Rating: 
Summary: Interesting concepts, tedious delivery
Review: Mozart's Brain and The Fighter Pilot is an interesting book about how the brain works, which parts of the brain control different activities, and what exercises you might conduct to exercise your brain. Unfortunately, the writing straddles between the author's academic background and what might be interesting to the average reader. The end result is a book that seems like random, rambling recollections and anecdoates of a smart man, but lazily written. I was never sure if his assertions were backed by facts or if they were just speculation on his part. Examples of this mixed style:
- Very prescriptive statements: "you should play chess if you want to keep a sharp mind"; "the only way to..."; and a proclivity for great books as being the only books worth reading
- The exercises he suggested are rarely validated by experimental proof.
- Offers specifics where none are needed - "If you are over 35 and you pull your skin back towards your face you will look 10 years younger." As a last note, I felt the title was misleading. I was looking for more detailed anecdotes about how various types of people's brains worked. The example of Mozart, however, barely covered two pages. Enjoyable, entertaining, but also frustrating.
Rating:
Summary: Think and don't lose your mind
Review: Restak provides a short manual for keeping your mind as you age. The basic premise of the book is that by keeping your mind active (which causes your brain to rewire itself continually according to PET scan research) you will keep your mental sharpness as you age. He says the brain is the only organ of the body that doesn't wear out with use.
The lessons, as another reviewer has said, are for the most part motherhood and apple pie. Basically, stay intellectually stimulated and participate in physical activities that require fine motor skills. The example given is tai chi. Other activities such as dance or Pilates would be just as good.
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