A review by phronk
Successful Aging: A Neuroscientist Explores the Power and Potential of Our Lives by Daniel J. Levitin
4.0
I liked this book and found it valuable, even though it's kind of a mess.
Levitin summarizes the latest science on aging and the brain, and most of it is rigorous and clear in my opinion. He relies mostly on meta-analyses that summarize hundreds of studies to arrive at a conclusion, though there are occasional forays into more experimental drugs and techniques, with an appropriate degree of caution about whether anybody should take them seriously.
There are a few practical tidbits about how to age well, though none are particularly surprising (a good thing, IMO, when being scientifically credible), and not organized into any sort of plan aside from a bulleted list on the last page. In the beginning it kind of seems like he'd turn his "COACH" acronym into some sort of healthy aging system, but that fizzles out and is never returned to. This is more about better understanding the factors that contribute to healthy aging, rather than self-help.
I do like the emphasis on personality, because that doesn't come up as often as the obvious things like diet and exercise. As a (mostly former) personality researcher myself, I'm a bit biased, but I think it's important to acknowledge that every person is different, and maybe even bluntly state that certain personality profiles (e.g., high conscientiousness) can be better than other personality profiles if you want to live a long and healthy life.
Where the book falls short of its potential is in its structure and focus. Is this a book about the neuroscience of aging? The brain on the cover seems to say so, and it refers to itself as a book about the brain, but then it has entire chapters that focus on the rest of the body. Some sections are focused on particular topics, but others sort of meander through various loosely-connected ideas, sometimes looping back on themselves to cover research that had already been mentioned in previous chapters. There's a great collection of references at the end, and an index for if you need to look up a particular lifestyle factor or drug later, which makes sense, because this can feel a bit like a reference book rather than a cohesive flow of ideas.
I'm only in my early 40s, so reading this wasn't an emergency, but I still found it extremely valuable for getting a head start on having the best chance of reaching old age without my brain turning to mush. I find myself thinking about it while I'm on my exercise bike—if I push myself a little bit harder today, maybe I'll have a few more years of lucidity when I'm in my 80s. Despite any nitpicks about the writing, that motivational push is priceless.
Levitin summarizes the latest science on aging and the brain, and most of it is rigorous and clear in my opinion. He relies mostly on meta-analyses that summarize hundreds of studies to arrive at a conclusion, though there are occasional forays into more experimental drugs and techniques, with an appropriate degree of caution about whether anybody should take them seriously.
There are a few practical tidbits about how to age well, though none are particularly surprising (a good thing, IMO, when being scientifically credible), and not organized into any sort of plan aside from a bulleted list on the last page. In the beginning it kind of seems like he'd turn his "COACH" acronym into some sort of healthy aging system, but that fizzles out and is never returned to. This is more about better understanding the factors that contribute to healthy aging, rather than self-help.
I do like the emphasis on personality, because that doesn't come up as often as the obvious things like diet and exercise. As a (mostly former) personality researcher myself, I'm a bit biased, but I think it's important to acknowledge that every person is different, and maybe even bluntly state that certain personality profiles (e.g., high conscientiousness) can be better than other personality profiles if you want to live a long and healthy life.
Where the book falls short of its potential is in its structure and focus. Is this a book about the neuroscience of aging? The brain on the cover seems to say so, and it refers to itself as a book about the brain, but then it has entire chapters that focus on the rest of the body. Some sections are focused on particular topics, but others sort of meander through various loosely-connected ideas, sometimes looping back on themselves to cover research that had already been mentioned in previous chapters. There's a great collection of references at the end, and an index for if you need to look up a particular lifestyle factor or drug later, which makes sense, because this can feel a bit like a reference book rather than a cohesive flow of ideas.
I'm only in my early 40s, so reading this wasn't an emergency, but I still found it extremely valuable for getting a head start on having the best chance of reaching old age without my brain turning to mush. I find myself thinking about it while I'm on my exercise bike—if I push myself a little bit harder today, maybe I'll have a few more years of lucidity when I'm in my 80s. Despite any nitpicks about the writing, that motivational push is priceless.