Maximum Brainpower: Challenging the Brain for Health and Wisdom

by Shlomo Breznitz

“A wonderfully helpful book . . . After reading it, you will understand what you must do for your brain, and why you must do it.”—Norman Doidge, M.D., New York Times bestselling author of The Brain That Changes Itself Did you know that experts are often less mentally agile than jacks-of-all-trades? That crossword puzzles and sudoku are of minimal help in building brainpower? That multitasking poses unique dangers to the brain? Cognitive psychologist Shlomo Breznitz knows—and what’s more, he knows what to do about it. In Maximum Brainpower, Breznitz and technologist Collins Hemingway provide both an in-depth look at how the brain works and proven methods to increase its capabilities. Armed with the results of cutting-edge research, they champion the stimulus of continual change over the deadening effects of comfortable routine, show how to separate good mental stress from bad, and demonstrate how hope and socialization can help defend against forgetfulness, memory loss, even dementia. Filled with colorful real-life stories and fascinating psychological experiments, this revelatory work will help adults of any age keep their minds sharp, healthy, and cognitively fit throughout life. It’s a no-brainer! Praise for Maximum Brainpower “Everyone knows the importance of physical fitness; less appreciated is the necessity of cognitive fitness. How do you maintain an exercised, stimulated, flexible brain? Start by reading this book.”—David Eagleman, New York Times bestselling author of Incognito “Profound, rich, and enriching . . . Because of its forceful suggestions, its analyses, and its wide knowledge, this book is well worth reading. And rereading.”—Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and author “Many of us are petrified of Alzheimer’s disease, strokes, and other maladies that impair the functioning of the brain. Breznitz and Hemingway can deliver no ‘magic bullet’ to prevent dementia. But their book does get you thinking about what you can do to develop and maintain your gray matter, build on the plasticity of the brain, and increase the likelihood that you’ll live not just a longer but a fuller life.”—The Huffington Post “Most books about healthy brain maintenance just give you the ‘how’; this one tells you why. And it helps you do it.”—Rita Carter, author of Mapping the Mind

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Psychology, Brain, Neuroscience, Science, Personal Development

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

***This is not a self-help book!***

I would have all caps'ed my disclaimer but I cannot abide that.

Anyway, I did make the mistake of thinking this was some junk speed-reading/"never forget anything!"-type book. This is one of the better up-to-date books I've seen on improving and maintaining brain health along with Think Smart: A Neuroscientist's Prescription for Improving Your Brain's Performance. This book has even more up-to-date research on mind health and performance. It also refers to several experiments that I have not come across in my recent cognitive-psychology reading which is nice since there is a lot of repetition in these types of books. The author does have brain-training company which he mentions a few times. The references did not seem to be a blatant attempt to sell some junk although I would have liked just a little self-deprecating humor about that conflict-of-interest.

The author says he has been working on this book for several years and you can tell that much effort has been made to summarize the key points of brain health. There is nothing mind-bogglingly new given here. Neurogenesis and plascticity are key points to the advice given. As well as chapters on stress and perception influencing your brain health. The cohesiveness of the data presented is the big benefit. This book gave me motivation to stop using the easy shortcuts that the brain makes out of everything and to actually think over my experiences. I do not doubt you will be motivated as well. One of the more important pieces of information is that although you can have Alzheimers's disease, if you have built up a cognitive reserve throughout your life you can significantly delay the noticeable effects of the disease. At this time building up a cognitive reserve is the only think I can control that will help offset dementia. If that does not motivate you, then I don't know what will.

I want that light-bulb on the cover.

[Wendy Hines · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, this isn't a self-help book. Maximum Brainpower is about keeping our brains healthy as we age. There are no brain teasers, puzzles or other challenges within these pages, but other pertinent information that I found enthralling.

Instead, Breznitz shares his years of research on why we should work our brains and how we can help it become stronger as we grow older. Cognitive Reserve is a big issue tackled and it was really interesting to read. If we can build up our cognitive reserve as we age, then some things will be easier when we are older - for example balance.

Through physical exercise, parts of the brain can strengthen, as well as alleviating stress and how we perceive things. One thing I found interesting as well as the fact that by having a built up cognitive reserve, you can offset dementia and Alzheimer's.


A really intriguing book laid out in a well-thought manner. Easy to read and follow and one that I highly recommend reading! After all, your brain health is uber important!

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

some good stuff on neuroplasticity and useful info on Alzheimer's disease and some of the more influential studies re predictors of it.

Most of the advice (stay active physically and mentally; change is good and stimulating unless it's too much and stressful....) is familiar if you are interested in the subject and read newspapers.

Author is a prolific cognitive psychologist, so I guess much of it is relevant, but for my taste he leans way too heavily on his own story (changing careers can be stimulating if you are willing to take the leap; for example, have I mentioned in the past few pages that I retired from being a professor to start my own company hawking cognitive training resources? Learning new topics is good too; let me tell you about the time I holed up in the library studying immunology....).

[Long Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will rarely go out of my way to recommend a book, but this is absolutely it. Highly accessible, divided in a systematic way with recaps to help readers of any shade acquire familiarity with the subject. Nobody would complain about having a more powerful brain. So why not learn how to have one?

On a more academic level, the authors also touch on (lightly) contemporary research/debates about the nature of our intelligence. Highly informative to the uninitiated. The tone is less of lecture but more so that of an encouraging grandfather imparting his lifetime of learning to the generations ahead. The theme of humanity runs throughout the book, and cultivating it the main objective.

It's a delicate balance between good science and good writing, and this book meets the challenge. Totally worth the time investment!

[Gregg Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn't want to be smarter? (Raise your hands.)

George Carlin does this comic bit about "every word has been said in the English language but certain words have never been said in phrases." Then he goes on to say, "For instance, no one has ever said: 'Please saw off my legs.' Or: 'Hand me that piano.'"

I think I can add one to that group. No one has ever said:"I wish I wasn't smarter."

No, we all want to be smarter. Right? (You can put your hands down now.) And if you want to be smarter, how can you resist a book title like Maximum Brainpower?

There is a lot of great stuff in this book. Here it is (for you Type A 'how long is this gonna take?' people):

When you rest on your intellectual laurels your brain atrophies. When you mentally challenge yourself your brain grows. There's a few caveats like 'Don't over-challenge yourself or you'll flame out and die.' But yeah, that's basically it.

I'm glib but really these guys are functioning at Maximum Brainpower and have a lot of great ideas about keeping your brain growing. They write:

When we rely on experience, we risk solving today's problems with yesterday's solutions.

And you've got to really mentally challenge yourself. (I remember the football player Walter Payton saying being in top condition forced you to walk a razor's edge between optimum fitness and injury.) But there's got to be the hope that you'll be successful. Because if not, your challenges will lead to learned helplessness.

Successful coping begins when we start generating positive expectations that things will turn out okay.

They write about how believers tend to do better than atheists because they have more hope.

One of the benefits of hope is that it does not imply that we have to solve all of our own problems.

Okay, you atheists, have you repented yet?

And do you know all the phone numbers in your cell's directory? (Rhetorical.) Consider this:

We need to work harder in order to prevent the ease of digital access to information from causing us to backslide mentally. We need to stay cognitively fit in order to better understand and prepare for an ever more rapid inculcation of technology into our lives. We must be wise enough to ensure that inventions do not constrain the brain but instead provide new ways to harness and enhance its abilities.

So there. To riff on George Carlin's bit again. I'll close with the little rhyme in that last quote. Perhaps no one has ever said these words before: don't constrain your brain.

[William Finan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting theory on the brains ability to remain itself and heal the body through cognitive training/exercise...however, writer stops short of giving any concrete advice beyond "digital bad, physical good"....not that it's bad advice, just isn't saying anything new, he also goes off on a number of sociological tagents and autobiographical anecdotes that I'm not sure were relevant....author does have an easy to read style and most readers should crank through it and gain at least some knowledge about cognitive functionality

[Shikha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book,but little bit difficult for normal people, although concept was very clear

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of interesting things packed in here. And they just pop right out fairly easily.

[Anshuman Dahale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got recommendation of this from Ikigai. I understood about cognitive decline and the ways which can help slow down or prevent it. Overall it's a nice book to read.

[Cecilia Anastos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best from the author is his CogniFit app available at Apple and Google.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! Summerize well the current knowledge of the brain's cognitive development throughout the years and puts emphasis on the importance of keeping it challenged throughout our lives. The book emphasis how the brain ages and how it shifts from being a "thinking" brain to becoming an "efficient" brain; that is, relying on experience and efficiency instead of fostering new knowledge. With that in mind, the author induces us to the concept of "satisfycing" and how it prevents us from using the best of our cognitive abilities.

Using peer-reviewed literature, the author argues for the importance of choosing a challenging career and hobbies in order to prevent "cognitive stagnation" and keep our brain's innate plascity in order to protect it from age-related dementia , like Alzheimer's disease.

In sum, a good book to remind us the importance of avoiding routine, mundane work and to seize the day!!

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book discusses way to keep mentally healthy.

I found some parts of this book interesting (such as the tests related to expectations) but overall I felt I’d read all the advice (keep physically healthy and mentally challenged) before in newspaper / magazine articles.

[Sadanand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Book

[Madysen Gailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be incredibly interesting. I learned so many surprising new things and how to apply them to my life. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn about the mind and how to improve theirs.