Rewire Your Brain (eBook)

JOHN B. ARDEN, Ph.D., is the author or coauthor of eleven other books, including Brain-Based Therapy with Adults and Brain-Based Therapy with Children and Adolescents (with Lloyd Linford), Improving Your Memory For Dummies, Conquering Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (with Victoria Beckner), Consciousness, Dreams, and Self: A Transdisciplinary Approach, and The Heal Your Anxiety Workbook. He is Director of Training in Mental Health for Kaiser Permanente in Northern California where he oversees training in twenty-four medical centers, and where over a hundred postdoctoral residents and interns are trained each year.

Preface vii

1 Firing the Right Cells Together 1

2 Taming Your Amygdala 25

3 Shifting Left 45

4 Cultivating Memory 69

5 Fueling Your Brain 89

6 Healthy Habits: Exercise and Sleep 117

7 Social Medicine 141

8 Resiliency and Wisdom 165

9 The Mindful Attitude 187

References 207

Index 231

"At last, a practical book that not only brings us up to date
with the latest developments in neuroscience but also gives tools
and techniques to help 'rewire the brain' and maximize the brain's
potential. A fascinating and inspirational book. "

--Jane Stephenson, JSA Seminars Dublin,
Ireland

"Dr. Arden paved the way for brain-based therapy and what the brain
can do. It's refreshing, practical and
innovative."

--Kit S. Ng, PhD, Director, Asia Institute of
Professional Psychology, Singapore

"In Rewire Your Brain Dr. John Arden goes on an exciting
quest for your mind. If you would like to learn more about Mindful
Attitudes and Brain-based therapies, you definitely need to read
this book."

--George Dinchev, Owner of http://psychology-bg.com
- the psychology in Bulgaria and SEE Region

"Concomitantly with growing professional recognition of the
importance of integrating advancements in neuroscience into
clinical practice, books such as Rewire Your Brain make this
innovative information accessible to the general public, thereby
providing readers with practical guidelines to enhancing their
wellbeing. It is a valuable contribution indeed."

--Avigail Moor Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist, Tel Hai
College, Israel

"Once I started to read Rewire Your Brain, it was
hard to stop. John Arden has a gift for making complicated and
advanced scientific findings interesting and easy to understand. I
have not been reading much about brain structures, processes, and
neurotransmitters since studying first year psychology almost 30
years ago, a time when the knowledge in this field was quite
rudimentary. Rewire Your Brain presents 'old'
knowledge and concepts together with results of new research in at
way that gives you an updated insight in 'how we are
wired.' Even more important, it gives hope and practical
advice for both therapists and their patients, but also for healthy
individuals who want to improve their memory, mood, or bad
habits!"

-- Per A Straumsheim, Special Advisor, Norwegian
Psychological Association

"Dr. Arden tells us all about the brain in an accessible
way, he even animates it in some way, in contrast to brain
researchers who investigate the brain like an lifeless mechanism.
In order to maintain an active and flexible brain, the author shows
practical ways of neuropsychologically-competent mastery of brain.
Therefore the book is free of theoretical abstractions,
scientific dryness, and haughtiness."

--Gayane Shaverdian, Ph.D. Chair and Professor of
the Department of Applied Psychology, Yerevan State University,
Armenia

"This book speaks of a universal language that breaks
cultural borders . People from the West will have a better
understanding of early Asian therapies and why it is effective;
while those from the East will appreciate the contribution of
modern Western health perspectives . It gives a scientific
explanation of how therapies like meditation, chi-gong, exercise,
hypnosis and other non-traditional healing interventions can affect
health and longevity. It will certainly rewire the mindsets of many
public readers."

--Isabel Echanis-Melgar, PhD., Chair, Committee on
Clinical Psychology, Psychological Association of the
Philippines