4 out of 4 stars
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I am sure we have often wondered how our brain functions if we are anything like me. Well, let us wonder no longer with How My Brain Works: A Guide to Understanding It Better and Keeping It Healthy by Clinical Neuropsychologist Dr. Barbara Koltuska-Haskin. A relatively complex last name to pronounce, but not a challenging well-read. Furthermore, How My Brain Works introduces a practical approach to understanding how the brain works effectively and what to do to improve and maintain our brain health. In far less than 200 pages, Dr. Barbara Koltuska-Haskin explains precisely how neuropsychological evaluation can help us understand the scope of our brains to reach our full potential. Help us heal, or if we are someone we love are recovering from brain trauma or other brain-related problems or diseases. Each short component is unquestionably chock full of in-depth knowledge concerning neuropsychology.
Dr. Koltuska-Haskin openly provides unbelievable information in a two-part segment of the book about the making of our brains. Part I: Evaluating the Brain discusses seventeen essential components—what neuropsychology actually is and what a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation can accomplish. Part II: Brain Heath details the importance of taking good care of our health with fourteen vital components to retain a robust, healthy brain. Including practical, personal, and positive advice on preserving and enhancing brain function. Also, per the Forward, this specific book is believed to be primarily helpful for patients, their families, and members of the medical community who treat them. Likewise, Dr. Koltuska-Haskin gives many thanks to Oprah Winfrey for her brilliant and thought-provoking Super Soul Sunday series and helped her see many aspects of humanity from totally different perspectives.
As a returning undergraduate who has studied general psychology, one of the first components in Part I that resonates with me is How Neuropsychological Evaluation Can Help If You Are a College Student. In many cases, administering a neuropsychological evaluation for college and high school students can help identify specific cognitive and emotional problems and provide detailed recommendations. How to Deal With a Loved One Who Has "Brain Problems" instantly piqued my interest connecting to my belated beloved mother, who suffered from dementia and passed from a brain tumor. Despite multiple difficulties, I indisputably refused to get discouraged and give up on keeping our communication going. There are no questions when it comes to Menopause and Memory. As an aging adult, memory and other cognitive problems experienced by women like me during menopause are honest and appear to be more acute in the first year after the final menstrual period.
Additionally, like most, we have often heard of The Importance of a Good Night's Sleep. In Part II, receiving a good night's sleep is undoubtedly a pivotal ingredient to properly promote good brain health. A good night's sleep is crucial not only for our physical health and ability to function but mainly for our brain's health as a preventive factor against Alzheimer's dementia. Practice Gratitude for Mental Uplifting when feeling down or overstressed is best to shift the mental state and start thinking about all the blessings in our lives, all the things working for our good. While one may not be a faithful believer in God, I chose to thank Him in every circumstance and situation! Nonetheless, I sincerely like how this book is so relatable to my personal experiences with a big takeaway: a memory complaint does not indicate I have a memory problem.
Thus far, there is not much I do not like about the book, and I rate How My Brain Works: A Guide to Understanding It Better and Keeping It Healthy 4 out of 4 stars. For that reason, I further reflected upon my later-born son's life span. Before his first birthday, my son's "frontal lobe," aka "soft spot," prematurely closed and soon prepared for reconstructive skull surgery. I, therefore, wanted to enlighten myself regarding the brain and skull; what I learned fascinated me. At the same time, as a parent who supervisors my son's other current detection, ADHD, there is certainly no judgment and criticism for his mistakes but praise for all his accomplishments.
Moreover, because I wholeheartedly agree with much of Dr. Barbara Koltuska-Haskin's knowledge, this short and easy-to-read self-care guide is worth the investment. The testimonies that open the book are, too, on point. In the words of Jon Kabat-Zinn, "as long as you are breathing, there is more right with you than wrong with you," and I absolutely agree. And if you are a firm believer in neuropsychology who wishes to understand the meaning of comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation, this book is ideal for you. But if neuropsychology is not your cup of tea, you, the reader, might find everything wrong with the writings of this book. I won't disagree. However, may we feel good relaying to the things we learn about how our brains work inspired by Dr. Barbara Koltuska-Haskin.
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How My Brain Works
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