Dr. Tommy Wood (@drtommywood) is an associate professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at the University of Washington, where his research focuses on brain health across the lifespan. This includes therapies for brain injury in newborns, prevention and treatment of adult brain trauma, and the factors that contribute to long-term cognitive function and cognitive decline. Tommy received an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge, a medical degree from the University of Oxford, and a PhD in Physiology and Neuroscience from the University of Oslo.
Alongside his academic work, Tommy is head scientist for Motorsport at Hintsa Performance, overseeing health and performance programs for multiple Formula 1 drivers. He also helped to found the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine, is head of research for the dementia prevention charity Food for the Brain, and serves as chief science officer for brain health coaching company BetterBrain. He has also trained and competed in multiple sports, coming in the top 20 in the world’s first ever fully off-road ironman triathlon, and 2nd at Washington’s Strongest Man in 2024.
Tommy is co-host of the Better Brain Fitness podcast and author of the forthcoming book The Stimulated Mind.
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Dr. Tommy Wood — How to Future-Proof Your Brain from Dementia
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“If you look at human babies compared to pretty much every other mammalian species, we are the only species that’s born fat, even compared to other primates. And it’s thought that the primary reason for this is that that fat is a repository for things that the brain needs in order to develop.” — Dr. Tommy Wood
“There are actually some very nice studies that looked at brain activation and glucose uptake in response to cognitive stimulus in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. And what they see is that, yes, at baseline, there’s less glucose being taken up into the brain of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, but if you stimulate that brain cognitively, it can take up glucose just fine so that you get into the range of a normal healthy brain in early Alzheimer’s disease.” — Dr. Tommy Wood
“Dance seems to have the highest sort of effect size [on mental health and risk of Alzheimer’s] compared to other types of physical activity.” — Dr. Tommy Wood
“What it looks like is that those who grew up bilingual perform better on tasks requiring executive function—so things like response inhibition, which is you kind of want to do something but you stop yourself just in time.” — Dr. Tommy Wood
“As you increase in expertise in these different creative, complex arts, you see improved structure and discreteness of these really critical networks that are susceptible to aging as we get older. But the effect was similar in tango dancers versus those who are bilingual versus those who are artists versus video gamers. So there’s some core effect of these complex multisensory stimuli that require us to gain significant expertise and skill in order to perform them that seem to have this broad effect.” — Dr. Tommy Wood
“How do I just pick one thing? And actually, does picking just one thing help to support the overall function of the brain? And the answer is yes, it does. … If you focus on improving sleep, you’re more sociable, you’re more likely to engage in cognitively challenging tasks. Your blood sugar improves, your blood pressure improves, right? So just changing one area, suddenly the whole network shifts in your favor.” — Dr. Tommy Wood
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