Renal and Electrolyte Disorders Book

Why does our memory lapse on us? What happens when we take Zoloft or Ritalin? Do computer games help or hurt kids' brains? What effect does stress have on our ability to perform daily tasks? Torkel Klingberg reveals these answers and more in this book.

The criteria I used to review this book were simple: relatability and readability. After all, this is a book about the brain written by a doctor of neuroscience. So, would some average person understand this subject matter? For the most part, yes!

In a calming tone, Klingberg explains the science behind our most everyday memory lapses and brain farts, with a nice blend of relatable analogies written in layman's terms for those of us who are not medically trained. He boils everything down to working memory (that part of our mind that tells us what we have to do today), and explains that there are limits to the amount of information our working memory can send to long term memory given all of our daily distractions. Information comes at us from all different directions whether it is at school, on TV or radio, via e-mail and texts, or billboards! What we actually remember depends upon the amount of distraction which can come to us in the form of kids, work interruptions, loud music, or billboards!

At times, this book reads much like a how-to on improving our environment so our brains may do their job. Klingberg has thoughtfully written and researched for us, the unimaginable benefits and consequences, of this information age that we live in today. He draws his conclusions not only from his extensive education and working practice, but from the work of his colleagues and noted field studies. At least once per chapter, you hit a really technically written chunk of data that only a neuroscientist would understand. But Klingberg's supporting examples, analogies and explanations are easily understood for the average person. In the introduction he wrote, "After you have read this book, you will never again be the person you were before."(p. 11) I agree; now I understand terms like working memory, brain plasticity, and dual-task performance and the basic functions of brain activity.

Klingberg's overall message here is clear; all that has been lost can be found again. Readers are sure to enjoy the human brain as Klingberg lays it out. You'll especially enjoy Chapter 8: Brain Plasticity; Chapter 10: A Cognitive Gym; Chapter 12: Computer Games; and Chapter 15: The Information Flood and Flow. Happy reading!