HOW MY BRAIN WORKS

An introduction to neuropsychology combined with a guide to healthy living.

Debut author Koltuska-Haskin is a neuropsychologist with some 30 years of experience in the field. The first half of this slim volume explains the basics of neuropsychology, defining it as a discipline that bridges medicine and psychology with a focus on brain function. A neuropsychological evaluation allows patients to gauge their performance in different cognitive areas and what they might be able to do to improve it. Just about anyone may find value in a neuropsychological evaluation, the author asserts, whether they’re college students, women going through menopause, or people who’ve suffered a traumatic brain injury. The author talks readers through what they can expect from clinical interviews and tests of emotional functioning. The author particularly emphasizes the importance of such tests, noting that “what you don’t know could hurt you.” Koltuska-Haskin devotes the second half of her book to holistic methods to alleviate harm to one’s brain. The author offers advice on maintaining a healthy diet, practicing meditation, and other activities to promote neurological health. She also discusses the many benefits of gardening. The book is brief at fewer than 200 pages, and it progresses in a swift, cheerful manner. The chapters are similarly short with technical jargon kept to a minimum and a consistently positive tone (“When the plants mature, you can see their beauty”). Fans of self-help books will find some points rather familiar, as when a chapter on the importance of gratitude refers to Oprah Winfrey’s well-known gratitude journal. Still, this book contains plenty of immensely useful and easily digestible information for newcomers to neuropsychology.

A highly readable look at a medical discipline and its potential benefits.