Dana Press kindly sent us a couple of books. One of them, The Dana Guide to Brain Health: A Practical Family Reference From Medical Experts, is our topic today. We are impressed by what Dana is doing to insert neuroscience findings and implications into the public discourse.No big surprise then, to find out so much quality content inside a 700-page one-of-a-kind guide.The guide is really 4 books inside a common binding. Priced at a reasonable level, and with superb in-depth text and images in all relevant areas, the book can be used as a:1) Brain 101 tutorial,2) brief summary of the basics of Brain Care and Wellness,3) description of the stages of brain development,4) reference guide for around 70 brain-related conditions.In my personal opinion, every neuroscience, medical and psychology student, clinician and researcher should have this book in their hands to keep abreast of many recent developments, and also be exposed to professional development courses based on it. Many families and individuals interested in the brain should consider buying it too.Given the focus of our blog-brain fitness for healthy individuals-, we particularly enjoyed the sections- on intelligence, with sentences such as “It is extremely unlikely that an “intelligence pill” will be discovered in the near future” (P. 215)- on “The Brain-Body Loop” which explains, among other things, the effects of stress,- “Taking Advantage of New Findings and New Finding About the Adult Brain”, with gems such as “Recent research on the brain has established two great principles. First, far from remaining static in adulthood, as we had long assumed, the human brain continues to grow and develop throughout our entire life span. This development takes place in two ways: by ongoing adjustments in signaling pathways and by the addition of new brain cells. Knowing this means that you should try, as you would with any fine, high-powered machine, to practice good maintenance to give it the best chance to provide peak performance…in many respects we can make a material difference in how it ages, and even induce it to perform better over time…Just as we may choose to strengthen our muscles with challenging workouts, we can encourage brain growth by keeping engaged in many different mental activities”.- and, above all, the one on “Basic Brain Care: Protecting Your Mental Capital” (Pages 31-41), where we are all recommended to—- Sleep: at least 6 hours a day, making sure we don’t make a habit of “cutting sleep short”—- Eat well: the general rule here is that what is good for the body is also good for the brain, and to be wary of “diets advertised as “brain food”—- “Protect the fortress” (our skull), by making sure we use security belts and helmets whenever there may be a risk—- Exercise regularly—- Keep Stress in Check (stress can inhibit or reduce the creation of new neurons, among other things)—- Stimulate our minds through life, by ensuring a flow of novelty and variety that enhances the creation of a “cognitive reserve”. If is fascinating for us to see how Brain Fitness helps integrate “Brain Health” and “Lifelong Learning”, Health & Wellness and Education. Of course, these categories are human conventions that the brain itself probably doesn’t care too much about…In short, a great reference book for professionals and for people interested in the brain. And a great starting point (the only one we are aware of) for a really useful and practical guide to Brain Health that every family should have. In a bit more creative terms: great quality marble looking for a consumer-oriented Michelangelo.Copyright (c) 2008 SharpBrains
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Cheap International Flight Tickets – How To Find The Best Flight
Nowadays it is more of an art than a skill getting cheap international flight tickets. In many cases the situation was both better and worse, before the Internet became so popular. On one hand, there appeared to be less competition for offering cheap international flights. You had to make numerous calls to several airlines to get the best deal. Only few travelers exert themselves to really make sure that they were having a good price, a fact which kept rates higher. But then, if you were tough you may be able almost to get a great deal. May be you had to spend an hour or two, however by that time you would get a great idea of what airway carrier provided the best price tags on the dates you were considering of booking your flight.In these days, you can find cheap airline deals all over the World Wide Web. Just about every day, you can get a great number of promotions for cheap international flight tickets to any destination of your choice. Strangely enough, this can make it harder at all to get the best bargain than before. You can find many online travel sites where you can search for cheap flights tickets.A lot of travelers have their favorite. For instance, some people always start with Priceline. However others prefer Travelocity, Travelnow, or several other travel websites on the whole. Still, in fact, no one of the travel sites mentioned above can be always right. With cheap international flight tickets, like anything else to find out the best rate on the Internet, the more research you do the better will be your results.Whenever you get going to search for cheap travel international, you should give Travelocity a first try. The benefit of that discount travel site is that it runs searches of different travel engines and offers a lot of specials on a short notice as well. So it is more expected than most others to offer the cheapest international tickets. Nonetheless, it couldn’t offer the best bargain all the time. Occasionally, it misses a deal or you can get a special deal only on the homepage of an airline.It changes at times, so it may be a good idea to go also with Priceline that provide the great option to make your own offerings. It allow you to bid for a name your own price airfare to any destination you would like to go at a price you can afford, whenever the airway go for the bid. Going with this travel site can decrease your cost of airfare by 40 percent.Nevertheless, occasionally things can end up being disappointing. As an example, there will be times, when you have purchased a cheap airline ticket only to see one less expensive offered the next day. In these cases, it is important to keep your mind on the positive. So be prepared that you are finding a great bargain, and missing out on an even more beneficial one should not depress you as much. No matter how good a deal you get, as with any other thing, chances are that you will get even a better deal with cheap international flight tickets anywhere.
How to Avoid “Nightmare” London Hotels
It is all very well looking for value for money but you may regret going blindly for the cheapest hotel you can get! This applies particularly in a city like London which often has a shortage of hotel rooms.To understand the pitfalls, you might wish to check out the “Worst 10 hotels” list periodically published by TripAdvisor: sadly, the majority of the worst UK hotels seem to be in London.The question is: why do people end up booking such terrible hotels? It may be down to laziness (not doing proper research) or misleading information on company websites.Sometimes a hotel reception can appear nice which makes you think the rooms must be OK too – but this is very often a mistake. If you get a chance to visit a hotel before booking it, ask to see the room first. Whatever you do, don’t blindly book the very cheapest hotel you find. It often makes sense to go after a specific price range or location.You should always ask yourself what you would be willing to compromise on. This will then allow you to choose the best hotel within the category and price range that most appeals.It is also sensible to book your trip a long way in advance. Don’t forget to try to contact the hotel directly to explore if they will negotiate an upgrade for you. For example, as far as “no-frills accommodation” goes, Travelodge often provides great London hotel deals, especially if you catch one of the company’s amazing flash room sales. Their rooms are a bit minimalist but provide everything you need and often reasonably spacious for the price.Another operating providing reasonable value for money is the Holiday Inn Express brand. Although it is usually more expensive than Travelodge you do generally get slightly better facilities there.A further example of value is offered by the so-called “budget luxury” hotels of London which include the likes of Base2stay and the Hoxton. Make sure you check their special offers before you book.Once again the secret in getting a great deal is in the timing, for example the Hoxton even offers rooms for £1 during its flash sales! Above all, please make sure you shop around. Rates on London hotels vary wildly and it’s often worth contacting the hotel directly to negotiate.Don’t be fooled by claims of “the best online rate”. Almost all hotel booking sites make this claim but they cannot all be right. Check it out for yourself.The best way to make sure you get top value in a good hotel is to do your research by using an independent blog like London Hotels Insight which can help you to find the hotels that score highly in terms of guest reviews.