After making posts like the following, it’s easy to get the impression that I’m an elitist:
• Should You Only Care What Rich People Think?
The truth is different. I’m an elitist when it comes to sources of information, but I think every human being has inherent value. Some people see others for what they are. I hope to see others for what they could be. With regenerative medicine and neurogenesis, it’s possible to uplift others and improve their health. It may also be possible someday to dramatically improve cognition and totally transform a person’s mind and life for the better. There are already some opportunities to improve the quality of the brain through nutrition and also through various kinds of therapy, as described in books like these:
• The Mind and the Brain – a book about neuroplasticity written by UCLA professor Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, a pioneer in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder
• The Brain that Changes Itself – a book about neuroplasticity written by psychiatrist Dr. Norman Doidge
• Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain – Harvard psychiatry professor Dr. John Ratey describes the benefits of exercise on the brain
• The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy – Pepperdine psychology professor Dr. Louis Cozolino describes the ways therapy enhances the brain
• How God Changes Your Brain – Dr. Andrew Newberg discusses how mindful contemplation of God improves brain health and how fundamentalism damages the brain
• Change Your Brain, Change Your Life – psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen uses SPECT scans to demonstrate how mental disorders are connected with brain damage
• Younger You – a book by Dr. Eric Braverman that describes how levels of neurotransmitters affect thinking and how to bring them back into balance
There is still much more work to be done to truly allow people to change their brains for the better. Most people are doing the best they can with the brain they have, not the brain they wish or want to have.
