Aude Van RynIn The New York Times Book Review, Annie Murphy Paul reviews Dan Hurley’s “Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain Power.” Ms. Paul writes:
“Feel the burn!” That was Jane Fonda in 1982, exhorting the viewers of her first-of-its-kind workout video to engage in an exotic pursuit called exercise. In her striped leotard and legwarmers, Fonda led the charge against the generally held opinion that exercise was a weird waste of time. (In those days, lifting weights was for Charles Atlas aspirants, and jogging was for quirky “health nuts.”) The tireless exertions of Fonda — and of tiny-shorted Richard Simmons and toothy Judi Sheppard Missett, the founder of Jazzercise — were ultimately wildly successful, making what was then an eccentric choice into what is now practically an obligation. Today we all exercise, or at least know we should.
We can think of Dan Hurley as the would-be Jane Fonda of cognitive exercise — the mental training that can, some researchers claim, whip our brains into better shape. Hurley is a science journalist who has written for The New York Times Magazine and The Washington Post. In his new book, “Smarter,” he embraces scientists’ assertions that cognitive training can increase working memory — the mental holding space in which we manipulate and combine facts and ideas — and even fluid intelligence, the all-purpose problem-solving capacity that is partner to crystallized intelligence, or knowledge stored in memory.
On this week’s podcast, Mr. Hurley talks about his new book, “Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain Power”; Julie Bosman has notes from the field; Jason Zengerle discusses Seth Davis’s new biography of John Wooden; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. John Williams is the host, filling in for Pamela Paul.