American Brain

While researching the toxic and addictive properties of sugar for Fat Chance, Robert Lustig made an alarming discovery - our pursuit of happiness is being subverted by a culture of addiction and depression from which we may never recover. Dopamine is the "reward" neurotransmitter that tells our brains we want more; yet every substance or behavior that releases dopamine in the extreme leads to addiction. Serotonin is the "contentment" neurotransmitter that tells our brains we don't need any more; yet its deficiency leads to depression.

Neuroscientists have shown that music recruits nearly every area of the brain, fostering connections across different regions. In this book, we examine the latest imaging studies and discuss the effects of music on emotion, cognition, sensation, and motor function. This includes an examination of the brain’s anatomy when listening to or creating music, of music’s relationship to learning math and language skills, and of its role in promoting social connections and treating brain disorders and injuries.

For decades, researchers have chased a pharmaceutical cure for memory loss. But despite the fact that no disease-modifying biotech treatments have emerged, new research suggests that dementia rates have actually declined in the United States and Western Europe over the last decade. Why is this happening? And what does it mean for brain health in the future?

In Best of the Brain, top neuroscientist Floyd E. Bloom has selected the most fascinating brain-related articles from Scientific American and Scientific American Mind since 1999. Bloom garnishes the impressive lineup with his own introduction. The articles are grouped in three sections: "Mind", "Matter", and "Tomorrow's Brain".

In 1994, The Bell Curve and its controversial thesis catapulted the topic of genetic racial differences in IQ to the forefront of a renewed and heated debate. Now, in A Terrible Thing to Waste, award-winning science writer Harriet A. Washington adds her incisive analysis to the fray, arguing that IQ is a biased and flawed metric, but that it is useful for tracking cognitive damage. Featuring extensive scientific research and Washington's sharp, lively reporting, A Terrible Thing to Waste is sure to outrage, transform the conversation, and inspire debate.

Patti Davis, the daughter of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, writes about losing her father to Alzheimer's disease, saying goodbye in stages, and watching the progression of a disease that steals what is most precious: a person's memory. Past and present come together in this illuminating portrait of grief, of a man, a disease, and a girl and her father.

Brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s affect an estimated one in six Americans and are increasing in incidence as the population ages. In this audiobook, we examine these and other conditions involving the damage and loss of neurons, including other forms of dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and multiple sclerosis (MS).

Multiple Sclerosis for Dummies gives you accessible, easy-to-understand information about what happens with MS - what kinds of symptoms it can cause, how it can affect your life at home and at work, what you can do to feel and function better, and how you can protect yourself and your family against the long-term unpredictability of the disease. You'll learn how to make treatment and lifestyle choices that work for you, what qualities to look for in a neurologist and the rest of your healthcare team, how to manage fatigue, and much more.

Welcome to the new old age! There has never been a better time, in all of history, to grow old. But will your brain age as well as the rest of you? In her fourth engaging book about the brain, Judith Horstman presents a realistic and encouraging overview of the well-aged brain, a sobering look at what can go wrong, and the latest in what neuroscience is finding might help you - and your brain - stay healthy longer.

This fascinating and highly accessible book presents fantastic but totally feasible projections of what your brain may be capable of in the near future. It shows how scientific breakthroughs and amazing research are turning science fiction into science fact. In this brave new book, you'll explore.

The sense of position and movement is often called the sixth sense; the brain’s connection to the immune system might be a seventh. In this audiobook, we examine the diverse functions of the brain beyond the five senses, including the glymphatic system for maintaining brain health, the processes behind intuition, and new research raising questions about “brain death.”

In December 2015, Zac Easter, a twenty-four-year-old from small-town Iowa, decided to take his own life rather than continue his losing battle against traumatic brain injuries he had sustained as a high school football player and which led him to develop chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). For this deeply reported and powerfully moving true story, award-winning writer Reid Forgrave was given access to Zac’s own diaries and was able to speak with Zac’s family, friends, and coaches.

Welcome to "Funky Stuff that will Tickle your Brain," a captivating collection of 30 explanations and essays that will ignite your curiosity and expand your knowledge. This book is part of an epic 50-volume series, "Get Smarter One Book at a Time," which covers a wide range of topics from science and philosophy to creativity and adventure. Together, these books aim to nurture a lifelong love of learning and exploration. In this particular volume, you'll embark on a fascinating journey through a diverse array of subjects. From the intricacies of asphalt production and the history of fences ...

Boy or girl? Even before a person is born, that’s the first thing everyone wants to know - underscoring just how much value human societies of all types place on gender. In His Brain, Her Brain, we take a closer look at the anatomical, chemical, and functional differences in the brains of men and women - as well as some surprising similarities. For instance, studies of infants find few differences in cognitive skills between boys and girls; but there is no denying that boys love trucks, whereas girls prefer dolls.

The author, Yuchi Yang, has been a registered dietitian for more than twenty years. She has been counseling patients with Parkinson’s on food and nutrition to optimize their health with diet. Levodopa (L-dopa) is the most commolny used medication to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Dietary protein can compete with L-dopa to cross the blood-brain barrier and decrease the efficacy of the drug. Such problem of protein and levodopa competition usually appears years after the initiation of L-dopa therapy.

People behave in strange ways. We sometimes giggle when someone falls down, swear we've been to places we haven't, or continue believing in something despite scientific evidence to the contrary. For more than a decade, Scientific American MIND's long-running feature "Ask the Brains" has addressed questions from their readers on the quirks and quandaries of human behavior, psychology, and neurology. Here, in Ask the Brains, Part 1, they’ve compiled some of the best and most interesting inquiries about the human brain.

Ronald Reagan’s daughter writes with a moving openness about losing her father to Alzheimer’s disease. The simplicity with which she reveals the intensity, the rush, the flow of her feelings encompasses all the surprises and complexities that ambush us when death gradually, unstoppably invades life.

From irrational phobias to a midlife crisis, we’ve all experienced moments of utter confusion about the nature of our own behavior, emotions, or perception of reality. In this audiobook, neurologists and other scientists share what they know about how the mind works, including some of these baffling psychological experiences.

This book offers a way to help manage all of this stress and subsequent guilt, without adding a lot of time or effort to your already overwhelmed life. Kickass Confidence will unmask what confidence is, as well as what it is not. We will then gently explore the science of confidence from neuroscience and psychology perspectives, as well as the tools used in executive, life, and business coaching. You'll learn about the latest research and theories that indicate anyone can physically change his or her own brain structure and function.