Biohack Your Brain by Kristen Willeumier PhD the Book to Read in 2021: Change Your Brain, Change Your Life
If you read only one book this year, make it Biohack Your Brain. The book, by noted neuroscientist Kristen Willeumier, who earned her PhD in neurobiology from UCLA, provides an accessible plan and actionable information on how to protect and maximize your brain’s function.
Dr. Willeumier has joined us numerous times on CYInterview over the last decade, speaking about a host of topics concerning brain health. She is an accomplished scientist, with a prestigious resume, who can express herself as if she were a longtime friend, communicating critical information about brain health in a kind, easily accessible way. Her book is a reflection of who she is; a caring, highly trained scientist who would like to see you maximize your life and your health.
In large measure, we are our brains. The mind, the repository of who we are and how we see the world, is housed in that magnificent organ known as the brain. And yet, it is an organ that, over the years, has gotten relatively short shrift. We are frequently advised to adopt a heart healthy diet. How often do we hear about eating a brain healthy diet? We are often told to exercise for heart health. How often are we told to exercise for brain health?
Optimizing the function of our brains means optimizing our lives. And Dr. Willeumier teaches us how to do that based on science, in a way that is at once engaging and encouraging. The full title of her book, Biohack Your Brain: How to Boost Cognitive Health, Performance & Power, contains a phrase that is key to our success in life – cognitive health.
Our cognitive processes – perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning – are now more important than ever, especially in a post-industrial society. Our ability to think and clearly express our thoughts, in a technology driven world, is critical. In order not to be left behind in this new world, it is essential that we optimize our ability to function, specifically when it comes to our processes of mentation.
We all know of the devastation to individuals – and consequently to their loving families – of such afflictions as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Certainly, Biohack Your Brain is an important primer when it comes to helping to prevent and defeat those dread infirmities. However, it is also provides us with critical information on better mental functioning right now, which might well help us in our jobs, as well as navigating our way through an increasingly complex society.
Read Biohack Your Brain. Then read it again. Hopefully, Dr. Willeumier will come out with a companion workbook and, perhaps, a cookbook, which might help to guide us in this exciting arena of improving our mental functioning.
As an aside, it is exciting seeing Dr. Willeumier receive the mainstream attention she so richly deserves. Not only is she a highly regarded scientist, but she is a true humanist, an individual with both a mighty brain and a caring heart. We, at CYInterview, wish her continued success.
You can find more information about Dr. Willeumier’s book Biohack Your Brain: How to Boost Cognitive Health, Performance & Power by clicking here.
Dr. Willeumier’s official website is here.