16/01/2026
Channel 5 airs interview on emotional memories and MRI with Prof Roland Zahn on
15 January 2026
https://www.channel5.com/how-to-keep-your-brain-young
It was a privilege to be invited to contribute to a TV episode of Dr Amir Khan's GP behind closed doors aired on 15 January 2026 on Channel 5. He is a wonderful presenter, full of energy and super engaging and I really enjoyed his visit to our Centre for Affective Disorders. I can see why he is very popular among patients and viewers. Congratulations also to my colleagues, Prof Sandrine Thuret and Prof Dag Aarsland at King's College London for their excellent pieces on the topic of memory and aging. Thank you so much to our IDOR Pioneer Science Fellow, Dr Diede Fennema, in my lab who had done all the scanning and analysis of Dr Khan's brain fMRI. Many thanks also to Prof Gareth Barker and the radiography team at the wonderful Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN). Last but not least, thanks to our wonderful Press officer, Patrick O'Brien at IoPPN.
Unfortunately, my explanation of the function of the perirhinal cortex as relevant for familiarity was cut such that it sounded as if I was talking about the orbitofrontal cortex, but apart from this, which is probably more relevant to other scientists, I was also feeling a bit uneasy after watching the whole episode. Firstly, Serotonin was labelled as a "Happy Hormone", which is misleading in my view in several ways, I guess by now even the general public are widely aware of the debate around serotonin and in my view, it is these inaccurate explanations of the role of serotonin, which have led to the backlash among some who deny its importance in mood disorders entirely, which again is a distorted view, that has been debunked by a consortium of experts led by Prof Sameer Jauhar to which I was grateful to make a contribution.
But another key message of the film was that through simple life style changes to our exercise and diet, we could rapidly see significant improvements in our memory and wellbeing. Whilst this message appears positive at first and many would consider that there is no harm in telling people to drink less alcohol, play the piano, exercise more, eat more healthily, and do some digital detox exercises, I thought the portrayed benefits appeared surprisingly spectacular and what I was missing, was the evidence base for how large the effects were, what conditions would benefit and what potential unintended consequences were. From my perspective as a psychiatrist specialising in mood disorders, I have come across many people with depression who have said that giving them lifestyle recommendations can often make them even more depressed, because they can feel guilty for not being able to follow the advice and then think it is their fault, that they are depressed, because of their lifestyle, for which there is no solid scientific evidence to my knowledge.
In my clinical experience, life style changes are often more relevant to people when they are relatively well and when they have tailored them to their own cultural and individual preferences. For example, social activities are most relevant to many people and they were not mentioned. Of course, I am not familiar with the wider and latest evidence on aging and memory, but I doubt that many of the studies which have been undertaken were from clinical trials and whilst it would be unreasonable to request such evidence before making some general lifestyle recommendations, I think it is important to explain the uncertainty around causal relationships between risk factors and later development of a condition, as well as the individual differences in food preferences for example which might confound much of the research. The antidepressant effects of physical exercise have been shown in trials and so there is a stronger evidence base, nevertheless I find it difficult to implement this in my practice for many of my patients and do so very carefully only.
I hope this does not come across as overly critical or ungrateful to Dr Khan and the film team, but I felt it was important to provide some context which will hopefully stimulate some reflection. I think we should trust the general public more to be able to digest complexity and uncertainty.
Thank you very much again for inviting me to contribute !
Roland Zahn
