Making a Good Brain Great: The Amen Clinic Program for Achieving and Sustaining Optimal Mental Performance

343 Pages·2005·1.94 MB·English

by  Daniel G. Amen

MAKING A GOOD BRAIN GREAT
The Amen Clinic Program for Achieving and Sustaining Optimal
Mental Performance
DANIEL G. AMEN, M.D.
HARMONY BOOKS NEW YORK
This author is available for select readings and lectures. To
inquire about a possible appearance, please contact the Random
House Speakers Bureau at [email protected] or
[phone].
http://www.rhspeakers.com/
CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
INTRODUCTION: Making a Good Brain Great
PART I
NINE BRAIN-CENTERED PRINCIPLES TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE
1.YOUR BRAIN IS INVOLVED IN EVERYTHING YOU DO
2.WHEN YOUR BRAIN WORKS RIGHT, YOU WORK RIGHT:
When Your Brain Is Troubled, You Have Trouble in Your Life
3.YOUR BRAIN IS THE MOST COMPLICATED ORGAN IN THE
UNIVERSE
4.YOUR BRAIN IS VERY SOFT, HOUSED IN A VERY HARD SKULL:
Injuries Can Change Your Life, and No One Knows About It
5.KNOW AND HEAL THE BRAIN SYSTEMS THAT RUN YOUR LIFE:
Amen Clinic Brain System Quiz
6.ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT EVERYONE:
Most Problems (Such As ADD, Anxiety, and Depression) Are Not Single or
Simple Disorders
7.HOW DO YOU KNOW UNLESS YOU LOOK?
New Knowledge from Imaging
8.YES, YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR BRAIN AND CHANGE YOUR LIFE!
9.THE MYTH OF THE PERFECT BRAIN:
We All Need a Little Help
PART II
THE AMEN CLINIC PROGRAM FOR MAKING A GOOD BRAIN GREAT
10.PROTECT YOUR BRAIN
11.EAT RIGHT TO THINK RIGHT:
Food As Brain Medicine
12.BRAIN WORKOUTS:
Keeping the Brain Young Through Mental Exercise
13.EXERCISE FOR YOUR BRAIN
14.COORDINATE YOUR BRAIN
15.BRAIN SEX:
Making Love Is Good for Your Brain
16.IMPROVING REALITY:
The Brain’s Role in Perception
17.SERENADE THE BRAIN:
Musical Interventions
18.SOOTHING THE BRAIN:
Calming the Stress That Kills Cells
19.KEEPING THE BRAIN YOUNG:
Preventing Problems of Aging
20.SUPERCHARGING NEURONS:
Brain-Specific Supplements
21.GETTING MORE HELP:
Knowing When and How to Do It
22.FIFTEEN DAYS TO A BETTER BRAIN
APPENDIX:
Why SPECT: What Brain SPECT Imaging Can Tell Clinicians and Patients That They Cannot
Obtain Elsewhere
GLOSSARY
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ALSO BY DANIEL G. AMEN, M.D.
PRAISE FOR MAKING A GOOD BRAIN GREAT
AMEN CLINICS, INC.
AMENCLINIC.COM
COPYRIGHT
INTRODUCTION
MAKING A GOOD BRAIN GREAT
Learning how to make a good brain great, or a difficult one better, has been my
passion for the last twenty years. Having scanned and worked with more than
thirty thousand brains, more than any other living soul, it is very clear to me that
the brain is involved in everything we do and everything we are. I have learned
that when your brain works right, you work right, and that when your brain is
troubled, you have trouble in your life. Brain health is essential to all aspects of
the quality of life.
Your brain can be even better than it is right now—and I will show you how,
step by step! Whether you are already functioning at a high level (at work, in
your relationships, or within yourself) and want to keep it that way, or you are
struggling to get through the day and need help, improving the inner workings of
your brain is the most important first step to having the life you want.
I live in Newport Beach, California, which is a wonderful place, but it has the
reputation for being home to the greatest number of plastic surgeons and for
being what some would call a plastic society. What many people do not realize,
when they go to a plastic surgeon to have their noses redone, their breasts
enlarged, or their wrinkles alleviated, is that they still will be the same on the
inside after the procedure is finished and the stitches removed. Change is much
more effective from the inside out. My goal in this book is to teach you to love
and care for your brain as much as you love and care for your skin, your belly,
and your bottom. It sounds silly at first, but when you ponder it for a while, it
makes perfect sense. To be your best self, you must have a brain that works at its
best. This is what we strive to do at the Amen Clinics (in Newport Beach and
Fairfield, California; Tacoma, Washington; and Reston, Virginia); we work hard
to help balance the function of people’s brains and improve their lives. Whether
you are struggling in school, at work, at home, in relationships, or within
yourself, the Amen Clinics work hard to help you to get the best brain and life
function possible. Your brain and your life are inseparably linked.
The great news is that the brain is malleable and able to change. With targeted
strategies, you can make a good brain great. But if you don’t actively work out a
plan to help it, the brain becomes significantly less active with age. Lower brain
activity and blood flow causes people to have trouble remembering facts and
names, they become more easily fatigued, they struggle to learn new
information, and they are at greater risk for more serious problems, such as
strokes or Alzheimer’s disease as they move into their fifties, sixties, and
seventies. Isn’t it strange that most people are focused on taking care of their
skin, weight, job, home, and pet, while ignoring the part of them that matters
most? It doesn’t have to be this way. This book is your guide to loving, caring,
and nurturing your brain.
To show you what I mean, here are a few examples of the kinds of people who
can benefit from the information in Making a Good Brain Great.
Bart, at forty-seven, is a very good doctor who has built a thriving practice.
His patients and employees love him, and he is respected in the medical
community. He has been working hard for many years, but he has not taken very
good care of himself. He feels tired at the end of the day and doesn’t have much
energy for his wife and young children. In the last ten years, Bart has put on an
extra fifteen pounds and doesn’t feel quite as sharp as he once did. No one would
notice his problems, but he can feel that he is clearly not his best self.
Angela, thirty-eight, owns a boutique dress shop. She is happy, energetic, and
a good businesswoman. Her employees adore her, and she has been in a stable
marriage for fifteen years. One of her concerns is that both her father and her
mother suffered from memory problems in their sixties, and she fears those same
problems will happen to her.
Marian, twenty-six, works at an ad agency. She is alternately “a star” and then
“the problem” employee. At times she does wonderful work, and at other times
she drives everyone crazy with her temper, moodiness, and unpredictability. She
has been on the verge of being fired several times, but each time she pulled
herself together and again did great work, for a while.
John, sixty-two, is a business professor at a major southern California
university. Over the years he has been seen by others as successful, happy, and
funny. After a seemingly minor fall from a ladder at his home two years ago, he
just hasn’t been himself. It has been hard for him to describe the difference, and
no one else seems to notice it. For the first time he finds himself late grading
papers, more distracted at meetings, and a bit more irritable with his wife.
What do Bart, Angela, Marian, and John have in common with one another
and with millions of others? They are successful, competent people who need to
optimize their own brain function to be at their best. Bart has an overworked,
stressed, malnourished, and tired brain; Angela has a brain at risk for early
dementia; Marian has a brain that has erratic storms of activity; and John hurt his
brain in a fall. All their brains are functional, but they need to be tuned,
balanced, and properly nourished to remain in excellent health. Without this
regimen they are all at risk for brain deterioration that, although subtle, will rob
them of their best abilities and potential.
Here are the basic principles that Bart, Angela, Marian, and John and the rest
of us need to keep in mind.
• The brain is involved in everything you do. How you think, how you feel,
how you act, and how well you get along with other people has to do with
the moment-by-moment functioning of your brain.
• When your brain works right, you tend to be effective, thoughtful, creative,
and energetic.
• When the brain is troubled, you may have problems with depression,
anxiety, work performance, impulsivity, anger, inflexibility, memory, and
relationships.
• Your brain dysfunction, even when subtle, may be getting in your way of
success.
• Your brain has only so much reserve. A lifetime of abuse or neglect
(smoking, too much caffeine or alcohol, drug abuse, brain injuries,
excessive stress) all add up and take years of healthy mental functioning
away from you.
• With the right plan, you can reverse damage and optimize your own brain
and subsequently improve your life.
• You (and your brain) can be better than you are, even if you are already in
good shape!
Making a Good Brain Great is a practical guide to understanding and
optimizing the functioning in your own brain, so you can be the best person
possible. It will also teach you how to enhance the brains of your children and
those you love. Unfortunately, many of the things that we do as parents, partners,
and friends that we think are loving, such as encouraging people to eat second
helpings, are actually harmful to brain function.
The book is divided into two parts. Part I, a basic primer on the brain, will
explain why it is essential to love and nurture the brain and how it is intimately
involved in all you do. It outlines the nine basic principles of the Amen Clinics
(Chapters 1–9). Part II contains the Amen Clinic Program for Making a Good
Brain Great. These practical strategies and exercises are based on real-life
experience with thousands of people. It will also teach you when and how to
seek professional help if brain problems need more extensive evaluation and
treatment, such as John’s minor brain injury and Marian’s emotional brain
storms. The ultimate lesson in this book is for you to learn how to love, respect,
and care for your brain, as you would love, respect, and care for a cherished
child or grandchild. When you develop this deep sense of caring for your brain,
you will be more likely to protect and nurture it, so that over time it will help
you be effective in love, work, and all you do.
THE PROBLEM
Most people do not consider caring for their brain to be an essential aspect of
good health. Even though you probably already accept the basic brain principles
outlined above, individuals rarely think about the day-to-day health of their own