Yes I have ‘CEO brain’, but what else did brain testing show me?

Last year, I had the most fascinating day at Viavi, a health-management-and-optimisation clinic in central London, being put through all the braining testing the clinic uses to gauge the health status of its elite clientele (think entrepreneurs, celebs, CEOs and high-net-worth-individuals).

This involved a brain MRI followed by exhaustive testing of my fitness levels, grip strength, heart rate variability, cognitive abilities, brainwave patterns, and blood tests to check everything from my nutritional status to whether I had any of the p-tau biomarkers that are early indicators of Alzheimers.

I did all this for an article about ‘CEO brain’: Dr Sabine Donnai, who runs Viavi, has observed that a disproportionate number of her clients share a genetic mutation that means they have more dopamine (the ‘happy’ hormone) in their systems than average, which, she suggest, may lead to entrepreneurial, risk-taking behaviour, and brains that run in permanent overdrive – hence, ‘CEO brain’.

It turns out that I do have this category of brain (though it’s not always as good a thing as it might sound, see below), and the testing brought home four things I really hadn’t expected.

Nutrition? Exercise? It’s all about the brain.

You and I might think that we’re exercising and taking care with what we eat in order to enhance how well our bodies function both now and in the future – and, sure, for aesthetic reasons, too. But if you ask Dr Donnai, we should be thinking, of every choice we make, ‘Will this support my brain?’ As she points out, everything we do should be geared towards helping our brain survive. Sure, our heart is important, but it’s just a pump, if it fails it can be replaced. Ultimately, the brain is what matters most, so we should be thinking of better sleep, nutrition and exercise in terms of how it will optimise brain function. Makes sense when you stop to think about it.

I need to find my ‘off’ switch

I think I cope well with stress, but my body thinks otherwise. From the adrenal and heart-rate variability tests, it appears I’ve lost the ability to switch off, and my whole system carries on in the same state of fight or flight at evenings, weekends and often during the night as it does when faced with a writing deadline or giving a presentation. My fitness levels seem to be helping me to keep going, but if I don’t get a grip on my lifestyle and improve my sleep and rest (not the same thing as sleep, according to Dr Donnai, but equally vital), I’m heading for serious burnout. I’m trying, but I haven’t made much headway with this just yet.

Hot baths do me more good than cold plunges

Like so many mid-life women, I had taken up cold showers, on the grounds that they were ‘good for me’ (because a bit of ‘hormetic’ stress, a short, controlled burst of stress, is in theory good for the body and makes it more resilient). Dr Donnai suggested I try cold baths (ugh, I hate cold baths) as a more effective way of re-setting my jumpy nervous system. ‘I’ve been cold-water-swimming three times a week for the past year,’ I said, ‘Does that count?’ Dr Donnai looked thoughtful. ‘Then that’s obviously not working, try hot baths at bedtime instead,’ she suggested. I love a hot bath, so I’ve been happy to give that a go, even if these haven’t yet improved my rather fragmented sleep patterns.

I need specific supplements.

Although I eat well, I’m technically ‘malnourished’  – or at least, short on antioxidants, and need to take more vitamins C and B. I already supplement with these, but Dr Donnai advised that with the amount of stress I’m under (aren’t we all? Work, life, you name it) my system was motoring through everything I was giving it and needed more just in order to keep pace with the demands. Oh, and a genetic quirk means my body doesn’t make glutathione (a crucial antioxidant, which our bodies ought to be making by themselves) like it should, so I need to supplement that, too.

If you are also on the look out for great supplements, you can find my favourite supplement recommendations here.

And one last thing, in good news, I was relieved to hear I don’t show any of the early biomarkers for Alzheimers. One less thing to worry about!

Health assessments at Viavi, from £9,000

The article is online in the Mail for subscribers to the Mail+ app

Drop me a line on Instagram @alicehartdavis if you’d like me to dig into more aspects of this detailed health testing…