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What Tommy Wood thinks about dementia

@tommy-wood · 26 positions · 0 changes of mind

Associate professor at the University of Washington, where his laboratory studies brain health across the lifespan; he holds a medical degree from Oxford and a PhD in physiology and neuroscience from Oslo.

Tommy Wood did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

6 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Tommy Wood has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingTraining visual processing speed in later life lowers dementia risk two decades later, which continuing to do what you are already good at does not.

    Their wordsThey just published a secondary analysis of the active trial that showed that um those who did processing speed training with uh booster sessions at one and three years had a significantly decreased risk of dementia 20 years later.

    ↗Accelerate Learning & Increase Cognitive Capacity | Dr. Tommy Woodyoutube.com 4th of 26 in this recording

    Interesting

  3. Our readingPartner dancing, not puzzles, has the best evidence of any activity for improving cognitive function in older adults.

    Their wordsthere are meta analyses of these interventions in older adults showing that ballroom and line dancing have the greatest effect on cognitive function. And so both of those require other people as well as learning you know various sets of of movements.

    ↗Accelerate Learning & Increase Cognitive Capacity | Dr. Tommy Woodyoutube.com 7th of 26 in this recording

    Interesting

  5. Our readingNo single food explains the link between a Mediterranean diet and lower dementia risk, so what matters is overall diet quality rather than olive oil or avoiding meat.

    Their wordsAnd there was no food or you know olive oil or food group or you eating more or less meat that changed the relationship between the Mediterranean diet and dementia risk. So what that tells me is it's much more about whole foods.

    ↗Accelerate Learning & Increase Cognitive Capacity | Dr. Tommy Woodyoutube.com 14th of 26 in this recording

    Interesting

  7. Our readingAbout half of all dementia is preventable, and most of that preventable half is Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

    Their wordswe've gotten to a point now where it's generally accepted that potentially half of cases of dementia are preventable and I think the majority of that falls into those first two buckets Alzheimer's and vascular dementia

    ↗Accelerate Learning & Increase Cognitive Capacity | Dr. Tommy Woodyoutube.com 23rd of 26 in this recording

    Interesting

  9. Our readingThe dementia risk from short sleep starts below six hours a night, not below eight.

    Their wordsbut I mean in reality when you look at the data on sleep loss and dementia risk The cut off is really around 6 hours. So if you're consistently sleeping fewer than 6 hours, that's where risk starts to increase.

    ↗Accelerate Learning & Increase Cognitive Capacity | Dr. Tommy Woodyoutube.com 24th of 26 in this recording

    Interesting

  11. Our readingCognitive decline is a staircase rather than a slope: the big drops happen after episodes of serious illness.

    Their wordscognitive function doesn't just decline sort of linearly or steadily with age. It goes down, you know, a little bit on average, but the biggest decreases sort of happen stepwise after periods of significant illness.

    ↗Accelerate Learning & Increase Cognitive Capacity | Dr. Tommy Woodyoutube.com 25th of 26 in this recording

    Interesting