The brain is one of our most important organs, but also one of our most mysterious. Scientists have spent centuries trying to uncover its secrets, and yet we still only know a fraction of its incredible capabilities. That being said, we do know that reading is great for your brain!
What type of books are best for your brain?
If you really want to exercise your mind, a brain puzzle book is an excellent way to keep thinking skills sharp. Otherwise, almost any kind of book is good for your brain—the benefits of reading books include strengthening synapses, increasing your vocabulary, preventing cognitive decline, and more!
Curious to know more about your mind? Here are ten books that offer insights into the brain, tips on living with one, and the strange ways it changes our lives.
A Better Brain at Any Age
Sondra Kornblatt is a health and science writer who first developed the Restful Insomnia program, helping to guide people to rest when they can't sleep. A Better Brain at Any Age sees her collaborate with a variety of experts on creating a holistic way for people to improve their memory, reduce stress, and optimize mental focus.
She suggests various exercises for the body, including relaxation and food consumption, all built to tackle every aspect of the brain and its wider effects on the entire human body.
Brainfit
Brainfit is a training program designed to help people sharpen their memory. Through exercises that take only 10 to 15 minutes a day, readers can tackle the effects of a weakening brain.
Corinne L. Gediman has included nine weekly workouts that focus on a different aspect of brain fitness. It's accessible, fun, and open to all!
High-Octane Brain
Alzheimer's disease is one of the cruelest afflictions a human can experience, and one of the most feared conditions among American adults. In High Octane Brain, neuropsychologist Dr. Michelle Braun offers readers science-based steps to make lasting improvements to your brain health.
She also interviews eight leading brain health experts, combining their insights with research on the matter to define easy-to-follow ways reach optimal brain health.
Max Your Mind
Everyone has experienced what Sandra Sunquist Stanton describes as "the Fade," that decline in mental, physical and spiritual wellness wherein little things suddenly become much harder to deal with: remembering where you put your keys, struggles with multi-tasking, general forgetfulness.
It's especially noticeable as you get older. Max Your Mind is Stanton's guide to boosting your brain through small tips and welcoming the many benefits that come with one's increasing maturity.
Neuroimmunity
In the past, the brain was considered an autonomous organ working entirely separate from the rest of the body's immune system. But neuroimmunologist Michal Schwartz and her research team spent well over twenty years overturning this falsehood. In doing so, they uncovered incredible new understandings of the human brain and its ability to repair itself.
Neuroimmunity allows Schwartz to detail her research, experiments, and all the work it took to uncover this major scientific discovery, and what it could mean for future treatments of brain disorders and injuries.
Remember It!
Do you always forget people's names, or your many online passwords, or just where you left your keys? Nelson Dellis wants to change that, and he doesn’t think the existing methods are any good.
In his book Remember It!, Dellis teaches his readers fun techniques to help them make the most of their memory. Using an approachable and simple-to-consume manner, he offers ways for you to address all those little brain farts that you wish you could fix every day.
The Custom-Made Brain
Two leading neuroscientists collaborated to introduce the concepts of "cerebral plasticity" and the "regenerating brain." Neuroplasticity is defined as the ability of the brain's neural networks to change and entirely rewire themselves, thus revealing how the brain is in a constant state of reconstruction.
In The Custom-Made Brain, Vincent and Lledo use this discovery as a way to explore how little we know about our most important organ, and how this breakthrough might offer new treatments for issues like depression, dyslexia, and schizophrenia.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
For decades, neurologist Oliver Sacks was one of the most prominent scientific figures in America, thanks to his ground-breaking work on a variety of disorders and the many books he wrote about his experiences (one of which was made into the film Awakenings, starring Robert De Niro and Robin Williams!).
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat describes some of his most notable case studies, such as the man of the title whose visual agnosia left him unable to recognize faces and objects. He reveals, in sympathetic detail, patients who have lost their memories, have incredible artistic talents that appeared out of nowhere, and those who are convinced that their own bodies are now totally alien.
Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind
Is it possible to find answers to life's biggest questions through our brains? Can a man who believes he is talking with God reveal how humans are "wired" for religious belief? Can a woman paralyzed on the left side of her body who believes she is lifting a tray of drinks with both hands unveil truths about Freud's theory of denial?
Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran is internationally renowned for uncovering answers on the strange depths of human nature. In Phantoms in the Brain, he recounts how his work with patients dealing with unusual neurological disorders has shed new light onto the still unexplored layers of the human brain.
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
Music has a significant role in almost all of our lives, even if you've never fully realized it. But why does music have such an impact on us? This Is Your Brain on Music dives head-first into this mystery and many more, dissecting how music is intertwined with human nature.
He looks into a variety of questions including: why does music evoke such powerful emotions from us? What do MRI scams reveal about the brain's response to music? Is musical pleasure different from different kinds of pleasure?
