Customer Reviews

not really practically helpful, but interesting nevertheless - By: D&D, 07 Nov 2008
On the positive side Sue Halpern does a tremendous job of taking a complex area of study (neuroscience) & boiling it down to relevant, digestible information. This is a beautifully written exploration of modern memory research as she has beenin all the cutting-edge labs, & indeed has let them scan her brain with the latest gear. It describes what scientists are discovering about the brain & how to improve failing memory (not much as of yet).

This is unfortunate since I had hoped this book would be practically helpful for a family member with pretty severe short-term memory problems. It contained very few useful tips, most of which are already widely publicised, such as drinking red wine (apparently it's the flavanols, like green tea) & aerobic exercise as well as walking (two miles a dayin one study, just one & a half hours a weekin another) - also ballroom dancing is tops of all leisure activities. Chocolate, because of its flavanols, receives several pages; although it warns that the chocolate should not be processedin the usual way it doesn't suggest which chocolate brands are best - rather irritating but fortunately I have since learned elsewhere that we need to use the raw, organic cacao bean.

More helpful for me was "The Brain That Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge. One elderly doctor interviewed by the author recommended one of those computer-based programmes with mental exercises scientifically designed to improve memory which he personally had found beneficial & we bought it immediately. It's been a hard slog to get our loved one to use it though (memory problems tend to affect those who don't really use their minds that much - or who take certain types of drugs: read "Lipitor: Thief of Memory " & your blood will run cold).