Of course, being a brain guy, I wanted to know how reading books impacted me on a neural level. Clearly, it was affecting my overall thought processes — but perhaps also my brain anatomy.

In the era of smartphones and computer-based brain training, we might overlook how reading keeps our minds active. It can also make us more socially aware.

Over the decades, the undifferentiated, monochrome swath of cells under the microscope's lens has bloomed into glorious Technicolor. In the new book Portraits of the Mind: Visualizing the Brain ...

Dr. Richard Restak is the author of more than 20 books about the brain. Here's the No. 1 thing he avoids to keep his own ...