Daniel J. Levitin - Successful Aging: A Neuroscientist Explores the Power and Potential of Our Lives

Growing old may be the only event in life that is both desired and feared. Daniel Levitin alleviates the fear with sound advice that can tilt the balance so that we have more healthy years and fewer sick ones. The brilliance of this book is that Levitin not only tells us what to do and what not to dohe gracefully and eloquently shares the science behind how we can change our minds and brains, and how even small changes can reap large benefits. Share this bookespecially with anyone you hope to grow old with.Diane Halpern, former president of the American Psychological Association and professor at Claremont McKenna College

We are living longer than past humans, and with this comes undeniable challenges to our physical and mental well-being. Building on the psychology of personality types and developmental neuroscience, Daniel Levitin will enthrall you with this fascinating story of how the human brain ages, as he reveals just how rewarding our later years can be.Joseph LeDoux, professor of neural science at New York University, director of the Emotional Brain Institute at the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, and author ofAnxiousandThe Deep History of Ourselves

A tour through a huge scientific literature, full of potentially life-changing nuggets, and laced with compelling personal experiences. The good news is that aging need not be dreaded but can be a time of health and creativity in the decades beyond seventyand Levitins got the science to back it up. Read this book. At any age.Michael S. Gazzaniga, director of the SAGE Center at UC Santa Barbara and author ofThe Consciousness Instinct

An excellent perspective on aging and aging well. Dans ability to combine science with personal insights, and reflections on various experiences of aging, captures the complexity of the subject, while still being easy to read. This fascinating book is especially important for young adults to understand all the aspects that go into healthy aging and to know that they can influence the outcome, starting at any time.Concetta Tomaino, executive director of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function and an associate at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine

This books breadth is impressive. Excellent popular science in the service of fending off aging.Kirkus Reviews

Dan is a long-time collaborator with us here at Salk, and in Successful Aging, he offers a compelling new look at the promise and effects of neuroplasticity. Hes at his best here, communicating difficult scientific concepts in a way that anyone can understand. This is why his research talks at the Salk Institute are enormously popular, and everyone is abuzz about them for many months afterward.Ursula Bellugi, PhD, director of the Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Levitins book is quite extraordinary, literally. I rarely, if ever, have seen such a rigorous treatment of a health subject.David B. Teplow, professor of neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and editor ofProgress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science

Here is a how-to book for everyones favorite alternative to deathaging. Bringing together the fields of developmental psychology and personality theory, Dr. Levitin shows us how to reach old age as the best version of ourselves: engaged, wise, and creative; emotionally resilient, cognitively flexible, and happy. Successful Aging is the fountain of youth, although you dont drink it, you read it.Eric Kaplan, Emmy-winning comedy writer ofThe Simpsons, Late Show with David Letterman, The Big Bang Theory, andYoung Sheldon

Dan Levitins latest is an inspiring, hopeful, and useful messageexpounding on the best lessons science and art can teach us about how to expand your potential as you age.Ben Folds, recording artist andNew York Timesbestselling author ofA Dream About Lightning Bugs

Society for too long has underestimated the value of people in their seventies, eighties, and nineties. Working in tandem with younger colleagues, the political, economic, and creative power we can contribute together could well trigger solutions to our biggest global problems. Daniel Levitin superbly defines the new longevity in a book that will change the way you think about aging.Vicente Fox, fifty-fifth president of Mexico

This evolving narrative builds as new topics are introduced in reaction to the previous topic, like chord changes in a great piece of music. Levitins not just offering a compelling narrative but guiding the readers imagination to a larger view of thingsand that feels masterful.Mike Lankford, author ofBecoming Leonardo

Successful Aging is an ambitious and much-needed call for a new truth about aging in the twenty-first century. Daniel Levitin uses what we know about brain science to make a powerful case for positively transforming how we think about aging. This is a fascinating and vital contribution to doing just that.George Vradenburg, chairman and cofounder of UsAgainstAlzheimers

An eloquent spokesperson for our field, Levitin writes about the brain with an ease and familiarity that is captivating.the late David Hubel, Nobel Laureate for work in neuroplasticity

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Names: Levitin, Daniel J., author.

Title: Successful aging : a neuroscientist explores the power and potential of our lives / Daniel J. Levitin.

Description: First. | New York : Dutton, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019026873 (print) | LCCN 2019026874 (ebook) | ISBN 9781524744182 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781524744199 (ebook) | ISBN 9781524746414 (international edition)

Subjects: LCSH: BrainAging. | BrainAgingHealth aspects.

Classification: LCC QP376 .L43 2020 (print) | LCC QP376 (ebook) | DDC 612.8/2dc23