Book Review: The XX Brain

I looked forward to this book when I put my name on the library hold list. The sub-title reveals why it might appeal to me: The Groundbreaking Science Empowering Women to Maximize Cognitive Health and Prevent Alzheimer's Disease. I'm all about brain study. I'm deeply interested in preventing the Alzheimer's that plagues my mother. Yet, I completed this book with no sense of empowerment or vision of a secret unveiled for staving off cognitive decline.

Lisa Mosconi, PhD, is the director of the Women's Brain Initiative at Weill Cornell Medical College. She's an expert. As the title hints, the book's major thrust decries how medicine has treated women up to this point, failing to recognize that a woman's brain differs from a man's brain. It's not that I'm arguing her point, but I expected more emphasis on practical steps for women to boost their brain health than on a political analysis of the medical establishment. Give me the facts, ma'am! I finally arrived at Chapter 9, 150 pages in, where the book begins with advice about diet, stress, sleep, etc. Yet, I still couldn't seem to engage with the material.

I skimmed through the rest and briefly glanced at a handful of recommended recipes (none interesting enough to copy). The most significant benefit was a reminder to make better food choices when ice cream calls and the fruit looks insipid. Ha - this makes me think of my mother-in-law, who always offers fruit for dessert, and I stare in wonder because I don't consider fruit a "dessert!" Dessert is something sweet and tasty and bad for you (cake, pie, ice cream, cookies). Then again, she is almost 92 years old, so fruit as a dessert is probably not a bad call!