The Invincible Brain: The Clinically Proven Plan to Age-Proof Your Brain and Stay Sharp for Life by Majid Fotuhi offers a five-pillar plan that anyone can use to improve their brain and body. Following this plan will help you avoid cognitive problems and even help you get rid of any cognitive problems you have at any age. You only have one body, so make sure you follow this advice. This book is a must.

Introduction

• The brain is capable of miraculous feats of growth and rejuvenation. It often finds a way around any damage. Use it, and it gets smarter and better at anything. Your genes matter, but your family environment, education, work, social interactions, hobbies, and dedication to learning matter more. You need to feed it a proper diet, provide it with blood and oxygen via exercise, and sleep well to allow it to repair itself.
• Your lifestyle impacts brain function. When it comes to diseases like Alzheimers, most neurologists agree that prevention is possible. You have a lot of control over how your brain ages. Majid has developed and tested a 12-week brain fitness program that has improved brain functioning in over 80% of adults and children who tried it. This includes children with ADHD. The purpose of this book is to provide his program to the reader. It’s never too late.

Part One: A New Definition of Intelligence – 1. The Unlimited Potential of the Invincible Brain

• Recent brain imaging has greatly increased our knowledge of the brain, but there is a lot of mystery left. We do know that the hippocampus, a thumb-sized extension of our cortex is the most malleable part with the most growth potential. Your brain changes based on how you live and what you do. The parts you use grow while the parts you don’t use shrink. Your lifestyle and mindset determine how smart you get about anything.
• Studies with London cab drivers who study for four year to learn every street show that their hippocampus grows bigger during the process. The same is true for people engaged in intensive language learning. Growth is not limited to young people. Majid believes that our brain’s ability is 30% due to our genes and 70% due to our environment. IQ tests are popular because they produce a single number, but poor tools for assessing intelligence as there are many things you can’t measure like emotional intelligence, social skills, and sense of humor.

2. You Are Smarter Than You Think You Are

• Here Majid provides non comprehensive definitions for no less than 30 intelligences. He than asks the reader to subjectively rate themselves from 1 to 10 for each intelligence. Some that might not seem obvious are street-smarts, nature, cooking, and happiness. This will allow you to work on the parts of your brain that are most important to you where you would like to score higher.

3. The Invincible Brain Mindset

• There are psychological and measurable physical benefits to having a sense of purpose. People with a purpose have a reduction in cognitive impairments and dementia. Their risk of stroke is one half. They have fewer heart attacks and a lower risk of death from all causes. They are less likely to have sleep problems and less likely to be overweight. The are less likely to be depressed or lonely and more likely to be happy. They even enjoy sex more.
• There are seven questions here that can help you find your purpose like what do you like to do the most. The first step is to believe. This involves having a growth mindset. Intelligence can be developed if you believe that you can get good at anything. This will grow your brain. It’s important to see advice as helpful feedback rather than criticism. See mistakes as learning opportunities and seek quality practice over quantity.

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