Norton S. Beckerman is not an M.D. or a Ph.D. He's just a lay person that had serious memory problems and had lost his ability to speak, both important cognitive functions. His problems were considered to be incurable but possibly manageable. They were'nt manageable. Mr. Beckerman feared that he would continue to lose cognitive function. He began to study the brain and brain function in an effort to understand and possibly cure his cognitive problems. That was 10-12 years ago. He not only cured his cognitive problems but expanded his cognitive abilities. Today Mr. Beckerman writes about the brain and how it functions, teaches class, puts on presentations and workshops, has an informational website, and can be seen as "the Brain Health Coach" on local cable TV. He wrote "A User's Guide to the Brain" in an effort to share what he had learned, and is learning, about how the brain functions and what is necessary to keep it functioning effectively. He uses main stream science but presents it in a unique way. Mr. Beckerman recognizes that his readers have no intention of becoming doctors or neuroscientists. All they want to do is to be able to is to be able to understand how their brain functions and what they can do to keep it functioning effectively, particularly their cognitive abilities. "A User's Guide to a Healthy Brain" takes your brain off your shoulders and allows you to look at it as another individual. It explains how and why that individual can go from being healthy to unhealthy without ever realizing it. It explains why this happens and the impact that this has on memory and other cognitive abilities. Throughout, the book explains why and how the brain can be restored to a healthy, effectively functioning state, at any age.