Sex on the Brain: 12 Lessons to Enhance Your Love Life [Hardcover]

Daniel G. Amen M.D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 16, 2007

“The vast majority of love and sex occurs in the brain. Your brain decides who is attractive to you, how to get a date, how well you do on the date, what to do with the feelings that develop, how long those feelings last, when to commit, and how well you do as a partner and a parent. Your brain helps you be enthusiastic in the bedroom or drains you of desire and passion. Your brain helps you process and learn from a breakup or makes you vulnerable to depression or obsession.”


While plastic surgeons, diet gurus, and the pharmaceutical industry may have convinced you that they hold the secret to a fulfilling sex life, the truth is that you already have the only thing you really need: a brain. As the largest and most sensitive sexual organ in the body, a healthy human brain enhances your sex life and heightens sensation. A troubled brain, however, makes emotional and physical connection with others difficult. So forget the implants, the fad diets, and the pills. Learning about this intriguing and sexy organ is the key to your sexual satisfaction.

Based on Dr. Daniel Amen’s latest research in practical neuroscience, Sex on the Brain shares 12 lessons that help you enhance your love and sex lives through understanding and improving brain function. Filled with practical suggestions and information on how sex can save your life, Sex on the Brain reveals:

• How sex helps prevent heart disease, improve memory, stave off cancer, and boost your immune system
• How the differences between men’s and women’s brains affect our perceptions and interest in sex—and how you can understand these differences to make the most of the opportunities with your partner
• Why breakups hurt so much, and what you can do to ease the pain
• Surefire techniques to fix common problems—depression, PMS, ADD—that get in the way of good sex
• How to make yourself unforgettable to your partner

Everyone wants to know how to improve his or her love life, but so few of us understand the integral role that the brain plays in getting us in the mood, keeping us excited about our partner, and helping us achieve greater satisfaction. Sex on the Brain explains everything, showing you how use your brain to create a healthy, happy, and hot sex life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

• ?;“A warm, friendly guide to how we can ?nd and make satisfying love. Dr. Amen writes as if he is right in the couple’s living room. A scientist, a lover, and a parent, Dr. Amen understands who we are as couples, and helps us to become the best lovers and friends we can be.”
—Michael Gurian, author of What Could He Be Thinking?: How a Man’s Mind Really Works

“Dr. Amen does it again! He offers a brilliant explanation of how the state of our brain affects our relationships and sexuality. He goes on to give excellent advice on how to understand your own and your partner’s (or potential partner’s) behavior, how to avoid the pitfalls in a relationship, and how to create the life you really want!”
—Hyla Cass, M.D., author of 8 Weeks to Vibrant Health

About the Author

DANIEL G. AMEN, M.D., is a clinical neuroscientist, psychiatrist, and brain-imaging expert who heads the world-renowned Amen Clinics. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and
has won numerous writing and research awards.

He is a regular contributer to Men’s Health and has published nineteen books, numerous professional and popular articles, and a number of audio and video programs. His books include Preventing Alzheimer’s, Healing Anxiety and Depression, Healing the Hardware of the Soul, Healing ADD, Making a Good Brain Great, and the New York Times bestseller Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. He is an internationally recognized keynote speaker and a popular guest expert for the media, with appearances on CNN, Today, The View, and other venues.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harmony (January 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307339076
• ISBN-13: 978-0307339072
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85,591 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Amen is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost experts on applying brain imaging science to clinical psychiatric practice. He is a board certified child and adult psychiatrist and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is the medical director of Amen Clinics, Inc. in Newport Beach and Fairfield, California, Bellevue, Washington, and Reston, Virginia. Amen Clinics have the world's largest database of functional brain scans relating, totaling more than 60,000 scans. The clinics have seen patients from 90 countries.

Dr. Amen is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. He has presented his work around the world. He is widely regarded as a gifted teacher, taking complex concepts in neuropsychiatry and imaging and making them easily accessible to other professionals.

Dr. Amen is the lead researcher on the world's largest brain imaging/brain rehabilitation study on professional football players, which not only demonstrated significant brain damage in a high percentage of retired players, but also the possibility for rehabilitation in many with the principles that underlie his work.

Dr. Amen is the author of 40 professional articles, the co-author of the Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry's chapter on Functional Imaging in Clinical Practice, 28 books, including three New York Times bestsellers: Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, Magnificent Mind At Any Age, and Change Your Brain, Change Your Body. He is also the author of Healing ADD, Making A Good Brain Great, Healing the Hardware of the Soul, and co-author of Unchain Your Brain, Healing Anxiety and Depression and Preventing Alzheimer's.

In 2011, Random House will release his latest book, The Amen Solution: Brain Healthy Ways to Lose Weight and Keep It Off. In late 2011, Random House will also release Dr. Amen's Upcoming book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Age (tentative title).

Dr. Amen is the producer and star of 5 highly popular shows about the brain, which have raised more than 32 million dollars for public television.

A small sample of the organizations Dr. Amen has spoken for include: the National Security Agency (NSA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), Harvard's Learning and the Brain Conference, The Million Dollar Roundtable, Retired NFL Players Summit, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the Supreme Courts of Delaware, Ohio and Wyoming. Dr. Amen's work has been featured in Newsweek, Parade Magazine, New York Times Magazine, Men's Health, and Cosmopolitan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ex-biochemist review - easily accessible, fascinating..., July 28, 2007

By 

Patrick D. Goonan "see profile for URL" (Livermore, CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sex on the Brain: 12 Lessons to Enhance Your Love Life (Hardcover)

This is an excellent and very accessible book that primarily looks at what happens in the brain during love, lust, romance, paraphilias, etc. It has a lot of information in it, but it is not overly technical and accessible to the average person. Dr. Amen has a way of simplifying complicated concepts and weaving them into an engaging narrative.

What this book will give you as an understanding of the various parts of the brain and the role they play in our sex lives. It also includes supplements that could be helpful when some areas are over or under active and even typical medications that are used.

The scope of the book is pretty large and covers things like impulsive thoughts, sexual addiction, paraphelias (fetishes), cheating behavior, etc. Anyone who has a sex life will find it very interesting and informative and it will also help you to understand yourself.

Two complimentary books to this one that I highly recommend are: The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating and The Erotic Mind: Unlocking the Inner Sources of Passion and Fulfillment. These books cover the psychology and some of the evolutionary patterns that gave rise to the way we are hardwired around sex. You can read my review and other reviews to get a better sense of the content, I can't do either book justice in this small space.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What to learn about deepening emotional and sexual intimacy?, January 21, 2007

By 

Dr. Earl Henslin "Psychotherapist" (Brea, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sex on the Brain: 12 Lessons to Enhance Your Love Life (Hardcover)

Dr. Amen has written a ground breaking book that will help the professional and lay person to learn about the role the brain plays in emotional and sexual intimacy. This exciting book will help you understand how the largest sex organ you have (i.e. Your Brain!!"plays a foundational role in intimacy. Read this book if you want to find that "missing piece" to lasting love. If you are in counseling buy a copy for your psychotheraist and/or physcian to read.This is an excellent book to give to both couples considering marriage or couples who are wanting to ressurect intimacy! Dr. Earl R. Henslin

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Neurobiology of Love, Lust, Loss, and Living Together, August 26, 2007

By 

Donald Michael MDPC "Doc Don" (South Bend, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sex on the Brain: 12 Lessons to Enhance Your Love Life (MP3 CD)

Daniel Amen combines knowledge from over 30,000 SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computerized Tomography) scans that allow him to see the Real Time, qualitative and quantitative brain function; with his superb insights into Human Behavior.

He presents a detailed view of Brain Function every step of the way from Gender Personality Differences, Attraction, Lust, Coupling, and Cohabitation, to breakups and loss of a loved one.

If Freud were alive today, he might well be working at one of Amen's clinics. For the first time in the History of Psychiatry, Investigators in the field are able to define and measure the Biological Underpinnings of Human Behavior. In addition to giving a good portrayal of our sexual existence, Dr. Amen presents some very useful interventions to improve this facet of our lives.

The CD was in WP3 format which was something of a problem to translate, but its contents filled about 6 regular audio CDs. Having spent 33 years attempting a synthesis of Mind and Brain, I found this to be a truly excellent book about a topic that always holds interest, and it is well worth the money.