Keep Sharp: Build A Better Brain At Any Age

Headline Home, £14.99

Sanjay Gupta’s message is clear: “Anyone can build a better brain at any age.”

Apart from being a brain surgeon, the author is medical correspondent for CNN, a combination ideal for a book that draws on his lucid communication skills to explain what we now know about the brain. Disentangling myth and discredited ideas from reputable research, it delves into what we can do to delay or prevent cognitive decline, and culminates in a 12-week plan.

Gupta’s regime is based on what he calls the Five Pillars Of Brain Health: Move (exercise), Discover (keep learning new things), Relax (unwind, sleep long, reduce stress), Nourish (eat the right foods), Connect (develop and maintain diverse social networks).

More specifically, he offers many surprising suggestions.

He says we shouldn’t try to multi-task, we should have one screen-free day a week, we should eat seven different coloured foods daily, and we should walk regularly with a friend and talk about our worries. Admittedly, some of these goals are harder to achieve during lockdown but as Gupta explains, it’s in our interests to make what changes we can.

“Once your brain is running cleanly and smoothly,” he writes, “everything else follows.

“You will make better decisions, have improved resilience and a more optimistic attitude, and the physical part of your body will improve too.”

Not only will this book give a better understanding of how your brain works but it will help it work better.