by Bob McCluskey on January 25, 2010
Subtitle: Why You Lose Your Car Keys But Never Forget How to Drive And Other Puzzles of Everyday Life
by Sandra Aamodt, Ph.D and Sam Wang, Ph.D
Paperback edition, 2009, 256 pages
I have mentioned this book on several occasions. I have enjoyed it so much over the past few months that I decided to do a review of it. If you have any interest in the study of human psychology, human nature or how things work in general, you may want to read this book. Or, you may want to recommend it to someone.
The authors of the book are neuroscientists. In this book they attempt to explain some things about the human brain, with its 10 billion neurons. They are dealing with the very complex processes by which the brain coordinates sensory information and thoughts, regulates our emotions and forms memories. They manage to pull it off with humor and clarity.
Aamodt and Wang take on some of the controversial issues related to human psychology. They discuss whether men and women have different brains. Their answer is “Yes,” but they are not sure how much difference it makes in terms of behaviors and capabilities. They also tackle the never ending debate about whether intelligence stems mainly from nature or nurture, heredity or environment. They conclude that heredity establishes some limitations around intelligence, but that environment, such as child rearing, significantly affects the degree to which individuals reach their genetic potential. The authors discuss the differences between humans and other mammals. They reveal what is happening in the brain when we dream. Other topics include jet lag, and the effect of your brain on your religion.
I really enjoyed the numerous sidebars devoted to exploding brain myths. For example, it is not true that we only use 10% of our brain’s capacity. In fact, we use almost all of its capacity. The book was especially appealing to me because of its emphasis on how to protect the brain as we age. It is a lively and humorous work, with lots of illustrations, quizzes, trivia and charts. All in all, this is a book that is fun and practical at the same time. I know I will return to it time after time as a reference source and as a source of entertaining reading. The book is available at a discount from Amazon.com by clicking the image on this page. Let me know what you think of it!
Related Posts:
by Bob McCluskey on December 17, 2009
Neurons in the brain
You may have noticed that my blog is sometimes sponsored by companies that provide “brain games” for the purpose of minimizing memory loss and even improving memory. I allow this because my training and teaching experience in the field of psychology have convinced me that mental exercise is an effective way to minimize the effects of aging on memory.
The recent Bronx Aging Study shows that participating in activities that stimulate the brain can delay memory decline, even in older people. None of those who participated in the study had dementia when they began. During the study they reported how often they participated in six mentally stimulating activities: reading, writing, doing crossword puzzles, playing a card game, participating in a group discussion, or playing music.
Researchers followed up on these folks for a period of five years. The more mentally active a person was, the longer it took for memory decline to occur. On average, each day of mental activity resulted in a 36 day delay in the onset of memory loss. A person who participated in 11 activities per week enjoyed 1.29 years of healthy memory compared to the person who participated in only four activities per week.
Of course, many of the activities that enhance healthy memory during later years can be done for free. It would be reasonable to ask why a person would want to spend even a few dollars a month to subscribe to a service that provided such activities. Perhaps the best answer to that question is another question: what are you doing now to enhance your mental health as you grow older? What are your loved ones doing now?
Millions of people spend billions of dollars to join health clubs, gyms and other programs that provide them with incentives to participate in physical exercises that they would not do otherwise. In addition, they leave their homes and drive their cars to locations at which they do the same things they could do at home. Subscriptions to brain enhancing services are not only less expensive than health club fees, but take less time and can, for the most part, be done with a computer at home.
In short, I accept the sponsorship of companies that provide memory improvement services because I believe in them. Many of us are aware of news reports indicating that living to 100 will soon be commonplace. At the same time, we live in fear of Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia. Exercising the brain is not just another aging theory. These exercises work, and they are affordable. Most all of us are interested in anti aging strategies, and this is a good one! If you have comments or questions, you can send them to me by using the comment form below.
Related Posts:
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=ae7fa6b0-9b23-462d-8bad-47276a7005e1)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=1507d24a-f6ab-41ae-8e40-9329e3b216d1)