A comprehensive guide to preventing Alzheimer’s and other thinking disorders from bestselling author and renowned authority Dr. Richard Restak! How to Prevent Dementia begins with the principle that the more we know about dementia, the easier it is to prevent or delay it. A better foundation of knowledge also helps people to understand and interact thoughtfully with family members and other loved ones who may have Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Dr. Restak examines the basic thinking of normal everyday people and progresses to people with thinking disorders. In understanding that dementias exist along a continuum, starting with perfectly normal performance and ending at the extremes of mental dysfunction, we learn how our attention to everyday habits, choices, and behaviors can affect where we are located along that continuum, as well as whether or how we will progress from one part to another. As can be gleaned from recent reports, researchers may be on the cusp of a meaningful treatment or cure for Alzheimer’s. Dr. Restak also helps the reader to grasp both the positive and challenging consequences of the new medications that will soon be available. At the end of the book, the reader will understand what practical steps can be taken each day to lessen the odds of dementia and how to take advantage of new medications, while gaining a better understanding of thinking and what it is like to have it falter.

" A wise and compelling guide . . . the true fountain of youth."—Dr. Stephen R. Covey author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The acclaimed life plan for good health, fulfilling relationships, and financial security

The brain-body connection is the interaction among three factors: the health of your brain, your attitude, and your physical health. In this breakthrough guide to a longer, better life, authors David Mahoney and Richard Restak, M.D., draw on state-of-the-art brain-body research to demonstrate the vital importance of handling stress properly, lifelong education and mental activity (use it or lose it!), the social connection, physical exercise, and rearranging your brain's hardwiring toward optimism. Featuring 31 practical, essential tactics, The Longevity Strategy is a user's manual for the best years of your life.

"This book brings us good news: the more we use our brains, the more likely we need not retire." — James Watson, Ph.D., winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine

"I learned the hard way about the validity of the brain-body connection. The Longevity Strategy will make it a great deal easier for you to learn just what it means, too."—Mike Wallace

"Superb . . . chock full of practical scientific knowledge that can help one become and stay healthy, wealthy, and wise."—Bart Kosko, Ph.D., author of Fuzzy Thinking

"Intelligent, witty, and informative."—Leon Cooper, Ph.D., winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics

Filled with specific advice and simple exercises, this groundbreaking guide from acclaimed neurologist Dr. Richard M. Restak draws on the latest scientific research to help maintain -- and increase -- brain power at any age. Contrary to common belief, the human brain does not necessarily deteriorate with age, but can work just as well, if not better than a young one. The key, says Dr. Restak, is keeping the brain active. His 30 practical suggestions offer a new and positive approach to mental fitness, by helping us to: -- Improve memory -- Reawaken intellectual curiosity -- Understand the role of genetics and diet in staying mentally fit -- Shatter the myths about Alzheimer's, strokes, insomnia, and depression -- Explore the pros and cons of various drug treatments -- Learn the ten secrets of successful aging -- Maintain a stimulating social network -- Expand the connections between neurons -- Keep the brain operating at peak level

This is your brain on puzzles.

Everyone knows that puzzles can improve your brain function. Now a leading neurosurgeon and a noted puzzle designer team up to reveal the fascinating science behind it. Packed with illuminating insights and dozens of puzzles, this is both a lively book of popular science and an engaging set of exercises in developing a wide array of thinking and memory skills.

In Mozart’s Brain and the Fighter Pilot, eminent neuropsychiatrist and bestselling author Richard Restak, M.D., combines the latest research in neurology and psychology to show us how to get our brain up to speed for managing every aspect of our busy lives.

Everything we think and everything we choose to do alters our brain and fundamentally changes who we are, a process that continues until the end of our lives. Few people think of the brain as being susceptible to change in its actual structure, but in fact we can preselect the kind of brain we will have by continually exposing ourselves to rich and varied life experiences. Unlike other organs that eventually wear out with repeated and sustained use, the brain actually improves the more we challenge it.

Most of us incorporate some kind of physical exercise into our daily lives. We do this to improve our bodies and health and generally make us feel better. Why not do the same for the brain? The more we exercise it, the better it performs and the better we feel. Think of Restak as a personal trainer for your brain—he will help you assess your mental strengths and weaknesses, and his entertaining book will set you to thinking about the world and the people around you in a new light, providing you with improved and varied skills and capabilities. From interacting with colleagues to recognizing your own psychological makeup, from understanding the way you see something to why you’re looking at it in the first place, from explaining the cause of panic attacks to warding off performance anxiety, this book will tell you the whys and hows of the brain’s workings.

Packed with practical advice and fascinating examples drawn from history, literature, and science, Mozart’s Brain and the Fighter Pilot provides twenty-eight informative and realistic steps that we can all take to improve our brainpower.

From a renowned neuroscientist and bestselling author comes a book that shows readers how to improve and tone the brain.
In the last five years, there have been exciting new scientific discoveries about the brain, its function, and its performance. In this fascinating, entertaining book, brain expert Dr. Richard Restak has asked his colleagues-the world's leading brain scientists and researchers-an important question: What can I do to help my brain work more efficiently? Their surprising answers are at the heart of "Think Smart." In his characteristically accessible style, Restak explains the latest scientific discoveries about our brain and gives readers strategies on how they can keep their most powerful organ in top condition and fight off its decline.