Book SummaryKeep Sharp, by Sanjay Gupta

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Keep Sharp

In Keep Sharp, Sanjay Gupta provides advice for improving your brain health. It’s not just about improving intelligence or memory: It’s about developing a brain that is resilient and creating a brain that can build new cells and use the cells you have more efficiently. If you have a healthy, resilient brain, you’ll be happier, more productive, and better equipped to fight off cognitive decline as you age.

As a neurosurgeon and medical reporter, Sanjay Gupta has extensive knowledge of the human brain and how it functions. For Keep Sharp, he interviewed some of the leading experts on neuroscience and reviewed the latest research. Gupta explores five key components of brain health: exercise, sleep, nutrition, discovery, and connection. While these may seem like obvious components of a healthy lifestyle, we’ll show...

Keep Sharp Summary How the Brain Works

Gupta argues that to better understand how to improve your brain, you must first understand how it works. With regard to improving brain health, there are two key attributes of the brain you should understand: interconnectedness and neuroplasticity.

Interconnectedness

Gupta claims that our growing understanding of the brain has taught us that different parts of the brain function in a highly coordinated manner. Because of this, we should focus on improving the functions of every part of the brain, not just the areas we may deem most important. Not too long ago, it was thought that the brain was split up into separate parts that acted on their own: One part of the brain was used for abstract thinking, another for interpreting language. This led to the debunked theory that people are either left- or right-brain dominant. We now know, however, that much of the brain’s power and complexity comes not from the individual sections, but from the communication between each section.

Communication within the brain happens between neurons through synaptic connections, writes Gupta. There are billions of neurons, or brain cells, in the human brain, and trillions of synapses...

Keep Sharp Summary Potential Factors Leading to Cognitive Decline

Gupta claims that maintaining the quality and quantity of our neural connections can help prevent cognitive decline, but the exact causes of dementia are still unknown. Medical scientists and researchers have discovered a lot about cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s in the last few decades, and their research suggests it’s probably due to many factors that differ for every person. If we want to take care of our brains and take measures to prevent them from declining, it will be helpful to know the suspected factors that lead to cognitive decline.

Amyloid Plaque Buildup

According to Gupta, an abundance of amyloid plaque in a person’s brain is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Amyloid is a protein that helps supply food to brain cells. For unknown reasons, these proteins sometimes become damaged and fold up into a sticky plaque that accumulates outside neurons. When plaques form, they prevent synapses from effectively communicating. If enough synapses are inhibited by amyloid plaques, the brain may lose many of its functions.

Though amyloid plaque has long been connected to cognitive decline, it is still unknown if it is a cause, an effect, or both. Some...

Keep Sharp Summary Five Ingredients of a Healthy Brain

Gupta claims that maintaining a healthy brain is a key to overall health and that prevention is the most effective antidote to neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive decline. We rarely think about Alzheimer’s or cognitive impairment until later in life. According to Gupta, this is a mistake because brain-related illnesses can start decades before symptoms appear. A decline in cognitive abilities begins in your 20s, and the brain’s structure can start to decay at age 30. However, if you can focus on living a healthy lifestyle from a young age, with a particular focus on your brain, you will be much more likely to avoid cognitive decline. At the very least, you will be able to delay it.

(Shortform note: Gupta claims that brain health is inextricably tied to your overall health and that cognitive skills begin declining much earlier than most people think. Recent studies support these claims: Neuropsychological research found that most people see...

Shortform Exercise: Review Your Weekly Habits

You can strengthen your brain by making simple lifestyle changes. Use this exercise to review how well you’re taking care of your brain on a weekly basis. You can come back to this exercise regularly to check your progress.

Did you get the recommended 150 minutes of exercise this week? If not, what stopped you? How could you increase the amount of exercise you get next week?