Smarter: The New Science of Building Brain Power

When he was eight years old, Dan Hurley was labeled a "slow learner" because he still couldn’t read. Three years later, he had become a straight A student.

Until the publication of a major study in 2008, psychologists believed that intelligence is fixed at birth, that IQ is like a number tattooed on the soul. The new study showed that people can increase their "fluid" intelligence through training.

Hurley, who grew up to become an award-winning science journalist, first explored the topic in The New York Times Magazine. In Smarter, he digs deeper by meeting with the field’s leading researchers - and becoming a human guinea pig. After just three months of playing computer brain-training games, joining a boot-camp exercise program, learning to play the Renaissance lute, practicing mindfulness meditation and even getting his brain zapped in the name of science, Hurley improved his fluid intelligence by sixteen percent.

With humor and heart, Smarter chronicles the roiling field of intelligence research and delivers practical findings to sharpen the minds of children, young adults, seniors, and those with cognitive challenges.