HoldsUp

Daniel Amen

Dr. Daniel Amen is a researcher and author working in the field of neuroimaging and psychiatric health. His published research focuses primarily on using brain single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging to assess regional cerebral blood flow and neural connectivity. His work investigates functional brain imaging biomarkers across psychiatric and neurological conditions, including major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, cognitive disorders, and the effects of adverse childhood experiences.

60 claims checked on air: 7 context 2 contradicted 6 overstated 36 supported 9 unverified

What they said on air - context

8 citing their own research

0:56:10needs contextmoderateRecognize Influences on the Brain - with Dr. Daniel Amen | T

Forty percent of 40-year-old men begin to complain of erectile dysfunction.

"And get this: 40% of men at 40 years old start to complain of erectile dysfunction." (said at 0:56:10)

Data from the landmark Massachusetts Male Aging Study (MMAS) established that approximately 40% of men at age 40 experience some degree of erectile dysfunction (with an overall prevalence of 52% across men aged 40 to 70). However, this figure includes mild or minimal erectile difficulties; severe or complete erectile dysfunction affects only about 5% of men at age 40, increasing with age.

0:59:30needs contextlowtheir own paperRecognize Influences on the Brain - with Dr. Daniel Amen | T

A study by Daniel Amen in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease found that overweight and obese NFL players had lower blood flow in the prefrontal cortex compared to normal-weight players.

"So I actually did a study—I published a study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease in my NFL group, and we looked at NFL players who were overweight or obese versus those who were at a healthy weight. The overweight and obese one had low blood flow in their prefrontal cortex" (said at 0:59:30)

Daniel Amen published a study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (2020) examining regional cerebral blood flow via brain SPECT scans across BMI categories (underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese, morbidly obese). The study showed that higher BMI correlated with reduced cerebral blood flow across virtually all brain regions, including the prefrontal cortex and areas implicated in Alzheimer's disease. However, the speaker conflated this study with his earlier NFL cohort work: the published Journal of Alzheimer's Disease study on obesity and cerebral blood flow was conducted in a general adult psychiatric cohort of 17,721 participants (35,442 scans), not specifically in his NFL player group. As an observational cross-sectional imaging study from a private clinic network, the body of evidence provides low certainty.

0:07:00needs contextlowProven Strategies to Prevent Disease - with Dr. Daniel Amen

Adult humans produce approximately 700 new hippocampal stem cells each day.

"And in one study I read, you actually make 700 new stem cells, hippocampal stem cells, every day." (said at 0:07:00)

The speaker is referencing a landmark 2013 study by Spalding and colleagues (Cell), which used carbon-14 dating from nuclear bomb testing to estimate that approximately 700 new neurons (not stem cells) are added in each hippocampus per day in adult humans, corresponding to an annual turnover rate of 1.75% within the renewing neuronal population. However, this estimate refers to newly generated neurons rather than stem cells, and the broader scientific community remains divided regarding the extent of adult human hippocampal neurogenesis, with subsequent postmortem studies (e.g., Sorrells et al., Nature 2018) finding that neurogenesis drops to undetectable or extremely rare levels in adulthood.

0:09:35needs contextmoderateProven Strategies to Prevent Disease - with Dr. Daniel Amen

A study from Harvard found that 40% of 40-year-olds and 70% of 70-year-olds have erectile dysfunction.

"And I read one study from Harvard that said 40% of 40-year-olds have erectile dysfunction and 70% of 70-year-olds." (said at 0:09:35)

This commonly cited rule of thumb originates from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study (MMAS), a landmark population-based study conducted near Boston in men aged 40 to 70. The study found that total erectile dysfunction (combining minimal, moderate, and complete impotence) was present in approximately 40% of men at age 40 and approximately 70% of men at age 70 (overall combined prevalence of 52%). However, most cases in younger cohorts represent mild or minimal dysfunction; severe or complete erectile dysfunction occurred in only about 5% of 40-year-olds and 15% of 70-year-olds.

0:32:48needs contextlowtheir own paperProven Strategies to Prevent Disease - with Dr. Daniel Amen

Ninety-four percent of traumatic brain injuries affect the frontal lobes.

"so of traumatic brain injuries, 94% of them affect the frontal lobes" (said at 0:32:48)

The speaker claims that 94% of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) affect the frontal lobes. This statistic originates from a systematic review evaluating the clinical utility of single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in TBI (Raji et al., 2014). The systematic review found that across cross-sectional brain SPECT imaging studies of TBI patients, the frontal lobes were the most common region showing neuroimaging abnormalities (94% of cross-sectional studies reported frontal lobe abnormalities, and 77% reported temporal lobe abnormalities). However, stating that 94% of all traumatic brain injuries affect the frontal lobes misrepresents what the statistic actually measures. The 94% figure refers to the proportion of cross-sectional SPECT studies in a systematic review that identified frontal lobe perfusion abnormalities among evaluated TBI patients, not a epidemiological population measure that 94% of all clinical TBI incidents involve frontal lobe injury.

0:35:33needs contextmoderateProven Strategies to Prevent Disease - with Dr. Daniel Amen

Undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery increases the risk of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

"and for example, if you have coronary artery bypass surgery, that increases your risk of having cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease." (said at 0:35:33)

The claim that coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery increases the risk of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease requires important qualification. Postoperative cognitive decline and short-term cognitive impairment are common following CABG surgery, with meta-analyses reporting acute cognitive impairment in roughly 35% to 43% of patients post-CABG. However, evidence on whether CABG independently increases the long-term risk of Alzheimer's disease compared to non-surgical cardiovascular disease remains mixed. While some population studies show an elevated hazard ratio for dementia and Alzheimer's disease in patients with a history of CABG, large national registry studies show no overall increase in all-cause dementia risk compared to matched controls, and controlled longitudinal studies suggest cognitive trajectories in these patients are primarily driven by underlying vascular disease and cardiovascular risk factors rather than the surgery itself.

0:39:16needs contextlowProven Strategies to Prevent Disease - with Dr. Daniel Amen

A long-term longevity study found that conscientiousness was the primary personality predictor of longevity, while highly cheerful or unworried individuals died earlier from accidents or preventable illnesses.

"So you might know the longevity study, the one from Harvard where they look at people over 90 years, the number one predictor of longevity was not happiness or a lack of worry—"Don't worry, be happy" people died the earliest from accidents or preventable illnesses, so I always wanted to be one of those people, I'm not—that the number one predictor was conscientiousness." (said at 0:39:16)

The speaker accurately describes the core findings of a landmark multi-decade lifespan study, although the research referenced is the Terman Life Cycle Study (analyzed extensively by Howard S. Friedman and colleagues, often called The Longevity Project out of Stanford/UC Riverside), rather than the Harvard Study of Adult Development. In analyses following participants from childhood across seven to eight decades, childhood conscientiousness emerged as the strongest personality predictor of longevity, whereas cheerfulness and high optimism were unexpectedly associated with reduced longevity, partly due to increased engagement in health-risk behaviors and preventable mortality. Meta-analyses have further confirmed the positive relationship between conscientiousness and survival.

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