Review of How My Brain Works

[Katie Olson]

[Following is a volunteer review of "How My Brain Works" by Dr. Barbara Koltuska-Haskin.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Do you feel your memory slipping? Are you having problems concentrating, remembering simple tasks, suffering from a traumatic brain injury (TBI), or just feeling mentally slow? Many people believe that any type of memory loss, or mental slowness, is an early sign of dementia. Fortunately, this may not be the case.

Dr. Barbara Koltuska-Haskin’s book How My Brain Works is an excellent guide for readers who are struggling cognitively. Dr. Koltuska-Haskin splits the book into two parts. The first section explains what neuropsychology is, how patients can get tested for memory or attention issues, how to seek out treatments, and what types of treatments are available to help. The sections are broken down further into chapters, so as to make the material more in-depth as well as easier to understand.

The second section explains ways to keep the brain healthy along with strengthening and building techniques for better brain functioning. This part of the book talks about the importance of proper nutrition and diets with many examples. The author even includes some of her favorite recipes she uses. I might try her pickled beet recipe.

This section also discusses why proper sleep, exercise, and brain-stimulating games and puzzles are important for brain health. The author brings up interesting concepts about how colors can affect our brain functions, how anxiety and depression are extremely detrimental to a person’s overall health, how gardening can help with whole body health, and how being spiritually open helps with brain and bodily health.

While reading this guide, I found many fascinating ideas to help me stay sharp mentally as well as keeping my whole body healthy. One idea that I have always agreed with is to keep learning. Learn a new hobby, expand your knowledge about something you enjoy, learn to play an instrument, etc. The author mentions ideas like learning a new language, taking dance lessons, doing Tai Chi, etc. For my part, I’ve been learning different types of crochet stitches, as one example. Dr. Koltuska-Haskin also suggests reading often. I absolutely LOVE this. The teacher in me screams with joy at this. Read anything; the newspaper, short stories, poems, a blog, etc. Reading for about thirty minutes each day can help improve your brain health. You may even learn some new vocabulary!

I enjoyed reading this guide and learning about many different ways to keep my brain active and healthy. This book was so easy to understand because of the author’s organization of the sections and chapters. The language she used is not complicated and flows from chapter to chapter wonderfully.

The one downside to this book is that the reader should take his/her time reading it as the information can become overwhelming if read in large quantities. I recommend two - three chapters at a time, or even one chapter at a time in order to absorb the information. It all depends on how fast you (the reader) can retain the information being presented.

This guide is well-written, though there are three small mistakes that the editor missed, and it is super easy to understand. I would rate this book 4 out of 4 stars because of the ease of reading it, the superb information presented, and the quality of the writing, even with the three mistakes.

I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to get a healthier brain and body. I would also recommend this book to college students in the medical field as well as other medical professionals. This guide could help anyone practicing in the medical field expand their knowledge and get their patients on the right path to a healthier life. This book would also be a good fit for readers 55+ who are starting to worry about brain health.

This guide can put many readers’ worries at ease, offer guidance, and give suggestions to overall better health, especially brain health. Just remember, before altering anything healthwise, talk with your primary care provider first.

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How My Brain Works
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[MsH2k]

Wow. It sounds like the author has packed a lot of gems into this book. I like that the things you highlight are great activities no matter your age. I may have to add this book to my list. Thank you for an excellent review!