"A memory advantage can come from genes or from hard work, but it can also come from understanding more about the psychology and neurophysiology of memory; as well as being fully knowledgeable about changes in memory that naturally occur across the human life span. Medical, psychological, and lifestyle issues all affect memory, but there are techniques and dietary supplements for improving memory. Memory is much more important than you think. It controls what you think about yourself and others and, subsequently, your full range of emotions."
— Dr. Thomas Crook, The Memory Advantage

Many middle-aged and older adults realize that while some abilities improve with age, memory usually doesn't. However, there exist today a number of effective techniques for dealing with memory problems. These are what make up The Memory Advantage.

An internationally recognized expert on memory, Dr. Thomas Crook's new book goes further than the typical memory book on tricks to recall your neighbor's name (although he also offers those). Dr. Crook stresses how important memory is in how one thinks and feels about oneself and others. Readers see how memories can be their best friends or, when distorted, their worst enemies. Do you want to learn how to use your memory to make yourself a clearer-thinking, more self-confident, and happier person? Then you should gain Dr. Crook's Memory Advantage.

In a clear, lucid style, Dr. Crook explains the basic neurophysiology of memory, about "normal" age-related changes in memory and how these differ from early signs of disorders such as Alzheimer's Disease. What may surprise many is that what's good for your heart is good for your brain: this accessible book stresses the importance of diet, exercise, stress reduction, adequate sleep, smoking cessation, and avoidance of problematic drugs used to treat medical or psychiatric disorders.

Unlike most books on memory, The Memory Advantage also explores the value of forgetting. Your brain is designed to screen out the vast majority of information that comes to you via your eyes, ears, nose, and skin. Many people seek to overcome the natural screening process of the brain and perceptual systems and to remember all sorts of information that is unlikely to ever be useful. That is much like keeping all the clothes you ever owned in your closet in the unlikely chance that bell bottoms will come back in fashion. It's important to forget trivial events and also negative, painful memories that serve no practical purpose. With Dr. Crook's technique, readers learn to exclude memory information that is not adaptive.

However, when it is important to remember constructive information, Dr. Crook offers techniques to do just that. To get around your brain's buffer, he offers valuable strategies like Association or Visualization. Of course, paying attention is the first and absolutely essential step in memory storage. Another highly effective memory technique reviewed in this book is offered by renowned psychologist B. F. Skinner: create a Prosthetic Memory Environment; or as Professor Skinner said "Rely on memos not memory." Arguments have been made that it is better to try and remember as much as possible rather than rely on such helpful devices as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs). In reality, these modern day memory aides dramatically increase individual productivity at any age.

A key element of The Memory Advantage that most have almost certainly not heard of before concerns a revolutionary nutraceutical product, N-PEP-12. Other such products for memory have been available for decades, centuries, or even millennia, but most of the brand name products sold for memory improvement are simply mixtures of these same old ingredients. N-PEP-12 is a product of state-of-the-art biotechnology that Dr. Crook has tested and found effective in treating normal, age-related memory loss.

Lastly, Dr. Crook introduces readers to the techniques of Cognitive Behavior Therapy, arguing that it's important to understand the relationship between the information you have stored in memory and how you think and feel every day. He provides a technique for purging maladaptive memories and substituting more positive memories accumulated over the course of a lifetime. These memories keep you strong and confident.

Integrating these various strategies, you will gain The Memory Advantage that will allow you to live a happier, more fulfilled, and more successful life.

© 2006 The Memory Advantage. All Rights Reserved.