David DiSalvo - Brain Changer: How Harnessing Your Brains Power to Adapt Can Change Your Life

Praise forBrain Changer

A superb practical primer for thinking about thinking.

ROBERT A. BURTON, MD,

author of On Being Certain and A Skeptics Guide to the Mind

Forget the self-help mumbo jumbo, DiSalvo boils down decades of actual research from psychological laboratories while giving us proven, scientist-approved tips on how to easily harness our maximum brainpower. From chewing gum, to writing our own obituaries, to gargling with lemonade, youll be amazed by the many ways you can rev up that powerful engine puttering along in your cranium.

JESSE BERING, PHD,

author of The Belief Instinct and contributor to Scientific American and Slate

David DiSalvo will change the way you think about your own thinking, and in the process provide you with practical tools for keeping lifes challenges in perspective.

WRAY HERBERT,

author of On Second Thought: Outsmarting Your Minds Hard-Wired Habits

DiSalvo beautifully breaks down metacognitionour ability to reflect back upon our own thought processesand, just as capably, lays out all the ways in which it can be sharpened for greater psychological well-being. An engaging and scientifically grounded read.

ALICE G. WALTON, PHD,

contributing writer to the American Psychological Association and Forbes

An awareness of the under-the-surface workings of your own brain helps you adapt wisely to challenging circumstances, and Brain Changer offers just such an awareness. DiSalvo shows you how to exert more conscious control over your own thinking processes for better problem solving and decision making.

SUSAN K. PERRY, PHD,

author of Writing in Flow and contributor to Psychology Today

I believe the greatest competitive advantage any professional can gain today is a better understanding of how to leverage brainpower. Not only has David DiSalvo opened up pathways that I never knew existed; more importantly, he gave me the power to see my world from a far greater, more inspiring perspective.

MOE ABDOU,

founder of 33voices.com, a global conversation about things that matter in business and in life

Praise for David DiSalvo and What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite and The Brain in Your Kitchen

David DiSalvo takes us on a whistle-stop tour of our minds delusions. No aspect of daily life is left untouched: whether he is exploring job interviews, first dates, or the perils of eBay, DiSalvo will change the way you think about thinking... an enjoyable manual to your psyche that may change your life.

NEW SCIENTIST

DiSalvo offers science-help (as opposed to self-help) by detailing the mental shortcuts our minds like to take but that dont always serve us well, with the assumption that understanding brain function helps us fight its stubborn behavior.

PSYCHOLOGY TODAY

The expression knowledge is power has never been more appropriate. Mr. DiSalvo takes the mystery out of our daily self-sabotage. Using science and psychology he leads us into awareness and provides us action steps to make our lives better.

NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS

Lots of books tell you what you should do to be happy. But call me thoroughI like to know what not to do, too. Science writer David DiSalvo fills out the happiness category with insights into why we pursue things that dont really make us happy... you will learn a lot about the self-destructive behaviors that keep you from being fulfilled.

THE HUFFINGTON POST

By weaving together the latest studies, science writer DiSalvo examines why peoples desires often thwart their goals.

SCIENCE NEWS

A really fascinating look into the workings of the brain, combining a physiological and psychological model, with chapters that are linked together like literary sausages, making it hard to put the book down.

SAN FRANCISCO BOOK REVIEW

A comprehensive overview of the latest in psychology and neuroscience developments, backed by experiments conducted on each point... well-written and highly recommended.

PORTLAND BOOK REVIEW

David DiSalvo is our go-to source for true facts about the human brain. Whatever the brain is up to, and often its up to something tricky, you can rest assured that DiSalvo will be keeping an eye on it, and a skeptical eye at that.

JEFF MCMAHON,

University of Chicago lecturer, editor of Contrary magazine, and contributor to Forbes

Every week the media delivers to the public a barrage of psychology and neuroscience findings. They sound fascinating, but are untethered from daily life. David DiSalvo extracts the practical potential of these discoveries, and in so doing performs a public service that is creative and witty.

J. D. TROUT, PHD,

author of The Empathy Gap: Building Bridges to the Good Life and the Good Society, and Professor of Philosophy and Psychology, Loyola University Chicago

David DiSalvo provides an unusually well-written foray into the fascinating fields of neuroscience and social psychology. He will pique your curiosity and help you understand people in new ways.

CHARLES H. ELLIOTT, PHD,

coauthor of nine psychology books, including Overcoming Anxiety for Dummies, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder for Dummies, and Borderline Personality Disorder for Dummies

DiSalvo takes us on a refreshing voyage into the multitude of ways your brain is busy smacking you around, and provides an antidote to the standard servings of self-help snake oil.

MARK CHANGIZI, PHD,

author of Harnessed: How Language and Music Mimicked Nature and Transformed Ape to Man

DiSalvo delivers a levelheaded, healthy skepticism as he brings the light of evidence to bear. He has a knack for knowing how much is too much in the way of scientific jargon and has created very readable yet informative books that leave the reader feeling confident and informed.

ROBERT VANDERVOORT, PHARMD,

Pharmacotherapy Faculty, Florida Hospital

DiSalvo uses the raw ingredients of science and research to cook practical advice. He presents us with what we know, and just as important, what we do not know about how our brains, which evolved to survive scarcity and lack, can survive in a world awash with excess of every type.