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Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot: Unleashing Your Brain's Potential
In Mozart’s Brain and the Fighter Pilot , eminent neuropsychiatrist and bestselling author Richard Restak, M.D., combines the latest research in neurology and psychology to show us how to get our brain up to speed for managing every aspect of our busy lives.
Everything we think and everything we choose to do alters our brain and fundamentally changes who we are, a process that continues until the end of our lives. Few people think of the brain as being susceptible to change in its actual structure, but in fact we can preselect the kind of brain we will have by continually exposing ourselves to rich and varied life experiences. Unlike other organs that eventually wear out with repeated and sustained use, the brain actually improves the more we challenge it.
Most of us incorporate some kind of physical exercise into our daily lives. We do this to improve our bodies and health and generally make us feel better. Why not do the same for the brain? The more we exercise it, the better it performs and the better we feel. Think of Restak as a personal trainer for your brain—he will help you assess your mental strengths and weaknesses, and his entertaining book will set you to thinking about the world and the people around you in a new light, providing you with improved and varied skills and capabilities. From interacting with colleagues to recognizing your own psychological makeup, from understanding the way you see something to why you’re looking at it in the first place, from explaining the cause of panic attacks to warding off performance anxiety, this book will tell you the whys and hows of the brain’s workings.
Packed with practical advice and fascinating examples drawn from history, literature, and science, Mozart’s Brain and the Fighter Pilot provides twenty-eight informative and realistic steps that we can all take to improve our brainpower.
Everything we think and everything we choose to do alters our brain and fundamentally changes who we are, a process that continues until the end of our lives. Few people think of the brain as being susceptible to change in its actual structure, but in fact we can preselect the kind of brain we will have by continually exposing ourselves to rich and varied life experiences. Unlike other organs that eventually wear out with repeated and sustained use, the brain actually improves the more we challenge it.
Most of us incorporate some kind of physical exercise into our daily lives. We do this to improve our bodies and health and generally make us feel better. Why not do the same for the brain? The more we exercise it, the better it performs and the better we feel. Think of Restak as a personal trainer for your brain—he will help you assess your mental strengths and weaknesses, and his entertaining book will set you to thinking about the world and the people around you in a new light, providing you with improved and varied skills and capabilities. From interacting with colleagues to recognizing your own psychological makeup, from understanding the way you see something to why you’re looking at it in the first place, from explaining the cause of panic attacks to warding off performance anxiety, this book will tell you the whys and hows of the brain’s workings.
Packed with practical advice and fascinating examples drawn from history, literature, and science, Mozart’s Brain and the Fighter Pilot provides twenty-eight informative and realistic steps that we can all take to improve our brainpower.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
88 people are currently reading
1208 people want to read
About the author
Richard Restak
45 books81 followersRichard M. Restak M.D. is an award-winning neuroscientist, neuropsychiatrist and writer. The best-selling author of nineteen acclaimed books about the brain, he has also penned dozens of articles for a variety of publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. A fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Neurology, and the American Neuropsychiatric Association, he lives and practices in Washington, D.C.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
October 7, 2017
Q:
As pointed out by Nobel Prize–winning neuroscientist Gerald Edelman, more than 32 million years would be required to count all of the synapses in the human brain at a counting rate of one synapse per second. And if we concentrate on the number of possible neuronal connections (circuits) within the brain, we get an even more astounding number: 10 followed by a million zeros. To put that number into some kind of perspective, consider that the number of particles in the known universe comes to only 10 followed by seventy-nine zeros. Finally, consider that the glia, which exceed the number of neurons by at least a power of 10, are also believed to be capable of communication. If this is true, then the number of possible brain states exceeds even our most extravagant projections.
(c)
I feel there must be actually something wrong with the maths either of the brain cells connections or the number of the paricles in the known universe. I strongly doubt that neuronal connections in just one brain that should each take at least one particle to create will exceed in number the quantity of particles in the part of universe that includes the said brain with all its particles. And that is even not counting the other brains that are also located elsewhere within the universe.
Or are the neuronal connections consiedered to be 10^1,000,000-10^79 times smaller than elementary particles?
Q:
You can preselect the kind of brain you will have by choosing richly varied experiences. The process starts in childhood and continues until the day you die. Incidentally, this insight—that the brain retains its plasticity across the entire life span—is a comparatively recent one. When I wrote my first book on the human brain in 1979, I didn’t hear much from the scientists I interviewed about the plasticity of the mature, adult brain. At that time, most people—scientists included—believed that as the brain matured and formed its nerve cell connections, those connections stayed in place until finally dropping out in old age. Few people thought of the brain as being susceptible to change in its actual structure.
Now, thanks to research like the experiments mentioned above, we know that the brain is much more malleable and subject to change. Indeed, we have no choice about whether or not our brain will change from the way it is today. The real question is: Will we help bring about positive, enriching changes in our brain’s structure and function, or will we allow it to undergo “disuse atrophy”?
It’s important to remember that our brain holds the key to everything we will ever accomplish. Indeed, the brain is the gateway for all of our sensations and the weaver of all of our experiences. And while most of us are convinced that exercise increases our physical well-being, it’s less commonly appreciated that the brain also must be exercised; it’s a dynamic structure that improves with use and challenge. I became convinced of this while researching two previous books on longevity. Simply put, an otherwise healthy older person can reduce his or her risk for developing dementia (formerly referred to as senility) by remaining mentally active. But the benefits of an active, challenged brain aren’t limited to late in life. Rather, the “use it or lose it” formula applies to each of us no matter what our age.
It’s important to remember that our brain holds the key to everything we will ever accomplish. Indeed, the brain is the gateway for all of our sensations and the weaver of all of our experiences. And while most of us are convinced that exercise increases our physical well-being, it’s less commonly appreciated that the brain also must be exercised; it’s a dynamic structure that improves with use and challenge. I became convinced of this while researching two previous books on longevity. Simply put, an otherwise healthy older person can reduce his or her risk for developing dementia (formerly referred to as senility) by remaining mentally active. But the benefits of an active, challenged brain aren’t limited to late in life. Rather, the “use it or lose it” formula applies to each of us no matter what our age.
Moreover, the healthy exercise of our brain’s inherent powers is highly pleasurable. Think back to occasions when you scored well on a test or prevailed in a debate or found yourself unable to put down a certain book because of the excitement you experienced while reading it. Your pleasure in each of these instances came from the exercise of your brain’s cognitive powers. Further, there are specific steps you can take to increase and strengthen these powers. In essence, you can achieve more of the things that you desire by enhancing your brain’s cognitive functioning.
(c)
As pointed out by Nobel Prize–winning neuroscientist Gerald Edelman, more than 32 million years would be required to count all of the synapses in the human brain at a counting rate of one synapse per second. And if we concentrate on the number of possible neuronal connections (circuits) within the brain, we get an even more astounding number: 10 followed by a million zeros. To put that number into some kind of perspective, consider that the number of particles in the known universe comes to only 10 followed by seventy-nine zeros. Finally, consider that the glia, which exceed the number of neurons by at least a power of 10, are also believed to be capable of communication. If this is true, then the number of possible brain states exceeds even our most extravagant projections.
(c)
I feel there must be actually something wrong with the maths either of the brain cells connections or the number of the paricles in the known universe. I strongly doubt that neuronal connections in just one brain that should each take at least one particle to create will exceed in number the quantity of particles in the part of universe that includes the said brain with all its particles. And that is even not counting the other brains that are also located elsewhere within the universe.
Or are the neuronal connections consiedered to be 10^1,000,000-10^79 times smaller than elementary particles?
Q:
You can preselect the kind of brain you will have by choosing richly varied experiences. The process starts in childhood and continues until the day you die. Incidentally, this insight—that the brain retains its plasticity across the entire life span—is a comparatively recent one. When I wrote my first book on the human brain in 1979, I didn’t hear much from the scientists I interviewed about the plasticity of the mature, adult brain. At that time, most people—scientists included—believed that as the brain matured and formed its nerve cell connections, those connections stayed in place until finally dropping out in old age. Few people thought of the brain as being susceptible to change in its actual structure.
Now, thanks to research like the experiments mentioned above, we know that the brain is much more malleable and subject to change. Indeed, we have no choice about whether or not our brain will change from the way it is today. The real question is: Will we help bring about positive, enriching changes in our brain’s structure and function, or will we allow it to undergo “disuse atrophy”?
It’s important to remember that our brain holds the key to everything we will ever accomplish. Indeed, the brain is the gateway for all of our sensations and the weaver of all of our experiences. And while most of us are convinced that exercise increases our physical well-being, it’s less commonly appreciated that the brain also must be exercised; it’s a dynamic structure that improves with use and challenge. I became convinced of this while researching two previous books on longevity. Simply put, an otherwise healthy older person can reduce his or her risk for developing dementia (formerly referred to as senility) by remaining mentally active. But the benefits of an active, challenged brain aren’t limited to late in life. Rather, the “use it or lose it” formula applies to each of us no matter what our age.
It’s important to remember that our brain holds the key to everything we will ever accomplish. Indeed, the brain is the gateway for all of our sensations and the weaver of all of our experiences. And while most of us are convinced that exercise increases our physical well-being, it’s less commonly appreciated that the brain also must be exercised; it’s a dynamic structure that improves with use and challenge. I became convinced of this while researching two previous books on longevity. Simply put, an otherwise healthy older person can reduce his or her risk for developing dementia (formerly referred to as senility) by remaining mentally active. But the benefits of an active, challenged brain aren’t limited to late in life. Rather, the “use it or lose it” formula applies to each of us no matter what our age.
Moreover, the healthy exercise of our brain’s inherent powers is highly pleasurable. Think back to occasions when you scored well on a test or prevailed in a debate or found yourself unable to put down a certain book because of the excitement you experienced while reading it. Your pleasure in each of these instances came from the exercise of your brain’s cognitive powers. Further, there are specific steps you can take to increase and strengthen these powers. In essence, you can achieve more of the things that you desire by enhancing your brain’s cognitive functioning.
(c)
July 2, 2014
This is a book about keeping your brain fit. Like any other muscle in your body, the brain needs exercise: the more you use your brain functions, the stronger they become. The more you challenge your brain, the more agile and flexible it becomes.
The author proposes 28 ways to keep your brain functioning optimally. The idea is to keep expanding and to stave off golden age illnesses such as Alzheimer's. However, Dr. Restak is evidently an academic that diligently works on his own brain training to levels only genuine nerds can aspire to, and some of the recommendations in this book are based on conventional wisdom instead of scientific finds, such as playing chess or listening to Mozart. This turned out to be one of those books I finished out of discipline... but I did, however, adopt a couple of his suggestions: 1) I downloaded an app called Lumosity, which gives you 3 very brief and fun brain games a day (they take less than 10 minutes to complete), 2) I now try to exercise my memory regularly by using associations.
There was one quote I appreciated in this book: "Our perceptions take on richness and depth as a result of all the things that we learn. The eye is not a camera that objectively takes a photo of the “world out there.” Rather, what the eye sees is determined by what the brain has learned. This suggests a short mantra: learn more, see more." I am convinced that the more you learn, the more your mind expands to have richer, more creative ideas.
The author proposes 28 ways to keep your brain functioning optimally. The idea is to keep expanding and to stave off golden age illnesses such as Alzheimer's. However, Dr. Restak is evidently an academic that diligently works on his own brain training to levels only genuine nerds can aspire to, and some of the recommendations in this book are based on conventional wisdom instead of scientific finds, such as playing chess or listening to Mozart. This turned out to be one of those books I finished out of discipline... but I did, however, adopt a couple of his suggestions: 1) I downloaded an app called Lumosity, which gives you 3 very brief and fun brain games a day (they take less than 10 minutes to complete), 2) I now try to exercise my memory regularly by using associations.
There was one quote I appreciated in this book: "Our perceptions take on richness and depth as a result of all the things that we learn. The eye is not a camera that objectively takes a photo of the “world out there.” Rather, what the eye sees is determined by what the brain has learned. This suggests a short mantra: learn more, see more." I am convinced that the more you learn, the more your mind expands to have richer, more creative ideas.
July 31, 2012
This self-help book is primarily a set of 28 exercises for the brain. There is quite a variety in the collection of exercises, and the author has chosen exercises that have been shown, scientifically, to be helpful. The exercises cover, for example, fine motor skills, large-motor skills, balance, memory, cognition, emotions, stress management, logic, relaxation, mental hygiene, mental acuity, art and music. While the book is rather short, it would take quite a long time to try out all of the strategies suggested by the author.
Interestingly, one of the recommended brain strategies is to keep a reading journal. This is exactly the sort of thing encouraged by Goodreads!
Interestingly, one of the recommended brain strategies is to keep a reading journal. This is exactly the sort of thing encouraged by Goodreads!
February 19, 2014
Everyone should read this book. Thinking is important and remembering is worthwhile. I listened to the audio version and read the book. The memory exercises are mostly enjoyable and always helpful. Avoiding mental brain loss should be a high priority for every thinking person.
February 19, 2015
Good information if you want to learn about the brain. It has some really good exercises to help strengthen your brain as well. I just wrote my research paper on the brain and this book helped me a lot.
July 28, 2021
Very useful book! I need to start journaling any tips?
June 8, 2009
Want to know why listening to Mozart could improve your brain? Check out this book. The author, a successful neuropsychiatrist, demonstrates (among other things) an exceptional awareness of the intricacies of the human brain. Based on his knowledge and professional experience (which includes decades of successfully treating numerous patients), he's come up with 28 suggestions that if followed can not only improve memory and mental alertness, but also expand cognition and prevent brain cell degradation (avoid dementia and Alzheimer's disease - read the book!).
For those interested in a summary of these suggestions, take a look at the book's `Table of Contents' (this way you can pretty much get the feel of what's examined in the work). However, the suggested mental exercises deserve a special consideration (and that's why I advise you to check out the book). Additionally, the author presents valuable details about the capacity of the human brain and effectively links it with its evolutionary development (another reason why the book is worth exploring).
Finally, I tried a couple of the proposed exercises (they truly work!!!) and came up with some good results, which I've posted in my other Blog "What Is The Meaning Of Life?". Dr. Rastak's language is smooth and easy to comprehend, the examples are quite useful and so I highly recommend this book.
For those interested in a summary of these suggestions, take a look at the book's `Table of Contents' (this way you can pretty much get the feel of what's examined in the work). However, the suggested mental exercises deserve a special consideration (and that's why I advise you to check out the book). Additionally, the author presents valuable details about the capacity of the human brain and effectively links it with its evolutionary development (another reason why the book is worth exploring).
Finally, I tried a couple of the proposed exercises (they truly work!!!) and came up with some good results, which I've posted in my other Blog "What Is The Meaning Of Life?". Dr. Rastak's language is smooth and easy to comprehend, the examples are quite useful and so I highly recommend this book.
September 30, 2015
In the genre of popularization of science for practical use, this book is not bad one. Its tone is largely factual and helpful, without too much hyperbole and boosterism. This is not in the same level of writing as Oliver Sacks, yet it has carefully avoided the typical self-help TED-talk jolly cheekiness. It contains various instructive suggestions for improving one's cognitive function. I particularly like the "mental hygiene" quote of William James as well as advocates for reading seriously and attentively.
Even though this book does not quite fit with my reading preference, I would recommend it someone who is interested in the basic science of brain function with a view for self-improvement.
Even though this book does not quite fit with my reading preference, I would recommend it someone who is interested in the basic science of brain function with a view for self-improvement.
June 20, 2011
There are plenty of pablum self-help business books.
This isn't one of them. A really good primer on how the brain actually functions, and how we think, how our brains go, and what works is in here. Along with Meditations (hays translation), it's a good book for how to think, live etc. Wrth reading in its bibliography is Gary Klein: Sources of Power.
If we all have been charged with the operation of the brain, this book - written by a damned neurosurgeon - can be a nice little operation manual.
This isn't one of them. A really good primer on how the brain actually functions, and how we think, how our brains go, and what works is in here. Along with Meditations (hays translation), it's a good book for how to think, live etc. Wrth reading in its bibliography is Gary Klein: Sources of Power.
If we all have been charged with the operation of the brain, this book - written by a damned neurosurgeon - can be a nice little operation manual.
July 18, 2016
Any book whose subtitle is "Unleashing Your Brain's Potential" holds at least some degree of interest for me. That's why I grabbed this title from the library shelf. Author Richard Restak offers many insights into the workings of the human brain, as well as plenteous tips on ways we can improve our brain's functioning, stave off degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and generally expand our minds throughout our lifetimes. His writing style is conversational and accessible, and I often found myself telling family members who were nearby as I read, "Listen to this!" What's not to like!?
October 21, 2009
good book for intro to "how the brain works". i've read several and this one seem repetitive. there were few real world examples and stories in which i could relate to and seemed more scientific rather than anecdotal. the book wasn't useful for me. it is however well written and brief and would be a good book to get into the hows and whys people process ideas and facts the way that they do.
June 15, 2012
if you want some practical ways to increase your brain power, this may help.
September 25, 2011
EXCELLENT BOOK! 28 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR BRAIN WHILE YOU LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS COMPLEX STRUCTURE.
December 27, 2015
Interesting to learn there are number of different ways to "train" your brain.
July 6, 2017
This book largely covers material already addressed in more popular books (like O'Reilly's Mind Hacks & Mind Performance Hacks and Thinking Fast & Slow), and while it covers that material in a breezy and readable style, such a style is not really well-suited to the content: it's somewhere between the theory-heavy Thinking Fast & Slow and the abstract list of mostly-independent tips and exercises of the O'Reilly books, yet reads like a budget version of Oliver Sacks. The O'Reilly format is much better suited to the content, which leans heavily toward tips and exercises, and had the author adopted that style (and moved the background material to section introductions) the result would be a book that's significantly easier to go back and reference.
It introduces just a handful of ideas not already widely covered in this genre. They have their own chapters, but are easily summarized:
* Exercises that develop balance, proprioception, and manual dexterity (such as tai chi, games involving throwing balls, and model building) are useful because they build up networks for embodied thinking while also giving us a way to release some physical energy while engaging the default mode network.
* Waking life can be divided into four mood states: calm energy, tense energy, calm tiredness, and tense tiredness. Tense tiredness is unpleasant -- a state of irritability and low productivity, and should be minimized by going to sleep. Calm energy and tense energy are both useful for productive work (calm energy being, basically, a flow state, and tense energy being the kind of productive-yet-edgy state that caffeine ideally induces) and calm tiredness is useful for daydreaming. Switching from calm tiredness to calm energy can be done via light exercise, such as a brisk walk. A nap converts tense tiredness into calm tiredness.
* Visualization exercises can improve not just visualization but also observation.
* Creative rearrangement of reminders of emotionally potent past events can be useful for improving autobiographical memory.
Furthermore, he covers a couple things that aren't usually in these books but are in adjacent parts of the general self-help genre: the basics of CBT and DBT, pranayama, simple meditation. He borrows ideas about journaling and notetaking from productivity books (which often overlap with this kind of book), while he otherwise mostly focuses on improvement of actual brain function.
Basically, if you've read Mind Performance Hacks and Thinking Fast & Slow and then read (and understood) the previous paragraphs, there isn't much point in actually picking up this book: it's very short and contains very little new information. On the other hand, it's also inexpensive and a quick read (it could be conceivably read in a single afternoon, though I didn't), so if this kind of book is your bag it's better than most of the genre.
My most serious criticism is a habit this shares with other popular science books written in a breezy style: the author summarizes popular yet clearly flawed arguments credulously or makes arguments that contain big leaps in reasoning (either because the arguments are flawed or because the material that fills in the gaps was cut for being too technical). Specifically:
* The author credulously repeats the idea that modern media causes ADHD (and that reading books on a backlit screen is more likely to cause ADHD than reading books on a page) without going into any more detail about his reasoning than the obviously-flawed and sloppy op-eds that make the same argument do. Maybe he has an actual argument and just didn't include it, or maybe he has never bothered to really consider the argument he's repeating. Either way, repeating this sloppy argument casts doubt on whether or not he should be writing a book about how to be more intelligent!
* The author repeats the idea that listening to Mozart makes you smarter, again without really explaining his reasoning (other than to say that music builds up networks for recognizing patterns). The study he cites was extremely weak, and has since had many criticisms and failed replications. He doesn't cover this, even though the criticisms appeared basically immediately. If he read the study itself rather than media coverage of it, then not mentioning the obvious criticisms in this book is unforgivable.
* He claims that listening to music you like is better for brain development than listening to music you don't like. His argument is that different networks light up. He doesn't elaborate on what these different networks are. So, his conclusion doesn't follow from his argument, and his argument is trivial (after all, different networks light up when you look at a red ball vs a blue ball, but that doesn't make one better than the other, nor does it indicate which is better). There are plenty of good reasons to believe that listening to music you don't like is better for brain development (since, after all, mere exposure is enough to engender positive feelings with regard to music up to a certain point, so music you don't like is usually music whose components you are unfamiliar with: explicitly seeking out uncomfortable music is a way to broaden your horizons, something he suggests doing with books!)
It introduces just a handful of ideas not already widely covered in this genre. They have their own chapters, but are easily summarized:
* Exercises that develop balance, proprioception, and manual dexterity (such as tai chi, games involving throwing balls, and model building) are useful because they build up networks for embodied thinking while also giving us a way to release some physical energy while engaging the default mode network.
* Waking life can be divided into four mood states: calm energy, tense energy, calm tiredness, and tense tiredness. Tense tiredness is unpleasant -- a state of irritability and low productivity, and should be minimized by going to sleep. Calm energy and tense energy are both useful for productive work (calm energy being, basically, a flow state, and tense energy being the kind of productive-yet-edgy state that caffeine ideally induces) and calm tiredness is useful for daydreaming. Switching from calm tiredness to calm energy can be done via light exercise, such as a brisk walk. A nap converts tense tiredness into calm tiredness.
* Visualization exercises can improve not just visualization but also observation.
* Creative rearrangement of reminders of emotionally potent past events can be useful for improving autobiographical memory.
Furthermore, he covers a couple things that aren't usually in these books but are in adjacent parts of the general self-help genre: the basics of CBT and DBT, pranayama, simple meditation. He borrows ideas about journaling and notetaking from productivity books (which often overlap with this kind of book), while he otherwise mostly focuses on improvement of actual brain function.
Basically, if you've read Mind Performance Hacks and Thinking Fast & Slow and then read (and understood) the previous paragraphs, there isn't much point in actually picking up this book: it's very short and contains very little new information. On the other hand, it's also inexpensive and a quick read (it could be conceivably read in a single afternoon, though I didn't), so if this kind of book is your bag it's better than most of the genre.
My most serious criticism is a habit this shares with other popular science books written in a breezy style: the author summarizes popular yet clearly flawed arguments credulously or makes arguments that contain big leaps in reasoning (either because the arguments are flawed or because the material that fills in the gaps was cut for being too technical). Specifically:
* The author credulously repeats the idea that modern media causes ADHD (and that reading books on a backlit screen is more likely to cause ADHD than reading books on a page) without going into any more detail about his reasoning than the obviously-flawed and sloppy op-eds that make the same argument do. Maybe he has an actual argument and just didn't include it, or maybe he has never bothered to really consider the argument he's repeating. Either way, repeating this sloppy argument casts doubt on whether or not he should be writing a book about how to be more intelligent!
* The author repeats the idea that listening to Mozart makes you smarter, again without really explaining his reasoning (other than to say that music builds up networks for recognizing patterns). The study he cites was extremely weak, and has since had many criticisms and failed replications. He doesn't cover this, even though the criticisms appeared basically immediately. If he read the study itself rather than media coverage of it, then not mentioning the obvious criticisms in this book is unforgivable.
* He claims that listening to music you like is better for brain development than listening to music you don't like. His argument is that different networks light up. He doesn't elaborate on what these different networks are. So, his conclusion doesn't follow from his argument, and his argument is trivial (after all, different networks light up when you look at a red ball vs a blue ball, but that doesn't make one better than the other, nor does it indicate which is better). There are plenty of good reasons to believe that listening to music you don't like is better for brain development (since, after all, mere exposure is enough to engender positive feelings with regard to music up to a certain point, so music you don't like is usually music whose components you are unfamiliar with: explicitly seeking out uncomfortable music is a way to broaden your horizons, something he suggests doing with books!)
March 29, 2024
2.5 Sorry, for some reason, this just did not engage me. I'm not going to be doing the suggested exercises (who has the time?), and the book seemed to jump abruptly from topic to topic. Also, in the audio version, I found the super-pronounced American accent very distracting (and I live in America, LOL).
September 20, 2022
Excellent book exploring activities to stimulate deeper connections within the brain and keep learning an ongoing life opportunity.
February 12, 2013
Ideas I had scribbled out while consuming this book:
The brain makes connections/fallacies
Sort of is a left brain-right brain difference (epileptic)
Memorization/train your brain
Brain is quite dynamic and like a muscle that can be trained
Memorization on bonzai or other trees (month later already forgot why I scribbled this down)
Proficient/STRENGTH
Greek kind of tragedy of the case of someone who could remember everything (AKA the fabled "total recall") but could not have a meaningful conversation because he had trouble articulating sentences
Topics of Stress and importance of rest/naps
Other curious topic was distractions where the human brain really is like MS-DOS (that was my interpretation of the computer analogy) where you really can only do one thing at a time. As mentioned in the book "Now You See It" most people's brains are unable to perform well AND handle distractions
Funny suggestion (this book was apparently written in 2002) was that you should learn to repair a computer. (In reality, most computers have manuals that tell you what you would need to do in the event of a problem and of course there are only a handful of components you can buy to repair/upgrade a computer. So aside from checking with a tech-savvy friend if you need to on whether a hard drive would work, not much to learn there... these days with the move toward tablets and other "thin" devices, perhaps desktop computers and increasing notebook computers will become dinosaurs unless people have specialized needs.)
Another of the fun passages was on how taxi drivers who are having a bad day on tips frequently keep working until they meet some mental quota, while on good days quit as soon as they make their mental quota. At least from the perspective of a third party listener to such a story, it seems quite counter-intuitive for them to do that.
Author's advice: "relisten to this book frequently"
Books author Restak recommended from here: An Anatomy of Thought, Brainscape
The brain makes connections/fallacies
Sort of is a left brain-right brain difference (epileptic)
Memorization/train your brain
Brain is quite dynamic and like a muscle that can be trained
Memorization on bonzai or other trees (month later already forgot why I scribbled this down)
Proficient/STRENGTH
Greek kind of tragedy of the case of someone who could remember everything (AKA the fabled "total recall") but could not have a meaningful conversation because he had trouble articulating sentences
Topics of Stress and importance of rest/naps
Other curious topic was distractions where the human brain really is like MS-DOS (that was my interpretation of the computer analogy) where you really can only do one thing at a time. As mentioned in the book "Now You See It" most people's brains are unable to perform well AND handle distractions
Funny suggestion (this book was apparently written in 2002) was that you should learn to repair a computer. (In reality, most computers have manuals that tell you what you would need to do in the event of a problem and of course there are only a handful of components you can buy to repair/upgrade a computer. So aside from checking with a tech-savvy friend if you need to on whether a hard drive would work, not much to learn there... these days with the move toward tablets and other "thin" devices, perhaps desktop computers and increasing notebook computers will become dinosaurs unless people have specialized needs.)
Another of the fun passages was on how taxi drivers who are having a bad day on tips frequently keep working until they meet some mental quota, while on good days quit as soon as they make their mental quota. At least from the perspective of a third party listener to such a story, it seems quite counter-intuitive for them to do that.
Author's advice: "relisten to this book frequently"
Books author Restak recommended from here: An Anatomy of Thought, Brainscape
January 2, 2016
The second of two long term reads I was trying to knock out before the New Year (the other being A Delusion of Satan). This one was always meant to be episodic -- read because I was between other books, read with coffee if (a boy can dream) the kids weren't awake on a brief, still morning. Still, I let it go on too long.
Decent material. Some very practical ways of stretching and reinvigorating the brain, some possibly too simple. I wasn't a huge fan of Richard Restak's tone; there were too many time when I felt like he was showing off, simply for the sake of being showy.
Overall, though, I think some of the faults I found in the book were my fault as a reader who took too long and read too haphazardly to, frankly, assess with a great deal of accuracy. And I'm left with a positive physical impression of the book, too. It's 7AM, the house is quiet, all is dark inside and out except for single light in the house. There's coffee, a chair, and a favorite way to start the day...
Decent material. Some very practical ways of stretching and reinvigorating the brain, some possibly too simple. I wasn't a huge fan of Richard Restak's tone; there were too many time when I felt like he was showing off, simply for the sake of being showy.
Overall, though, I think some of the faults I found in the book were my fault as a reader who took too long and read too haphazardly to, frankly, assess with a great deal of accuracy. And I'm left with a positive physical impression of the book, too. It's 7AM, the house is quiet, all is dark inside and out except for single light in the house. There's coffee, a chair, and a favorite way to start the day...
June 14, 2011
The book provides a few interesting techniques to improve brain function but I'm not sure how scientifically valid they are. The author is a practicing psychiatrist and neurologist but none of that really shows in his writing. I guess this book is aimed for a very basic level, for people who have no prior knowledge of psychology, neurology, etc. In that respect, it is a very good read.
However there is nothing in here that can't be found and better explained in a Psyc101 textbook. If you want a quick 1-2 day read on simple tips to make your brain perform better, this might be an interesting read, but don't expect much. I will grant that there are little nuggets of gold scattered throughout.
However there is nothing in here that can't be found and better explained in a Psyc101 textbook. If you want a quick 1-2 day read on simple tips to make your brain perform better, this might be an interesting read, but don't expect much. I will grant that there are little nuggets of gold scattered throughout.
January 26, 2010
The book didn’t live up to its exciting title. There was really nothing even remotely relating to Mozart or pilots, beauty or adventure. Instead, it was like a five-hour doctor visit with the doc going on ad-nauseam about the prognosis. Most of his mental health tips were bad-tasting medicine, like memorize a bunch of pointless things and then test yourself, or play cribbage. I don’t really want to improve my memory at the cost of doing mind-numbing exercises.
July 22, 2011
Lots of good and easily accessible information not only if you're involved in education but if you want to enhance your own life. The line: "...it's necessary for your brain to consolidate the memory for what you've learned. This takes several hours and cannot be hurried" does make the case for restructuring our traditional academic schedules, which I fully support. Has anyone read Hermann Hesse's Magister Ludi: The Glass Bead Game, which is frequently referred to?
September 10, 2011
I read a lot of articles about protecting the brain, increasing the memory, prevention of dementia and so forth, and I really enjoyed Restak's practical approach. Some of it was naturally familiar, but there were also new exercises and ideas to try out, which I began to do immediately. I recommend this book to people interested in doing whatever they can to protect and enhance their cognitive function.
August 7, 2013
Good title but fairly drab presentation of activities to help improve your brain power. The book was only written about a decade ago but based on its presentation of technology as a tool to stimulate your brain, it's already fairly outdated.
There were some pages and ideas I highlighted and would like to employ in daily usage, but for the most part, the book was fairly forgettable. (Hmmm. Maybe I do need more memory to ensure it isn't forgettable?)
There were some pages and ideas I highlighted and would like to employ in daily usage, but for the most part, the book was fairly forgettable. (Hmmm. Maybe I do need more memory to ensure it isn't forgettable?)
February 12, 2016
Tons of interesting information. The biggest problem with this book is that there is so much information you cannot process it all. Each chapter looks at a different facet of how our thoughts and memory work. Each chapter suggests exercises to keep our brains limber, everything from practicing balance to getting in touch with buried emotions to practicing short-term memory.
I tried a few suggestions for fun, then tried to pick a few mental exercises to put into longer-term practice.
I tried a few suggestions for fun, then tried to pick a few mental exercises to put into longer-term practice.
May 12, 2016
This book has several useful rules of thumb, but nothing earth-shattering. Still, it is organized in an applicable manner for streamlining how we approach complex problems by mastering the fundamentals that combine to its complexity. There are also several novel and whimsical recommendations for activating the parts of the brain that aid in approaching such problems (i.e., take up magic tricks, listen to dynamic music).
May 21, 2008
Learned a lot about how the brain works and how to keep the mind active--of particular interest to me, as I find myself suffering from "momnesia." So, I've been doing a lot of word games/puzzles lately! I found the memory exercises interesting, though I rarely had the time, as I was reading the book, to actually do them. Hopefully, I'll remember them so I can try them later. :)
November 9, 2011
I've been reading Dr. Restak's books since high school. This is a interesting book, but not exactly what I was looking for. This is a book of suggestions and exercises to improve and enhance brain function. I was hoping for a discussion of our latest understanding of brain function. If you are interested, I suggest the print version and not the audio version.
January 21, 2013
Having read it quite a number of years ago, I remember thinking it was OK but not much else. Neither I can't seem to remember too many specifics about it. Obviously it wasn't awful, otherwise I would have remembered that, but neither was it good enough to burn a vivid image into my mind, so two stars is the most I can give it in hindsight.
November 15, 2015
I haven't finished the book, actually I have abandoned it. Not because is a bad book, not at all. It is a okay book with actual practise for improving your brain but lack important scientific data like graphs showing pacients improving with the exercises.
And, in my personal opnion, no one got time for all those exercises.
And, in my personal opnion, no one got time for all those exercises.
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