Pioneering neuroscience-driven personal & professional development. Transforming how people optimize their brains for lasting change.
Enhancing decision-making, resilience & emotional intelligence for peak performance in life and business. MindLAB Neuroscience: Personal & Professional Development Coaching
Recognizing the limits of life coaches, and the ineffective methodologies they implement, Dr. Sydney Ceruto pioneered a groundbreaking fusion of neuroscience and higher level life coaching. We offer custom-tailored coaching in personal, professional, and relationship domains. Our singular methodology frees clients from unproductive patterns, fostering advantageous thinking and behavior that lasts. Dr. Ceruto's expertise attracts a selective clientele, including industry leaders, company visionaries, entertainment professionals and athletes. Experience rapid breakthroughs and sustainable transformation with MindLAB's unparalleled neuroscience-based life coaching.
11/21/2025
🧠What does authenticity mean to you?
Living true to yourself isn't just fulfilling—it's neuroscience. Dr. Sydney Ceruto explores how your brain rewards genuine self-expression and why authenticity drives real success and happiness.
Share your authentic journey with us.
Discover what truly changes when you become your authentic self: mental clarity, resilience, thriving relationships, and deep fulfillment.
11/21/2025
Your body listens to your brain; every thought sends a chemical signal that shapes how you feel, act, and perform.
That’s why we combine neuroscience with practical tools for real transformation. đź§
✨Shift your mindset → Shift your biology.
Because sustainable change always starts in the brain.
🌿Explore how at mindlabneuroscience.com
11/20/2025
Your success is making you more anxious, and you don't understand why.
You've accomplished what most people only dream about. Rising to the top. Crushing your goals. Building an impressive career. Yet underneath, racing thoughts. Pre-meeting anxiety. That familiar flutter before a big presentation.
You're not alone. The very qualities driving your achievement—attention to detail, dedication, drive—can prime your brain for anxiety.
Here's what's happening neurologically. Your amygdala, your brain's internal alarm bell, evolved to spot threats. Back when threats meant predators. Today it treats your work deadline like a predator. Your performance review like exile from the tribe. Your anxiety doesn't reflect reality. It reflects your ancient nervous system encountering modern stress.
Add dopamine to the equation. This neurotransmitter motivates achievement. But your brain quickly adapts. You need bigger wins for the same satisfaction. So you chase more accomplishment. More recognition. More achievement. Your dopamine system keeps resetting, leaving you feeling perpetually unsettled.
Meanwhile, cortisol stays elevated. Your stress hormone was designed for short-term threats. Fight the predator. Run away. Recover. But chronic workplace stress keeps cortisol elevated constantly. That wrecks sleep. Drains energy. Impairs memory. Fuels more anxiety.
Result? You're succeeding while your nervous system screams danger.
I'm seeing this pattern constantly with high performers. Brilliant executives. Accomplished professionals. They're crushing it externally while battling internal chaos.
Standard anxiety advice doesn't work for ambitious people. Someone tells you to lower your standards? That feels disconnected from reality. Breathe deeply? A few slow breaths won't rewire the neural circuits driving high-functioning anxiety.
Real anxiety relief for high performers requires nervous system regulation. Not lowering your standards. Not abandoning your drive. Retraining how your nervous system responds to pressure.
Vagal toning. Cold water on your face resets your nervous system's alarm. Humming. Activates your vagus nerve, signals safety to your brain. Diaphragmatic breathing. Breathing in for four, out for eight. This is a neurological reset, not just calming.
Progressive muscle relaxation. Tense then release muscle groups. Your brain learns what safety feels like. Mindfulness meditation. Strengthens your prefrontal cortex. Dials down your amygdala. Fifteen minutes daily reshapes your anxiety profile.
Most importantly? Recovery. Sleep eight hours. Work in 60-90 minute bursts, then rest. Strategic imperfection. Stop trying to optimize everything. Your brain wasn't built for relentless achievement without recovery.
One executive client transformed her anxiety profile within weeks. Not by lowering her standards. By regulating her nervous system so her ambition wasn't constantly triggering her threat response.
You can be ambitious, driven, successful, and genuinely calm. These aren't mutually exclusive when your nervous system is properly trained.
What would change if your anxiety stopped being the price of success?
I broke down the full neuroscience at MindLAB—how to regulate your nervous system while maintaining your edge.
Get anxiety relief for high performers with neuroscience-backed methods. Designed for ambitious professionals seeking lasting solutions.
11/20/2025
🎯 Nervously awaiting your first job interview? You're not alone—and your brain might be working against you without you even knowing it.
Dr. Sydney Ceruto from MindLAB Neuroscience just shared game-changing neuroscience-backed strategies featured in InterviewFocus to help you ace that first interview.
What makes this different? Instead of generic tips, you'll discover how your brain processes stress, manages nervousness, and performs under pressure—plus practical techniques grounded in neuroscience to help you show up as your best self.
From understanding what employers really expect to mastering your mindset before you walk in the door, this guide combines psychology, neuroscience, and proven career coaching insights.
Ready to transform interview anxiety into confident performance?
Read the full article on InterviewFocus and unlock Dr. Sydney Ceruto's expert strategies for first-time interview success.
Job interviews can be challenging for first-timers, but understanding key strategies can significantly improve success rates according to career experts.
11/19/2025
Here's what most people don't understand about recovery from catastrophic physical trauma: functional recovery and optimal neuroplasticity are completely different outcomes.
Functional recovery means you can do daily tasks again. You're back at work. You've resumed your life. Standard rehabilitation considers this success.
But optimal neuroplasticity recovery means something deeper. Your brain doesn't just repair itself—it reorganizes in ways that make you more integrated, more capable, more aligned with what actually matters.
The difference depends entirely on understanding one critical fact: you have a 2-3 year neuroplasticity window after trauma. During this window, your brain remains highly plastic. New neural patterns are still malleable. Intervention during this window has outsized impact.
After year three, neural patterns begin solidifying. Change becomes progressively harder. The decisions you make during the plasticity window literally determine what becomes permanent.
Real-Time Neuroplasticity Coaching™ specifically targets this window. We don't just support functional recovery. We optimize your brain's reorganization toward transformation.
Elite performers, trauma survivors, and anyone navigating catastrophic recovery: the question isn't whether you'll survive. The question is whether you'll transform.
What's your biggest concern about recovery and capacity restoration?
Discover how brain neuroplasticity transforms recovery after physical trauma. Learn neural rewiring, dopamine reorganization & optimal healing protocols.
11/19/2025
The hardest conversations make the best leaders. đź’ˇ
We just saw Dr. Sydney Ceruto featured in GritDaily.com sharing a powerful story about what real coaching looks like—speaking hard truths when it matters most.
Her example? Confronting a CEO about micromanagement behaviors that were killing team performance. Not because it was comfortable. But because transformation requires honesty.
Here's what neuroscience shows us: leaders who can speak hard truths AND create psychological safety build the strongest teams. The basal ganglia drives our habits. The prefrontal cortex drives our choices. Great leaders understand both.
When's the last time someone told you something difficult that actually changed how you lead? What made that conversation work?
What would you change first if you could rewire your brain?
Learn what to expect during your first brain-based coaching session. Discover how neuroscience coaching differs from traditional therapy.
11/19/2025
Here's what I've noticed: high-performers struggle silently with ADHD brain fog, blaming themselves for lack of discipline. The truth? Your dopamine system is dysregulated.
ADHD brains release dopamine irregularly—especially during boring or unclear tasks. Without that neurochemical signal, task initiation feels impossible. Rest doesn't help. Motivation hacks don't stick.
The breakthrough happens when you stop fighting your brain and start rewiring it.
Real-Time Neuroplasticity Coaching™ targets dopamine dysregulation directly. When you address the neurobiology, clarity returns naturally.
What's your biggest struggle with brain fog? Share below.
Explore ADHD and brain fog with neuroscience, everyday stories, and expert strategies. Build new habits, find motivation, and unlock real clarity in daily life.
11/18/2025
Your brain can learn calm. 🧠✨
With neuroscience-backed strategies, you can rewire your stress circuits and build emotional resilience that lasts.
👉 Start your transformation: mindlabneuroscience.com
11/18/2025
BetterHelp feels like a bargain. Until you realize what you're actually getting.
I get asked about it constantly. People see the ads. $280-400 monthly. Online therapy. Affordable. Accessible. It sounds perfect.
Here's what most people don't know. BetterHelp has 34,000 therapists managing millions of clients. That math doesn't work for meaningful care. Therapists earn $30-70 per session. To make a living, they need to see as many clients as possible. Your therapist is juggling fifty clients while trying to pay their bills.
The result? Rushed sessions. Unprepared therapists who haven't reviewed your case. Therapists switching out unexpectedly, forcing you to restart your entire story. Seventy percent of users report negative experiences. Eighty percent of people trying multiple therapists had poor outcomes.
But here's what really bothered me: in 2023, the FTC fined BetterHelp $7.8 million for selling your mental health data to Facebook and Snapchat without consent. Your vulnerability became a marketing asset.
That's not therapy. That's a business model.
I built MindLAB Neuroscience completely differently. Limited clients. Direct access to me. Two PhDs in cognitive and behavioral neuroscience. Twenty-five years of research on dopamine optimization and brain-based transformation. I know your case intimately. I prepare targeted interventions between sessions. I'm thinking about your progress, not managing my caseload.
Most importantly? I work with dopamine. The actual neurochemical system driving motivation, focus, emotional regulation, and goal-pursuit. Most therapy addresses symptoms. I address the brain system creating them.
One client, a struggling mid-level manager facing job loss, transformed within months. Not because she suddenly developed willpower. Because her dopamine system got optimized. Her procrastination disappeared. Her thinking reorganized. Her task prioritization mastered. Her career was literally saved.
That's the difference between generic therapy and neuroscience-based coaching. We're not just talking about problems. We're rewiring the neural patterns driving them.
Yes, neuroscience coaching costs more than BetterHelp. But here's what you actually get: expertise that took decades to develop, personalized attention designed for your brain, proven results in a timeframe that matters, and genuine transformation.
You get what you pay for. The question is: what are you willing to invest in yourself?
Explore BetterHelp vs Neuroscience-Based Coaching. Learn why neuroscience-based coaching may be more effective than BetterHelp in achieving lasting results.
11/17/2025
Here's what most leaders get wrong about company culture: they treat it like a policy manual instead of a neuroscience challenge.
Your brain—and your team's brains—are literally rewired by psychological safety. When people feel they belong, when they know it's safe to speak up and take risks, their neural pathways shift. Creativity unlocks. Retention climbs. Performance compounds.
I just collaborated with SCOPE Recruiting on exactly this. The research is clear: psychological safety isn't a nice-to-have perk. It's the foundation for attracting and keeping high-performers.
The companies winning the talent war right now? They understand that culture is neuroscience.
Here's the real question: Does your team feel psychologically safe? Can they be fully themselves at work, or are they code-switching and holding back?
That difference shows up in everything—from who wants to stay to who brings their best ideas to the table.
Read the full insights on how to build a culture that magnetically attracts top talent through Dr. Ceruto's neuroscience-backed strategies with MindLAB Neuroscience.
Learn psychological safety strategies that help supply chain recruiters attract top talent. Build cultures where high-performers thrive and stay.
11/17/2025
Your willpower is exhausted. That's the problem.
Most people approach goals like this: set a big target, white-knuckle through months of discipline, hope motivation somehow sustains. It doesn't. By month two, dopamine depletes. Willpower collapses. The goal feels impossible.
Here's what I'm seeing in my coaching practice: willpower doesn't fail because people lack discipline. It fails because they're fighting their brain's natural dopamine system.
Your brain didn't evolve for annual goals. It evolved to seek immediate rewards. Your ancestors didn't hunt for months hoping for a kill. They hunted, got results, felt dopamine, repeated. That's how motivation actually works.
Dopamine coaching flips the script. Instead of fighting your brain, you work with it. Break your big goal into smaller milestones your brain can win at weekly. Each completed milestone triggers dopamine. That dopamine reinforces the behaviors that led to success. Your brain literally rewires toward those behaviors. Next week, the next milestone feels more natural. Momentum builds.
One client wanted to double her coaching practice revenue. Instead of fixating on the annual number, we broke it into monthly milestones, weekly client acquisition targets, daily action steps. Each completed daily action? Small dopamine hit. Weekly milestone? Bigger hit. Quarterly win? Massive reinforcement. Within a year, what seemed distant became a series of achieved milestones.
That's not motivation. That's neuroscience.
The difference between people who achieve extraordinary goals and those who don't isn't willpower. It's whether their dopamine system is engaged or depleted.
What's one goal you've been struggling with? What if you broke it into weekly milestones instead?
I wrote the full breakdown at MindLAB—how dopamine coaching restructures motivation at the neurochemical level.
Discover dopamine coaching: a neuroscience-based approach to achieving goals by harnessing your brain's natural reward system for lasting success and happiness.
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Contact The Practice
Send a message to Dr. Sydney Ceruto - Mindlab Neuroscience:
I began my training and education in psychology, earning a bachelor's degree in Behavioral Science, shortly after tragically losing both my parents. I was under 20 years old at that time and an only child with no extended family whatsoever. It was a devastating time that nearly broke me emotionally. I was feeling completely alone, inconsolably anxious and deeply depressed. Deciding to continue to pursue my education in psychology, helped me to heal and grow, and I became obsessed about learning as much as I could about the mind-brain connection. I went on to get 2 master’s degrees, one in Behavioral Psychologyand the other in Business Psychology, then continued on to earn a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience.
Over the years following my parent’s death, I went to many different therapists / coaches and spent tens of thousands of dollars looking for help and ways to end my suffering. Quite honestly, I never felt they helped me in any significant way. I actually think my symptoms worsened and I became overwhelmed with a palpable sense of hopelessness. I knew I had to push forward because I genuinely believed there had to be a more effective approach to help me “live again”.
Over the ensuing years, I started to meet people who were feeling the same way about traditional forms of therapy and coaching. When their doctors couldn’t figure out an effective way to help them, they suggested antipsychotic medications or antidepressants and mood stabilizers. It was truly staggering how these professionals gave up on their patients so willingly and were so quick to dole out some really serious medications. As I was getting better and better, these people were giving up, actually resigning themselves to the fact that they had to live like this; depressed, unfulfilled in their careers, anxious, emotionally out of control and medicated……This pulled at my heart strings and my passion to utilize our own brain to heal ourselves, grew even stronger!
Quickly thereafter, I found neuroscience and a modality that utilized our brains capability to change and adapt, that could genuinely help people. That belief was the impetus for how and why I chose to break the mold and implement this cutting-edge approach. I later became a Certified Life Coach so I could help clients in a less traditional and antiquated manner. My goal was, and still is, to teach clients to utilize all of what I have learned in a more practical and impactful way. This approach has helped them improve the quality of their lives, without having to spend countless years on the couch of their therapist or coach.
I have owned my practice NYC MindLAB for 19 years and have worked with many Fortune 500 companies as their in-house psychologist and executive coach. I write for several publications and I am a member of Forbes Executive Coaches Council, where I write and speak regularly. Over the past two decades, I have donated thousands of hours providing mental health services to socio-economically challenged communities and small businesses.
Over the last 2 decades of treating clients, I am certain that the key to tipping the scales toward the positive is understanding how neuroplasticity works and what it responds to. From there, I take a directed effort to help my clients consciously make positive physiological changes in their brains. I have designed a 90 day program that does just that. My clients can put their full trust in this program, knowing its efficacy is based in hard science.
I have an avid intellect, a keen understanding of human nature and an uncanny ability to deeply connect with my clients. I am hands on, available and accessible, intuitive, compassionate and honest.
I have lived in NYC for 17 years and still consider it the best city in the world. I love to travel and have done so extensively. I enjoy dining out and enjoying great food and wine, I consider it my form of "entertainment"! I have one son who is a senior at Princeton University and plans to attend Columbia Law in 2020. We have 2 dogs with whom I am utterly obsessed!
