Agnes: It was at this time that shivers, like cold shivers, just ran through my body. My legs were like jelly. I've never really experienced that kind of anxiety in my life. I was just shaking because I realized that the only door I hadn't checked was the front door. Jay: That's our guest, Agnes Chinelo, reliving one of the worst moments of her life. Like all of us, Agnes has endured pain and anxiety, but she's here to share what she's learned about managing her well-being, and research is saying that's absolutely key to our brain health. Allison: Welcome to Defy Dementia, the podcast for anyone who has a brain. Jay: Defy Dementia is all about living in ways that keep your brain healthy and reduce your risk of dementia because dementia is not predestined by our genes. Genetics can play a role, but lifestyle risk factors like insufficient exercise, poor sleep, and unhealthy eating are also crucial. Allison: And according to the latest evidence, scientists are now saying that if we make healthy changes to those lifestyle risk factors, we could reduce dementia cases worldwide by almost half. Jay: Today on the show, the impact of well-being on the brain. We're going to explore how positive attitudes, life satisfaction, and other factors may affect our brain health and our risk of dementia. Allison: I'm Alison Sekuler, president and chief scientist at the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education, and at the Center for Aging and Brain Health Innovation. Jay: I'm Jay Ingram. I'm a science journalist. Dementia has been an interest of mine for decades. Allison: Join us as we Defy Dementia because you're never too young or too old to take care of your brain. In the dictionary, well-being is defined as the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy, but for scientists, well-being is actually a specialized field of research. They're exploring how factors such as our emotions, our attitudes, our sense of purpose and our social lives impact our body and brain health. And they're investigating how well-being affects us from moment to moment and over our whole lives as we age. Jay: Now, you might be thinking, "So scientists are just learning that feeling good is good for your health?" I mean, that's not a surprise. But today we have some news that might surprise you. There's new evidence that well-being has a profound effect inside the cells in your brain affecting you microscopically and measurably. Imagine that. Allison: And you're going to hear some news you can use to boost your well-being. But first, a real life story from a person whose weathered ups and downs on a journey to find well-being. Jay: Our first guest is Agnes Chinelo. She's a family physician in Sackville, Nova Scotia, but she was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Agnes studied to be a doctor, then moved to the UK where she had a medical practice for nearly two decades and raised three kids. When her businessman father, Chief Michael Dike Umeh, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, Agnes and her mom became his caregivers. But then something frightening happened to her dad and it shook Agnes sense of well-being, her health, and it prompted her to change how she looked after herself. In 2019, Agnes moved her family to Nova Scotia, and then five months later, sadly, her dad passed away. Despite all that turmoil, Agnes set up a new medical practice and became an advocate for health, empowerment and education. She's a YouTuber and public speaker. Agnes joins us from Sackville. Agnes, thank you very much for helping us defy dementia. Agnes: Thank you for having me. Jay: Agnes, how did growing up in Lagos shape your approach to dealing with stress, negative feelings and other upsets to your well-being? Agnes: Let me first of all start by saying that Lagos is one of the largest and most popular city in Africa. Lagos is known for its hustle and bustle environment and dynamic atmosphere. So therefore, Lagos will prepare you to manage or navigate challenges and find creative solutions on a backdrop of a culture that promotes or fosters social connection and spirituality. So therefore, growing up in Lagos equipped me for adaptability, spirituality and resilience. I'm a woman of faith. We're Christians in my family. So before we have our breakfast, we pray and we thank God for the day. And then we practice gratitude, thanking God for everything, for our blessings. Then we go about our daily activities. But that was tested during my caregiving period with my dad's illness, and I realized that yes, I'm resilient, but there is still more that I needed to grow in terms of my spiritual and emotional maturity. Jay: And there was a frightening experience when you were helping take care of your dad. Can you tell us about that? Agnes: So the diagnosis and management of my dad's dementia did span continents. As I was in the UK, my dad came to the UK to seek diagnosis and management. But it became an extended period of stay whilst he was going through the investigations. My mom was still working, so she needed to go back to get an extended leave to be with dad. Obviously as I am a doctor, and the first child, dad was going to stay with me. This was an opportunity to look after my dad after leaving home all this while. And boy, oh boy. I underestimated the stress and the challenges that caregivers go through with this journey with their loved ones. I was working, my kids were younger then. Normally dad would wake up in the night, either he wants to go to the bathroom or water or something, and I would attend to him and try and settle him back in bed. With all these periods of interrupted sleep, I was totally exhausted. Physically drained. One day I woke up at five and went to his room. I was like, "Hmm, Dad didn't wake me up today or I didn't hear him." He wasn't in his room. Maybe he's in the family bathroom. But he wasn't there. Okay, maybe he's in the downstairs bathroom. But he wasn't there either. It was at this time that shivers, cold shivers just ran through my body. My legs were like jelly. I've never really experienced that kind of anxiety in my life. My heart. I could hear my heartbeat throbbing. I was just shaking because I realized that the only door I hadn't checked was the front door. And as I was walking slowly towards the front door, I realized that it was open. That was where my heart sank. I ran outside. I couldn't find him. It was dark. It was full winter weather. I was calling out his name. Running, I checked everywhere. It was just devastating, traumatic for me. And I was worried for him. An African man in the UK, he doesn't know his whereabouts and he has dementia. The chances of finding him again were so slim for me. I was afraid that somebody could hurt him or he could, I don't know, he could fall, sustain a head injury. I was just thinking of the worst. And I ran back home and then called 999. That is the emergency number in the UK. While I made that call I was dreading the call to my mom back home. I didn't even know what to tell her, but she needed to know what had happened. Somehow I picked up the courage to call her and all hell went loose. She just kept saying, "Find my husband for me. Find my husband for me. I should not have listened to you." Allison: That must have just been horrifying. Agnes: Horrifying, yes. The only thing I could do was to wait. I was just praying. It took a couple of hours for the emergency to call back and said that they had found dad. They took him to the nearest hospital close to our house to get him checked. I met him there. I brought his sandals. He left barefoot and he was wearing just his sweater and his pajamas. That was it. They scanned his brain, ran blood tests, and luckily everything was fine. He had mild hypothermia. That experience taught me a couple of things. One, as a caregiver, you can't do it all alone. You can't do it all by yourself. You need help. Secondly, as a doctor, I didn't have all the answers. And after that experience, because I have four brothers in the UK, we took turns to take care of him. So they all had caregiving experience as well. And so that was my takeaway lesson from that experience. Allison: After that frightening experience, when your dad was wandering, what changes did you make to help yourself? Agnes: What I decided to do was first self-care. I was dealing with guilt for a long time and I had to figure out how I could have self-compassion. First of all, I created what I named “me time”. So “me time” is basically finding a way to center myself. I started doing more mindfulness. For me, mindfulness is being present in the now. Being present and engaging with your thoughts, your feelings, and your surroundings in a non-judgmental way. And it provides clarity of mind for me. It improves my mood, helps me to emotionally regulate my mood. Equips me to deal with stress more effectively. I had to find a routine that works for me and define my five pillars that I develop over time: mindfulness, meditation, because I come from a Christian family, prayer, looking after my physical health as well as gratitude. So those five pillars were what I established over time. And because dad used to wake up early in the morning, I'm also used to waking up early in the morning like about 4:00 A.M. I like peace and tranquility. It's very quiet, and I just sit in silence. I hear only my breath, and I could decide to meditate on bible verses or a prayer, whatever. And I do that on a regular basis. And that for me is my building blocks of resilience. And that's what I started doing. And there was a day, a caregiving day, that was particularly challenging. And, to anyone that is listening, there will be challenging days, but they don't define the entire journey. So that day it was very stressful. Dad wasn't just having it, bless him. He didn't want to eat his breakfast, he needed to be changed. By that time he was double incontinent. I needed to change his diapers. Everything was just disorganized and he wasn't having it. So I was so so frustrated that what I did was just to take myself out of that situation. I went to the family room and just initially I sat with my pain. And I'll be honest, I was just crying my eyes out. And in that moment, because I was already on the floor and just crying with my head in my hands, I just started taking deep breaths again, just breathing, like breathing in, breathing out. And then all of a sudden I heard my dad just tapping on the table, his fingers, and I was like, maybe he's in a good mood now. I put his favorite song on and the next thing he just jumped to his feet and he started dancing. He was crying and really upset, and the mood that was so heavy just changed to a lighter mood. He started dancing to his favorite music. Even now I can remember how he was dancing and I just started laughing and then joined him and we started dancing. You can imagine us going around in circles with his diapers full. We just didn't care. And then afterwards we hugged it out. I made my advances to pull down his diapers and he allowed me to do that. I put him in the bath and he ate and he slept. So what that day taught me was that, again, mindfulness. To be in the present and just be there, be present for your loved one. And it was just so special, that moment, just even talking about it. And so it was one of my favorite memories. Jay: Now, besides what you've already told us, there was the move to Nova Scotia that wasn't trivial. And as I said at the beginning, your dad had passed. And it sounds to me like you still miss him. So are the techniques that you've developed useful? Were they useful in moving to Nova Scotia? Do they continue to be useful? Agnes: Absolutely. I see well-being as a journey. You have to continuously practice the tools, building blocks, because the more you practice, the better you are and the more resilient you become. I miss my dad. I mean, I'm a proud daddy's girl. I miss my dad every day. Reflecting on what I should have done before or during his illness was maybe journaling. Because my problem was that I had to embrace my emotional vulnerability. I had to find a way to put my thoughts and feelings into words. Storytelling is an incredible gift for healing. I am in the process of writing a book and I found it incredibly therapeutic for me, channeling thoughts and emotions into journaling. I needed to share that. I experienced emotional struggle balancing between my professional knowledge and my emotion as a daughter, and journaling helped me to process my emotion. It was a pathway towards healing for me as well as finding peace and closure. Jay: Agnes, this episode of Defy Dementia is focused on the relationship between well-being and the risk of dementia. How much is that connection on your radar? Agnes: It's so connected. Like I said, well-being encompasses everything. We're talking about the risk of dementia: depression, anxiety, stress, they are all risks of dementia. So therefore, mindfulness for me has enabled me not only to emotionally regulate my feelings but it's helped me with stress management. It's helped me with my physical health and all this helps to reduce the risk of dementia. So we need to approach well-being from a holistic approach. It encompasses how comfortable and happy you are living your life in a healthy way. How do you manage stress? How do you navigate through difficult challenges? And if one can join community groups that they're comfortable with and they trust all the better. Because in my culture, they say a problem shared is half-solved. It helps to lighten the burden and reduces loneliness. Like I said, social connection, emotional health, mindfulness, meditation, prayer and physical health as well as practicing gratitude, I believe can help to reduce the risk of dementia. Jay: Thank you very much for this Agnes. It's really been a treasure trove of useful advice and amazing stories. We appreciate you joining us. Agnes: Thank you so much for having me. Allison: Thank you. Jay: Dr. Agnes Chinelo is a mother, doctor and advocate. Her YouTube channel is called Talk with Dr. Agnes. The book Agnes mentioned is coming out in March of 2025. It's called Michael's Memories. Agnes joined us from Sackville, Nova Scotia. Allison: Our next guest has been listening to Agnes Chinelo. Dr. Emily Willroth is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. She studies well-being and its impact on brain health and dementia risk. Emily joins us from St. Louis, Missouri. Emily, welcome to Defy Dementia. Dr Emily: Thank you so much for having me. Allison: We'd like to hear your reaction to our chat with Agnes, but in case some people might not be familiar with your research field, can you describe for us what you mean when you're talking about well-being? Dr Emily: Yes. Well-being is not just one thing. Instead, it's a combination of many different psychological characteristics and experiences that together help us to feel like we are living a life that is enjoyable and fulfilling. So for example, experiencing many different positive emotions like joy and excitement and contentment. But also feeling like we're satisfied with our lives and our lives have meaning and purpose. All of those together make up well-being. Jay: Emily, what struck you about Agnes's story? Dr Emily: I really appreciated Agnes's story and in particular some of the things that she shared about how she has protected and really maintained her own well-being during these difficult circumstances. So I loved one of her quotes, "A problem shared is half solved." I think that really highlights a lot of what we know from well-being research, which suggests that our social relationships are one of the strongest ways for us to maintain and promote our own well-being. For example, research suggests that giving social support as well as receiving it and, in general, just having supportive social relationships and positive social interactions is one of the strongest predictors of well-being. So it was really neat to hear that element of her own life experience. Allison: So what does research from your lab say about the impact of well-being on dementia risk and brain health? Dr Emily: Research from my lab as well as others shows that people with higher well-being maintain their memory and thinking skills for longer into older adulthood and they're less likely to be diagnosed with dementia. Now, there's several reasons that that may be the case. On the one hand, we know that well-being is really beneficial for promoting positive health behaviors that might be good for brain health, such as physical activity, social experiences, eating a nutritious diet. But we also know that well-being can serve as a really important buffer against the potentially harmful effects of stress. And so ultimately through those different pathways, what we're finding is that people with higher well-being are able to resist or tolerate the brain changes that lead to dementia, allowing them to maintain that memory and thinking for longer. Jay: So it provides a buffer. But do you actually know what is going on in the brain when well-being exerts its effect? Dr Emily: That's a great question. So this is still something that the field of well-being science is trying to understand. We do know a little bit more about what's going on in the body. So for example, we see a pattern of physiological responding to stress that is generally more adaptive. For example, when we look at the function of our autonomic nervous system and our cardiovascular system in response to stressful circumstances, we see greater flexibility as well as greater recovery when a stressor resolves. Allison: So that's happening in the body. And is there also any effect in the brain? I mean, are there for example, inflammation that might be linked to stress or other sorts of stress markers? Dr Emily: Yes. So we do find that people with higher well-being tend to have lower inflammatory markers that's indicative of systemic inflammation, but certainly inflammation as it's relevant to brain health as well. Allison: And what can people do to increase their own well-being? Dr Emily: So research suggests that one of the strongest things we can do to improve our own well-being is to spend time with others to give and receive social support. But there's also several other activities that have been shown to increase well-being. So for example, things like mindfulness meditation work really well for some people. It helps us to find this non-judgmental state of mind even when we're in a stressful circumstance. Some research suggests that engaging in physical activity, expressing gratitude, or even just journaling about our feelings can all help support our well-being. Ultimately, one thing that I would recommend is that people try different activities and see what works best for them because it might be really individualized. And the most important thing is taking time out of your day to do something that's personally enjoyable and meaningful to you. Jay: Emily, is there an optimal time in life to improve well-being, especially if you want to stave off the risk of dementia? Dr Emily: That's a great question. So I think the optimal time to improve well-being is as early as possible, but I also want to stress that it's never too late. So the reason I say as early as possible is because many of the mechanisms or pathways through which we think well-being might protect brain health and prevent dementia are cumulative in nature. So starting early and maintaining and prioritizing well-being across the lifespan might be really important. At the same time, research suggests that higher well-being even in late life, in older adulthood, around the time that we typically see dementia onset, can also be protective. So one thing that my lab is really interested in is understanding when we might be able to intervene to have the biggest effects on dementia risk. But for now, what we do know is that it's never too early or too late to start prioritizing your well-being. Allison: Hey, we say that quite a lot for almost everything that we talk about. So that's great to hear. In the case of folks who are living with dementia, does increasing well-being have an effect on the progression of the disease? Dr Emily: So we don't yet know whether increasing well-being in people living with dementia can slow progression. But what we do know is that there's several different strategies and activities that can support well-being for people living with dementia. These activities can improve their overall quality of life as well as the quality of life for their care partners. So I think it's really important that as we still try to learn a little bit more about this relationship between well-being and dementia progression, that we continue to try to prioritize and improve the well-being of people living with dementia. Allison: If you were giving one piece of advice to someone out there who wants to improve his well-being, what would that advice be? Dr Emily: I think the number one piece of advice that I would give is to lean into your existing social relationships. Make a point once a day to check in with a loved one or to make a plan to see someone at least once a week. The reason that's the number one thing that I would recommend is because it is the strongest and most reliable predictor of well-being in the literature. And then we also know from research on dementia that it can directly reduce our risk for dementia. So whether you're interested in improving your well-being just to live a happier life or if you're also interested in reducing your dementia risk, social activity and social connection is probably the strongest thing that we can do. Jay: Emily, what do you do to maintain your own well-being? Dr Emily: For me, the most important thing for maintaining my own well-being is regular physical activity and social activity. I spend time with loved ones every day and I try to get out and move and go on walks in nature as much as possible because I found for me, those are the two things that boost my mood and give me the energy to participate in the other aspects of life that I find really important and meaningful. Allison: Great advice for everyone listening. Emily, thank you so much for joining us here today. Dr Emily: Thank you so much for having me. This was so great to be here. Allison: Dr. Emily Willroth is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. She joined us from St. Louis, Missouri. Jay: So we've been hearing today that well-being has an immense effect on brain health, but recently a research study came out of Columbia University that takes that huge effect to a new level, a microscopic one. They've discovered that well-being affects not just our brains, not just the cells in our brains, but components of those brain cells. Tiny, yes, but make no mistake, they're truly powerful. Allison: Our next guest is one of the authors of that study. Dr. Martin Picard directs the Mitochondrial Psychobiology Group at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He joins us from New York City. Martin, thank you for helping us defy dementia. Martin: Thank you so much. So glad to be here. Allison: First tell us what are these microscopic parts of our brain cells that are the focus of your work and the subject of this new study? Martin: So these little parts of our cells are called mitochondria. The mitochondria are small organelles, organs of the cell, and they transform the energy from the food we eat and the oxygen we breathe. Those two things converge inside the mitochondria of our brain and then give the energy for everything we do from thinking to feeling, to being conscious and interacting with each other. Allison: So they're essential to life? Martin: They are, yes. Allison: Now, what did you and your colleagues recently discover about the mitochondria in our brain cells and their relationship with well-being? Martin: What we discovered in this study by my colleague Caroline Trumpff was that reported feeling, whether you experience more positive experiences, like feeling connected to others, feeling like life has meaning, feeling optimistic about the future, these positive experiences or the negative ones, like feeling depressed or feeling lonely and feeling like life has no meaning or no purpose, those positive negative experiences, are actually related to the biology and to the ability of mitochondria to process energy in the brain. Jay: Now, it seems like a very distant connection, one's well-being and the mitochondria in their brain, how did you link them? Martin: This is what we call the mind-mitochondria connection. It is an hypothesis at this point. What we experience subjectively, which is not material, we can't really measure this in the blood. Subjective experiences are the basis of what we are. We live and experience things, but it's hard to capture biologically. But is there a biological connection there? And the way we were able to do this was by using this amazing study led by David Bennett in Chicago. They enrolled individuals aged 65 and older, and now there are about 2,500 I think, who have agreed to participate in this study. Every year they go in, they complete questionnaires to capture how they're feeling, the positive things and negative things. Every year there's a measurement. We can put a number on how positive and optimistic someone is or how depressed and lonely they are. With this kind of data, we can relate this to some eventual brain measures. The brain measures are done then after people pass and then they've agreed to give their brain for science. We get a piece of the brain and then we get the data from the questionnaires before they have died. So then we can relate what's called the pre-mortem measures of well-being and psychosocial factors to the post-mortem brain mitochondrial biology. And this was the first time that this was done. Jay: So it's actually a pretty amazing result. Do you know whether it's the health of the mitochondria, if I can put it that way, that's affecting the well-being feeling or vice versa, if you're feeling good about yourself or not that affects the mitochondria in turn? Martin: That's a great question. There are things we can see in the brain when people feel good or if they don't feel good. Then the brain can release hormones in the body and those hormones can go and affect the health of the mitochondria. So maybe it's how we feel that drives the changes in the mitochondria, but it's entirely possible, based on the study that we did, that it's the other way around. That is, if you have more well-functioning mitochondria in your brain and the mitochondria are better able to process energy then this actually changes your outlook on life. And you feel more positive and you experience more positive feelings in relation to others, in relation to yourself, in relation to the universe. So we can't tease out that directionality. The question you're asking is a question of directionality, that it is the mitochondria that are shaping how we feel or it's how we feel that is shaping the mitochondria. There are studies, done in various laboratories, that showed that both happen. If you change a mitochondria, you change how an animal can feel. If you change or expose the animal to a stressor, you can change a mitochondria. So the relationship probably goes both ways. Jay: In the previous interviews on today's episode, we've heard that well-being can be influenced by mindfulness and other self-care methods. And that's a good thing, and should be done anyway. So if that helps the mitochondria, great. But would there be a way, in case it goes in the other direction, as you've suggested, of helping the mitochondria flourish more, which might in turn influence well-being? Martin: Yes. Two things we know very well that help promote mitochondrial health. One is moving. Physical activity, being active, either exercise or just walking around or taking the stairs when you can. These kinds of things seem to keep mitochondria healthy, increase the number of mitochondria and therefore better ability to transform energy. The other thing is not eating too much. If we eat too much, it kind of overloads the cells, overloads mitochondria in the brain and elsewhere in the body. And this disempowers mitochondria in a way, especially if we eat a lot of sugar. So not eating too much seems to offer protection to the mitochondria in our brains and in the rest of the body. And then there's a third potential factor that can help the mitochondria in our brain, which is the positive experiences and sense of connections with others in the world. We're just beginning to uncover the mind-mitochondria connection. But I think it's entirely possible that by fostering these positive experiences and well-being through mindfulness, through other approaches, we can actually improve the health of the mitochondria. But more research needs to be done to determine whether that's the case in specific contexts and how this works. Allison: So there is a connection of one kind or another between the mitochondria and brain cells and a feeling of well-being. Are there implications for dementia risk as a result of this approach? Martin: It's a great question. It's clear that there are energetic disturbances in the brain that happen with dementia. And one emerging theory that is gaining traction is around the energetics or the mitochondrial components of dementia. It could be that a driver of dementia is that the mitochondria are becoming less healthy. And if there are things we can do to keep the mitochondria healthy then perhaps that could uncover a whole new set of things that each person can do to keep their brain mitochondria healthy, therefore keeping their brain healthy and keeping their mind and their cognition positive and working well for as long as possible. Jay: And that would explain and help underline the importance of fitness, as you mentioned. Activity, mindfulness and all those things that we know have an impact, but we now are getting a better idea of why they might [work]. Martin: Yes, exactly. And why is it that feeling emotions fully. The positive ones, the negative ones, and developing strategies to improve one's sense of well-being, why is that good? Why is that good for the body? We don't really know. And my hunch and our research is starting to suggest this might have to do with mitochondria. Jay: Thank you very much, Martin, for helping us defy dementia. Martin: My pleasure. Such important work. Thank you for your work. Allison: Thank you. Jay: Dr. Martin Picard is director of the Mitochondrial Psychobiology Group at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and he joined us from New York City. Allison: So Jay, a lot of really interesting guests today. What did you think about the discussions? Jay: It's hard to know which one to pick to reflect on, but I was fascinated by Martin's discussion of the mitochondria in the brain cells and the fact that they can be connected to and may influence something that's much harder to define, that is well-being. And you know what? It makes me wonder whether in fact, this level down within the neurons in the brain now will become a frontier to explore in dealing with dementia in the future. Allison: And it was also really interesting how a lot of the different topics that he brought up in the context of mitochondria link back to so many of the other episodes where we've talked about other risk factors. So for example, talking about how exercise is good for the mitochondria, how having the right kind of diet, not eating too much, that's also good for it. And even things that we were talking about with Emily Willroth like how inflammation can actually have a negative impact on the brain and can be related to wellness. So it's really neat how everything's, in some ways, tied up in a neat little bow, but there's still a lot of unanswered questions. Jay: And the distance that we traveled in just this episode, Agnes's horrifying experiences and how powerfully she was able to deal with them down to Martin's discussion of the mitochondria. I mean macro in many ways down to the micro, it just shows how complex and fascinating dementia is. To find out more about how we all can boost brain health and reduce the risk of dementia or slow its progression, please visit us at defydementia.org. There you can check out other episodes of the podcast as well as our videos, infographics, and other resources. Allison: Our podcast production team is Rosanne Aleong and Sylvain Dubroqua. Our writer and chase producer is Ben Schaub. Production is by PodTechs, and music is by Steve Dodd. Our cover art is by Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby. Jay: We'd also like to thank the funders of this podcast, the Slaight Family Foundation, as well as the Center for Aging and Brain Health Innovation and Baycrest. Allison: And we really appreciate your support too. So hit that subscribe button for Defy Dementia wherever you get your podcasts. And please don't forget to leave a like, a comment, or maybe even a five-star review. Jay: Next time on Defy Dementia, Hard Knocks on the Brain. We're going to look at how traumatic brain injury may increase dementia risk, whether that brain injury is caused by a car crash or nasty knocks from contact sports. You'll want to hear about its impact on your brain and the brains of those you love. I'm Jay Ingram. Allison: And I'm Alison Sekuler. Thanks for listening to Defy Dementia. And don't ever forget, you're never too young or too old to take care of your brain.