How I Improved my Brain
I was given the book as a birthday present. I admit that I am not as young as I used to be... "But I am not as old that I would need to train my brain," I thought slightly taken aback when I accepted the gift with a rigid smile. For a week I left it lie unnoticed before I persuaded myself that I should after all open it...
Its author is Joel Levy, scientific publicist and journalist focusing on psychology who studied molecular biology and psychology.
And the result?
I recommend it to all! Not that my results were so great that I could stop people in the street about it, but I got totally absorbed in it. Those colourful pictures, puzzles, numbers and equations certainly have some lure, which attracts you like a magnet. It is fun, enlightening and you can work with someone in a pair! And that is a challenge, to prove to your dear half that you are not such a completely hopeless case as has perhaps sometimes been suggested, has it not?
Test, exercises and the brutal truth!
The book is divided into several chapters which deal with specific mental abilities. At the beginning of each there is always an initial test that reveals approximately how you are doing in the given category. This is followed by various exercises, you add the points and at the end you learn the cruel truth! This is followed by recommendations of what to do and how you could train this particular area in everyday life. From my own experience I can say that it is a great way to discover your shortcomings and how they may be improved.
Which areas of your mental capacity may be improved?
In addition to training short-term, medium-term and long-term memory the book offers exercises to memorise names and faces - a textbook example of a problem of almost all of, isn´t it? It will help you with a strategy of devising and remembering various passwords and pins. You will practice basic as well as complex counting methods, visual-spatial orientation, verbal intelligence as well as creativity.
The conclusion? No, I will not confide in you with my results. But I can tell you, that now I know how to remember names of persons introduced to me just in passing, how to create a password that I will never forget and how to quickly orientate myself in an unknown area! Envious? There are plenty of books such as mine in the market. The next time you browse a bookshop, check them out. Entertainment and new knowledge guaranteed!
