Books
How the Arts transform our Brains, Bodies, and Minds
One of my favorite sayings comes from David Thoreau: “My life has been the poem I would have writ / But I could not both live and utter it.” It speaks to the way that life and art are intertwined, and how we gain so much from living life with a sense of beauty and…
Read MoreNew book provides practical guidance for women (and men) to rebalance our lifestyles and build Cognitive Reserve
On one of our “walk and talks” around the lush trails of Rock Creek Park in DC surrounded by bikers, runners, cars and the occasional deer, Wendy and Lisa talked about aging. Wendy’s mother, who had her children in her early 20s, was still joining the family’s grueling summer hikes with her children and nine…
Read MoreA great new book and five fun brain teasers to celebrate Brain Awareness Week 2022
Brain Awareness Week 2022 just started! Let’s celebrate our human brains by learning more about neuroscience pioneer Santiago Ramón y Cajal via a great new book about his life and by challenging our minds with a few fun brain teasers and illusions below ? First, some fascinating insights into the “father of modern neuroscience” from a superb…
Read MoreNew book outlines the five lifestyle pillars to “build a better brain at any age”
Like many people over 60, I sometimes lose my keys or forget the names of favorite films. When I do, it makes me wonder: Is this the beginning of cognitive decline? Or, worse, am I fated to follow in the footsteps of my mother, who died of Lewy-body dementia in her 70s? According to neurosurgeon Sanjay…
Read MoreReading Our Minds: New book issues strong call to action to modernize psychiatry
The Rise of Big Data Psychiatry (The Wall Street Journal): As a physician, I need to figure out three things when a new patient walks into my office: what their life is typically like, what has changed that made them seek treatment and what I can do to help them. It’s a complex problem, and…
Read MoreNeuroscientist Lisa Genova, author of the beautiful novel Still Alice, releases non-fiction book on Memory
A Neuroscientist’s Poignant Study of How We Forget Most Things in Life (The New Yorker): Any study of memory is, in the main, a study of its frailty. In “Remember,” an engrossing survey of the latest research, Lisa Genova explains that a healthy brain quickly forgets most of what passes into conscious awareness. The fragments…
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