Brainwaves Books: Use It or Lose It!

Use It or Lose It!
Is it Alzheimer's or normal?

Building Mental Muscle

Table of Contents

View information about
all our Brainwaves® Books

Trade paperback, 196 pages
$14.95, 7.5 x 8.25,
32 Drawings, Diagrams and Photos

Second Edition
Brainwaves®, October 2000
ISBN 0-916410-68-4

How to Keep Your Brain Fit as It Ages
by Allen D. Bragdon & David Gamon, PhD

New updated and enlarged edition with 48 brain-stimulating mental exercises. Use It or Lose It! is a new book developed at The Brainwaves Center based on the latest published research in the neurosciences. The Center suggests these five steps to keep your mental equipment operating up to specs as your brain grows old, gracefully, along with the rest of you:

10 years old - Ask questions
25 years old - Marry someone smarter than you are
38 years old - Exercise regularly to reduce stress
52 years old - Learn something new
65 years old - Avoid the ruts

Reader Reviews:

“Highly informative, useful, and fun.” —Dr. David Demko, Ageventure News Service

“Why do some seniors stay mentally sharp while others deteriorate? This new book. based on the latest published neuroscience research, gives readers insight on how to prevent Alzheimer's disease and reverse cognitive decline. In nontechnical language, the authors supply a gold mine of information on how brain functions occur. Tests of mental acuity are scattered throughout the text, allowing readers to gauge their skills. Those with concerns they may be exhibiting signs of dementia are given a wealth of tests and explanations to different normal mental lapses from indications of disease. Also provided are numerous exercises and nutrition tips to boister those brain functions at risk with aging. Extensive footnotes (unobtrusively packaged) and an index finish off this expertly researched and highly readable guide.”
—Today's Librarian, January, 2001

A self-test from
Use It or Lose It!

"Why does it get harder to think of the right word?
There’s a joke that goes like this. Older people are faced with a dilemma: they know more words, but they can’t remember them! Vocabulary improves with age. What declines is the kind of mental nimbleness needed to access all those words on the fly. Everybody knows exactly what this feels like: you know the word, it may even be on the tip of your tongue, but you can’t quite think of it. So you fumble around, hem and haw, and hope the word pops into your mind while you stall for time. Maybe it does, or maybe it doesn’t and you have to move on, feeling like a bit of a fool. Of course, you’ll soon think of the word, two minutes too late to do you any good. "
— Use It or Lose It!

	Building Mental Muscle Over 230,000 copies sold in the USA alone, plus translations into 14 languages worldwide.

	Brains That Work a Little Bit Differently 2nd best seller. Used in college Psychology courses. ADHD, Left Handedness, Autism, DejaVu, Child Geniuses

	Building Left-Brain Power It handles the details, like language skills. Every-day tips to use what you learn. Mental exercises that, when done, release serotonin, a feel-good hormone.

	Learn Faster & Remember More Three guides in one: How skills develop and are maintained through life: 1. Womb to adolescence; 2. Professional Years; 3. Slowing down the slowing down

	Brain Building Games With Words & Numbers Skill-graded challenges: easy to hard, logic, numbers, crypto-visual plus tricks to maximize performance in every one (176 of them). Another top seller.

	Use It or Lose It! As the mind matures it begins to lose essential abilities unless.... it is forced to work. Then it builds connections again into old age.

	Exercises for the Whole Brain A breast-pocket full of visual mental-teasers to work out in spare moments. Now in 13 languages. Especially good for designers and creative thinkers.

Right-Brain Teasers How many of these photos of 60 old-time, household artifacts can you figure out how they worked and what they were used for? This taps the visual-spatial skills in your right brain. (Men are surprisingly good at this). See an interesting, detailed description when you turn the page after each photo. A fun Valentine gift , especially for elderly antique collectors and flea-market addicts.

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