Daniel G. Amen, M.D. is a clinical neuroscientist and medical director of the Amen Clinic for Behavioral Medicine in California. He popularized using SPECT scans to diagnose brain damage and treat with lifestyle and dietary modifications, as well as medications. He’s a nationally recognized expert on the relationship between the brain and behavior as well as attention deficit disorder (ADD). Dr. Amen wrote the fascinating book Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness that details five areas of the brain (deep limbic system, cingulate gyrus, prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, temporal lobes) and shares what functions each area controls, what the potential problems are, and how to treat them. At the end of his book, he lists fifty “Brain Dos” and fifty “Brain Don’ts.” Here is an excerpt from that list:

Brain Dos and Brain Don’ts: A Summary of Ways to Optimize Brain Function and Break Bad Brain Habits

Brain Dos:
• Wear a helmet in high-risk situations.
• Drink lots of water (six to eight 8-ounce glasses daily) to stay well hydrated.
• Eat healthfully, adjusting the proportion of protein and carbohydrate to your brain
needs.
• Take gingko biloba as necessary under your doctor’s supervision.
• Think positive, healthy thoughts.
• Every day, take time to focus on the things you are grateful for in your life.
• Spend time with positive, uplifting people.
• Spend time with people you want to be like (you are more likely to become like
them).
• Work on your “people skills” to become more connected and to enhance limbic
bonds.
• Talk to others in loving, helpful ways.
• Surround yourself with great smells.
• Build a library of wonderful experiences.
• Make a difference in the life of someone else.
• Exercise.
• Learn and use self-hypnosis and meditation on a daily basis.
• Effectively confront and deal with situations involving conflict.
• Have meaning, purpose, excitement, and stimulation in your life.
• Establish eye contact with and smile frequently at others.
• Consider brainwave biofeedback or audiovisual stimulation to optimize brain
function.
• Notice when you’re stuck, distract yourself, and come back to the problem later.
• Learn something new every day.
• Sing and hum whenever you can.
• Make beautiful music a part of your life.
• Make beautiful smells a part of your life.
• Touch others often (appropriately).
• Make love with your partner.
• Use an EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) therapist to deal
with trauma.
• Take head injuries seriously, even minor ones.

Brain Don’ts
• Lie around the house and never exercise.
• Ignore concussions.
• Smoke.
• Drink much caffeine.
• Drink much alcohol.
• Eat without forethought about what foods are best for your brain.
• Ride a motorcycle, bicycle, skateboard, in-line skates, snowboard, and so forth
without a helmet.
• Hit a soccer ball with your head.
• Bungee jump.
• Think in words like always, never, every time, everyone.
• Predict the worst.
• Try to read other people’s minds.
• Personalize situations that have little to do with you.
• Talk to others in a hateful way.
• Push people away.
• Be around toxic smells.
• Be around toxic people.
• Allow your life to just happen without you directing and planning it.
• Allow thoughts to go over and over in your head.
• Isolate yourself when you feel worried, depressed, or panicky.

To read the full list of Dr. Amen’s brain dos and don’ts, click here.
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