Brain Rules for Aging Well: 10 Principles for Staying Vital, Happy, and Sharp

by John Medina

How come I can never find my keys? Why don't I sleep as well? Why do my friends keep repeating the same stories? What can I do to keep my brain sharp? Scientists know. Your Aging Brain, by developmental molecular biologist Dr. John Medina, gives you the facts -- and the prescription to age well -- in his engaging signature style.

With so many discoveries over the years, science is literally changing our minds about the optimal care and feeding of the brain. All of it is captivating. A great deal of it is unexpected.

In his New York Times bestseller Brain Rules, Dr. Medina showed us how our brains really work--and why we ought to redesign our workplaces and schools to match. Now, in Your Aging Brain, he shares how you can make the most of the years you have left. In a book destined to be a classic on aging, Medina's fascinating stories and infectious sense of humor breathe life into the science.

Your Aging Brain, is organized into four sections, each laying out familiar problems with surprising solutions. First up, an overview: looking under the hood of an aging brain as it motors through life. The second part focuses on the feeling brain, using topics ranging from relationships and stress to happiness and gullibility to illustrate how our emotions change with age. The third focuses on the thinking brain, explaining how various cognitive gadgets such as working memory and executive function change with time. Each section is sprinkled with practical advice: for example, a certain style of dancing may be better for your brain than eating fish. Medina explains not only how taking certain actions can improve your brain's performance, but also what is known about the brain science behind each intervention.

The final section is about the future. Your future. It's filled with topics as joyful as retirement and as heartbreaking as Alzheimer's. Medina connects all of the chapters into a plan, checklist-style, for maintaining your brain health.

You may already be experiencing the sometimes unpleasant effects of the aging process. Or you may be deeply concerned about your loved ones who are. Either way, Your Aging Brain is for you.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Self Help, Science, Psychology, Neuroscience, Brain

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

DR. JOHN J. MEDINA, a developmental molecular biologist, has a lifelong fascination with how the mind reacts to and organizes information. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller "Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School" -- a provocative book that takes on the way our schools and work environments are designed. His latest book is a must-read for parents and early-childhood educators: "Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five."

Medina is an affiliate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He lives in Seattle, Washington, with his wife and two boys. www.brainrules.net

Reviews

[Antonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audiobook was great to listen to. The author (John Medina) narrates, and he’s clear about he science as well as entertaining.

The book is packed with facts about the brain, especially the aging brain, and includes a wealth of research-based and practical recommendations for keeping cognitively fit as we get older. And it’s never too early to start forming the good habits that will make a difference in our later years.

I appreciate that Medina sticks pretty closely to the facts, what we know from research, and is cautious about extrapolating. I did find one glaring and unfortunate error and he repeats it a couple more times in the book. I’m really picky about facts and am always skeptical about claims that sound far-fetched. In Chapter 9, Medina discusses the dramatic effects on longevity of reading (books) 3.5 hours a day. Yes, 3.5 hours a day! That would be daunting even for an avid reader like me, and it raised a big red flag. Medina provides a source for this statement, a study published by Bavishi et al. in 2016.* I’ve read the study (and returned to check it twice) and the study says 3.5 hours or more PER WEEK (an average of 30 minutes a day). That's much more do-able and actually makes the effect on longevity even more dramatic!

In this study of over 3600 people, the average time spent reading per week was 3.92 hours for books and 6.10 hours for periodicals. The results were fascinating in that the greatest survival effects were associated with reading books, rather than periodicals. “Older individuals, regardless of gender, health, wealth, or education, showed the survival advantage of reading books.” And the authors conclude: “This study found that those who read books for an average of 30 minutes per day – say, a chapter a day – showed a survival advantage, compared to those who did not read books. The robustness of our findings suggest that reading books may not only introduce some interesting ideas and characters, it may also give more years of reading.”

This could make someone pretty skeptical about other statements in the book. My guess is that this is an anomaly. Medina seems pretty committed to sticking to the science and I think it’s probably an honest error. Overall, it’s a really good book and I strongly recommend the audio. The references are available in a pdf file on the author’s website (http://www.brainrules.net/pdf/brain-r...). And also, chapter summaries! (http://www.brainrules.net/pdf/brain-r...)

[Angela Gentile · Rating 2 out of 5]

Misses the Mark

Dr. John Medina’s book, “Brain Rules for Aging Well,” disappointed me. Perhaps I had high expectations as I was impressed with his first book “Brain Rules.” He has labeled himself the “grumpy neuroscientist” and his writing in this book shows. The hefty price ($36.99 CAD) of the hardcover made me believe that the information contained within must be good. As a specialist in aging, and someone who is very interested in the concept of “aging well,” I had to take a look.

I was encouraged by most of the reviews that this book was full of useful and helpful strategies to help one age well. As I dug in, I quickly realized that the book’s premise was inspired by the findings of an experiment from 1979 known as the “counterclockwise study” (Langer).  This was a very small study based on the experience of eight seventy-year-old men who were “stereotypically old.” For one week they were subjected to a time warp –– and lived as if it were 1959. After being immersed in the happy days of old, they came out seemingly younger –– happy with improved postures, hearing, and vision. Their hand grips strengthened and they moved with improved ease. As a woman in my fifties, I started to doubt how this book could adequately cover the topic of aging well – and my doubts were confirmed.

The book is divided into four sections, with the proposed “10 Brain Rules for Aging Well” which Medina starts and ends with as the guiding principles. Parts called Social Brain, Thinking Brain, Body and Brain, and Future Brain with a handy index at the end comprises the layout of the book. He refers to many scientific studies and other resources, and he directs us to “Extensive, notated citations at www.brainrules.net/references.” I found this style of referencing quite odd, and it was difficult to find what I was looking for. When I sit down to read a book, I don’t want to have to go to the internet to find the references. Also, the way the references are listed doesn’t make it easy to find what you are looking for.

I found myself bored with all the scientific jargon and his stories to help explain some of the complicated workings of the brain didn’t hit the mark. I ended up skim reading through quite a bit. Some of his aging well advice, such as engaging in friendly arguments and playing certain video games were quite surprising to me. I have yet to understand how a specialist in brain research would suggest arguing with people and playing video games as part of a good plan for overall brain health.

I liked the summaries at the end of each chapter. Medina's advice about exercise, healthy diet, friendships and “say no to retirement” were well-taken. I found the discussion on the updated term “working memory” for the outdated term “short-term memory” interesting.  The personal stories he shares were endearing, especially the one about nostalgia, reminiscing and the “our song” syndrome he and his wife share.

The book was apparently well-proofed and edited (as Medina notes in his acknowledgments); however, I found two glaringly obvious errors. The first was on page 104, where Medina mistakenly tells us that reading from books 3.5 hours a DAY will help reduce our risk of dying by a certain age when compared to those who didn’t. In actuality, the research states it is a 30-minutes-a-day activity, which translates into 3.5 hours WEEKLY.

The second error, which I was astonished by (as an author and editor myself), was on page 164. Medina was talking about research on exercise done with people with limited mobility. He said that the participants were “assessed by a test called” and there was a blank space after that. The next paragraph started with a period. Perhaps that was the period that he deliberately omitted back in the introduction on page 7? I’d be pretty ticked if I were Medina, knowing this one slipped by all the reviewers.

I believe this was a good attempt by Medina to write a book on Aging Well; however, his dated references to works from 30-40 years ago (e.g., Hauri’s book No More Sleepless Nights, and the movie Cocoon) made me less confident in thinking he was using fresh and current research. This book was a good attempt at starting the conversation about brain health and aging well, but I think he has a lot more reading and researching to do on the subject. One last thought –– I wish he’d avoid using the term “elderly.” That’s a term we are getting away from in the aging well literature when discussing older adults. I believe mainstream media is also moving away from using that term.

Angela G. Gentile, MSW, RSW

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read, with some great tips for life!

1) Keep social groups vibrant and healthy--including relationships with your spouse and relationships with younger generations.
2) Go dancing frequently!
3) Cultivate an attitude of gratitude and be optimistic about aging.
4) Practice mindfulness and eliminate stress.
5) Continue learning/teaching and challenging yourself.
6) Train your brain with specific video games.
7) Eat a mediterranean diet--lots of vegetables, nuts, olive oil, berries, fish, and whole grains.
8) Exercise every day.
7) Get 6 to 8 hours of sleep every night--and start developing good sleep habits early on.
8) Never retire--find something to give you purpose and meaning and don't stop doing it.
9) Reminisce about the positive moments in your past.

[Esraa Jad · Rating 5 out of 5]

مراجعة كتاب
#قواعد_الدماغ
ذكرني هذا الكتاب بكتاب #لان_الانسان_فان، ليس في المحتوى ولكن في طريقة العرض لمعلومة علمية بحته بشكل أدبي وقصصي مبسط.
هو كتاب دسم وثقيل ويحتاج الى تركيز وخصوصا من غير المتخصصين، وربما المتخصص سيجد بعض الصعوبة لاننا لم ندرس أجزاء المخ باللغة العربية وهذا يصعب عليك ان اي جزء في الدماغ يتحدث.
الكتاب يتحدث عن الشيخوخة وماذا يحدث في الدماغ من تغيرات فسيولوجية حتميه ولكن درجة التغيير هي ما يمكن التحكم فيه وهذا ما يجعل بعض العجائز يتمتعون بصحة نفسية وجسدية جيدة جدا والبعض الآخر لا يقو على جلب كوب ماء لنفسه.
تحدث عن أهمية العلاقات الاجتماعية وعن الذاكرة و النوم وعن التغييرات الهرمونية والعصبية وعن التفاؤل ونظرتك للحياة يتخلل هذا الكثير من القصص والأمثلة

الكتاب من افضل الكتب التي قرأتها مؤخرا وربما سيغير من وجهة نظرك عن نفسك وعن الحياة عندما تعرف عنها أكثر

التقييم العام : أربع نجوم ونصف
النصف لان بعض الأمثلة وجدتها في وجهة نظري غير موفقة لتوصيل ما يريد

[Trung Nguyen Dang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brain Rules for Aging Well is my third Brain Rules book, after the original Brain Rules and Brain Rules for baby. What I love about the book are: [1] lots of information and backed by so many scientific studies (eg those with control group .. etc); [2] great story telling ability; and [3] highly organised with good structure and a summary at the end of each chapter. Each chapters start with two great or funny quotes. I found myself highlighting alot. Let me know if anyone wants to read what I highlighted.
The 10 rules for aging well are below for those who wants to quickly have take-aways. The book covers a lot more than these 10 rules such as mental diseases … etc:
1. Be a friend to others, and let others be a friend to you. Socialise with friends and friends of all ages, especially children. "Social interactions are like vitamins and minerals for aging brains, with ridiculously powerful implications. Even socializing over the Internet provides benefits." Positive relationships reduce stress and improve immune system.
Social psychologist Rebecca Adams summarized how in a New York Times interview a few years back, if you cultivate the following: • “repeated, unplanned interactions,” spontaneously rubbing shoulders with good friends • “proximity,” living close by to friends and family members so those shoulders are available for rubbing • “a setting that encourages people to let their guard down”
Loneliness is the single greatest risk factor for clinical depression. The probability of death is 45 percent greater for lonely seniors than it is for socially active ones.
Human touch/hugs are important. Dancing is great as it has both the skill/technique and human touch aspects.

2. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude. “Seniors who take it in stride, convincing themselves the glass is still half-full, live a healthy 7.5 years longer than seniors who don’t. Optimism exerts a measurable effect on their brain. The volume of their hippocampus doesn’t shrink nearly as much as the glass-half-empty crowd’s does.”
Do the gratitude visit. Write down 3 good things daily. Well-being theory: PERMA
P: Positive emotion To be happy, you must regularly experience positive emotions. Generate a list of the things that bring you true pleasure, then marinate yourself in them, allowing the items on the list to become a regular part of your life.
E: Engagement Consistently engage in activities so meaningful you actually stop checking your cell phone when you do them. Losing yourself in a hobby can be like that. So can good movies, books, sports—even a dance class.
R: Relationships As long as the relationships are positive, insert the entirety of the chapter on friendship into this recommendation.
M: Meaning Identify and pursue a purpose that gives your life meaning. For most people, that requires solidly connecting their actions to a purpose larger than themselves. Religious practice and charitable work are examples.
A: Accomplishment Set specific goals for yourself, especially if that requires you to achieve mastery in something over which you currently have no mastery at all. This could be physical, like training for a marathon, or intellectual, like learning to speak French.

3. Mindfulness not only soothes but improves both brains and life. Stress is biologically intended to keep you out of danger. It is supposed to be a temporary state. Stay stressed too long, and it becomes damaging to your brain’s systems. •Strive to be positive about aging. If you feel young, your cognitive abilities improve. •Practicing mindfulness consisting of contemplative exercises that ask you to focus your brain on the present, rather than the past or future, can both reduce stress and boost cognition.
4. Remember, it’s never too late to learn—or to teach. Take up the habit of lifelong learning as an aging brain is fully capable of learning new things. Voracious reading, another papal habit, also turns out to be good for aging brains and, surprisingly, even better for longevity. One twelve-year study showed that if seniors read at least 3.5 hours a day, they were 17 percent less likely to die by a certain age than controls who didn’t read. Read more than that and you increase the number to 23 percent. The reading has to be of books, long form. Learning a demanding skill is the most scientifically proven way to reduce age-related memory decline.
The best exercise is to find people with whom you do not agree and regularly argue with them. Productive engagement involves experiencing environments where you find your assumptions challenged, your perspective stretched, your prejudices confronted, your curiosity inspired. Productive engagement is one of the clearest ways to keep your memory batteries from draining. Episodic memory improved 600 percent above those in the receptive group.
Learn new language or music. Bilingual people perform significantly better on cognitive tests than monolingual controls. Normal cognitive decline is less steep for bilinguals. Same with their risk for general dementia.

5. Train your brain with video games to improve focus ability.

6. Look for 10 signs before asking, “Do I have Alzheimer’s?”

7. MIND your meals and get moving
“The single thing that comes close to a magic bullet, in terms of its strong and universal benefits, is exercise.” Researchers noticed years ago that fit seniors seemed smarter than sedentary seniors, even when wading into the deep end of the statistical pool. Especially powerful were results linking aerobic exercise to changes in executive function. If you survey a large number of studies (called a meta-analysis) looking at aerobics and EF, you see really impressive numbers. Elderly individuals who regularly exercised scored higher, sometimes stratospherically higher, on executive function tests than sedentary controls (effect sizes, which are measures of correlation, were almost seven times greater with exercisers than with couch potatoes). It is quite rare you get such clear numbers in work of this kind.
By exercising, you are not just slowing age-related decline. Your brain actually gets better at its job. Aerobic exercise increase the size of the hippocampus, promote neuron growth. One study got a 30 percent boost in executive function scores after a skimpy three-month exercise program consisting of an even skimpier “walking regimen.” Some studies show much greater improvements. And the boosts appear to be long-lasting.
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” It’s been observed for centuries that people who eat less seem to live longer—and are oddly happier—than those who gorge themselves. This has striking confirmation in the laboratory with animals. Another unexpected result is that dieters slept better. They had more energy (weird, because they were actually consuming less energy) and were in a better mood (even though they were probably hungry all the time).
Eating southern European food was associated with cardiovascular health, the most interesting result was discovering a big-time arrest of cognitive decline, not associated with cardiovascular issues at all. Nutritional epidemiologist Martha Clare Morris has found that the so-called MIND diet—which is rich in berries, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts—dramatically lowers the risk of developing Alzheimer’s
Both calorie restriction and plant-based diets exert their anti-aging effects through stimulating hormesis, which is the repair mechanism of the body.

8. For clear thinking, get enough (not too much) sleep. The amount of sleep required is highly individual/personal. Quality and amount of sleep required diminishes with age. Sleep is not really for energy restoration. Energy saving during sleep is only 120 calories.
We sleep to learn. Sleep is not required because you need to rest, but because you need to reset. “Maintaining good sleep quality, at least in young adulthood and middle age, promotes better cognitive functioning and serves to protect against age-related cognitive declines.”
We sleep to sweep garbage/toxic waste in the brain (during slow-wave sleep).
We need 6 to 8 hours of sleep every night, no more no less.
To sleep better: [1] get rid of alarm clock; [2] don’t try to sleep, only come to bed when you’re sleepy, don’t stay there if cant fall asleep; [3] no exercise, caffein, alcohol within 6 hours of bedtime; [4] designate a place to sleep and don’t do anything else there; [5] cool temperate (65 degree F or 18 degree C); [6] stable sleep routine, always wake up at the same time; [7] dim lights in the evening, and no blue light (from electronic devices); [8] visit lots of friends during the day; [9] keep a sleep diary.

9. You can’t live forever, at least not yet. The Hayflick limit is the threshold beyond which a cell can no longer divide, leading the cell to deterioration and, eventually, death. You don’t have to rely on genetic engineering to compel sirtuins to overproduce. Ingesting exotic-sounding biochemicals like chalcones and flavones and anthocyanins and resveratrols also do the trick. The first three of these molecules are found in fruits and vegetables, the last in wine.

10. Never retire, and be sure to reminisce. Retirement is one of the worst things that you can do to yourself! People envision retirement as filled with carefree living, lengthy travel, and finally getting to do what you’ve always wanted to do. In reality, retirees’ carefree attitude is term limited. You feel a sense of “getting out of jail free” for a while, but the negatives soon creep in. The truth about retirement’s sunny reputation? It’s a myth. We now know that retirement is extremely stressful for most people. The overall risk for any chronic health condition is 21 percent for seniors who stay in retirement. It’s about half that for seniors who stay employed. Nostalgia is good for you. People who regularly experience nostalgic stimuli are psychologically healthier than those who don’t.

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Those of us who, like me, are in their 70s all have an interest in ‘staying vital, happy and sharp’ so I gave this book a go. Overall it was a disappointment. So much of it was obvious commonsense, with a few insights that I’ll tuck away (for example, that nostalgia is good for the ageing brain) but much of the scientific detail lost me (as I don’t have a science education) and his final prescription for being a ‘super-ager’ defied belief. I couldn’t help comparing his view on ageing unfavourably with that of Robert Dessaix, whose The Pleasures of Leisure I read earlier in the year. I think promoting ‘super-agers’ runs the same risks that promoting ‘supermums’ did back in the 80s. I’ll stick with the Dessaix view, I think.

[Carol - Reading Writing and Riesling · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful insightful read – so relevant and so well written – the information is presented in a manner that is at times humorous (filled with anecdotes that hit the spot), informative, practical and sometimes a little sad. I love the 10 Brain Rules for Aging Well (summarised in the introduction.)

[Noosh Baggins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slightly annoying chummy tone with just way too many idioms and actually-confusing-not-clarifying analogies, obfuscating exactly what the science & evidence was

[izzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If what I just read in this book is true
Them this is one hell of a ride

Amazing book

Now I know more about how my brain works

Glad I read it now, so I can start applying the principles

You need to read this book because it helps in understanding your brain and how the relationships you keep, the food you eat, retirement and other stuff affect your Brian even how much you sleep

Well done sir

[Tim Blackburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent Presentation

Dr. Medina does a magnificent job of presenting peer-reviewed scientific research and assimilating the findings into practical recommendations that the average person can easily understand and implement. Dr. Medina presents the anticipated foundation of a productive post-60 life (such as diet, exercise, socializing, and daily reading/learning) into a friendly format. I try to incorporate these principles in my life and encourage anyone at any age to read this book.

[Krzysztof · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as previous Brain Rules books, but still manages to present many scientific studies in an engaging way. I give it +1 star for an extra value if any of your close ones is struggling with early dementia (esp. Alzheimer's).

This book explains how aging changes our brain and proposes some tactics one can apply to stay sharp in the autumn years. There are no surprising silver bullets, rather an extensive body of evidence that what is good at any age is especially important in the old age. There are some minor issues and we certainly got to know more since the publication of this book, but it is still well presented and well intended.

For me the most valuable chapters were about dementia. It's not only about the processes that lead to the disease but more importantly how one can notice early symptoms and help people deal with them. There is a vicious cycle of coping bahaviours that fuels the progress of the disease and being able to recognize and break them might heavily impact the quality of life with dementia.

If you enjoyed the other Brain Rules books, this will be a good refresher and extension of the series. If you are looking for protocols that will slow down agining proceses, there might be better books available that cover this subject more comprehensively (this one focuses on brain and cognition only).

[Chaitali Narla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple times backed by science!

This book followed the same simple and clear writing style the author has for the baby brain rules book. Dr. Medina breaks down a difficult subject line neuroscience and makes it accessible to everyone in a way that can be applied in life!

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great information with disclosure of the science that supports it and explains how strong it is. The author is funny and excited about his subject which pulls you into a topic we often don't want to think about.

[Emily Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Packed with science but still witty and relatable. Includes lots of practical advice that can be implemented at any age. Inspiring and comforting.

[Archit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geroscience is the field of inquiry dedicated to studying how we age, what causes us to age, and how we can reduce the corrosive effects of aging.
Aging is not a disease, rather a natural process. People don’t die of old
age; they die of biological processes that break down.
• Genetics is responsible for between 25 percent and 33 percent of the
variance in life expectancy.
A delightful read on how the brain functions (there's still a lot to unravel) & tips on reducing the corrosive effects of ageing:
As you peruse these pages, you’ll discover what geroscientists already know.You’ll learn how to improve your memory, why you should hang on to yourfriends for dear life—literally—and why you should go dancing with them asoften as possible. You’ll discover why reading a book several hours a day canactually add years to your life. You’ll find that learning a new language may bethe best thing for your mind, especially if you’re worried about dementia. Andthat regularly engaging in friendly arguments with people who disagree with youis like taking a daily brain vitamin. You’ll also learn why certain video gamescan actually improve your ability to solve problems.

We’ve got it relatively good. For virtually our species’ entire history, human
life expectancy was about thirty years. Life expectancy is the benchmark for
what’s typical. And it has been steadily rising. Were you living in England in
1850, you generally died in your mid-forties. That figure is four decades longer
now. If you were an American in 1900, you died around age forty-nine. It was
seventy-six by 1997.
Not true anymore. Americans born in 2015 can expect to live to seventyeight
(it’s a little more for women, a little less for men). If you’ve already made
it to your sixty-fifth birthday, you can expect to live nearly twenty-four more
years if female and nearly twenty-two more years if male. That’s an astonishing
10 percent jump since the year 2000, and the numbers are expected to go even
higher.

In this view, longevity is the amount of time you could spend on the planet
were conditions ideal. Life expectancy is the amount of time you likely will
spend on the planet, given that conditions are almost never ideal. It’s the
difference between how long you can live versus how long you will live.
So how long can humans live? The oldest person with an independently
You probably learned in high school that brains are strung together with
electrically active nerve cells—neurons—but you may have forgotten what they
looked like
Impossibly complex
branching structures, called dendrites, exist at one end of a typical cell. Those
dendrites gather together into a trunk-like structure termed an axon. Unlike our
maple’s trunk, however, there is a bulge at this point of gathering. It’s an
important swelling—called the cell body—and its reputation derives from a
small spherical shape inside it. This is the nucleus of the neuron. It houses the
cell’s command and control structures, the double-ladder-shaped molecule DNA.
Axons can be short and squatty, like our maple’s trunk, or long and slender
like a pine tree’s trunk. Many are wrapped in a type of “bark” that’s called white
matter. At the other end of the axon lies a root system, just like a plant’s,
consisting of branching structures termed telodendria. These usually aren’t as
complex as the dendrites, but they serve an important information-transfer
function, as we’re about to see.
The brain’s information system runs on electricity, like most light bulbs, and
their shape helps them do it. To understand how, imagine pulling one of our
Japanese maples out by its roots, and then, while my wife has a heart attack,
holding it over the top of our other maple. Don’t let them touch. The root system
of the top tree is now hovering over the branches of the bottom.
Now imagine these two trees are neurons. The telodendria (roots) of the
upper neuron lie close to the dendrites (branches) of the lower cell. In the real
world of the brain, electricity flows from the dendrites of the top neuron down
its axon and arriving at the telodendria, where it immediately encounters the
space between the two. The gap must be jumped if information is to be
transferred. This junction is called a synapse, and the space it creates, the
synaptic cleft. How to pole-vault the space?
The solution lies at the tips of those root-like telodendria. There are small
bead-like packets at those tips containing some of the most famous molecules in
all of neuroscience. They’re called neurotransmitters. I’ll bet you’ve heard of
some of them: dopamine, glutamate, serotonin.
When an electrical signal reaches the telodendria of one neuron, some of
these biochemical celebrities are released into the synaptic cleft. It’s the
equivalent of saying, “I need to send a message to the other side.” The
neurotransmitters dutifully sail across the gulf. It’s not a long journey; most of
these spaces are only about 20 nanometers in length. Once the neurotransmitters
have crossed, they bind to receptors on the dendrites of the other neuron, like a
boat tying up to a dock. This binding is sensed by the cell, alerting it with signal
that says: “Oh, I better do something.” In many cases, that “do something”
means becoming electrically excited too. It then passes along this excitement
down the chain from dendrites to axons to its telodendria.
While jumping the space between two neurons using biochemicals is a neat
trick, the electrical circuits aren’t usually this simple. If you can imagine lining
up thousands of cellular Japanese maples root-to-branch, you’d have something
approximating an elementary neural circuit in the brain. And even that’s too
simple. The typical number of connections a single neuron makes with other
neurons is around seven thousand. (That’s only an average: some have more
than a hundred thousand!)
The major culprit in aging is a hot topic. Some scientists speculate about
immune system deficiency (the immunologic theory). Others blame
dysfunctional energy systems (the free radical hypothesis; mitochondrial theory).
Others point to systemic inflammation. Who is correct? The answer is all of
them. Or none of them. Each hypothesis has been found to explain only certain
aspects of aging
The frontal lobe is also responsible for helping you predict the consequences
of your own actions. It helps you suppress socially inappropriate behaviors and
even make comparative decisions. For many reasons, these are important regions
to keep fat and happy.
The amygdala, a little almond-shaped nodule dangling just behind each ear,
is involved in processing your emotions. It too is affected by levels of social
activity. The higher the overall number of (and the greater the variability in) the
types of relationships you maintain, the bigger your amygdala becomes. These
aren’t small changes.
You can create an environment conducive to quality relationships. Social
psychologist Rebecca Adams summarized how in a New York Times interview a
few years back, if you cultivate the following:
• “repeated, unplanned interactions,” spontaneously rubbing shoulders with
good friends
• “proximity,” living close by to friends and family members so those
shoulders are available for rubbing
• “a setting that encourages people to let their guard down”

As people get older, they suffer an increasing inability to recognize familiar
faces, and they lose their perception of some of the emotional information those
faces carry. We even know the reason. The neural tracts—the white-matter
cabling—connecting the fusiform gyrus to other regions of the brain begin to
lose structural integrity. Prosopagnosia illustrates an important principle in the
brain sciences: specific regions of the brain exert a dictatorship over specific
functions. When those regions become injured, those functions can be altered—
or disappear.
The type of dance didn’t seem to matter. Tango, jazz, salsa, folk, various
kinds of ballroom dancing: all exerted their whirling wizardry on the brain.
Further research has shown that other forms of ritualized movement instruction,
such as tai chi and various martial arts, also show benefits in many of these same
measures.

• Keep social groups vibrant and healthy; this actually boosts your
cognitive abilities as you age.
• Stress-reducing, high-quality relationships, such as a good marriage, are
particularly helpful for longevity.
• Cultivate relationships with younger generations. They help reduce
stress, anxiety, and depression.
• Loneliness is the greatest risk factor for depression for the elderly.
Excessive loneliness can cause brain damage.
• Dance, dance, dance. Benefits include exercise, social interactivity, and
an increase in cognitive abilities.
Cortisol has an important brain region in its gunsights: the hippocampus.
This sea-horse-shaped brain region is famous for being involved in learning. It
has custodial rights over the formation of certain memories, such as that bears
are real threats.
The problem with modern society is that you can be caught in stressful
situations that last for years—say, a bad marriage or a bad job—the
physiological equivalent of the grizzly bear moving in with you. I mentioned
brain damage. Indeed, exposure to unrelenting long-term stress can lead to major
depression and anxiety disorders, which are true collapses of multiple brain
systems.
Another primary target of cortisol’s aggression is the prefrontal cortex
(PFC), that vital brain region involved in planning, working memory, and
personality development. Prolonged stress destroys the dendrites and spines of
specific nerve cells (called pyramidal cells) within discrete layers of the PFC,
trashing their connections. It’s a massacre.
Mindfulness, put simply, is a series of contemplative exercises that gently
and nonjudgmentally ask you to focus your brain on the now rather than on the
past or future. Kabat-Zinn puts it this way: “Mindfulness means paying attention
in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”
The training exercises have two large components. The first is awareness of
the present. Mindfulness invites you to pay attention to the intimate details of
whatever is happening at this moment, excluding all else.
The second component is acceptance. Mindfulness entreats you to observe
your present-moment experiences without judging them. It’s a method of asking
you to observe your life without getting into a quarrel with it.
Put bluntly, mindfulness calms you down. This has all sorts of behavioral
consequences. Seniors who practice mindfulness sleep better than those who do
not, for example, probably because of lowered cortisol levels. Mindful seniors
show marked reductions in depression and anxiety. They report ruminating less
frequently over negative things. People who practice mindfulness don’t feel as
lonely, either, and describe sometimes dramatic changes in the amount and
quality of happiness they experience daily.

Strive to be positive about aging. If you feel young, your cognitive
abilities improve.
• Practicing mindfulness consisting of contemplative exercises that ask
you to focus your brain on the present, rather than the past or future,
can both reduce stress and boost cognition.

Each system is in charge of processing a specific type of memory, each
composed of freelancing neural circuits working in a semi-independent fashion.
As an example, suppose you remember a high school shop class where your
friend Jack got cut while you were all learning how to use a lathe. Learning how
to operate a lathe prior to the accident involved a specific memory domain
(motor). Recalling that the person who got cut is named Jack and not Brian uses
another domain of memory (declarative). Recalling that you watched it in time
and space—morning shop class—complete with a cast of characters, you and
Jack, uses still another memory domain (episodic).
These systems talk to one another constantly, integrating and updating their
findings in tiny fractions of seconds. Yet how they do this is mostly unknown.
Episodic memory, that lively, previously mentioned subdivision of
declarative memory, is just what it sounds like. It is a memory for episodes, the
information about events occurring in a certain context and—this is important—
interacting through time. Casts of characters are usually interacting in these
events. If the character happens to be you, we call it autobiographical episodic
memory. Episodic memory is in charge of answering questions like “what,
where, and when”—standard fare in a typical This Is Your Life installment.
Episodic memory marries two components: the information being retrieved
and the context in which the information is recalled. The former is probably just
good old semantic memory—the memory for facts. But the latter is unique to
episodic memory and gets its own name: “source memory.” Think of it like a
person giving a speech. Semantic memory recalls the content of the speech.
Source memory remembers who said it.

Working memory, for example, peaks at age twenty-five for most people,
stays steady until thirty-five, then begins its long slow journey into the night.
A smattering of other habits, sounding like Pope John Paul’s daily to-do list,
reveals more memory-boosting treasure. Exercise (mountain climbing with the
Daredevil, anyone?) is great for both short-and long-term forms of memory. So
is meditating. The usual my-parents-already-told-me lifestyle habits apply here,
too, like getting enough sleep, eating healthy foods, and hanging around good
people. Plus something your parents didn’t know to tell you: staying away from
the blue light of electronic devices.
Every day you exercise your brain above what you do typically delays that
deterioration by 0.18 years.
Fluid intelligence, roughly defined, is your ability to persuade your problemsolving
talents to come out and play. Specifically, it’s the facility to apprehend,
process, and solve unique problems independent of your personal experience
with them. As one research paper noted, fluid intelligence involves our “abilities
to flexibly generate, transform, and manipulate new information.”
Since information needs to be held in a volatile memory buffer, at least while
you’re manipulating it, you might predict that working memory plays some role
in the ability. Lab findings would show you’re right. Fluid intelligence is highly
correlated with working memory ability. They may, in fact, influence each other.
And we’ve already seen that working memory takes a dive with age.
Fluid intelligence is often contrasted with its talented twin, crystallized
intelligence. Crystallized intelligence is defined as the ability to draw from
material learned by experience, using information previously stored in a
structured database. As you’ll recall, not all memory systems erode with age
(some improve), and you see this statistically with crystallized intelligence.
Depending on how you measure it, crystallized intelligence stays fairly stable
throughout life
Dementia with Lewy bodies
Williams’s diagnosis wasn’t uncommon. Lewy body dementia is the secondleading
cause of dementia in the United States, accounting for between 15
percent and 35 percent of all dementias, depending on the study. It’s named after
the German scientist Frederic (Fritz) Lewy, who first noticed tiny dark dots
around the neurons of people who had died from “senility.” We now know those
clumps are abnormal knots of the protein alpha-synuclein. The symptoms they
cause include sleep disturbances, motor imbalances, memory losses, visual
hallucinations, and then Alzheimer’s-like behavior. We don’t know why the
knots cause dementia; we don’t know how to treat it; we don’t even know how
people get it. In recognition of our ignorance, we call the disease’s origin
“idiopathic,” a term over which Robin Williams probably would have cracked
up.
Parkinson’s disease
The second dementia is one not famous for being a dementia at all.
Parkinson’s disease is most notorious for causing people to lose motor control—
arms flailing, legs refusing to follow gaiting instructions. Famous sufferers
include Michael J. Fox, Muhammad Ali, and Billy Graham. It’s named for
James Parkinson, a nineteenth-century British physician, who originally called it
“Shaking Palsy.”
That was a good name but also a tad incomplete. Although Parkinson’s is a
movement disorder, later stages almost always include dementia, cognitive
disorders like changes in ability to focus, or affective disorders like depression
and anxiety. Parkinson’s disease occurs when brain cells in specific regions start
dying off, like those in the substantia nigra (in the lower middle of your brain).
No one knows why this cellular genocide occurs, though it may be related to a
familiar villain—alpha-synuclein. Indeed, people with Parkinson’s often have
Lewy-like bodies hanging around their dying nerves.
Frontotemporal dementia
The third disease comes early. Frontotemporal dementia typically strikes
younger people (around age sixty, though it can even hit twenty-year-olds).
Language deficits are a symptom, but the biggie is a striking change in
personality. You see wildly inappropriate behavior, such as shouting at
strangers, hitting people, gorging on food, and exhibiting a marked indifference
to loved ones. Frontotemporal dementia also can include repetitive behaviors,
such as talking about the same subject over and over again, continually mowing
the lawn, or walking the same path repetitively. It is neurodegenerative, with
progressive damage to the frontal lobes (the regions behind your forehead) and
temporal lobes (the ones next to your ears). No one knows why it occurs.
Then you have the vascular dementias, which cause cognitive mayhem the
same way strokes do, by leaking small amounts of blood into the brain. There’s
Huntington’s disease, the same dementia that claimed Woody Guthrie. There’s
even one that may be communicable, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, mediated by a
particle called a prion. Fortunately, it is among the rarest of the group.
President Reagan would not slip his mortal coil for another ten years. The
average is four to eight years, which is why Alzheimer’s is sometimes called the
Long Goodbye. This is no ordinary aging, however. For people living with
Alzheimer’s at age seventy, about 60 percent will be dead before age eighty. For
people without Alzheimer’s, only 30 percent will be dead by age eighty. Thus
Alzheimer’s roughly doubles the risk of death. It’s the sixth leading cause of
death in the United States, regardless of age.
that figure is expected to triple by 2050.

[Marya Atassi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read book for all ages. Perfectly and simply presented how the human brain - biologically & neurologically –functions, what causes us to age, and how we can reduce the corrosive effects of aging such as memory and cognitive decline, depression, developing dementia, Alzheimer … etc.

Although the subject of aging and its diseases is not such a pleasant one, yet John Medina made reading the book very pleasant with his sense of humor describing and illustrating each point in his book.

[Vladislav Burda · Rating 4 out of 5]

После новогоднего перерыва, продолжаем книжный марафон.
Книга #7.

Brain rules for aging well - правила мозга для правильного старения.
10 принципов как оставаться здоровым, счастливым и с острым умом.

Рейтинг GoodReads 4,2.
Рейтинг Amazon 4,7.
245 страниц.

Эту книгу я купил в тот момент, когда узнал, что стану дедушкой. Лео ещё был совсем маленьким в животике у Яны, а я получил сигнал сверху в виде этой книги, что уже стоит подумать об организации приближающейся второй части своей жизни).

Насчёт «планирования заранее» вспомнился такой недавний эпизод.
Пару дней назад, будучи в гостиничном тренажерном зале Киева, мне местный тренер с радостью заявил: «Как здорово, что Вы никуда не спешите.»
Я удивился и переспросил, «в каком смысле?»
«Вам не надо накачать шесть кубиков пресса за один день. И увеличить бицепс в два раза перед вечерним свиданием!»
Я подумал, что совершенно от этого бы не отказался, но такая интересная мысль даже не пришла мне в голову).

Аналогично мой первый тренер по теннису, рассказывал мне, какой самый частый запрос был у него среди новых клиентов: научиться играть в теннис за неделю.
И запрос был настолько регулярный, что он даже разработал курс, где за 1000 долларов предлагал 7 тренировок, где каждый день последовательно разучивался новый удар, с повторением старого: справа, слева, подача, свечка, смэш, приём, игра у сетки.
Где-то на 4-й день у такого экспресс-спортсмена наступал коллапс, потому что мышечная память не в состоянии довести сложные теннисные движения в такой короткий срок до автоматизма. И никто не мог вспомнить, что было две тренировки назад.
Тренер денег конечно заработал, но от практики такой отказался, чтобы не записывать минус в карму).

Вся жизнь и как мы её построим и является подготовкой к тому, в чем мы хотим преуспеть.

И спорт это всего лишь одна малая составляющая того, что необходимо для хорошей работы мозга.

Всё начинается с социума. Чем больше у тебя качественных друзей и общения, тем больше шансов продлить свою жизнь.
Поэтому не стесняйтесь присоединяться к интересным клубам и сообществам или создавать свои собственные, если у Вас есть идея вокруг чего стоит объединиться.

Автор книги Джон Медина - это учёный микробиолог. И в книге есть все научные и медицинские объяснения что и почему продлевает жизнь и делает её более качественной.
При этом всегда есть место для тех, кто любит объяснение простым языком.

Книга разделена на 4 большие раздела и 10 глав:
1.Социальный мозг.
2.Думающий мозг.
3.Мозг и тело.
4.Мозг будущего.

1.Социум очень полезен для Вашего мозга.
Одиночество ведёт к сумасшествию.
Есть простая причина, почему у женщин в почтенном возрасте это случается чаще, чем у мужчин. Потому что последние живут меньше, и чаще можно встретить вдову, чем вдовца. Одиночество ведёт к депрессии и повреждению мозга.
Хороший брак положительно влияет на мозг. Поэтому стоит пробовать столько раз, пока Вы не будете чувствовать себя устойчиво счастливым в браке.
Аналогично с работой. Надо искать, пока не найдёте своё.
Вообще, чем больше Вы будете довольны своей жизнью, тем выше шанс прожить дольше, не говоря уже о качестве.
Медина в качестве особой рекомендации ссылается на танцы. Чем старше мы становимся, тем важнее для нас прикосновение. А если оно ещё и сопровождается сложными и часто меняющимися движениями - нет лучшего лекарства для мозга.

Есть два упражнения, которые помогут Вам сохранять высокий уровень счастья.
А)Выберите человека, которому Вы благодарны и напишите ему письмо об этом. Потом пригласите его в гости или посетите его и прочитайте это письмо ему вслух.
Б)Запишите 3 хороших вещи, которые произошли с Вами. Может быть маленькая (муж сделал мне чай) или что-то значимое (вы провели успешную сделку). И потом обязательно напишите почему это произошло (муж меня любит, у меня хорошие коммерческие способности).
Если повторять каждую неделю - уровень счастья станет намного выше.

2.Автор очень подробно останавливается на болезни Альцгеймера, что к ней ведёт и как возможно снизить её риск.
Несмотря на то, что это всего лишь риск #5 от чего умирают люди, это точно номер один с точки зрения затрат для экономики. В США более 5 миллионов человек с Альцгеймером и это обходится в 236 миллиардов долларов в год.
В простонародье её называют “long good buy”, потому что человек может прожить ещё 5-10 лет после её начала.
Это самая загадочная болезнь человечества. От неё нет лекарства и даже после вскрытия, тебе не смогут сказать наверняка, что у тебя был именно Альцгеймер. Но симптомы/тревожные знаки знают практически все: периодические провалы в памяти, сложности в выполнении привычных задач, проблемы в разговорной речи и письме, проблемы в планировании и решении проблем, многие вещи не на своих местах и сложность восстановить последовательные шаги и ход мысли, путаница со временем и местом, частая смена настроений и понижение способности к правильным выводам.
Автор приводит примеры великих людей, у которых начинался Альцгеймер и даже очень трогательное письмо Рейгана, адресованное всему миру:
«Мне недавно сообщили, что я один из миллионов американцев, кто столкнулся с болезнью Альцгеймера. К сожалению по мере её прогресса, семья столкнётся с тяжелой ношей. Я только мечтаю о том, что я смогу Нэнси от этого защитить.
Уверен, что когда придёт время, она примет эту судьбу с мужеством.
Сейчас, я начинаю путешествие, которое ведёт у закату моей жизни.»

3.Отдельная глава посвящена сну. Сон - это самый главный источник избавления нас от стресса.
Сюрприз для меня был в том, что главная функция сна совсем не для отдыха. Сон нужен, чтобы восстановить мозг и переработать информацию полученную в течении дня.
Исследования показали, что самый здоровый сон находится между 6 и 8 часами. Все те, кто спят меньше или больше, попадают в группу риска.
Автор даёт 9 подробных рекомендаций, как правильно спать, таких как ложиться спать в одно и то же время.
И что сон бывает трёх фаз от поверхностного до глубинного и эти фазы сменяются в течении ночи до пяти раз.
Очень важно не держать возле себя никаких девайсов.
Если Вы находитесь в поверхностной фазе сна или же Вы проснулись, то Вы взяв в руки телефон с большой долей вероятности проснетесь совсем. Все дисплеи имеют частотность 470 нанометров (частота голубого цвета), которая приводит нас к полному пробуждению, так как это сигнал эквивалентный чистому голубому небу и наступлению дня.
Уж лучше почитать бумажную книгу, если совсем не можете заснуть.
С возрастом способность уснуть и спать крепко всю ночь сокращается, поэтому важно бережно относиться ко сну и соблюдать все 9 рекомендаций автора.
Сон - это единственный способ выведения токсинов из мозга. Их накопление и преобладание ведёт к сумасшествию, Альцгеймеру и ещё целому набобу неприятностей.

4.По поводу удлинения жизни.
Первая рекомендация меня повеселила, но не удивила. Автор предлагает никогда и ни при каких обстоятельствах не уходить на пенсию. Те кто остаются работать на 11% уменьшают свой риск смерти и соответсвенно увеличивают продолжительность жизни.
Ну вот теперь понятно, почему королева Елизавета в свои 94 не готова уступать трон своему уже совсем немолодому наследнику Чарльзу)!

Автор изучал несколько зон на земле где люди живут дольше всего: греческий остров Икариа, полуостров внутри Коста-Рики, Лома Линда в Калифорнии и Окинава в Японии.
Рекомендации: средиземноморская или океаническая кухня, подвижный образ жизни, хороший сон, поменьше стресса, больше дружбы, ум��ренность в еде, моменты счастья - чем больше, тем лучше.

P.S.Что меня порадовало, автор рекомендует входить в существующие и создавать новые Борды. Нет лучшего упражнения для мозга, чем выслушивать и вникать в различные точки зрения в индустриях Вашей непрямой экспертизы.

Живите долго! Радуйте своих близких и коллег по работе.

#booksforgrowthandqualitylife
#bookmaraphon42booksplus195pages

[Shahiron Sahari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good scientific explanations behind the usual advice I've always been told - exercise (30 minutes 2-3 times a week, if not every day); good diet (veg, fruits, nuts especially, and little sugar); good sleep (amount varies with the individual) - but also the importance of supplementing all that with constant learning through lots of reading and puzzles, learning new languages, playing an instrument, and being sociable and even argumentative. But also by never retiring and by dancing often and indulging in nostalgia, especially of stuff in your late teens and early teens. It's a recipe that works with all the hot spots of vibrant super agers worldwide.

[Lucia Figueroa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how Medina explains things! Is lovely, fun and has great jokes. I also got the audiobook and I highly recommend it! Listening him while he explains science with energy and charisma makes it even more exciting. His examples are lovely ams the advices are great.

A must read no matter the age, since the advises help a lot to improve life quality.

[Trish Terrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great information, but super annoying cliches and similes in almost every paragraph.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

10 brain rules for aging well
1. Be a friend to others and let others be a friend to you -
keep your social groups vibrant and healthy; cultivate some relationships with younger generations. Avoid loneliness; dance, dance – benefit includes exercise, social interactivity and increase in cognitive abilities. Prize relationships; make efforts to retain them. Be optimistic – it exerts positive effects on the brain.
2. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude – the gratitude visit; connect with someone who has meant a great deal to you. Write down 3 positive things that happened to you today. Beside each one describe why happened creates positive emotion, engagement, positive relationships, gives meaning and accomplishment;
3. Mindfulness not only soothes but improves – strive to be positive about aging; feeling young improves your cognitive abilities. Practice mindfulness – contemplative exercise that focuses your brain on the present. Improve your lifestyle choices with active routine to enjoy the physical and cognitive benefits.
4. Remember, it’s never too late to learn- or to teach -enrol in a class; pick up a new language, read until you can’t see anymore then listen to books; An aging brain is fully capable of learning new things. To keep that talent healthy, plunge yourself into the deep end of learning environments every day. No exceptions. Cognitive reserve measures your ability to use what brain reserve you possess. Working memory (short-term) can decline; Episodic memory – stories of life events tend to decline; procedural memory for motor skills remains stable during aging. Increase your vocabulary. Learning a demanding skill is the most scientifically proven way to reduce age-related memory decline. u
5. Train your brain with video games – fluid intelligence is your ability to persuade your problem-solving talents to come out and play. Apprehend, process, and solve unique problems independent of your personal experience with them. – be flexible, transform and manipulate new information. Find some free brain games, some speed ones – see if can play NeuroRacer or check out www.brainrules.net;
6. Look for 10 signs before asking, “Do I have Alzheimer’s?”
1. Memory loss that disrupts your daily life. 2. Difficulty completing familiar tasks. 3. New problems with words in speaking or writing. 4. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps. 5. Challenges in planning or problem solving.
6. Decreased or poor judgment. 7. Withdrawal from social activities. 8. Changes in mood and personality. 9. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships. 10. Confusion with time or place
7. MIND your meals and get moving. Executive function (EF) is the behaviour that allows you to get tasks done – and to be calm and civil while doing them. Cognitive control is a flowing conduit of good sense. Its hallmarks include the ability to plan, to adapt flexibly to changing circumstances, and to organize seemingly disparate inputs into manageable, organized rubrics. Includes the ability to shift additional focus from one task to another, prioritizing inputs while avoiding distractions.
A little exercise goes a long way. A cognitive boost comes from thirty minutes of moderate aerobic activity, essentially walking too fast to talk, 2 to 3 x a week and add strengthening exercises – resistance training 2 to 3 x a week too. Once a week is not enough.
Eat healthy MIND diet. People who eat less seem to live longer (p. 168). Studies show positive cognitive benefits to eating Mediterranean diet with extra-virgin olive oil and supplemented with nuts or combine with the DASH (to lower blood pressure) becomes the MIND diet. Though it is only 2 percent of your body’s weight, your brain consumes 20% of the calories you eat. Diets rich in vegetables, nuts, olive oil, berries, fish, and whole grains (Mediterranean or MIND diet) improve the working memory and lower the risk of Alzheimer’s.
8. For clear thinking, get enough (not too much) sleep – 6 to 8 hours, no more, no less.check out Hauri’s book No More Sleepless Nights. Stable sleep routine, body’s cues, stay away from blue light last hour. If challenged sleeping keep a sleep diary. Don’t go to bed until sleepy.no caffeine or alcohol before bed.
9. You can’t live forever, at least not yet – Aging is a natural process. People don’t die of old age, but rather biological processes that break down. Genetics is responsible for between 25-33% of the variance in life expectancy.
10. Never retire, and be sure to reminisce
Suggested daily activity: Up at 7, MIND breakfast 8: walk with friends
9:30 education classes – Music, language, volunteering, charity work
Noon: MIND lunch; fruit, veggies, olive oil, afternoon max 30 minute nap; Book club prep reading, video game such as car racing, 3 pm dancing, music; Evening: learning, book 11 pm journal 3 things happy with, and why (eg. driving, independent, people, friendship, optimism)
sleep 6 hours;
Nostalgia ( eg 2 books, 2 songs, 2 movie stars, 2 singers, 2 your choice from the 70s)
Be active, eat well, sleep well, be hopeful, stay optimistic, and maintain a social life. Reminisce about other times.

[Dougal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the introduction to Brain Rules for Aging Well and then raced through the first chapter. I felt that the book was going to be fascinating. It went downhill rapidly from then on. What niggled slightly in chapter one, increased markedly in chapter two and then began to grind me down.

I became completely preoccupied with what awful metaphor he was going to conjure up next, what over-the-top description or what infantile comparison or statement he was going to make. It’s not occasional, it’s almost every paragraph, on and on and on. A few examples harvested quickly:

Dopamine packs a serious wallop.
Impressive skill set for a clump of seaweed.
How does this polymath of a molecule do it?
Given the brain’s Shanghai-esque overpopulation of cells.
...for most of the chemical addictions that regularly devour human beings.
Some experiments are tough to digest, like an overcooked steak.
...won’t suckle frequently enough to sustain their little lives.
...is studded with dopamine receptors like cloves on a ham.
...stud the hippocampus like raisins in cinnamon bread..
Sleeping Beauty responding to a kiss from Prince Dopamine.
...known more for snark than Singin’ in the Rain.
Observing the megawatt power of gratitude...
With age, your stress hormones are dysregulating with the fury of a 1930s furnace. Stress is like oxygen to the rusting hull of your aging brain.
...weird sounding brain regions like the hippocampus...
...so we did a lot of running, making us the Pleistocene era’s biggest chickens.
...Mamma Bear waddles off to eat berries and not you.
...turning off the cortisol spigot.
Like spoiled rock stars in a hotel room, stress hormones actually start damaging their host...
Prolonged stress destroys the dendrites.... it’s a massacre.
And it [the brain] can put up its dukes at any age.
...overstuffing your muscles with oxygen.

The above was taken randomly from chapters two and three. I could have added many more examples or, as John Medina might have written: “I could have added a heap more as there were more examples than fleas on a porcupine”.

Also, many of his explanatory comparisons run to many paragraphs of anecdotal stories which I felt were overlengthy. To any prospective reader, I would simply caution that the book is very much in the category of ‘popular science’ and aimed at a reader who likes their science explained with multiple metaphors or similes, that may often seem somewhat inane, and who doesn’t bridle at being patronised.

It's a pity because the subject matter is fascinating. I finally threw in the towel towards the end of chapter three after reading:

‘Mindfulness affects attentional states by continually activating these smarty-pants regions...’.

I appreciate I’m in a bit of a minority here. Most reviews of the book are good and I can’t find a review on Amazon or Goodreads that doesn’t like the writing style. So, I accept my opinion is a bit of an outlier.

[Adrian Li · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I was going through this book, I found myself wanting to write down the "action steps". The detailed scientific explanations in this book are some of the best and worst things I can say about this book.

It's nice to know how things work and why they are the way they are, but I found myself yearning for an enumerated list of specific actionable items. Each chapter has a summary section at the back, but this is often too brief and includes explanations of the science rather than a "DO THIS" list of tasks (which is what I really want).

Perhaps it would be a good idea to go through the book with a fine tooth comb and pick out the things that do work. Having finished it recently, here are my following big takeaways:

1. LEARN a new language (doesn't matter how old you are).
2. TEACH something on a regular basis (it keeps you sharp and promotes social activity).
3. ENGAGE people with drastically different views from your own (maybe even try to debate them).
4. Learn and practice a MUSIC-al instrument.
5. READ at least 3.5 hours a week, and make sure it is long-form (i.e. newspapers and blogs don't count).
6. DANCE because of various reasons, including exercise, social connection, and touch with other humans.
7. NOSTALGIA is actually a really good thing. So keep a catalog of old movies, music, and better yet pictures and other memorabilia.
8. Usual information about calorie restriction (you never see super old people eat a lot) and exercise apply.

I'm sure I missed quite a few things, but these are the ones that stuck out to me.

[Dmitry · Rating 2 out of 5]

(The English review is placed beneath Russian one)

Оригинальное издание данной книги в точности копирует обложку самой известной книги данного автора под название «Правила мозга» (Brain Rules). И в принципе, содержание, точнее стиль, также напоминает вышеупомянутую книгу автора. Поэтому неудивительно, что я ожидал от книги некую вариацию.
Думаю, по самым разным причинам, книга, что называется, совершенно у меня не пошла. Было по большей части не интересно и скучно. Хотя там, где автор давал советы, было пару моментов которые меня вывели из сна. Возможно, дело в том, что все эти болезни связанные с мозгом, меня как-то не очень увлекают. А нужно отметить, что большую часть книги будут содержать именно детальные описания Альцгеймера, слабоумия и пр. невесёлые темы. Поэтому нужно сразу уяснить для себя, интересно ли читать о подобном. Да, автор пишет не так подробно и не так сложно, как это обычно бывает, когда читаешь академическую литературу, но я всё же ожидал чего-то совершенно другого. Я, разумеется, понимаю, что говоря о возрасте за 70, подобные темы невозможно избежать, но посвящать им большую часть книги, это…совсем не моё. Да и я не любитель читать о болезнях как таковых, не зависимо, о какой части тела идёт речь. Я всё же ждал больше практических рекомендаций, их более широкое объяснение, большее количество примеров и в целом, сосредоточится больше на позитивной стороне дела, ведь, по сути, книга позиционируется именно в качестве некого помощника (а не учебника по болезням связанных со старением мозга). Но это на мой вкус. Т.е. думаю, многие найдут книгу достаточно информативной и интересной (если читателю интересная сама эта, довольно специфическая, медицинская тема), т.к. как я уже сказал, автор не выливает на читателя горы сложных фраз и предл��жений из мира медицины.
Итак, книга в большей части будет рассказывать о разных болезнях мозга связанных со старением и в меньшей степени, как этот процесс замедлить или даже избежать. Но у меня сложилось такое чувство, что по большому счёту ни автор, ни медицина в целом ещё не достаточно хорошо поняла все эти процессы и всё эти выглядит из жанра «повезёт/не повезёт», т.е. тут властвуют факторы совершенно не подвластные и мало объяснимые. Может быть, всё дело в генах, а может ещё в чём-то. Мы пока этого точно не знаем. Лекарство? Ха! Разумеется, его нет. . Так что постараемся забыть все, что узнали из этой книги и надеемся на русский авось. (Читается между строк) Ах, да. Где-то четверть всей книги автор уделит такому вопросу как одиночество. Суть проста: одинокие люди долго не живут (и у них, разумеется, повышаются шансы получить ту или иную болезнь). Все остальные советы, связанные со здоровьем, довольно известные (здоровое питание, физические упражнения или длительные прогулки, иностранные языки, компьютерные игры, изучение нового, танцы). Что-то давно известно, что-то менее часто мелькает в журнальных статьях. Так что мне трудно сказать, советую ли я эту книгу или нет. Это зависит от.… Но и сказать, что книга провальная, я тоже не могу. Она определённо решает поставленную автором проблему. Так что, всё индивидуально.

The original edition of this book copies the cover of this author's most famous book under the title "Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School". The style of the book is also similar to the author's book mentioned above. Therefore, it is not surprising that I expected a certain similarity from the book.
I think for a variety of reasons, this book is completely uninteresting to me. It was mostly not interesting and boring. Although, where the author gave advice, there were a couple of moments that took me out of my dreams. Perhaps the fact is that all these diseases related to the brain, which the author writes about, I am not carried away. And it should be noted that most of the book will contain detailed descriptions of Alzheimer's, dementia and other unhappy topics. Therefore, you need to immediately understand for yourself whether it is interesting to read about this. Yes, the author does not write in such detail and is not as difficult as it usually happens when you read academic literature, but I still expected something completely different. Of course, I understand that when we talk about the age of 70+, it is impossible to avoid such topics, but dedicating most of the book to them, it's...not mine at all. And I'm not a fan of reading about diseases as such, no matter what part of the body we're talking about. I was expecting more practical recommendations, a wider explanation, more examples, and in general, to focus more on the positive side of the case, because, in fact, the book is positioned as a helper (rather than a textbook on diseases associated with aging of the brain). But this is for my taste. I.e. I think many people will find the book quite informative and interesting (if the reader is interested in this rather specific medical topic), because, as I have already said, the author does not pour mountains of complicated phrases from the world of medicine on the reader.
So, the book will mostly talk about different brain diseases associated with aging and, to a lesser extent, how to slow down or even avoid this process. But I have a feeling that in general neither the author, nor the medicine as a whole has understood all these processes well enough and all this looks like "lucky/not lucky", i.e., there are factors that are completely beyond the control of medicine and poorly understood today. Maybe it's all about the genes, or maybe it's something else. We don't know for sure yet. Medicine? Ha! It does not exist. So let's try to forget everything we learned from this book and hope for The Russian avos'. (Something similar is read between the lines). Oh, yes. About a quarter of the book the author will devote to such a question as loneliness. The essence is simple: single people do not live for a long time (and they, of course, have a higher chance of getting this or that disease). All other health-related tips are quite well-known (healthy eating, physical exercise or long walks, foreign languages, computer games, learning new things, dancing). Something is known for a long time, something is less common in journal articles. So it is difficult for me to say whether I recommend this book or not. It depends on... But I can't say that the book is a failure either. It definitely solves the problem posed by the author. So, everything is individual.

[Christina Dudley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as in BRAIN RULES, Medina makes the aging brain lively reading. Just about everything I read in here had been touched on in other brain books I read, but he does a great job of pulling it all together, explaining it in laymen's terms, and giving you a practical plan of attack.

You know already to exercise. You probably know you should keep stimulating your brain through social interaction (with folks of different ages)--but did you know it's *especially* helpful to engage with those you don't agree with, to try to understand each other's perspective? Eat well. Learn a language. Take a dance or tai chi class. Get some sleep. Read 3.5 hours a day(!!!). Never retire. Play a couple recommended video games, so your brain can whip the brains of twentysomethings.

A fun read and a great gift to just about anyone over forty.

[Adrianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read his earlier book "Brain Rules" which I found absolutely fascinating. This book was on par and have all kinds of post-it notes throughout. The author delves into different areas such as sleep, diet, exercise, and stress and how these impact our brains and ways to combat or at least keep old age at bay. He backs up the information siting different studies that have been conducted and the results from these studies. It was amazing to learn how important socialization is to keep us happy but also engaging our minds, how speaking two or more languages decreases your risk for dementia and how going down memory lane improves our happiness level and motor function. Needless to say I am definitely making more time to study my french and heiroglyphics along with getting enough sleep, eating healthy and staying active surrounded with friends.

[Katrena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be beyond fascinating! I feel like I learned so much about the human brain and what occurs during the aging process. I was inspired to learn more after reading this book. Not to mention the fact that this book has inspired me to start trying to make some small changes to my lifestyle in the hopes for a positive effect on my long term brain health.I think that part of the reason I found this book to be as enlightening as I did was due to the fact that I currently have a grandma who is suffering from dementia. I have not been able to stop telling people about this book and I have already recommended it to a ton of people in my life. If you find yourself curious in the least bit about what happens to your brain as you get older or how to try and keep your mind as active, young and healthy as possible then this book is worth a read!

[Trisha Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't pick up this book thinking that I'd be riveted, or even that I'd read the whole thing, but I read the whole thing, and I often looked forward to picking it up, which isn't something I can say about most research-heavy material. Medina, or Medina's editor, has a great way of making complex ideas about neuroscience and geroscience interesting and accessible. While I didn't retain the nitty gritty details about the workings of the brain, I did retain the meat and potatoes of this book, which are the 10 principles to aging well. These principles are ideas that most of us know, such as eat healthy, exercise, surround yourself with loving people, but the research to back up these truisms gave me a new perspective and a refreshed vigor to maintain those principles in my life as best as I can.

[Ann Chenhall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read science that matters for the aging brain! Ten principles to preserve a sense of wonder and curiosity as we age. Some of the science the author shares just make sense: staying active with excercise, maybe even including learning how to dance and eating healthy food like vegetables and fruit. Knowing we won't live forever and we want to make the best of the years we have left, leads one to understanding how important some good choices really contribute to this. The whole part about friendships, social connections, as a foundation for happiness was significant. Not everyone wants/needs the same amount, but the alternative of loneliness is not good. Our memory and mind are enhanced by learning new things and staying engaged with activities, even if they are volunteer. I am not so sure I want to spend time learning how to play an online game, but it might stretch my brain. The part on the importance of sleep and how it changes as we age really got my attention.

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

想看自己需要做些什么的读者，可以先读最后一章。里边有个老奶奶的一天还挺有意思的。
10件事:
1. 交友，跳舞
2. 感恩，晚上写一天的感恩三件事，以及对这些事感恩的原因
3. 冥想
4. 学习新知识（外语）/教授知识
5. 电玩儿益智（不是所有电玩儿）
6. 知道老年痴呆的10个先兆
7. 饮食与运动： 少吃，多吃蔬菜、浆果，吃全谷物、nuts、橄榄油，一周吃一次鱼，不喝酒，每周饿一天；多站起来动动，养成规律健身的习惯，有氧+重训
8. 睡眠：养成好的习惯，每天按时起床，6-8小时，午睡不超过30分钟
9. 衰老不是病，是身体零件用旧了
10. 别退休（作者说退休之后会无所事事，这我不能苟同），经常缅怀好时光。这里作者提到“时光机”，在家里特设一个房间，营造出自己18-25岁时的氛围（音乐、电视、书籍、杂志、装潢，等等），真的能让人返老还童

老奶奶的一天（挺忙的）
7:00 起床，阅读昨天晚上写的感恩三件事
MIND早餐（降低Alzheimer）：浆果berry，全麦谷物，坚果
冥想15分钟全身扫描
8:00 和“疾行奶奶团”走路30分钟
9:00 社区大学上课，音乐和法语；志愿教授英语
12:00 午餐：橄榄油拌萨拉，水果蔬菜+鸡肉，小睡30分钟
读书俱乐部：俱乐部成员会有不同意见 - “这种友好的争执其实是有益的，实验显示争论能提高在流体智力上的得分”
（每天阅读3.5小时有益大脑）
上网看社交媒体，和女儿视频聊天
玩儿电子游戏
15:00 舞蹈课
17:00 晚饭：鱼+意面，蔬菜水果
19:00 走进时光机
23:00 感恩日记
“海伦把纸分成两列。她在其中一列中写下今天发生的让她开心或感恩的三件事。在另外一列中，她描述了为什么这些事会让她感到开心或感恩。和孙辈们互动，经常出现在这个清单上，这让她感到了情感交融；依然能开车，出现的频率也很高，她感恩这种独立性。海伦发现哪怕在糟糕的日子里，依然有值得感恩的事情。
她把这张清单放在床头柜上，爬上床，很快睡着了。第二天早上，她首先会看一看那张清单，不禁微笑了起来，然后准备好开始新的一天。”