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Exercise doesn’t just strengthen your body—it powers up your brain too. Dr. David Merrill, director of PNI’s Brain Health Center, explains that physical activity boosts brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that helps neurons grow and connect, supporting learning and memory. While BDNF isn’t available in a pill, exercise naturally increases its levels, promoting brain plasticity and resilience. Regular workouts keep your brain sharp and adaptable, especially as you age.

For decades, people thought physical exercise benefited only the body. But every year we learn how incorrect that was, and Dr. David Merrill, director of PNI’s brain health center, is one of the people pushing our knowledge forward. It turns out that exercise builds the brain by prompting the production of brain derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF. Listen to this episode to hear how you can boost BDNF through exercise and stay sharp into your golden years.

When not practicing world-class neurosurgery, Dr. Garni Barkhoudarian instructs aspiring surgeons at the Neuroanatomical Skills / Microdissection Anatomy Lab. His work there advances minimally invasive surgical techniques and provides training opportunities for neurosurgeons. Josh Emerson, an artist turned medical illustrator, creates intricate anatomical illustrations at PNI, where he collaborates with Dr. Barkhoudarian. Together, they meticulously map the human body's most crucial structures, combining traditional and digital techniques.

When you’re a doctor treating Parkinson’s disease, it’s a matter of picking the most appropriate arrow from your quiver. There is no cure for the disease yet, but there are more than 20 different medications that can improve a patient’s wellbeing. Dr. Natalie Diaz, a neurologist who specializes in movement disorders, is familiar with all of them.

Judy Davidson is a retired teacher, librarian, and therapist. A few years ago, she began to feel more forgetful. Names of movies she’d just seen escaped her. She became quieter in groups, afraid that she would forget a friend’s name. She recalled her mother’s struggle with Alzheimer's

Your brain is an energy hog. It accounts for just one percent of your body weight, but it consumes about 20 percent of your total energy. The blood carries oxygen and 20 percent of blood flow goes to the brain, because all that work requires oxygen. Large arteries are constantly rushing blood to your brain, where it filters into smaller and smaller vessels.

Listening to music that has the personal significance or meaning, such as the song played at the first dance at your wedding, deeply activates the brain and strengthens the area of the brain that degenerates with Alzheimer's disease.

Elaine Lipworth, Senior Content Writer at Thrive Global, writes about her donation to Dr. Santosh Kesari's Neuroscience Research at Pacific Neuroscience Institute after the death of her husband.

Featured in the Santa Monica Star, Dr. Sarah McEwen discusses results of a study examining the positive effects of flavonols and Alzheimer’s disease dementia.

There is no “good” time to receive a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. But it is a hopeful time. Learn about the positive impact of diet and exercise.