Richard Restak

How to Prevent Dementia supports the idea that the more one knows about Alzheimer's and the other dementias, the easier it is to prevent or delay the illness. Increased knowledge also helps people understand and interact with those less fortunate people who come down with Alzheimer's. The first part of the book answers the basic question "What is thinking?" It covers the thinking of normal everyday people and progresses to people with thinking disorders. The...

In Think Smart, the renowned neuropsychiatrist and bestselling author Richard Restak details how each of us can improve and tone our body's most powerful organ: the brain.As an expert on the brain, Restak knows that in the last five years there have been exciting new scientific discoveries about the brain and its performance. So he has asked his colleagues-among them the world's leading brain scientists and researchers-one important question: What...

In order to best optimize your brain fitness, it's important to understand how the brain's circuitry works. After a brief introduction to the course, Professor Restak guides you through a range of intriguing topics, including the principles of brain operation, the organization of the brain, patterns of brain growth, and more.

What's the connection between daydreaming and creativity? What are four steps for increasing your creativity? Which puzzles are the best for optimizing your brain function - and how can you more efficiently solve them? Learn the answers to these and other questions in this fascinating lecture on creativity and the brain.

Professor Restak concludes his course with ways to immediately start optimizing your brain fitness. These include trying new and unexpected things, learning in an informal and self-directed manner, keeping things in perspective, opting to prioritize instead of multitask, developing an appreciation for art and music, and - surprisingly - preparing home-cooked meals.

Exceptional performers aren't born with "superior brains." Rather, anyone - thanks to brain plasticity - can achieve high performance levels in an area of interest through deliberate practice. Focus here on two aspects of deliberate practice: remaining fully aware of what you're doing, and concentrating on the most difficult aspects of your performance.

Discover the secrets to increasing your brain's power to meet everyday challenges and enhance your life with Optimizing Brain Fitness. Delivered by Dr. Richard Restak, an award-winning teacher and practicing neurologist, this engaging 12-lecture course shows you how to take advantage of the basic principles of brain operation and build the brain you want to live with for the rest of your life.

Focus now on working memory - the most important memory process of all and one that involves manipulating stored information. After an overview of the topic, dive into a series of engaging exercises that use your creativity, your powers of observation, and your heightened awareness to enhance and improve your working memory.