Basic Books The Tailored Brain: From Ketamine, to Keto, to Companionship, a User's Guide to Feeling Better and Thinking Smarter

The first chapter goes heavy into neuroanatomy, the “lay of the land,” so to speak. There is no magic bullet to make that simple, but the author does a wonderful job with metaphors and visuals that enable anyone to understand. The following chapters use these maps and landmarks from chapter 1 (“Planet Brain”) in describing how certain substances work (or how they don’t). So, yeah, the first chapter taught me more about neuroanatomy than I already knew, and that’s a plus. The chapters are well-structured with background, explanation, science, and conclusions. I love how the author’s personality comes through (there can’t be many books about brain science that mention a Brontë sister). The historical anecdotes and case studies were fascinating (and troubling…wow). Most of all, the thread running between chapters is meaningful and hopeful. The author, Emily Willingham, has done the hard labor of synthesizing data, including meta-analyses, and presents the results in context of what matters to us most: longevity of a healthy brain. I also enjoyed the supplemental links (and yes, I took the empathy test, among others). I worry about dementia, focus, etc, and have bought into some of the fads. The cost of the book and wonderful reading experience is easily offset by what you WILL NOT spend on useless supplements after reading and loving The Tailored Brain.

Book was most likely written from google searches on readily available material and cherry picked. Doesn't appear to have any first hand information from the author. Heavily politically influenced by someone who was likely paid to write an op ed. Save your money.

Tough to stay with this book. It was over my head.