Specialists › Brain health › Wendy Suzuki

SpecialistBrain health

Wendy Suzuki

PhD · Professor of neural science and psychology, New York University, and Dean of NYU's College of Arts and Science · author of Healthy Brain, Happy Life and Good Anxiety

Go-to expert for: how exercise changes the brain

Who and why

Wendy Suzuki is a memory neuroscientist at New York University who shifted her research to how physical activity affects the brain. Her lab tests how single workouts and regular training change mood, attention and memory, and her books and widely watched TED talk have made her a leading voice on exercise as brain care.

Why it matters after 50: Memory, focus and mood all tend to slip with age, and the risk of dementia rises. Regular exercise is one of the few everyday habits that supports the brain areas involved in memory and planning.

What Suzuki recommends

  • Her rule of thumb for lasting brain benefits: aerobic exercise three to four times a week, at least 30 minutes per session. In a later NPR interview she framed it as two to three sessions of about 45 minutes a week, the dose her lab linked to better mood, focus and memory after three months.Some evidence
  • A single workout gives a short-term boost. In her lab, one vigorous 50-minute bike session improved focus and planning-type thinking for up to two hours.Some evidence
  • Even a 10-minute walk can lift mood and ease anxiety, so short bouts are worth doing on busy days.Some evidence
  • Regular aerobic exercise is linked to growth of the hippocampus, the brain's memory centre, which she describes as building a bigger reserve against age-related decline.Some evidence
  • The quick boost from one workout mainly helps attention and focus; in her study it did not improve memory tasks. Memory gains need weeks to months of regular training.Note

Signature: Exercise as a daily brain 'dose'

Her best-known message, from her 2017 TEDWomen talk and her books, is that exercise may be the most powerful everyday thing you can do for your brain, with immediate effects on mood and focus and long-term protection for memory.

In your plan

Choose her for brain health: we show how close your weekly cardio is to her brain “dose”. Brisk walking counts.

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Research and honest caveats

One workout sharpens focus

In 85 healthy adults, a single vigorous aerobic workout improved prefrontal (focus and planning) skills for up to two hours, but not hippocampal (memory) skills.

Basso, Shang, Elman, Karmouta & Suzuki, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 2015

Review of single-bout exercise effects

Her lab's review pulled together human and animal evidence that one bout of exercise changes mood, thinking and brain chemistry, and proposed a standard way to study it.

Basso & Suzuki, Brain Plasticity, 2017

  • Her own exercise studies are mostly short and in healthy younger adults, so her weekly 'dose' is a practical rule of thumb rather than a tested prescription for older adults. Her stated dose has also varied between talks.

Career highlights

  1. 2015Published Healthy Brain, Happy Life
  2. 2017Gave the TEDWomen talk The brain-changing benefits of exercise
  3. 2021Published Good Anxiety
  4. 2022Became Dean of the College of Arts and Science at New York University

Sources