Review of How My Brain Works
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Review of How My Brain Works
[Following is a volunteer review of "How My Brain Works" by Dr. Barbara Koltuska-Haskin.]
How My Brain Works by Dr. Barbara Koltuska-Haskin is a work of nonfiction. The author is a clinical neuropsychologist with decades of experience in the field that she is writing about. Because of this expertise, I started the book feeling confident that the author knew the subject matter and had done extensive research on the topics set forth. Despite the primary title, this self-help guide is not so much about how the brain actually works as it is about approaches to a wide variety of memory and learning problems. The book is divided into two parts. The first part outlines the evaluation process used by neuropsychologists so that readers can know what to expect or whether such a process might be beneficial to their own mental health. The second part guides the readers through optimizing brain health.
The book is short but dense with information and the author almost succeeds in making a complex topic understandable to readers outside the medical profession. At the same time, there was too much information in general to be of much use to the average person and there were so many different scenarios and options presented that I felt overwhelmed at trying to digest them all and figure out what approach might be best for me.
It is helpful that the author divided the first part of the book into several chapters with titles that described the target audience for that specific chapter. In this sense, the book is really more like a collection of essays and not every essay will be for every reader. In the second half of the book, the author offers a number of exercises, both physical and mental, to help strengthen and maintain optimum brain health and also encourages a healthy lifestyle with examples of how to adopt better habits for eating, sleeping, and staying active.
It seems that the intended audience for this book is older people, which would make sense given memory often deteriorates with age. There are also mentions of things like AARP websites as a source of information and that also led me to believe the elderly are targeted for this book by offering ways to strengthen their own memories or arm readers with questions and information to bring to a discussion with their primary care physician. However, now that I’ve finished the book, I believe it would be much more appropriate for an audience of students who might be considering a career specialty in neuropsychology.
The author is a strong believer in the power of meditation and spent a good amount of time assuring the reader that it will pay off but can be hard work at first. The reference to a 2006 Hollywood film (Eat, Pray, Love) to drive home this point was a little odd and random. She also seems to favor herbal remedies and teas and offers different ways to incorporate these into a daily routine. There were several times that the author included bibliographic sources in parentheses, which I appreciated. The writing style was clear and I did not see many errors. There was also no profanity. For these reasons, I give this book 3 out of 4 stars.
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How My Brain Works
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
How My Brain Works by Dr. Barbara Koltuska-Haskin is a work of nonfiction. The author is a clinical neuropsychologist with decades of experience in the field that she is writing about. Because of this expertise, I started the book feeling confident that the author knew the subject matter and had done extensive research on the topics set forth. Despite the primary title, this self-help guide is not so much about how the brain actually works as it is about approaches to a wide variety of memory and learning problems. The book is divided into two parts. The first part outlines the evaluation process used by neuropsychologists so that readers can know what to expect or whether such a process might be beneficial to their own mental health. The second part guides the readers through optimizing brain health.
The book is short but dense with information and the author almost succeeds in making a complex topic understandable to readers outside the medical profession. At the same time, there was too much information in general to be of much use to the average person and there were so many different scenarios and options presented that I felt overwhelmed at trying to digest them all and figure out what approach might be best for me.
It is helpful that the author divided the first part of the book into several chapters with titles that described the target audience for that specific chapter. In this sense, the book is really more like a collection of essays and not every essay will be for every reader. In the second half of the book, the author offers a number of exercises, both physical and mental, to help strengthen and maintain optimum brain health and also encourages a healthy lifestyle with examples of how to adopt better habits for eating, sleeping, and staying active.
It seems that the intended audience for this book is older people, which would make sense given memory often deteriorates with age. There are also mentions of things like AARP websites as a source of information and that also led me to believe the elderly are targeted for this book by offering ways to strengthen their own memories or arm readers with questions and information to bring to a discussion with their primary care physician. However, now that I’ve finished the book, I believe it would be much more appropriate for an audience of students who might be considering a career specialty in neuropsychology.
The author is a strong believer in the power of meditation and spent a good amount of time assuring the reader that it will pay off but can be hard work at first. The reference to a 2006 Hollywood film (Eat, Pray, Love) to drive home this point was a little odd and random. She also seems to favor herbal remedies and teas and offers different ways to incorporate these into a daily routine. There were several times that the author included bibliographic sources in parentheses, which I appreciated. The writing style was clear and I did not see many errors. There was also no profanity. For these reasons, I give this book 3 out of 4 stars.
******
How My Brain Works
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Girl Who Knew Da Vinci by Belle Ami
