pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PM...
13.03.2026 02:56
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Singing in a choir is linked to sharper memory, faster thinking, and a younger-looking brain.
Your grandma dragging you to church every Sunday might have been the original biohacker.
Link:
open.substack.com/pub/brainhe...
My latest article is on nighttime overthinking and six evidence-based ways to stop that from happening.
The short version: everyone's brain throws up random thoughts at night. Bad sleepers just have a brain that treats them like emergencies.
Pet owners show ~32% slower cognitive decline than non-pet owners over 18 years.
psycnet.apa.org/record/2015...
Researchers found passive scrolling drops mood 9% by end of day. Active use doesn't.
It's consumption vs. creation.
One fills your head with everyone else's life. The other gets what's in yours out of it.
Regular exercise is linked to slower biological aging - but only in people sleeping 7+ hours.
People who slept under 6 hours and exercised actually aged faster.
jamanetwork.com/journals/ja...
Teens who check social media 15+ times a day show increasing brain sensitivity to social attention - likes, tags, mentions.
Try setting 2–3 designated check-in times per day instead of leaving notifications on.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Health advice comes in two forms: switches and dials. Switches go viral - cut seed oils, try fasting, run barefoot. One fix for everything.
Unfortunately, most of being healthy is dials:
- Move more
- Eat a bit better
- Sleep a bit more
- Connect a bit more
I'm a neuroscientist writing about how your brain responds to modern life - and how to take back control.
Join 130k+:
www.brainhealthdecoded.com/subscribe
8. Learn one policy area properly.
Once you get past the headlines, you'll find intelligent people on both sides working on real trade-offs. Politics is far more nuanced than your feed makes it look.
7. Put money into one organisation doing the work. Even $10/month.
Most of us don't have time to volunteer. This is the lowest-effort way to actually contribute something real.
6. Cut any source that runs on outrage.
If all it does is make you angry, it's not keeping you informed. It's keeping you engaged.
5. Turn opinions into group action.
Get 3–5 people around one issue, meet regularly, and assign roles.
Turn "this policy is terrible" -> "here's the email we're sending to the council on Thursday."
4. Limit your news to 20 minutes a day in one sitting.
Scrolling headlines all day keeps your brain in a constant stress response even though you're just sitting on your couch.
3. Understand the other side's strongest arguments, not their weakest.
Your media feed is built to show you their worst takes. People vote for a party's strengths and tolerate its weaknesses. Same as you.
2. Go local - city council, school boards, zoning meetings.
National politics has millions of voices competing. Local politics is decided by the 15 people who actually show up on a Tuesday.
Most political burnout comes from consuming problems you can't solve.
Here are 8 ways to stay engaged without burning out:
1. Swap "I care about politics" with "I work on [specific issue] in [specific place]."
Specific problems have solutions. "Politics" doesn't.
One of the greatest losses between my grandparents’ generation and mine was the instinct to look after our things.
Consumption made replacing easier than caring. But if you do that long enough, it’ll rewire how you treat everything else too.
Grief reduces neuroplasticity in your amygdala.
A mesh called a perineuronal net builds up around key neurons, making it harder for them to form new connections.
This might be why small changes after loss - new habits, new places, new people - help more than you'd expect.
I'm a neuroscientist writing about improving cognitive performance - join 130k+ people.
www.brainhealthdecoded.com/subscribe
h/t @SahilBloom
11. The Connection Paradox
We built tools to bring people closer and ended up further apart. Real connection takes time, vulnerability, and attention - exactly what the platforms designed to connect us compete for.
10. The Patience Paradox
Be impatient with action, patient with results. You don't skip the gym because it's not working - you skip it because you expected results in weeks when they take months.
Show up today without demanding a payoff tomorrow.
9. The Rest Paradox
Rest isn't the reward for work; it's the prerequisite.
The people who perform at the highest levels almost always protect their recovery with the same discipline they bring to effort.
