A Magnificent Mind

This is what just came in my email from Dr. Daniel Amen, MD. Dr. Amen is a psychiatrist who has written many books and sutided the special x ray images of many, many brains.

A Magnificent Mind Can Be Yours
I just finished filming a new PBS special based on my new book, Magnificent Mind At Any Age, that is coming out December 2nd. Over the next few months I will include snippets of the book and PBS show in our Brain in the News e-newsletter.

Here is a piece from Chapter 2: A Magnificent Mind Starts With A Healthy Brain...
“Brains run the world. They run the stock market and the local market. They run huge corporations and the “mom and pop shop” down the street. Brains run churches, banks, hotels, tennis clubs, dry cleaners, professional basketball teams, Internet dating services and universities. Brains run marriages, choirs, homeowner associations and terrorist groups. Your brain runs you and is significantly involved in running your family.

Yet, even though the brain is involved with everything we do at work and at home, we rarely think about or honor the brain. There is no formal education about the brain in MBA programs; no brain training programs at church; no brain exercises in customer service or management programs; and no real practical education about the brain in school. The lack of brain education is a huge mistake, because success in all we do starts with a healthy brain. The characteristics of a magnificent mind include personal responsibility, clear goals, good attention, consistent effort, effective social skills, impulse control, motivation, integrity and creativity. Yet, few people realize that all of these are brain functions. A healthy brain makes these characteristics easier to incorporate in your life, while a damaged or struggling brain makes these much harder.

Taking great care of your brain is essential to a magnificent mind. Here is an example. In one of the graduate psychology courses I taught I asked for volunteers for our healthy brain study. By the year 2000, we had amassed tens of thousands of SPECT scans for clinical reasons, such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, autism, Alzheimer’s disease, brain trauma, marital strife and violence. In order to further our research efforts we needed to build a large normal database to compare our clinical studies. I solicited normal people wherever I went. Surprisingly, they were not that easy to find. Christy, one of my favorite students, came up after class very excited. She said, “You have to scan my 82 year old grandmother, Anna. She is one of the most normal people I know. You will love her.” On Christy’s advice and her grandmother’s agreement, we screened Anna and indeed found her to be healthy. She met all of the criteria for the study: no psychiatric illness at any point in her life, no substance abuse, brain injuries, first degree relatives with psychiatric illness and she was not on any medications. Anna had been married for 58 years and was a loving wife, mother and grandmother. She had a sharp, curious mind and was active in her church and community. She had solid relationships that spanned many years. Anna never drank alcohol, never smoked and tried to eat healthy. Anna has one of the healthiest brains I had ever seen, out of nearly 50,000! Her brain fit her life.

The First Steps to a Healthier Brain

Most of us are never taught about how important the brain is, so we go through life thinking about everything but this critically important organ (weight, skin care, finances, children, internet dating, vacations, careers, sports). I live in Newport Beach, CA, the heart of the OC (Orange County). We have often been called the plastic society because we have more plastic walking around our streets and beaches than almost any other place in the world. I often say that we care more about our faces, our boobs, our bellies and our butts, than we do our brain. How stupid is that? When you really want to change, the first place to always start is with your brain.

In the weeks to come I'll be giving our Brain in the News family more peeks at the upcoming book and PBS Special, I'm very excited about it and I think both the book and TV Special have great information for helping you have a better brain and a better life - isn't that what we all want? Here's a quick look at the new book's chapter titles...

Part One: A Magnificent Mind Starts With A Healthy Brain

Chapter 1. Are You Wired for Success or Failure? The Secret Behind Why Some People Achieve Their Dreams and Others Don’t

Chapter 2. A Magnificent Mind Starts with a Healthy Brain: Essential Strategies

Chapter 3. Encourage Brain Envy: Eliminate the Daily Habits That Hold You Back

Chapter 4. Hidden Short Circuits May Be Ruining Your Life: Learn How to Identify and Correct Your Vulnerable Areas

Chapter 5. If Your Were My Family How Would I Treat You? The Four Circles of Health and Healing and Why You Should Consider Natural Treatments

Chapter 6. Natural Ways to Heal Attention Deficit Disorder

Chapter 7. Natural Ways to Heal Anxiety and Depression

Chapter 8. Natural Ways to Heal Memory Problems and Insomnia

Part Two: A Magnificent Mind Makes Your Dreams A Reality

Chapter 9. Ignite Your Passion: Light Up the Brain Circuits that Drive Success

Chapter 10. Make Your Own Miracles: Use Your Brain to Define Your Dreams and Make Them a Reality

Chapter 11. Know When to Apply the Brakes: Strengthen Your Brain’s Internal Controls

Chapter 12. Embrace the Truth: Liberate Yourself from the Lies Polluting Your Brain

Chapter 13. Get Unstuck: Enhance Your Brain’s Ability to Change and Adapt

Chapter 14. Develop Mental Toughness: Cultivate a Resilient Brain

Chapter 15. Enhance Your Social Networks: Build a Brain Trust

Chapter 16. Be a Maverick Thinker: Stop Anxiety from Allowing Others to Run Your Life

Chapter 17. Create Lasting Trust: Send the Signals that Build Integrity

I hope you'll be able to view the new PBS special when it comes out and thanks to the many who've been so supportive of the program airing currently. When we, individually and as a society, embrace a focus on developing healthier brains, good things can happen for us all.

To your brain health,

Daniel

Daniel Amen, M.D.
CEO, Amen Clinics, Inc.
Distinguished Fellow, American Psychiatric Association