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

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 or (212) 572-2013.

http://www.rhspeakers.com/

CONTENTS

APPENDIX:
Why SPECT: What Brain SPECT Imaging Can Tell Clinicians and Patients That They Cannot Obtain Elsewhere

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 nowand 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 peoples 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 dont 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 Alzheimers disease as they move into their fifties, sixties, and seventies. Isnt 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 doesnt 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 doesnt have much energy for his wife and young children. In the last ten years, Bart has put on an extra fifteen pounds and doesnt 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 hasnt 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.