Contents

• Descrip­tion
• Buy Now
• Praise
• Con­tents
• Excerpts

Fore­word from Misha Pavel (2nd edition)

Fore­word from Glo­ria Cavanaugh (1st edition)

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1. START WITH THE BRAIN IN MIND

What Does the Brain Do?
What Do Neu­rons Do?
How is the Brain Structured?
The Brain Through­out Life
Life­long Neuroplasticity
• How the brain can change at any age – for good, or for bad
• Brain imag­in­ing pro­vides exam­ples of neuroplasticity
• Don’t count on miracles

Inter­views
• Dr. R. Syl­west­er – Cog­ni­tion and brain development.
• Dr. J. Zull – What is learning?
• Dr. M. Pos­ner – What is atten­tion and how to train it.

 

CHAPTER 2. BE A COACH, NOT A PATIENT

The Future is (Almost) Here
Don’t Out­source Your Brain
• What are my priorities?
• Is this rel­e­vant to me?
• Be aware of cog­ni­tive biases
The Val­ue of the Sci­en­tif­ic Process
• Obser­va­tion­al and ran­dom­ized con­trolled studies
• The media chal­lenge: BBC ver­sus NIH studies

Inter­views
• Dr. R. Bilder – Why and how to change the brain. Med­i­ta­tion is a good example.
• Dr. A. Pas­cual-Leone – Under­stand­ing brain health to bet­ter self monitor.
• Dr. W. Reich­man – Why Brain Health needs to catch up with Car­dio­vas­cu­lar Health.
• Dr. M. Merzenich – How neu­ro­plas­tic­i­ty will trans­form brain health and men­tal health.

 

CHAPTER 3. MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO

How Does Phys­i­cal Exer­cise Affect the Brain?
Stay­ing Fit Improves Cognition
Stay­ing Fit is Preventive
How Much Exer­cise and What Kind?

Inter­views
• Dr. A. Kramer – Why we need both phys­i­cal and men­tal exercise.
• Dr. Y. Stern – How do phys­i­cal and cog­ni­tive exer­cise interact?

 

CHAPTER 4. YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT AD DRINK (UP TO A POINT)

Food for Thought
Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Nutrition
Omega‑3 Acids and Antioxidants
Sup­ple­ments: Good, Bad, or Ineffective?
Does What We Drink Affect the Brain?
Two Health-Relat­ed Fac­tors that Mat­ter: Dia­betes and Smoking
Obe­si­ty and Cognition

Inter­views
• Dr. L. McCleary – A mul­ti-pronged approach to brain health.

 

CHAPTER 5. OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!

Struc­tur­al Ben­e­fits of Men­tal Challenge
• Men­tal activ­i­ty ver­sus men­tal challenge
• Chal­lenge but also variety
Invest in Your Cog­ni­tive or Brain Reserve
Life­long Effects of Cog­ni­tive Exercise
Edu­ca­tion and Occu­pa­tion are Protective
Leisure Activ­i­ties to Build Brain Reserve
• Musi­cal training
• Learn­ing a new language
• How about video games?

Inter­views
• Dr. Y. Stern – The con­nec­tion between build­ing a cog­ni­tive reserve and delay­ing Alzheimer’s symptoms.
• Dr. E. Zelin­s­ki – Healthy aging and cog­ni­tive enhancement.

 

CHAPTER 6. OH, THE PEOPLE YOU’LL MEET!

Ben­e­fits of Social Engagement
Why Would Social Engage­ment Boost Brain Functions?
What Mat­ters in a Social Network?
Expand­ing Social Life
• Volunteering
• Social groups
What About Social Media?

Inter­views
• Dr. O. Ybar­ra – Some social inter­ac­tions, but not all, can boost cognition.

 

CHAPTER 7. MANAGE STRESS, BUILD RESILIENCE

Pos­i­tive and Neg­a­tive Stress
The Brain Stress Response
Stress and Depression
Lifestyle Solu­tions Against Stress
Med­i­ta­tion: A Capac­i­ty-Build­ing Tech­nique To Man­age Stress And Build Resilience

Inter­views
• Dr. A. New­berg – The val­ue of meditation.
• Dr. R. Emmons – Enhanced hap­pi­ness and health by cul­ti­vat­ing gratitude.
• Dr. B. Steen­barg­er – Achiev­ing peak per­for­mance in high-pres­sure professions.

 

CHAPTER 8. CROSS-TRAIN YOUR BRAIN

What is Brain Training?
• How is brain train­ing dif­fer­ent from men­tal stimulation?
• Under what con­di­tions can brain train­ing work?
The Case for Cross-training
Med­i­ta­tion to Train Emo­tion­al Respons­es and Atten­tion­al focus
Refram­ing Thought Process­es via Cog­ni­tive Behav­ioral Therapy
Cog­ni­tive Train­ing to Opti­mize Tar­get­ed Brain Functions
Biofeed­back to Mon­i­tor and Enhance Phys­i­o­log­i­cal Responses
Top Brain Train­ing Pro­grams, Based on Sharp­Brains’ Analy­sis and Survey
• Results from the 2012 Sharp­Brains Mar­ket Survey
• Prod­uct Overviews
Sharp­Brains’ Check­list for Eval­u­at­ing Brain Fit­ness Claims

Inter­views
• Dr. J. Beck – The link between brain train­ing and weight loss.
• Dr. M. Buschkuehl – Can intel­li­gence be trained?
• Dr. J. Edwards – Improv­ing dri­ving skills.
• Dr. T. Kling­berg – Expand­ing work­ing mem­o­ry for chil­dren with ADD/ADHD.

 

CHAPTER 9. HOW TO BE YOUR OWN BRAIN FITNESS COACH

How to Prioritize
How to Self-Mon­i­tor: Beliefs, Knowl­edge, Behav­ior, and Performance
How to Plan

After­word from San­dra Bond Chap­man (2nd Edition)
Appen­dix I: 55 Impor­tant Brain Fit­ness Facts

About Sharp­Brains
About the Authors
Acknowledgements
Glossary
References
Index