How Mitochondria Shape Your Mind, Mood, & Mental Health with Dr. Martin Picard
Mitochondria do more than power our cells: they shape how we think, feel, and experience the world. In this interview, Dr. Martin Picard breaks down his new research that illuminates how mitochondria affect brain energy, brain networks, mental health, and ultimately, our quality of life.
Dr. Picard walks us through his team’s revolutionary brain mapping study, which examined over 700 sections of the human brain to uncover how mitochondria are distributed and specialized by brain region and cell type. The results have profound implications for how we understand, cognitive decline, and psychiatric disorders like depression bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
– Why mitochondrial health is essential for brain function
– How different brain regions rely on different types of mitochondria
– Why people respond so differently to the same metabolic dysfunction
– How future scans and biomarkers could help us measure brain energy non-invasively
– What it means to think of ourselves as “energetic beings” rather than just biological machines
When it comes to metabolic psychiatry, mitochondria are a key player. This research is a huge step towards better understanding these tiny organelles and the role they play in mental health and cognitive function.
*Expert Featured:*
Dr. Martin Picard
x.com/MitoPsychoBio
picardlab.org
*Resources Mentioned:*
Three Ways to Keep Your Mitochondria Healthy
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3dhmMcj17w&t=159s
A human brain map of mitochondrial respiratory capacity and diversity
– https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08740-6
*CMEs Mentioned:*
_Managing Major Mental Illness with Dietary Change: The New Science of Hope_
– https://www.mycme.com/courses/managing-major-mental-illness-with-dietary-change-9616
_Brain Energy: The Metabolic Theory of Mental Illness_
– https://www.mycme.com/courses/brain-energy-the-metabolic-theory-of-mental-illness-9615
Follow our channel for more information and education from Bret Scher, MD, FACC, including interviews with leading experts in Metabolic Psychiatry.
Learn more about metabolic psychiatry and find helpful resources at https://metabolicmind.org/
*About us:*
Metabolic Mind is a non-profit initiative of Baszucki Group working to transform the study and treatment of mental disorders by exploring the connection between metabolism and brain health. We leverage the science of metabolic psychiatry and personal stories to offer education, community, and hope to people struggling with mental health challenges and those who care for them.
Our channel is for informational purposes only. We are not providing individual or group medical or healthcare advice nor establishing a provider-patient relationship. Many of the interventions we discuss can have dramatic or potentially dangerous effects if done without proper supervision. Consult your healthcare provider before changing your lifestyle or medications.
*Timestamps:*
0:00 – Introduction to Dr. Martin Picard and his mitochondria study of the brain.
2:20 – Mitochondria: so much more than the powerhouse
6:34 – Dr. Martin Picard’s study of mitochondria and the brain
12:42 – What were the main conclusions from the study? How are the brain’s mitochondria specialized?
16:15 – How does brain mitochondrial dysfunction present as different clinical outcomes like bipolar, schizophrenia, depression, etc?
21:30 – How do you measure mitochondrial function in real time? What are the implications of energy flow in the body? How to improve mitochondrial function.
33:17 – Dr. Martin Picard’s future studies and projects. Where to find more from Dr. Picard.
12 Comments
Very key and essential for mental health and well being. Not spoken or researched enough.
Keep interviewing Dr Martin Picard – he is the most knowledgeable person talking about mitochondria and one of the only ones! We need more people like him! Love him!
Urolithin A is also an important mitochondria uncoupler.
Looking forward to the book!
❤❤ ❤thank you
Wow! This is so exciting! Thank you for sharing these thrilling research findings!!!!
Mitochondria is like the distant planet we must explore, and after 7 years of study focus on nutrition, keto and carnivore, especially with the effect on mental health, I'm convinced that keeping our mitochondria healthy is the key to all well-being.
Everyone talks about mitochondria, but no one fixes it!
Only an omniscient Creator God could create a mitochondria.
Thank you, Dr Scher and Dr Picard. A special thank you to Dr Picard for introducing the term "interoception", which is a concept that becomes ever more important as the medical care we receive is more and more in the nature of an assembly line, and allows us less and less time with practitioners who have less and less education. We need to become more aware of the state of our own health, and insist that our own observation of our body's functioning is as important as the chicken entrails readings these practitioners rely on. Sorry, I meant blood tests.
What is the most natural way to fix the mitochondria?
Thank you!