Smarter Tomorrow: How 15 Minutes of Neurohacking a Day Can Help You Work Better, Think Faster, and Get More Done

by Elizabeth R. Ricker

Overview

What if you could upgrade your brain in 15 minutes a day? Let Elizabeth Ricker, an MIT and Harvard-trained brain researcher turned Silicon Valley technologist, show you how.

Join Ricker on a wild and edifying romp through the cutting-edge world of neuroscience and biohacking. You'll encounter Olympic athletes, a game show contestant, a memory marvel, a famous CEO, and scientists galore.
 
From Ricker’s decade-long quest, you will learn:

●  The brain-based reason so many self-improvement projects fail . . . But how a little-known secret of Nobel Prize winning scientists could finally unlock success
●  Which four abilities—both cognitive and emotional—can predict success in work and relationships . . . and a new system for improving all four
●  Which seven research-tested tools can supercharge mental performance. They range from low-tech (a surprising new mindset) to downright futuristic (an electrical device for at-home brain stimulation)
 
Best of all, you will learn to upgrade your brain with Ricker’s 20 customizable self-experiments and a sample, 12-week schedule.
 
Ricker distills insights from dozens of interviews and hundreds of research studies from around the world. She tests almost everything on herself, whether it’s nicotine, video games, meditation, or a little-known beverage from the Pacific islands. Some experiments fail hilariously—but others transform her cognition. She is able to sharpen her memory, increase her attention span, boost her mood, and clear her brain fog. By following Ricker’s system, you’ll uncover your own boosts to mental performance, too.
 
Join a growing, global movement of neurohackers revolutionizing their careers and relationships. Let this book change 15 minutes of your day, and it may just change the rest of your life!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316535151
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	08/17/2021
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	645,230
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Elizabeth Ricker has given talks on cognitive enhancement and neurohacking across the US and overseas. She is a sought-after expert by Silicon Valley venture capital firms, technology startups, schools, and a Fortune 500 company. Ricker's work has been featured on public broadcast TV in Europe and in the March for Science’s book Science Not Silence. Ricker received her undergraduate degree in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from MIT and her graduate degree in Mind, Brain, and Education from Harvard. In college, she worked in the neuroscience lab of Nobel Prize winner Dr. Susumu Tonegawa. Ricker was also a varsity college athlete and class president— a role occasionally involving such serious duties as dressing up in a giant rodent costume to play Tim the Beaver, the MIT mascot. 

For author updates and access to neurohacking tools and resources, visit ericker.com. 

Table of Contents

Author's Note ix

Introduction & How to Use This Book 3

Part I Prepare to Neurohack

1 Scientific Self-Help 13

2 Neurohackers, Revealed 18

3 The Evidence 24

4 The Nuts and Bolts 31

5 Organize to Motivate 41

6 Debugging Yourself 48

Self-Assessment of Health and Lifestyle 57

Part II Find Your (Mental) Focus

7 The New IQ 67

Self Assessment of Executive Function 73

Performance-Based Tests 76

Additional Performance-Based Tests: Flanker-Like Test, Stroop-Like Test 79

8 The New EQ 82

Self-Assessment of Emotional Regulation 86

Mood Assessment 88

9 Memory and Learning 91

Self-Assessment of Memory and Learning 96

Performance-Based Tests of Memory and Learning 99

10 Creativity 102

Self-Assessment of Creativity 108

Performance-Based Tests of Creativity 111

11 Choosing Your Mental Target 115

12 Life Scoring 122

Self Assessment of Life Satisfaction & Say to Do 127

Part III Select a (Foundational) Intervention

13 Placebo on Purpose 135

14 Sweat 145

15 Let There Be (Blue) Light 156

16 Rewriting the Brain's Signature 163

17 Serious Games 175

Part IV Select an (Advanced) Intervention

18 Zapping for the Better 197

19 A Pill a Day 213

20 Sci Fi to Sci Fact 232

Part V Train and Reflect

21 Your 15-Minute Self-Experiments 253

Introducing … the 15-Minute Self-Experiments! 257

22 Pretty Pictures 291

Final Goodies, Goodbye, and Good Luck! 297

Acknowledgments 301

Notes 307

Index 343

Editorial Reviews

09/27/2021

Cognitive scientist Ricker examines the process and promise of neurohacking in her thorough debut. Neurohacking, or “exploring your current mental abilities” and “upgrading them,” she argues, will help readers of all ages improve their memory, get better sleep, and achieve greater productivity. To that end, she lays out a system of exercises, schedules, and experiments that mimic scientific trials, and suggests readers record and chart their progress alongside an accountability buddy. She advocates creating a routine focused on a single goal, selecting a self-improvement protocol, developing a regimen, and making time for reflection. While some ideas seem promising—such as incorporating minor “interventions” (exercises to shake up one’s mental state) into one’s daily routine—others will be a bridge too far for many, such as using a device “that runs positive or negative current through electrodes placed on a specific part of the scalp” to help “accelerate learning.” Ricker’s highly systematized processes will appeal to those deeply into the self-optimization scene. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Those interested in adding rigor to their self-improvement journeys have no better place to turn than Smarter Tomorrow.”—Wall Street Journal

"With a scientist's eye and an explorer's heart, Ricker sets out to optimize everything from cognition to creativity. If you're a brain-owner, you should be running experiments on yourself — and this is the guidebook you're going to want."—David Eagleman, author of Livewired and Incognito

"...examines the process and promise of neurohacking in her thorough debut....Ricker’s highly systematized processes will appeal to those deeply into the self-optimization scene." —Publisher's Weekly

“Brilliant...While many of us are out of school now, there are still people out there who make intelligence cool—and show us how we can become smarter ourselves."—The Next Big Idea Club (book club from Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink)

"A new book explaining how to optimize your nervous system condenses the best of psychology and neuroscience, which makes it almost perfect." —Fair Observer

“Cognitive enhancement…in approachable bite-sized bits”—Harvard Magazine

From the Publisher