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Everyone’s buzzing about lithium right now — not the EV battery kind, the brain-health kind. But before we all run to the supplement aisle, the smarter move might just be to run to the kitchen.Dr. Ellen Kornmehl, MD (with a name like Kornmehl she could’ve opened a bakery!) ties science straight back to food in her latest Substack: 👉<a data-mce-href="https://eatingandfeeding.substack.com/p/does-your-zip-code-determine-your?r=4sessy&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;triedRedirect=true" href="https://eatingandfeeding.substack.com/p/does-your-zip-code-determine-your?r=4sessy&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;triedRedirect=true"> Does Your Zip Code Determine Your Dementia Risk?</a>And she doesn’t just end with lab notes — she ends with recipes: 🥘 Portuguese Garlic Shrimp with Kale 🍅 Greek Bruschetta 🍊 Fennel, Orange, Onion, Cucumber + Olive Salad 🥦 Melty, Creamy Tahini + Garlic CauliflowerHere’s the kicker: food is a large part of the MiM app we’re building. Because memory support isn’t just pills and protocols — it’s structure, dignity, and yes, a plate of shrimp with kale.<figure id="figure-msib2h6i4gmefsqq48"><img id="msib2h6i4gmefsqq48" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/36JXAnniPiMpTXfKIlNIlWYh4wxYsAVaJGkPWAGmFxgY4vOZKFrMcC5JdduX3DtR.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-sm md:rounded-md lg:rounded-lg" style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: center center;" data-corners="small" data-aspect="3:2" data-caption="Part of the MiM App's weekly menu plan" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/36JXAnniPiMpTXfKIlNIlWYh4wxYsAVaJGkPWAGmFxgY4vOZKFrMcC5JdduX3DtR.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 3/2; object-position: center center;"><figcaption class="body-normal text-gray-500 mt-2">Part of the MiM App's weekly menu plan</figcaption></figure>👉 I also wrote about this on my Substack - Connect with MiM:<a data-mce-href="https://mimconnect.substack.com/p/does-your-zip-code-shape-your-brain?r=4sessy" href="https://mimconnect.substack.com/p/does-your-zip-code-shape-your-brain?r=4sessy" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Does Your Zip Code Shape Your Brain Health?</a>And if you want more recipes, science, and a first look at how we’re baking this into Memory in Motion (MiM), sign up as a Trailblazer tester. We’d love to have you at the table. Please register on the main site and we will be in touch.&nbsp;

✨ Lithium, Kale, and Memory on a Plate ✨

We joke about it — the wrong side of the bed. But the little things that start our day can ripple out fast. A stumble in the morning can feel like a storm by lunchtime.That’s why I built MiM (Memory in Motion). Not to cure, not to over-monitor, but to steady the rhythm of life.MiM weaves in what matters most: cooking, music, movement, dog walks, journaling. And yes, it also asks a simple daily check-in: “How are you feeling right now?” That small step is just one part of keeping the day from tipping.Here’s what excites me. Researchers at Dartmouth are building tools like MoodCapture, using AI and phone data to detect changes in mood. Their principle? Catch shifts early, act in the moment, reduce the impact.Different methods, same truth. For me, that’s validation. MiM may have been born at my kitchen table, but science shows we’re onto something real.I can’t help but feel the jigsaw pieces are falling into place — or maybe the stars are aligning. And as Dr. Nicholas Jacobson at Dartmouth says: being in the moment makes the impact less profound.Contact Vanessa: <a href="mailto:vanessa@livewithmim.org">vanessa@livewithmim.org</a>"Built to Remember. Designed to Care."

What Side of the Bed Did You Get Out of Today?

<h2>Four Months In...</h2><figure id="figure-f8nijacgsmea5dz7h"><img id="f8nijacgsmea5dz7h" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/284HBF7pR6TW8426v7fbJIR9wK9y5od2O5VNRx7fnEeyvbKPQPR5oZqEogkOzWNP.png" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-2xl md:rounded-3xl lg:rounded-4xl" style="aspect-ratio: 1/1; object-position: 50% 20%;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="1:1" data-caption="" data-positionX="50%" data-positionY="20%" data-fullWidth="false"/></figure>Four months ago, I launched LiveWithMiM.org with a simple but defiant goal: to bridge the canyon-sized gap between “You have Alzheimer’s” and “Here’s how you keep living well.”That gap isn’t just about missing resources — it’s about silence. The stigma surrounding Alzheimer’s is so thick you can feel the air change when you say the word. People look away. Voices drop. The conversation ends before it begins — and more often than not, the pity party begins.Infantilizing language creeps in — baby talk, sing-song tones — or worse, nothing at all. It’s dehumanizing. It’s akin to how AIDS was perceived in the 1980s, or the awkward whose-side-are-you-on dynamics of a divorce. In every case, people’s discomfort overrides their humanity.I refuse to accept that.&nbsp; What We’ve Built in 4 Months In just four months, MiM has:Is about to meet with one of the top doctors in the field, Dr. Lisa Marsch at Dartmouth, to discuss real-world applications and pilots. Talked at length with Emily Snyder of the Borealis Investment Fund, a dynamic New Hampshire leader who is helping guide MiM’s financial positioning for investors. Gained mentorship from SBA and NHU’s John-Willem Clemente, who even ran our business plan through MIT’s Orbit program — and the feedback was clear: We have the chops. Now to make it happen. Benefited from the generosity and expertise of the attorneys at McLane.com, without whom MiM would still be just an idea instead of Out There, for the Now. Attracted a growing following of top scientists, researchers, and changemakers who share our urgency to shift the Alzheimer’s conversation. This momentum tells me something important — the world is ready to talk about Alzheimer’s differently.&nbsp; The Stigma Stops Here Stigma isolates. It keeps families in the dark, ashamed, and unsupported when what they need is connection, guidance, and hope. MiM exists to replace that stigma with structure, dignity, and daily life that still feels worth living.&nbsp; Strengthening Our Resolve Every conversation, every pilot, every new connection strengthens my resolve: Alzheimer’s is not the end of the story. We can give people more than a diagnosis and a handshake. We can give them tools, routines, and a reason to keep going.&nbsp; We’ve come far in four months. The next four will take us further still. If you share this vision — to lessen the stigma and strengthen the resolve — let’s talk.

Bridging the Gap in the Canyon

By Tim When Vanessa first floated the idea of a “structured daily routine,” I pictured a military barracks. Wake up at 0600. Shine boots. Salute somebody. Instead, I got MiM. Which, to be clear, does not require me to salute anyone, but does expect me to put on pants before lunch.<figure id="figure-7m8vp3fnme31bh7e"><img id="7m8vp3fnme31bh7e" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/16BBtLge5HDL6EXDusWxrZkaC0Egn5tGn682JJxTFp1ud61GSirIMs7VUuIEhekg.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-2xl md:rounded-3xl lg:rounded-4xl" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionX="undefined" data-positionY="undefined" data-fullWidth="false"/></figure>MiM gives me a list every morning. Hydration, writing, yoga, walking the dog. It’s a polite but persistent nudge — like having a personal assistant who never rolls their eyes. I’ll admit, at first I treated it like spam. “Oh look, my wife’s app thinks I should drink water. Adorable.”But here’s the twist: it works.The more I follow the routine, the less my day unravels. Writing, for example. I’d stopped for a while — too many mental cobwebs. Now, with MiM reminding me daily, I’m back at it. Some days I’m brilliant. Other days I produce what can only be described as “words in a row.” But either way, the muscle is moving again.The best part? I can see my progress. It’s right there in the little check marks and logged moments. I didn’t think I’d care, but apparently my brain likes gold stars as much as it likes coffee.I still grumble when the yoga reminder pops up, because no app should expect a man my age to touch his toes without incident. But I do it. And then I feel better. And then I hate to admit that I feel better.So here’s my official statement: MiM is helping. The structure, the research, the small daily wins — they’re stitching my days together in a way that makes sense. I may never salute Vanessa, but I will, grudgingly, thank her.And I hope it works for you too, but maybe, just maybe, you’d like to help? We’re looking for a few more Trailblazers to join in the research. It’s fun, it’s informative, and with any luck, it’ll help a whole ton of people down the line.

Routine, Schmoutine — Turns Out It Works

And Why This Video Feels Like MiM in Motion After months of combing through the dementia-support landscape, I finally stumbled on the National Council of Dementia Minds. And yes, I’ll say it — I hate the name. But the mission? Absolutely on target. They’re the first national nonprofit in the U.S. governed entirely by people living with dementia. The part that floors me? I didn’t even know they existed until this week. If I didn’t, I’m betting most of you didn’t either.And how did I find them? Through filmmaker Michelle Memran’s work. Michelle’s documentary The Rest I Make Up showed me the power of lived experience to keep creativity alive through dementia. That approach — honoring what remains instead of mourning what’s lost — is exactly how I built MiM.Then I found this NCDM video, and it hit me square in the chest.<a data-mce-href="https://youtu.be/AS2hMWU5N1Q?si=HNzqJn46FWrx03tQ" href="https://youtu.be/AS2hMWU5N1Q?si=HNzqJn46FWrx03tQ">🎥 Watch&nbsp;it here</a>It’s not another pity-party reel. It’s not wringing hands over how “sad” dementia is. It’s not shuffling people to the sidelines like they’ve expired the moment the doctor says the word. It’s lived experience. It’s agency. It’s voices refusing to be reduced to symptoms.And yet — this video has only 23 views in three months. The NCDM YouTube channel? Ten subscribers. That’s not just underexposed — that’s invisible. Which says as much about the stigma around Alzheimer’s and dementia as it does about the algorithm. People don’t click what they don’t want to face.That’s why MiM exists. When my husband Tim was diagnosed, we weren’t given a plan to preserve who he is. We were handed a list of what to take away — his keys, his independence, his routines. That’s what passes for “support” in the system. The assumption is: diagnosis = decline = done.MiM fills that gap. We create daily structure, purpose, and connection with — not for — people living with dementia. We give the mic back to the people who should have been speaking all along.This week, I also “met” Emily Snyder of Borealis Ventures, who helped me think through the seed funding process for MiM. Talking with her, I realized this isn’t just my fight — it’s part of a movement. Michelle’s work, NCDM’s mission, and MiM are all pulling in the same direction: away from stigma and silence, toward visibility and dignity.So here’s my ask:Watch the video. Share it. Tell someone why it matters. Because the only thing worse than a dementia diagnosis is being erased by it.

How I Finally Found the National Council of Dementia Minds

Lately, there’s been a flurry of headlines about lithium reversing memory loss. Some sound like the plot of a sci-fi medical drama: sprinkle a little lithium, and poof—Alzheimer’s is gone.The truth? It’s fascinating, but we’re not there yet.Here’s what the new research really shows:Lithium is already in your brain. It’s a naturally occurring metal your brain uses to keep neurons healthy. In Alzheimer’s, much of that lithium seems to get trapped inside amyloid plaques—the sticky clumps linked to the disease—making the brain functionally lithium-deficient. In mouse models, researchers gave a form of lithium called lithium orotate that bypasses the plaque trap. Result? The mice remembered things they’d forgotten, and markers of the disease improved. Now, before you grab a bottle of lithium online: this was in mice, not people. There are no approved human treatments yet based on this discovery. And lithium isn’t harmless—used medically for mood disorders, it requires careful monitoring to avoid kidney or thyroid issues.But here’s why we’re watching closely at MiM: This isn’t a “magic pill” story. It’s a window into how Alzheimer’s works—and how restoring balance in the brain might help. Every credible lead, whether it’s in the lab or the living room, matters.Our focus at MiM is the daily, doable work: structure, connection, and purpose—the things we know improve quality of life today. But we cheer for the science, too, because the more tools in the toolbox, the better.And if you ever read a headline promising a cure, remember: in research, the mouse often roars before the human whispers.

Lithium and Memory Loss: The Mouse That Roared

Memory In Motion