Mastering the latest fitness craze-keeping your brain healthy at any age
Judging from the worldwide popularity of the brain game, Nintendo DS, and such mind-bending puzzles as Su Doku and Ken Ken®, keeping one’s mind as limber as an Olympic athlete is an international obsession. With forecasters predicting over a million people with dementia by 2025, today’s young and senior population have a vested interest in keeping their grey matter in the pink for as long as possible. Training Your Brain For Dummies is an indispensable guide to every aspect of brain fitness-and keeping your mind as sharp, agile, and creative for as long as you can. Whether you want to hone your memory, manage stress and anxiety, or simply eat brain healthy food, this guide will help you build brain health into your everyday life.
- Includes verbal, numerical and memory games, brain games to play on the move, tips on the best day-to-day habits, and long-term mental fitness techniques
- Offers ten key brain training basics, tips on brain training through one’s lifetime, and improving long- and short-term memory
- Includes advice on improving creativity, developing a positive mindset, and reaping the rewards of peace and quiet
With tips on mind/body fitness, Training Your Brain For Dummies is a must-have guide for anyone, at any age, for keeping one’s mind-and quality of life-in peak condition.
Table of Content
Introduction 1
Part I: Brain Training Basics 7
Chapter 1: Introducing Brain Training 9
Chapter 2: Getting to Know Your Brain 15
Chapter 3: Brain Training for Your Needs 29
Part II: Remember, Remember Keeping Your Memory Sharp 39
Chapter 4: Honing Your Long-Term Memory 41
Chapter 5: Improving Your Short-Term Memory 53
Chapter 6: Improving Your Language Skills 67
Chapter 7: Recognising Faces and Remembering Directions 75
Part III: Fostering a Happy, Healthy Mind 87
Chapter 8: Improving Your Creativity 89
Chapter 9: Developing a Positive Mindset 101
Chapter 10: Reaping the Rewards of Peace and Quiet 113
Chapter 11: Keeping Your Brain Sociable 123
Part IV: Getting Physical: Looking at Brain-Friendly Diet and Lifestyle 133
Chapter 12: Feeding the Brain 135
Chapter 13: Looking at Stimulants: Drugs and Caffeine 147
Chapter 14: Building Up Mind/Body Fitness 157
Part V: Game On! Brain Training Games to Play at Home 171
Chapter 15: Verbal Brain Games 173
Chapter 16: Numerical Brain Games 183
Chapter 17: Logic Games 203
Part VI: The Part of Tens 215
Chapter 18: Ten New Habits to Train Your Brain 217
Chapter 19: Ten Brain Games to Play on the Move 225
Appendix: The Payoff: Checking Your Answers 231
Index 247
About the author
Dr Tracy Packiam Alloway, Ph D is the Director of the Centre for Memory and Learning in the Lifespan at the University of Stirling. Her research has been featured in newspapers including The Guardian and The Daily Mail, as well as on BBC Radio, Sky News, and ABC News. She has also written over 75 scientific articles and books about memory and learning. Tracy was the winner of the 2009 Joseph Lister Science Award.