The Neuro Experience

*Reduce your risk of Alzheimer's with my science-backed protocol for women 30+:*https://tinyurl.com/55c24w66
Most people think tracking your brain is science fiction. The truth is, the technology to measure your brainwaves, train your focus, and deepen your deep sleep already fits inside a sleek little headband and the woman who built it has been studying neuroplasticity since long before consumer neurotech existed.
In this episode, I sit down with Ariel Garten, neuroscientist, psychotherapist, and co-founder of Muse, the brain-sensing wearable backed by the world's largest consumer EEG data set. We break down what brainwaves actually are, why your individual alpha peak frequency is one of the most underrated markers of cognitive aging, and how just five minutes of focused attention meditation per day can make your brain look 7.5 years younger. Ariel walks me through sleep spindles as the single greatest predictor of brain age, how the glymphatic system clears amyloid beta during deep sleep, and why hemispheric specialization shows up so differently in male and female anxiety. We also get into
Muse's foundation brain model, novel biomarkers for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, the digital sleeping pill, and her mission to make sure no one is jailed by the prison of their own mind. This conversation will change how you think about your brain, your sleep, and what cognitive longevity actually requires.
Subscribe to The Neuro Experience for evidence-based conversations at the intersection of brain science, longevity, and performance.
_____
*TOPICS DISCUSSED*(00:00:00) Intro: Inside the Brain Sensing Headband Changing Neuroscience
(00:05:17) What an EEG Actually Measures and Your Brainwaves Explained
(00:13:20) Alpha Waves, Flow State, and Why It's Easier to Reach Than You Think
(00:23:11) Peak Alpha Frequency: The Refresh Rate of Your Brain
(00:29:25) The Meditation Study That Made Brains Look 7.5 Years Younger
(00:38:30) Sleep Spindles: The Single Greatest Predictor of Brain Age
(00:43:30) Deep Sleep, Delta Waves, and the Glymphatic Power Wash
(00:48:11) Muse's Digital Sleeping Pill and Deep Sleep Boost
(01:01:21) fNIRS, Blood Flow Training, and the Athena Owl Experience
(01:04:23) The Foundation Brain Model and Novel Biomarkers for Alzheimer's
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*Thank you to our sponsors*Function Health: https://www.functionhealth.com/louisanicolaTimeline: https://www.timeline.com/partners/neuro-athleticsJones Road Beauty: https://www.jonesroadbeauty.com and use code NEUROLifeboost Coffee: https://lifeboostcoffee.com/ and use code NEURO for 10% offMomentum: https://momentumshake.com/neuro Get Free Welcome Kit + Travel Collection — $70 valueIQBARS: https://www.eatiqbar.com/
_______
I’m Louisa Nicola - clinical neurophysiologist - Alzheimer’s prevention specialist - founder of Neuro Athletics.
My mission is to translate cutting-edge neuroscience into actionable strategies for cognitive longevity, peak performance, and brain disease prevention.If you're committed to optimizing your brain- reducing Alzheimer’s risk - and staying mentally sharp for life, you’re in the right place.
Stay sharp. Stay informed. Join thousands who subscribe to the Neuro Athletics Newsletter → https://bit.ly/3ewI5P0Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louisanicola_/Twitter : https://twitter.com/louisanicola_
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people think tracking your brain is science fiction. The truth is, the technology to measure your brainwaves, train your focus, and deepen your deep sleep already fits inside a sleek little headband and the woman who built it has been studying neuroplasticity since long before consumer neurotech existed.

In this episode, I sit down with Ariel Garten, neuroscientist, psychotherapist, and co-founder of Muse, the brain-sensing wearable backed by the world's largest consumer EEG data set. We break down what brainwaves actually are, why your individual alpha peak frequency is one of the most underrated markers of cognitive aging, and how just five minutes of focused attention meditation per day can make your brain look 7.5 years younger. Ariel walks me through sleep spindles as the single greatest predictor of brain age, how the glymphatic system clears amyloid beta during deep sleep, and why hemispheric specialization shows up so differently in male and female anxiety. We also get into Muse's foundation brain model, novel biomarkers for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, the digital sleeping pill, and her mission to make sure no one is jailed by the prison of their own mind. This conversation will change how you think about your brain, your sleep, and what cognitive longevity actually requires.

Reduce your risk of Alzheimer's with my science-backed protocol for women 30+:

https://go.neuroathletics.com.au/youtube-sales-page

Subscribe to The Neuro Experience for evidence-based conversations at the intersection of brain science, longevity, and performance.

_____

TOPICS DISCUSSED

00:00 Intro: Inside the Brain Sensing Headband Changing Neuroscience

05:17 What an EEG Actually Measures and Your Brainwaves Explained

13:20 Alpha Waves, Flow State, and Why It's Easier to Reach Than You Think

23:11 Peak Alpha Frequency: The Refresh Rate of Your Brain

29:25 The Meditation Study That Made Brains Look 7.5 Years Younger

38:30 Sleep Spindles: The Single Greatest Predictor of Brain Age

43:30 Deep Sleep, Delta Waves, and the Glymphatic Power Wash

48:11 Muse's Digital Sleeping Pill and Deep Sleep Boost

01:01:21 fNIRS, Blood Flow Training, and the Athena Owl Experience

01:04:23 The Foundation Brain Model and Novel Biomarkers for Alzheimer's

_______

Thank you to our sponsors

Function Health: https://www.functionhealth.com/louisanicola

Timeline: https://www.timeline.com/partners/neuro-athletics

Jones Road Beauty: https://www.jonesroadbeauty.com and use code NEURO

Lifeboost Coffee: https://lifeboostcoffee.com/ and use code NEURO for 10% off

Momentum: https://momentumshake.com/neuro Get Free Welcome Kit + Travel Collection — $70 value

IQBARS: https://www.eatiqbar.com/

_______

I’m Louisa Nicola - clinical neurophysiologist - Alzheimer’s prevention specialist - founder of Neuro Athletics.

My mission is to translate cutting-edge neuroscience into actionable strategies for cognitive longevity, peak performance, and brain disease prevention.

If you're committed to optimizing your brain- reducing Alzheimer’s risk - and staying mentally sharp for life, you’re in the right place.

Stay sharp. Stay informed. Join thousands who subscribe to the Neuro Athletics Newsletter → https://bit.ly/3ewI5P0

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louisanicola_/

Twitter : https://twitter.com/louisanicola_
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people think building a billion-dollar consumer brand requires a Stanford MBA, a celebrity co-sign, and a war chest of venture capital. The reality is messier. The person making that case mixed nootropics in his college dorm room, helped his paralyzed best friend find his edge again with the same compounds, and turned a piece of gum into one of the fastest-growing functional brands in America.
In this episode, I sit down with Kent Yoshimura, neuroscientist, martial artist, muralist, and co-founder of Neuro Gum. We break down why the founder's identity matters more than the ingredient list, why cold compression makes most creatine gummies a scam, and why nano-influencers will quietly outperform every Kardashian-tier post by 2027. Kent also opens up about the trademark lawsuit that nearly killed the company, the Daniel Lubetzky DM that ended a war of attrition in a single message, the 25,000-creator Discord running Neuro's TikTok flywheel, the $10 million raise that built the team, and what he would do with $10,000 if he had to start a brand over today. This conversation will completely change how you think about cognitive performance, founder credibility, and what it takes to build a brand people trust over an algorithm.
*Reduce your risk of Alzheimer's with my science-backed protocol for women 30+:*https://go.neuroathletics.com.au/youtube-sales-page
Subscribe to The Neuro Experience for evidence-based conversations at the intersection of brain science, longevity, and performance.
_____
*TOPICS DISCUSSED*(00:00:00) Intro: Mixing Supplements in a Dorm Room and the Birth of Neuro Gum
(00:04:27) Martial Arts, Triathlon, and What Elite Sport Teaches You About Business
(00:14:08) Ryan's Snowboarding Accident and the Accessibility Mission
(00:24:03) Cold Compression, Why Creatine Gummies Are a Scam, and the Melatonin Myth
(00:30:23) The 2020 Inflection Point: CVS, Shark Tank, and Joe Rogan
(00:31:23) The TikTok Playbook: Posting Every Day for a Year With No Agency
(00:42:19) The 25,000-Creator Community and Paying Out a Quarter Million a Month
(00:46:27) The $300 Million Lawsuit and the Daniel Lubetzky DM That Saved Neuro Gum
(00:53:11) Why Red Bull's Dietrich Mateschitz Is Kent's Hero
(01:00:17) AI, One-Person Billionaires, and Why Humanity Is the New Commodity
(01:03:44) First Principles for Anyone Starting a Brand Today
(01:08:40) The End of Mega-Influencers and the Rise of Nano Trust
(01:09:49) What He Would Do With 10,000 Dollars to Start a Brand Today_______
*Thank you to our sponsors*Pulsetto: https://pulsetto.tech/pages/NEURO or use Code NEURO for some off your orderHuel: https://www.huel.com/neuro use promo code NEURO for 15% OFF (New Customers, Min. $75 purchase)KetoneIQ: https://ketone.com/NEURO for 30% OFFDailyBasis: https://www.dailybasislife.com/NEURO for 50% off first month
_______
I’m Louisa Nicola - clinical neurophysiologist - Alzheimer’s prevention specialist - founder of Neuro Athletics.
My mission is to translate cutting-edge neuroscience into actionable strategies for cognitive longevity, peak performance, and brain disease prevention.If you're committed to optimizing your brain- reducing Alzheimer’s risk - and staying mentally sharp for life, you’re in the right place.
Stay sharp. Stay informed. Join thousands who subscribe to the Neuro Athletics Newsletter → https://bit.ly/3ewI5P0Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louisanicola_/Twitter : https://twitter.com/louisanicola_
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people think building a billion-dollar consumer brand requires a Stanford MBA, a celebrity co-sign, and a war chest of venture capital. The reality is messier. The person making that case mixed nootropics in his college dorm room, helped his paralyzed best friend find his edge again with the same compounds, and turned a piece of gum into one of the fastest-growing functional brands in America.

In this episode, I sit down with Kent Yoshimura, neuroscientist, martial artist, muralist, and co-founder of Neuro Gum. We break down why the founder's identity matters more than the ingredient list, why cold compression makes most creatine gummies a scam, and why nano-influencers will quietly outperform every Kardashian-tier post by 2027. Kent also opens up about the trademark lawsuit that nearly killed the company, the Daniel Lubetzky DM that ended a war of attrition in a single message, the 25,000-creator Discord running Neuro's TikTok flywheel, the $10 million raise that built the team, and what he would do with $10,000 if he had to start a brand over today. This conversation will completely change how you think about cognitive performance, founder credibility, and what it takes to build a brand people trust over an algorithm.

Reduce your risk of Alzheimer's with my science-backed protocol for women 30+:

https://go.neuroathletics.com.au/youtube-sales-page

Subscribe to The Neuro Experience for evidence-based conversations at the intersection of brain science, longevity, and performance.

_____

TOPICS DISCUSSED

00:00 Intro: Mixing Supplements in a Dorm Room and the Birth of Neuro Gum

04:27 Martial Arts, Triathlon, and What Elite Sport Teaches You About Business

14:08 Ryan's Snowboarding Accident and the Accessibility Mission

24:03 Cold Compression, Why Creatine Gummies Are a Scam, and the Melatonin Myth

30:23 The 2020 Inflection Point: CVS, Shark Tank, and Joe Rogan

31:23 The TikTok Playbook: Posting Every Day for a Year With No Agency

42:19 The 25,000-Creator Community and Paying Out a Quarter Million a Month

46:27 The $300 Million Lawsuit and the Daniel Lubetzky DM That Saved Neuro Gum

53:11 Why Red Bull's Dietrich Mateschitz Is Kent's Hero

1:00:17 AI, One-Person Billionaires, and Why Humanity Is the New Commodity

1:03:44 First Principles for Anyone Starting a Brand Today

1:08:40 The End of Mega-Influencers and the Rise of Nano Trust

1:09:49 What He Would Do With 10,000 Dollars to Start a Brand Today

_______

Thank you to our sponsors

Pulsetto: https://pulsetto.tech/pages/NEURO or use Code NEURO for some off your order

Huel: https://www.huel.com/neuro use promo code NEURO for 15% OFF (New Customers, Min. $75 purchase)

KetoneIQ: https://ketone.com/NEURO for 30% OFF

DailyBasis: https://www.dailybasislife.com/NEURO for 50% off first month

_______

I’m Louisa Nicola - clinical neurophysiologist - Alzheimer’s prevention specialist - founder of Neuro Athletics.

My mission is to translate cutting-edge neuroscience into actionable strategies for cognitive longevity, peak performance, and brain disease prevention.

If you're committed to optimizing your brain- reducing Alzheimer’s risk - and staying mentally sharp for life, you’re in the right place.

Stay sharp. Stay informed. Join thousands who subscribe to the Neuro Athletics Newsletter → https://bit.ly/3ewI5P0

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louisanicola_/

Twitter : https://twitter.com/louisanicola_
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people think their kitchen is the safest place in their home. The truth is the opposite. The cookware you use every day, the cutting boards you trust, the utensils you stir with, even the coffee maker on your counter, may be quietly leaching forever chemicals, microplastics, and heavy metals into your food and into your brain. In this episode, I sit down with Jordan Nathan, founder and CEO of Caraway, the brand redefining what nontoxic actually means in the modern home. Jordan walks me through the night he called poison control after overheating a Teflon pan, the 2-year journey to launch a cookware line free of PFAS, and why six U.S. states have now banned forever chemicals in cookware. We unpack what PFAS, PFOA, and PTFE actually are, why they accumulate in fat tissue and cross the blood brain barrier, and why scratched pans, plastic cutting boards, and black nylon utensils are some of the most dangerous things in your kitchen.

Then we go deep on the science. I break down the Nature Medicine 2025 study showing microplastics in human brain tissue at higher concentrations than the liver or kidney, with the highest accumulation found in dementia brains. We cover the rise of autoimmune disease, the credit card's worth of plastic the average person consumes every week, Caraway's third party testing for over 600 PFAS chemicals, and a full kitchen audit on a $1,000 budget covering induction vs gas, dishwasher dangers, and what's coming next as Caraway expands into the broader nontoxic home. This conversation will completely change how you think about what is in your kitchen, what is in your body, and what you can actually do about it.

Reduce your risk of Alzheimer's with my science-backed protocol for women 30+:

https://go.neuroathletics.com.au/youtube-sales-page

Subscribe to The Neuro Experience for evidence-based conversations at the intersection of brain science, longevity, and performance.

_____

TOPICS DISCUSSED

00:00 Intro: Plastic Is Hiding in Plain Sight in Your Kitchen

01:36 The Night Jordan Called Poison Control Over a Teflon Pan

05:06 PFAS, PFOA, and PTFE: What Forever Chemicals Actually Are

09:35 Why PFAS Accumulate in Fat Tissue and Cross the Blood Brain Barrier

13:31 The Birth of Caraway and What the Name Actually Means

17:50 Why 6 States Have Banned PFAS in Cookware

19:22 Third Party Testing: How Caraway Tests for 600+ PFAS Chemicals

23:10 The Steve Jobs Mentality: Industry Standards Aren't Our Standards

29:31 Scratched Pans, Plastic Cutting Boards, and the Hidden Risks

33:18 Microplastics Found in Human Brain Tissue: The 2025 Study

37:28 Caraway's Bestsellers and the Expansion Into the Whole Home

40:20 Cast Iron, Stainless Steel, and How to Choose Cookware

41:29 Why You Should Never Put Cookware in the Dishwasher

43:02 Gas vs Induction Stoves: Which One Is Actually Safer

44:30 The Full $1,000 Kitchen Audit: Where to Start

49:21 Black Plastic, Nylon Utensils, and the Truth About Takeout Containers

51:00 One Thing Jordan Wishes He Knew About the Average Kitchen

_______

Thank you to our sponsors

DailyBasis: https://www.dailybasislife.com/NEURO for 50% off first month

JSHealth: https://jshealthvitamins.com and use code NEURO for 20% off

BASED Bodyworks: https://basedbodyworks.com/ and use code NEURO for 20% off

_______

I’m Louisa Nicola - clinical neurophysiologist - Alzheimer’s prevention specialist - founder of Neuro Athletics.

My mission is to translate cutting-edge neuroscience into actionable strategies for cognitive longevity, peak performance, and brain disease prevention.

If you're committed to optimizing your brain- reducing Alzheimer’s risk - and staying mentally sharp for life, you’re in the right place.

Stay sharp. Stay informed. Join thousands who subscribe to the Neuro Athletics Newsletter → https://bit.ly/3ewI5P0

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louisanicola_/

Twitter : https://twitter.com/louisanicola_
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices