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 Never too old to use your brain Jun 25, 2008
Ask anyone: you're destined to end in a rocking chair with a shawl...while a 4-inch drool hangs from your lower lip and eyeballs pinwheel in their sockets--right? That's because, as everyone knows, brain cells don't reproduce and just go to brain cell heaven, leaving you with a vacuum--right?
Richard says "no" to both. He says that your 3-pound brain is unlike any other organ...that it never wears out or grows old! Sure, and brain cells reproduce. In exact opposition to common belief, your brain is capable of both learning and growth in size and complexity until the day you die.
And no, Richard is no flower-child-kook or cult leader. If you "Google" Richard Restak, you'll get 37,200 hits. He is an MD neurologist, also a neurophychiatrist, and a clinical professor of neurology at George Washington University's Medical Center. If that isn't good enough, he has written some 18 or 20 well accepted books...at least two of which were main selections of the book of the month club.
Richard is the first to say that you'll acquire your 4-inch drool if you let the circuits and connections--that you took great effort to establish in younger years--atrophy from disuse. As your daddy always told you, "what you don't use, you lose".
So...Richard is a head-guy, right? As such, he'd like to keep you sharp and eagle-eyed and forever becoming smarter and smarter. To do that, he offers-up a litany tasks and brain exercises that you'd easily spend 24-7 before getting started...some hard, really hard. Stuff you would hate doing...though he claims you'd love in the end. Maybe drools ain't that bad. Or, maybe you'd get a "lot of bang for the buck" by doing some of these exercises. Read his "Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot" to judge for yourself.
That you're not doomed to the rocker isn't his only revelation...here is a big one. You'll first need to bear with me. Learning involves establishing more and more connections...but in varying specific brain locations, depending on the type of learning. Now, the left hemisphere stores thoughtful/reasoning, analog-type stuff...like language, chess playing, results of reading or mathematics study, and etc. The right hemisphere stores digital-type stuff, as images.
Here is the thing: before television, much learning resided in the logic-based left hemisphere. You played cards and told stories with your friends, or read books, or played musical instruments. So, your left hemisphere became the 900 pound thought gorilla. Television spoon-feeds your right hemisphere with digital information...MTV, sound-byte news, and etc...leaving the logic circuits of the left hemisphere with nothing to store, and undeveloped! Among the nasty results, says Richard, is runaway Attention-Deficit among children and now adults. There is developing a universal inability to focus on a given subject lasting more than a 3-minute sound-byte.
Oh, and bye the way...once storage and connections are formed, they never disappear...they atrophy. Restoring atrophied connections is often accomplished quickly.
I thought you'd like to know that there is hope for you.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Underwhelming Sep 01, 2007
Basically a book of memory and brain exercises, with a few anecdotes thrown in. I was expecting more about brain function in diverse areas of human endeavor. The title is one of the best things about the book. The exercises are probably effective, but seem so tedious I can't imagine doing them (physical activity has shown this need not be the case with exercise).
Worth a magazine article, perhaps, but not an entire book. Disappointing.
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Summer holiday reading Jan 23, 2007
In "Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot" Dr. Richard Restak extends in his capacity of acting as an intermediate between knowledge of brain functions and the people in general. If it were not for the title it is difficult to think about how to sell the book and spread that knowledge. The book describes in simple words and in short chapters, sites of brain activity as well as its functions combined with advises as to stimulate those areas and functions in order to maintain the nervous tissue activity. This combined with personal anecdotes and experiences. I found the whole book a very nice experience although some of the advises were somewhat difficult to follow due to personal circumstances (I agree with that of writing down). A remarkable paragraph is that where Restak cites the writer Jorge Luis Borges, an Argentinian as myself, as an example of making notable associations (and Borges' erudition). Indeed, that paragraph cites a painter from Uruguay, who I did not know till that moment but for the fact that I was in the beach, in Uruguay, and had seen that name at a Hotel one day before! This is indeed an astonishing coincidence which yet is to be explained by Restak himself. This was a summer vacation reading which I really enjoyed and although I did with Mozart citation I was not able to find that referring to the "Fighter Pilot".
Dr. Ricardo Drut
patologi@netverk.com.ar
53 of 54 found the following review helpful:
 The exercises in this book are really useful Mar 20, 2006
Want to know why listening to Mozart could improve your brain? Check out this book. The author, a successful neuropsychiatrist, demonstrates (among other things) an exceptional awareness of the intricacies of the human brain. Based on his knowledge and professional experience (which includes decades of successfully treating numerous patients), he's come up with 28 suggestions that if followed can not only improve memory and mental alertness, but also expand cognition and prevent brain cell degradation (avoid dementia and Alzheimer's disease - read the book!).
For those interested in a summary of these suggestions, take a look at the book's `Table of Contents' (this way you can pretty much get the feel of what's examined in the work). However, the suggested mental exercises deserve a special consideration (and that's why I advise you to check out the book). Additionally, the author presents valuable details about the capacity of the human brain and effectively links it with its evolutionary development (another reason why the book is worth exploring).
Finally, I tried a couple of the proposed exercises (they truly work!!!) and came up with some good results, which I've posted in my other Blog "What Is The Meaning Of Life?". Dr. Rastak's language is smooth and easy to comprehend, the examples are quite useful and so I highly recommend this book.
- by Simon Cleveland
5 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Good inforamtion and technique. Jan 25, 2006
The book was a bit different than I was expecting. Whereas I though it would be more of an overview of brain function with games and tools to explore those areas it's more of a game plan for keeping your sanity. I agree with other reviewers that the writing was not always clear and most of the concepts were presented without argument. There is an assumed plasticity to brain function that is still under a lot of debate. The basic idea of the book is to keep thinking. Then think some more. The single thing that differentiates the book from others of this ilk is that Restak explains particular brain functions and then devises games to take advantage of the process. I like, too, that the author recognizes the confounding nature of the brain: he includes a chapter titled "Train Your Powers of Logic" and follows it with one titled "Develop a Tolerance for Uncertainty and Ambiguity."
A good book to keep and read through periodically
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