that I want to stay home and be on technology. I just want to stay home and read a book or, you know, do introvert things. But socialization is so important. It's like at the top. It's the top of the list, top of the list for brain health. And my success rate speaks for itself. So now you know where to find good, honest help with your tax problems. What are you waiting for? If you owe more than $10,000 of the IRS or haven't filed in years, call me now at 888-557-4020 or go to mytaxhelpmd.com for a free consultation and get your life back. If you've ever felt mentally drained after spending hours online scrolling your phone, answering emails, or jumping between screens all day, you're not alone. Research continues to show that excessive screen time can affect focus, sleep, attention span, and even emotional regulation. But our guest today, Dr. Terri Lindsay, says we can actually train the brain to function better through intentional habits and exercises. She works internationally with children and adults to improve cognitive performance, help with ADHD challenges, dyslexia, concussion recovery, and a whole lot more. We're learning practical tools all of us can use to stay mentally sharp and resilient. Dr. Lindsay, all of these things you're talking about, I also see you say feed your brain and fuel your body. Certainly nutrition is very important. Are there certain foods that are better for our brains that maybe can make us more resilient and quicker on the trigger, if you will? Well, interestingly enough, I always tell my friends when Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming around, I always say, you know, turkey is one of the best things you can eat for your brain because of tryptophan. That same part of turkey that makes you a little bit sleepy is also a part of it that's great for the brain. So I always tell my friends, you know, eat some turkey, some sweet potatoes, eat healthy to offset that pumpkin pie and all those sweets, you know, make sure, again, I think balancing, right, offsetting is really important for the brain. But some people, like a lot of people say, gosh, I didn't know that turkey was great for the brain, but it definitely is. These techniques that you're talking about, those would be beneficial to just about anybody. Would it also be helpful if someone has had, say, a stroke or they've suffered a concussion? Are these some of the things that you implement in some of your therapies? Are these things that can be beneficial to people? Absolutely. Absolutely. We work with, I've worked with a few adults that have had strokes. We work with lots and lots of concussions, even like things like early onset dementia and Alzheimer's, things like that, to slow the process down a little bit. I'd had people come in and ask about that. But I had an interesting thing. I think you'll find this interesting. A few years ago, I had a Navy SEAL come in and asked me to go through the Brain Lab. And I said to him, what can I possibly do for you? And he said, well, you would think as human beings that when we're challenged, we would rise to meet that challenge. He said, but that's not true. He said, we sink SYNC. We sink to the level of training. He said, so I want my brain to be trained at an optimal level so that when I need to use it, that that's what I sink up to. And I thought, oh my gosh, that's amazing. That's exactly what we do. But the way he explained it was so great. You specialize in brain optimization. Now, what exactly do you do when you're optimizing somebody's brain? Well, like I talked about earlier, we're doing targeted fundamental activities that actually target those areas of the brain, like working memory, auditory processing, memory and visual processing. And then we're taking any of those areas, we're targeting those areas, and then we're taking them through drills, just like an athlete would do to get better at a skill. We're taking them through those drills that will then improve those areas of their brain. So often we do a little cognitive test to see where they are, kind of get a snapshot of where they are, and then we meet them where they are, so to speak. So we start training in the areas that might be a little bit less developed. And it takes about 20 to 25 hours for visual processing, about 25 to 30 hours for auditory processing and working memory. So a little bit longer for those areas, but it's really fun. The kids say it's like a sports camp for your mind. Good way to describe it. Now, I would imagine that the same technique can help with somebody if they've suffered a head injury or a stroke or something like that. Do you use MRIs and that sort of thing to see the improvements in the brain? Are there ways you can measure this sort of thing? Well, I just measure it by having another psychologist retest at the end of it. Or sometimes they'll just ask me to retest and I'll retest that area, but I'm not using any MRIs right now. But definitely retesting those subtests just to see. And we usually use a different test than we used in the beginning so that we can kind of get a better measurement of where they are. But there are the student or the client is already feeling the difference. But sometimes I like to just let them see it in the numbers too, you know? Sure. So do you have maybe any specific examples of the kind of improvements you've been able to achieve with people? Well, when it comes to students, these are some of the most wonderful compliments that I've heard from parents. My child started reading for pleasure now. He never read for pleasure before because it was so hard for him. And I think that's where the kids will say, it takes me, like, I don't take hours and hours to do my homework anymore. Like, I can sit down and get through my homework in a decent amount of time. Or I can sit down and take a test and not have test anxiety. Or I can finish the test. And before I wasn't able to finish the test in the amount of time that was allotted to me. And there are some of the things. When it comes to SAT scores and ACT scores, we have definite results about raising their scores. One young man, mom called me and said, can you help? He just, he bombed the SAT. He just feels terrible about himself. And I said, sure, let's take him through the program. So we took him through the program. And then, you know, of course, I don't hear anything from them. That's always the good news, right? Because they move on and they, you know, they got what they needed and they're moving on. But in about seven months, she called me back and she said, Terry, you had to help us. And I said, why? What happened? And she said, well, he improved his SAT scores so much that they flagged him for cheating. So I need you to write a testimonial letting me know, or letting them know that it's not unusual for test scores to go up after going through your program and or write a letter. And I said, sure, I'll write a letter. You write a testimonial. Wow. They immediately assumed the worst. How awful. Maybe investigating it further to see what maybe there was something that went on where he could improve. Right. So it was great. Never once in my life still hear from him. You know, he's grown and doing well and never once in my life still hear from him. Everything's still going well. So I think there's a lot of, as you said before, it's really rewarding. It's fun for me and it's really rewarding. Share your story and what you love about trucking. Share images of a moment you're proud of and join us on social media. Learn more at truckingmuseamerica.com. Welcome back to Women Road Warriors with Shelley Johnson and Kathy Takarov. Today's conversation is so relevant because so many people are mentally overloaded without fully understanding why. Between notifications, streaming, multitasking and constant digital stimulation, our brains can rarely get a break anymore. According to Dr. Terry Lindsay, our brains are capable of remarkable change through neuroplasticity. Dr. Lindsay has spent decades helping both adults and children improve focus, memory, executive functioning and processing speed through science-based techniques. She shares simple strategies involving movement, nutrition, social connection and brain training activities. People can begin using immediately. It's absolutely fascinating. Dr. Lindsay, so I would imagine anyone at any age could utilize some of your techniques to improve their cognitive skills and be more resilient and quicker on the trigger and their short-term memory. I would think all of this is something that you can use throughout your lifetime. At any age, we know now that our brain can be changed at any age. I understand you have some adult brain labs that you put in at the Pebble Beach Club in California. What does that entail? You can actually go in, do your cardio, do your weight training and then go upstairs and take a 55-minute neurovics class or brain lab. So you can actually kind of like one-stop shopping for help, you know, come in and just knock it all out. That's a great concept. Is anyone else doing that? Not that I know of, but we're definitely going to do it here. I think we've got the population here that are really excited about it. I did a brain fitness presentation and we had so many people sign up that we had to break it into three sessions. So I think we've got people here who value education and then they're paying attention to what's going on with the brain and they really want this. You know, I think people are learning more about how the brain functions and realizing that one size doesn't fit all. I think in terms of being a student, everyone learns in their own different way. And if things are presented properly, maybe it turns you off. I mean, there's so many things that go into being human, obviously. You're going to feel like you're inferior, you're stupid, you know, people, especially kids, they can be so cruel. Kids aren't kind if somebody has a learning disability, for instance. And are they really learning disabilities or is it just that people are learning in a different way? Well, for me, I approach it from the angle of some things in our brain are really developed because we practice that a lot. And some things are a little bit less developed. And now that we know we can change the brain, I mean, you know, again, there are some that are more severe. That are more severe than others. But for the most part, I think we all have different areas of our brain that are a little bit less developed. And that causes us to, you know, learn differently. Maybe maybe you're more auditory where I might be a little bit more visual, you know, because maybe my visual system is maybe I practice that more and that's easier for me. So I don't like to make kids feel like there's something wrong with them. Right. I always tell them, you have a BMW brand and we need to bring it in and tune it up and get you back out on the road. Well, that's a good way to describe it. I like that. Yeah, because even a BMW doesn't run well if it's not tuned up. That's true. You have to take vehicles in for service and change the oil and rotate the tires and do all of those things. Absolutely. And so it just, and then they feel like, I think they feel relieved a lot of times, you know, they're like, oh, okay. All right, that's what that was. You know, they, I think they, there's some relief, a lot of relief in that for them. So how do we increase our neuroplasticity so that we can learn more, learn faster, be resilient? I mean, everybody, I think people want to move so quickly today. And how do we do that? I mean, I think we're stressed out because the world just keeps flitting by us, especially when you're looking at these devices. How do we keep our brains functioning and adapting? Well, I think, again, it goes back to that offsetting, right? It does. I mean, we know the things that keep the brain fit, like socialization and exercise and racquet sports and brain cards and jigsaw puzzles and board games. We know those things help keep the brain fit. So offsetting that, you know, technology time with these things that we know keep the brain fit. I think it's going to be really important to keep that, to definitely keep that balance for us. Well, when you think about it, I'm not sure our brains are designed to look at all of these devices, to be focused on them. We're not living in the moment. We're not aware of our surroundings. And I would think that that would make children, a lot of parents give them, here, play with my phone. They give them a device to play with. It's kind of a babysitter. I would think that once they get into school, that's a problem. They don't know how to interact. They have to learn to learn all over again. Well, again, I think moderation is going to be the key. And then the younger they are, I think the less free time they need. That's just my opinion. And I know, I mean, there's a lot of research behind it, but I also know that sometimes it's an easier thing, right? To just hand them the phone or put them on the computer. It's not the most beneficial. But again, if you can offset that with some exercise later on or, you know, something else that will offset it, then it's not as much damage. I don't think done. Well, I find it interesting that excessive screen time, it's not good. It can disrupt your sleep, your attention, your memory, and maybe even affect areas of the brain tied to focus and emotional regulation. So you have people who can't focus and then maybe they have tantrums. I mean, even adults have tantrums. It just exhibits in a different way, but that's not good at all. No, no. But I think we know this. I think we just have to, again, moderation. I would still, kids, if everything could be done on the computer, then Olympic athletes would train on we. Because it turns out you have to do the thing that you want to get better at. That makes sense. And we're kind of designed that way. I mean, you really have to do what you want to get better at. In my case, playing the piano. If I didn't have a piano to play, I wouldn't learn the technique. That wouldn't have worked. Right. So what you practice is what you hardwire. And I think that's the key to it is to check in on what our daily practices are. I think that's really important for parents to model that to their kids and for them to help guide them in those better practices. What's best practice for screen time and best practice for brain fitness, those kinds of things. But also, I think we have to model that for students as well. Yes, that's a good example. And I do see a fair amount of parents sitting looking at their phones. That's true. And I'm guilty of it myself. When I come home, I try to go for a walk or go play some ping pong or do something that will kind of offset it when I have to be on the computer all day. Makes sense to me. So you've seen a lot of improvements when you've worked with people with dyslexia, ADHD. Do you also work with neurodivergent children and students and that sort of thing? And are you able to assist them as well? I am. I am. I would say that what gravitates to me might be pretty bright kiddos with just maybe one or two areas of the brain that might be a little bit less developed. So then maybe they're frustrated. Maybe they don't read as fast or as well if some of the dyslexia symptoms are coming up or maybe they're not able to focus or concentrate or maybe their visual processing speed isn't as fast. So they're not able to finish a test in the allotted time, those kinds of things. But for the most part, it's students who are really wanting to do well and typically work very hard. And then they have one area of the brain that's making them frustrated or making them work too hard at something. And so that they'll come for testing. And then once we test them to get a snapshot of their baselines, then we know in what area we need to work, if at all. What happens in the area of the brain if there's an area of the brain that's less developed? Why is that? And how can you strengthen it? Well, again, if you go back to what you practice is what you hardwire for whatever reason, that particular area of the brain didn't get a lot of practice. Now, we don't know how much is nurture and how much is nature, right? But for whatever reason, what we do know, if it's not as developed, then it wasn't getting the practice that it needed to develop. And so what we do is put them in activities, skill building that practices it repetitively over and over and over till we build that pathway. And once it's built, it's there to stay, correct? For the most part, it is. In the summer, I ask them to continue to do their brain parts because they get to take those home with them. Or I'll say, make sure you're out in sports or you're staying active or whatever. But yes, once we create that pathway in the brain, then they usually just take off because they're in school. So they're like an athlete in season for 10 months. You and I, we'd have to maintain it. Going through an adult brain lab, we have to maintain it. But kids are like an athlete going into season, right? They're using all of that for 10 months out of the year. True. That's why I think when people go back to school, they say it's a little bit tougher to get back into the swing of things. It is. They haven't been doing it, yeah. I do get a lot of people going through my program that are going back to school or moms who will come in and say, I feel like when I went through menopause, my IQ dropped 40 points or something like that. And then we'll take them through the brain lab. But I think it's beneficial. I mean, it's so great that we now know that you can change the brain at any age. So that's what's pretty exciting. We used to think it was fixed and you could only change it when they were younger, but now we know you can change it at any age and I think that's pretty exciting. You've got your book measuring up the go-to guide for parents and students looking for an edge in the hyper-competitive world of education. That sounds like there's a lot of information there that everybody could actually benefit from. What do you talk about in that? Well, mostly I wrote it as a guide to help parents navigate public and private schools. Because it's tricky to navigate. And since I work in both public and private schools, it was easier for me to know the ins and outs. And so I wrote that so that they would understand how to navigate that so that their child could perform to their potential. If you don't know how to navigate something, it's tricky to know when to get a neuropsych evaluation and how that can benefit. And what can be done if the SAT or the ACT wasn't what you wanted it to be and all of those different things. So I wrote it basically for parents so they could navigate that when I wrote it a while back. So that was kind of my thoughts about it. And then I talked about the brain labs and what we could do when we optimize the brain and those kinds of things. So basically kind of a guide for parents. This is pretty exciting because you can increase a student's cognitive skills or reshape them, leading to better scores and results. And it is competitive. When people want to get into college, they have to start planning at the age, what, eighth grade? It's kind of crazy just to get into a good school, the kind of competition that goes on. And everything you're doing, I think that you're benefiting so many different people. What would you say is different that you do versus what other facilities do? It sounds like you really have a handle on how to get the kind of outcome that people really need. Well, I think a couple of things. You know, we run it more like sports. So the kids really have fun. And that's one of the times that the amygdala is wide open. So you're really taking it all in. And I think that making it fun is really important. And then we had our clinical trials so we know it works. And so when I talk to parents about it, I can tell them, you know, right away if I can help, and if I can't help, then I always refer them to another program that might be more beneficial. But, you know, I think the sports part of ours probably is a little bit different. And it's probably just because that's my background and I enjoyed sports so much. And I think there's so much to be learned from that. So when kids, most of the kids that come through the program are doing at least some sport, and if they're not, they're oftentimes doing music or dance or something, some activity like that, that they can really relate to when they go through the program. So I think making it fun is really important. I always tell parents, if you can get them there, I can keep them there, you know, because they do enjoy it. Even the high school kids that go through it really have fun. Well, what I think about it when I had teachers that kept me interested, a lot of them were kind of fun, rather than the boring way that they presented history with stupid questions on the test. Like, when was the war of 1812? Right, novelty. We loved those professors that did something novel that stopped our attention. Yeah, I still remember in eighth grade, the teacher that when we arrived in class, it was history, and we were studying the Revolutionary War, and he was dressed up as a British officer. Oh, that's so great. Yeah, we didn't expect that. It's like, huh. And then of course, he explained himself as to why and all of that. And so it was really kind of cool. But I understand that your neurology laboratories, they've expanded internationally. You have so much to offer. Where can people find you? Are you throughout the U.S.? Right. In California right now, mostly, you know, we run them in China and India and some of the other places that we've been invited, and that's been really fun. I run everything out of the Pebble Beach area right now, and then you can find us at Stanford, UCLA, some of the colleges here. If they want to reach out, they can go on Brain Matters with the Z, brainmatters.com, and reach out. A couple of summers ago, we were in Hawaii, and that was really fun. So, you know, we often come to where they want us, you know, as long as it's a place that I would enjoy, I think. But yeah, they can reach out anytime, and I'm always happy to answer any questions anyone might have. I'm sure there are a lot of people who would like to take advantage of this, and is this something that would be covered by insurance or not? You know, I think it might be a little bit too cutting edge right now, but when they get the neuropsych evaluation, that is definitely almost always covered. If they're having their child, you know, when they're getting the baselines to see what, you know, kind of what's developed and what's less developed, that's usually covered. But going ahead and retraining the brain, we're not quite there yet, but I'm hopeful that we might be someday. Where do people find you again? Brain Matters with the Z, brainmatters.com. Excellent. I could cover all kinds of topics here with you, and pick your brain if you don't mind. We have a limited amount of time, but I think we covered a lot of territory. It's pretty fascinating how the human brain works. It really is. There's so much that we don't know, and I mean, it's exciting what we do know, but there's just so much that we don't know still. It's a mystery. It's on top of our shoulders, but it's the most misunderstood part of our body, I think. It is, and probably the most important, because it's directing everything. It truly is. Thank you so much for being on the show. This has been fascinating, and I think that Kathy and I would love to have you back, and maybe we could talk about a particular topic, because I'm sure there are going to be a lot of things you hear in the news, and maybe we could reach out to you and say, hey, what do you think of this? What do you suggest? That would be great. I would love that. This has been really fun. I've enjoyed it. Thank you, Dr. Lindsey. Thank you so much. If you're getting value from our show, Women Road Warriors, be sure to hit follow on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. We hope you've enjoyed this latest episode, and if you want to hear more episodes of Women Road Warriors or learn more about our show, be sure to check out womenroadwarriors.com. And please follow us on social media, and don't forget to subscribe to our podcast. On our website, we also have a selection of podcasts just for women. There are a series of podcasts from different podcasters, so if you're in the mood for women's podcasts, just click the Power Network tab on womenroadwarriors.com. You'll have a variety of shows to listen to anytime you want to. Podcasts made for women. Women Road Warriors is on all the major podcast channels, like Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Audible, YouTube, and others. Check us out, and please follow us wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening. You've been listening to Women Road Warriors with Shelley Johnson and Kathy Takaro. If you want to be a guest on the show, or have a topic or feedback, email us at sjohnsonatwomenroadwarriors.com.