Featured on episode 17 of the Brain Science Podcast

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Product Description

The Wisdom Paradox explores the aging of the mind from a unique, positive perspective. In an era of increasing fears about mental deterioration, world-renowned neuropsychologist Elkhonon Goldberg provides startling new evidence that though the brain diminishes in some tasks as it ages, it gains in many ways. Most notably, it increases in what he terms "wisdom": the ability to draw upon knowledge and experience gained over a lifetime to make quick and effective decisions. Goldberg delves into the machinery of the mind, separating memory into two distinct types: singular (knowledge of a particular incident or fact) and generic (recognition of broader patterns). As the brain ages, the ability to use singular memory declines, but generic memory is unaffected—and its importance grows. As an individual accumulates generic memory, the brain can increasingly rely upon these stored patterns to solve problems effortlessly and instantaneously. Goldberg investigates the neurobiology of wisdom, and draws on historical examples of artists and leaders whose greatest achievements were realized late in life.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #235793 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From Scientific American
The possibilities of cognitive decline and dementia are among the most frightening aspects of aging. But according to New York University neuropsychologist Elkhonon Goldberg, brains get better in key respects as they get older. Moreover, he argues in The Wisdom Paradox, people can do much to ward off the debilities associated with aging. The brain’s capacity for pattern recognition is central to Goldberg’s premise. Moving through middle age and beyond, the brain develops a vast store of "generic memories"—knowledge of the shared patterns in events or things. This reservoir gives older people an improved ability to size up situations and solve problems without going through the step-bystep assessments a younger person might need. Such pattern recognition underlies competence and expertise and can compensate for age-related declines in attention or memory. Pattern recognition can even amount to "wisdom"—basically, knowing what to do. The author cites various elderly achievers to demonstrate that mental vigor can persist late in life. He notes that sculptor Eduardo Chillida retained formidable abilities even as his Alzheimer’s disease progressed. Delving into the relevant neurobiology, Goldberg points to a growing body of evidence that the brain’s left hemisphere is oriented toward familiar patterns, whereas the right hemisphere focuses on novelty. He argues that this dichotomy is more important than nuts-and-bolts partitions, such as the left hemisphere handling language while the right handles spatial reasoning. This maturation of mind means that the left hemisphere becomes increasingly important over a person’s lifetime. Moreover, the brain is shaped by how it is used. For instance, musicians who practice consistently develop a larger Heschl’s gyrus, an area involved in processing sound. And contrary to onetime scientific belief, the brain forms new neurons throughout adulthood. Through such observations, Goldberg emphasizes the importance of maintaining an active mind as a defense against mental decline. Though not a new idea, Goldberg impressively fits it into a wide- ranging picture of the aging brain. He speculates, for example, that art serves a central societal function in boosting mental acumen. He also outlines a "cognitive exercise program" he runs in which participants engage in computer-based exercises. The discussion here would have benefited from home-based exercises readers might try. Altogether, The Wisdom Paradox makes a compelling case for the possibility of maintaining a sharp mind far into old age. The book merits attention from the old and not so old alike.

Kenneth Silber

Review
Brilliant . . . Highly engaging . . . no less than a grand piece of scientific reporting and ‘popular’ science. -- Oliver Sacks on The Executive Brain

Review
Brilliant . . . Highly engaging . . . no less than a grand piece of scientific reporting and ‘popular’ science. (Oliver Sacks on The Executive Brain)

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Customer Reviews

Interesting, but a bit of a tease at the end
This is a very well-written, readable, and interesting book that incorporates some of the latest information about brain neurology, consciousness, and memory. Goldberg presents complex information in an easy to understand way. His thesis is that early in life, our brains have a greater ability to analyze and assimilate new information, developing neural "patterns." As we age, our analytical ability degrades due to physical aging of the brain, but we continue to thrive because the many "patterns" accreted over our lifetime help us to quickly recognize new data and categorize it. The adult brain's extensively-developed repertoire of patterns/data funnels is an analogy for "wisdom" which intuitively reaches insightful conclusions without much analysis.

As a result, Goldberg suggests that if we consciously cultivate our mental activity, building up neural connections and "patterns," we will insulate ourselves against any potential cognitive erosion due to aging. In the final chapters, Goldberg goes on to describe his facility that provides computer-mediated mental "workouts" to those who desire such therapy. I felt that this part of the book was a bit of a tease, or advertisement. Goldberg doesn't tell us what mental exercises to undertake, the implication is that we need to seek the services of his facility, or devise our own mental exercise program. I found this part a bit disappointing. (For those seeking such practical advice/exercises for brain development I recommend "Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot" by Richard Restak.)

Opinionated , original, and independent
If you like the thinker's prose, the so-called "romantic science",a style attributed to the Russian neuroscientist A. R. Luria,which consists in publishing original research in literary form, you would love this book. Clearly intellectual scientists are vanishing under the weight of the commoditization of the discipline. But once in a while someone emerges to reverse such setbacks.
Goldberg, who was the great Luria's student and collaborator, is even more colorful and fun to read than the master. He is egocentric, abrasive, opinionated, and colorful. He is also disdainful of the conventional beliefs in neurosciences --for instance he is suspicious of the assignment of specific functions, such as language, to anatomical regions. He is also skeptical of the journalistic "triune" brain. His theory is that the hemispheric specialization is principally along pattern matching and information processing lines:the left side stores patterns, while the right one processes novel tasks. It is convincing to see that children suffer more from a right brain injury, while adults have the opposite effect.
There is a little bit of open plugging of Goldberg's for-profit institute;he would have gotten better results by being subtle. A fre minor points. I did not understand why Goldberg discusses "modularity", of which he is critical, as if it were the same thing in both neurobiology and in cognitive science. In neurobiology, modularity implies regional localization, while cognitive scientists (Marr, Fodor, etc.) make no such assumption: for them it is entirely functional and they would be in great agreement with Goldberg. Also I did not understand why he attributes the language instinct to Pinker, not Chomsky, and why he makes snide remarks about behavioral scientists like Kahneman and Tversky. But these are very minor details that do not weaken the message (I still gave the book 5 stars). I am now spoiled; I need more essays by opinionated, original,and intellectual, contemporary scientists.

There is a wealth of wisdom to be had here!
Elkhonon Goldberg has once again created a book that blends his extensive knowledge of neuropsychology and neuroscience, modestly including his own very large (and probably still underestimated) contribution to the cutting edge of the field, and his own introspective experience as a living, breathing brain-owner, into a highly accessible, often playful, yet profoundly elegant treatise on the fate of the brain and cognition over the course of "normal aging."

Similar to his equally excellent and well-received earlier book "The Executive Brain," he writes with warmth and genuine affection for his reader and his material. As a clinical neuropsychologist myself, I generally prefer the more "textbook" type of presentation to those that are created for popular consumption, but in Goldberg's case, I make a strong exception. His gift seems to be his ability to "connect" hard science to life experience using accessible language that captures what might otherwise be arcane discourse, instead providing cogent explanation of complex ideas in a lively and inviting fashion.

Goldberg, as a deep and heuristic thinker, has contributed several highly promising and potentially advancing observations to the field of neuropsychology. Each of these ideas is incorporated into a forward-looking path toward understanding the complex changes in brain function and cognition that take place over the lifespan, culminating for those who are fortunate (and have worked hard for it) into a "style" of cognitive processing that, in more poetic terms, has been referred to through the ages as "wisdom."

One of the more elegant aspects of Goldberg's writing is that while resorting to science to explain what has otherwise required the "poetic," he manages to hold on to the poetry, perhaps even creating some in the process.