Can a Blood Test Predict Alzheimer's?
Better Brain Fitness with Drs. Josh Turknett and Tommy Wood
Release Date: 04/14/2026
Baby Brain, Menopause Brain, and the Stories We Tell About Women's Brains (interview with Dr. Sarah McKay)
Better Brain Fitness with Drs. Josh Turknett and Tommy Wood
Neuroscientist Dr. Sarah McKay has spent more than a decade tracking what the science actually says about women's brains, from pregnancy through menopause. She's the author of The Women's Brain Book, Baby Brain, and Brain Health For Dummies. We talk about why the grey matter changes of pregnancy look like a reorganization that prepares a mother to care for her baby, why so many women report "baby brain" when lab tests pick up very little, what menopause hormone therapy has and hasn't been shown to do for the brain, and how to talk honestly about uncertainty when social media rewards confident...
info_outline
Your Brain's 400 Miles of Blood Vessels (Interview with Dr. Jason Hinman)
Better Brain Fitness with Drs. Josh Turknett and Tommy Wood
Your brain runs on roughly 400 miles of blood vessels, and most of them are too small to see on a standard scan. Vascular neurologist Dr. Jason Hinman of UCLA studies how those tiny vessels keep the brain's white matter healthy, and why vascular injury shows up alongside Alzheimer's disease in at least half of patients. We talk about: new blood tests and MRI techniques that can pick up vascular changes years before today's scans do, the subtle signs clinicians tend to miss, and the most practical levers people have Links & Resources: The Hinman Lab at UCLA: To submit a...
info_outline
Josh's new book: The Genius and the Impostor
Better Brain Fitness with Drs. Josh Turknett and Tommy Wood
To grab your copy of the book, head to . To submit a question for us to answer on the podcast, go to . To subscribe to the free Better Brain Fitness newsletter, join us when we record live, and get our Guide and Checklist to essential blood tests and nutrients, go to: . To learn more about how you can boost brain fitness with neuroscience-based musical instruction, head to . Intro and Outro music composed and produced by .
info_outline
Preventing the Wrong Kind of Brain Plasticity, with Dr. Henry Mahncke
Better Brain Fitness with Drs. Josh Turknett and Tommy Wood
Henry Mahncke is the CEO of Posit Science and the creator of , the most researched brain training platform in the world. A neuroscientist who did his PhD with Michael Merzenich, considered the father of adult brain plasticity, Henry has spent two decades translating brain plasticity science into tools that actually improve brain health. In this conversation, we dig into why most brain training criticism misses the point, what the largest clinical trials really show, and why the future of brain health looks a lot like the evolution of physical fitness. In this episode: 00:00 — Introduction...
info_outline
Can This Vaccine Help Prevent Alzheimer's?
Better Brain Fitness with Drs. Josh Turknett and Tommy Wood
Can a shingles vaccine cut your dementia risk by 20%? A series of landmark studies — published in Nature, Cell, and JAMA — say yes. In this episode, Tommy unpacks the research: how natural experiments in four countries produced one of the most compelling signals in dementia prevention, what might explain the effect beyond infection prevention, and what it means for your own vaccination decisions. In this episode: 00:00 — Introduction 00:52 — The new data on shingles vaccination and Alzheimer's risk 01:48 — The Stanford group and their regression discontinuity methodology 03:15 —...
info_outline
Can a Blood Test Predict Alzheimer's?
Better Brain Fitness with Drs. Josh Turknett and Tommy Wood
A claims a blood test can predict when you’ll develop Alzheimer’s disease, and it got a lot of attention. But how well does it actually work, and should you rush out and get tested? In this episode, we break down the study behind the headlines to understand what it really shows, where the major limitations lie, and what it means for anyone thinking about getting this kind of test. Topics and Questions Covered What P-Tau 217 is and why it’s become the leading blood-based biomarker in Alzheimer’s research. How researchers built a predictive “clock” from blood test data and what...
info_outline
An Existential Crisis for Alzheimer's Research?
Better Brain Fitness with Drs. Josh Turknett and Tommy Wood
In this episode, we discuss a study published in PLOS One that compared living brain tissue to post-mortem brain tissue and found dramatic molecular differences between the two. The findings raise serious questions about decades of Alzheimer’s research built on post-mortem analysis and may help explain why pharmaceutical treatments for the disease have been so disappointing Study: -------------- To submit a question for us to answer on the podcast, go to . To subscribe to the free Better Brain Fitness newsletter, join us when we record live, and get our Guide and Checklist to...
info_outline
Video Games That Boost Brain Function
Better Brain Fitness with Drs. Josh Turknett and Tommy Wood
In this episode, we explore a examining how action video games, particularly first and third-person shooters, affect cognitive function in young adults. The research reveals promising evidence that these games can enhance processing speed and selective attention, with the strongest benefits coming from games requiring rapid environmental responses and decision-making under time pressure. What we discussed: How action video games like Halo and Call of Duty improve processing speed and selective attention more than traditional brain training apps Why games requiring rapid responses to the...
info_outline
Does Computerized Brain Training Help?
Better Brain Fitness with Drs. Josh Turknett and Tommy Wood
In this episode, we dig into a recent McGill University study on computerized cognitive training and its effects on brain chemistry in older adults. What you’ll learn: Why certain brain training games reversed a decade of age-related cognitive decline in just 10 weeks—and how researchers finally measured actual biological changes in the brain The critical difference between activities that genuinely enhance your brain versus mental junk food like Candy Crush or Solitaire The single organizing principle you can use to evaluate whether any cognitive activity is actually helping your...
info_outline
What's Wrong With The New Food Pyramid.
Better Brain Fitness with Drs. Josh Turknett and Tommy Wood
In this episode, we dive into guidelines to figure out what all the fuss is about, whether that fuss is warranted, and whether we should even be issuing dietary guidelines to begin with! Topics and Questions Covered The updates: A breakdown of the specific shifts regarding protein prioritization, full-fat dairy, and whole grain recommendations. The visual shift in nutrition: The transition from the “MyPlate” model to the inverted pyramid visual and the symbolism and subtext behind the change. Individualization vs. Population health: Why a “one-size-fits-all” approach to nutrition...
info_outlineA recent study published in Nature Medicine claims a blood test can predict when you’ll develop Alzheimer’s disease, and it got a lot of attention. But how well does it actually work, and should you rush out and get tested?
In this episode, we break down the study behind the headlines to understand what it really shows, where the major limitations lie, and what it means for anyone thinking about getting this kind of test.
Topics and Questions Covered
-
What P-Tau 217 is and why it’s become the leading blood-based biomarker in Alzheimer’s research.
-
How researchers built a predictive “clock” from blood test data and what that process required.
-
The important distinction between having pathology in your brain and actually developing dementia.
-
Who should and should not be getting tested.
-
What a large Norwegian population study reveals about the overlap between pathology and normal cognitive function.
-
How biomarkers like this might eventually fit into a broader, more personalized approach to prevention.
-
and more!
--------------
To submit a question for us to answer on the podcast, go to brainjo.academy/question.
To subscribe to the free Better Brain Fitness newsletter, join us when we record live, and get our Guide and Checklist to essential blood tests and nutrients, go to: betterbrain.fitness.
To learn more about how you can boost brain fitness with neuroscience-based musical instruction, head to brainjo.academy.
Intro and Outro music composed and produced by Julienne Ellen.