The XX Brain

The Groundbreaking Science Empowering Women to Maximize Cognitive Health and Prevent Alzheimer's Disease

By: Lisa Mosconi, Maria Shriver

Narrated by: Brittany Pressley

Length: 10 hrs

Publisher's Summary

"In The XX Brain, Lisa meticulously guides us in the ways we can both nourish and protect ourselves, body and mind, to ensure our brains remain resilient throughout our lives." (from the foreword by Maria Shriver)

The first audiobook to address cognitive enhancement and Alzheimer's prevention specifically in women - and to frame brain health as an essential component of women's health.

In this revolutionary audiobook, Dr. Lisa Mosconi, director of the Women's Brain Initiative at Weill Cornell Medical College, provides women with the first plan to address the unique risks of the female brain.

Until now, medical research has focused on "bikini medicine", assuming that women are essentially men with breasts and tubes. Yet women are far more likely than men to suffer from anxiety, depression, migraines, brain injuries, and strokes. They are also twice as likely to end their lives suffering from Alzheimer's disease, even when their longer lifespans are taken into account. But in the past, the female brain has received astonishingly little attention and was rarely studied by medical researchers - resulting in a wealth of misinformation about women's health.

The XX Brain confronts this crisis by revealing how the two powerful X chromosomes that distinguish women from men impact the brain first and foremost and by focusing on a key brain-protective hormone: estrogen.

Taking on all aspects of women's health, including brain fog, memory lapses, depression, stress, insomnia, hormonal imbalances, and the increased risk of dementia, Dr. Mosconi introduces cutting-edge, evidence-based approaches to protecting the female brain, including a specific diet proven to work for women, strategies to reduce stress, and useful tips for restorative sleep. She also examines the controversy about soy and hormonal replacement therapy, takes on the perils of environmental toxins, and examines the role of our microbiome. Perhaps best of all, she makes clear that it is never too late to take care of yourself.

The XX Brain is a rallying cry for women to have full access to information regarding what is going on in their brains and bodies as well as a road map for the path to optimal, lifelong brain health. 

This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF that contains resources, a diet plan, and recipes.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 Lisa Mosconi, Maria Shriver (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

 "Dr. Mosconi boldly takes the question of what differentiates men from women away from just the reproductive organs and focuses on the unique characteristics of the female brain. And it is about time! When 2/3 of Alzheimer’s patients are women, clearly a manifestation of the female brain’s uniqueness, we must take notice. The XX Brain is fully empowering, leveraging the very best science allowing women to enhance cognitive health and gain control of their brain’s destiny." (David Perlmutter, MD, number-one New York Times best-selling author of Grain Brain) 

 "Women’s brains have unique risk factors for dementia that until now have been ignored by science. Lisa Mosconi’s path-breaking work changes this paradigm to show women how they specifically can protect and enhance brain function throughout life. Essential reading!" (Max Lugavere, New York Times best-selling author of Genius Foods) 

"This extraordinary book gives women cutting-edge, research-based advice on what they particularly need to know to keep their brains functioning at maximum capacity. Highly recommended!" (J. J. Virgin, New York Times best-selling author of The Virgin Diet)

Disappointing

I ordered this book because I am interested in this subject due to my family history. I have a young daughter and I thought this book would help me expecially in finding out how to cook for her and what tips to give her as a father.
However, the book's emphasis on how women are more vulnerable from Alzheimer's, which is a natural law for which neither men nor women are responsible, is linked for some mysterious reason to the metoo movement right from the start of the book, as if women vulnerability were due to some kind of discrimination. This sounds to me like saying that men are discriminated against because their life expectancy is lower. I may be simple minded, but I don't understand how this kind of polemical stuff has a place in science.
I also tried in parallel some of the recipes from the author's blog site for my daughter, and whilst they are not bad, they caused indigestion, probably because they use plenty of exotic ingredients like maca, lucuma etc to which we are not used.
So I cannot recommend this author's work or advice.

Frontloads

So I love this book. It’s great. I’ve been listening for a while and hear all the issues I have as a woman without solutions to those issues. I know those will be addressed in a few more hours of listening to this. But I’m angry at all the time with so little payoff at the beginning of the book honestly. This is why I’ve given it two stars. I want to know issues and answers. Not issue after issue after issue after issue. I’m still on the issues and the downsides of being a woman - with being a woman that loves being a woman - and still no ‘here is the advice given these issues’. I know we have it harder, I get it. I don’t need to have a boulder to my brain about it. Right now she is talking about issues and I’m like - I don’t have these issues but I might if she keeps this up. I’m trying to order things to help lower my chances of all these problems and still have no idea what I should get hours into this, third day of listening throughout my day. My advice? Skip the Shriver introduction, skip the first chapters. And heck, I can’t yet recommend which one has the solutions. They are in here. But I don’t know where. Thanks

Same old: Eat right and exercise

There is no new information on this book. The author talks on and on about the impact of Alzheimer’s in the female population. Talks about some differences between male and females brains, but provides no treatment. Reads like a magazine that you would find at the grocery store.

A must read for women of all ages!

I was looking for information on how to increase estrogen in my post menopause life to help with recently diagnosed ADHD and stumbled upon Dr. Mosconi's TED talk. Hearing this was positive and stimulating to hear her focus on healthy brains for women. She is a primary researcher on Alzheimer's but her recommendations are focused on making sure women understand the implications of the food we eat, how much we move, how much we sleep, and how we use our brains, in addition to awareness of toxins in our food and in the environment. Excellent, brilliant, and inspiring writing and content!

Great Info, Very dense, did not care for reader

This book is wonderfully informative for women of all ages and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about how to boost health at every age. Even with a masters in neurobiology I found it quite dense and detailed re: recommendations, regiments and supplements, so suggest that you pick and choose the chapters that apply to you - which is hard to do on audio. I really did not care for the person doing the reading - found her to be directive, even condescending. I have seen and heard the author Ms. Mosconi for interviews and did not find her to be that way at all.

LOVE ❤️

Every woman needs this BOOK in their lifetime
💯🙏🏽
This was a game changer for me and will pass it on to my beautiful daughter .

Thank you

lots of valuable information

Well written and read with lots of valuable information. Will look into more works by this author.

Excellent!

I have a family history of Alzheimer's so when this book came out I had to purchase. The PDF is key in determining your risk for the disease and how you can improve your overall brain health. The PDF includes risk assessment questionnaire, meal planning, foods to avoid, etc. It feels good knowing more about this condition and what I can do to prevent it. While this book is more geared towards women going through menopause, I still found it very helpful.

Important topic

Important topic but the presentation was tediously dumbed down. It felt so condescending and repetitive. There’s only so many times I can listen to being told I should talk to my doctor. I think we’ve all heard that legally required phrase a few two many times. And like so many authors, this book says about the same thing repeated all over the place as if everyone hasn’t heard the same thing countless times.

Great information, terrible voice casting

Recommended by a friend, this book is wonderful. I've sent it to every family member and friend myself. HOWEVER, at this time I recommend the physical book. The reader is so bad I can only listen in small doses. I keep thinking I've walked into a terrible children's TV show or Tide commercial voice-over, and I cannot take her seriously. Whoever decided that Ms. Pressley was a valid choice for the read on this book should probably be "redistributed", as they have made a terrible mistake.

Remember when Brene Brown had to go back and record her own books because the reader the publisher chose was horrific? Yeah, this is similar.

For such incredible research and important information, I would think that at least a small amount of time would be devoted to finding a voice that was appropriate. I'm not sure if it's the frighteningly patronizing tone or the nasal 19-year old on Spring Break dictation that is most alarming. In short, stay away from this audiobook if you want to take the information seriously and be able to listen to it without feeling like a therapist in her 20s is telling you how to age gracefully.