How well the brain works is key to enjoying a healthy, productive life in the senior years, according to this guide to the relationship between brain activity and long life. Because the brain controls thinking, emotions, movement, the senses, and other physical functions, it is essential to keep it working as well as possible, explain McCann (neurologist, Johns Hopkins Univ. Sch. of Medicine) and Albert (psychiatry and neurology, Harvard Medical Sch.). This accessible compendium offers a wealth of fascinating information on age-related brain changes that affect normal physical processes such as sleep, hearing, balance, memory, and pain and those that may lead to abnormal conditions like dizziness, Alzheimer's disease, depression, Parkinson's, brain tumors, and stroke. Liberally documented with the latest research findings, the book illustrates scientific facts with case studies and practical suggestions for maintaining a healthy mind in a healthy body. Unfortunately, the limited appendix lists only a handful of professional organizations, web sites, and books; the book would have benefited from a more comprehensive bibliography of professional articles cited in the text and related consumer health resources. Nonetheless, this is recommended for all consumer health and aging collections. —Karen McNally Bensing, Benjamin Rose Lib., Cleveland (Library Journal, April 1, 2002)

McKhann, a professor of neurology at John Hopkins, has coauthored this manual on the workings of the brain with his wife, Albert, director of gerontology research at Massachusetts General Hospital. Although the writing is dry, there is excellent information here for the aging adult. The authors acknowledge that growing older quite naturally involves some physical changes in the brain. They present the most effective ways, based on scientific research and case histories, to minimize these changes and their impact on everyday life. Strategies are offered to improve memory, such as doing mental exercises and maintaining a regular exercise program. For the disease-free older adult, the authors recommend a well-balanced diet and getting an adequate amount of sleep. They stress the importance of recognizing and seeking medical assistance for depression, hearing or vision loss and urinary and sexual problems. McKhann and Albert also deal extensively with a variety of brain disorders including tumors, Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's, and detail the latest medical treatments and drugs that may ameliorate some of these conditions. (May) (Publishers Weekly, April 15, 2002)

"...an easy-to-understand guide about some not-so-easy worries that mark upper-middle age...an extraordinarily useful guidebook to serve us..." (The Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2002)

THEY TEACH NEUROLOGY-HE'S at Johns Hopkins, and she's at Harvard. Together, these cerebral types have written a fitness book to keep your gray matter in the pink.
Preserving your smarts, they argue, depends on a positive attitude and physical and mental exertion. Activities like swimming can prod the brain to produce the chemicals it needs to function in old age. Mental aerobics like crossword puzzles may strengthen connections between nerve cells and possibly aid in forming new neurons.
The authors believe that women may live longer than men because they shop, a pastime that requires both physical (walking and carrying bags) and mental (price-comparison) skills. There are no radical new theories here-just sharp insights into what goes on up there and how to keep your brain whole as you grow older. —Carole Buia (Time Magazine, July 29, 2002)

"Guy McKhann and Marilyn Albert are to middle-aged people and seniors what Dr. Spock is to babies and their parents. Keep Your Brain Young is must reading for anyone over 50; it should be on your bedside table." —Judy Woodruff, CNN, and Al Hunt, Wall Street Journal

"Keep Your Brain Young is the ultimate user's guide to the brain. Drs. McKhann and Albert, two of the world's leading authorities on how the brain works, have written a highly intelligent, straightforward, and important book. Take care of your gray matter: buy and read this book. It is a great investment in your future." —Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and author of An Unquiet Mind and Touched with Fire

"I highly recommend this readable, informal and entertaining guide to achieving and maintaining optimum brain functioning as we age. Guy McKhann and Marilyn Albert provide a single, reliable comprehensive guide to the changes we all can expect as we enter the second half of life. Best of all, their sound advice, tinctured with generous doses of hope and encouragement, provides an effective antidote against a ?gloom and doom? attitude toward aging." —Richard Restak, M.D., coauthor of The Longevity Strategy: How to Live to 100 Using the Brain-Body Connection and author of The Secret Life of the Brain

"For the first time, the authors have presented an interesting and understandable scientific explanation of mind/body function as we get older. This book explains how memory may fade with age without the loss of intellect, and how to assist nature in maintaining such function." —Eunice K. Shriver, Executive Vice-President of The Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation and Founder and Honorary Chairman of Special Olympics, Inc.