Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School » (Reprint)

JOHN J. MEDINA is a developmental molecular biologist. He is an affiliate professor in the department of bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He is also the director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University.

Although most of us have no idea of what's going on in our heads, brain scientists have figured out a lot about how the brain works. John Medina explains what scientists know for sure about our brains and how exercise, memory, sleep, and stress might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. The book includes the Brain Rules Bonus DVD.

Publishers Weekly

Multitasking is the great buzz word in business today, but as developmental molecular biologist Medina tells readers in a chapter on attention, the brain can really only focus on one thing at a time. This alone is the best argument for not talking on your cellphone while driving. Medina (The Genetic Inferno) presents readers with a basket containing an even dozen good principles on how the brain works and how we can use them to our benefit at home and work. The author says our visual sense trumps all other senses, so pump up those PowerPoint presentations with graphics. The author says that we don't sleep to give our brain a rest-studies show our neurons firing furiously away while the rest of the body is catching a few z's. While our brain indeed loses cells as we age, it compensates so that we continue to be able to learn well into our golden years. Many of these findings and minutiae will be familiar to science buffs, but the author employs an appealing style, with suggestions on how to apply his principles, which should engage all readers. DVD not seen by PW.(Mar.)

introduction 1

exercise 7

Rule #1 Exercise boosts brain power.

Our brains love motion

The incredible test-score booster

Will you age like Jim or like Frank?

How oxygen builds roads for the brain

survival 29

Rule #2 The human brain evolved, too.

What's uniquely human about us

A brilliant survival strategy

Meet your brain

How we conquered the world

wiring 49

Rule #3 Every brain is wired differently.

Neurons slide, slither, and split

Experience makes the difference

Furious brain development not once, but twice

The Jennifer Aniston neuron

attention 71

Rule #4 We don't pay attention to boring things.

Emotion matters

Why there is no such thing as multitasking

We pay great attention to threats, sex, and pattern matching

The brain needs a break!

short-term memory 95

Rule #5 Repeat to remember.

Memories are volatile

How details become splattered across the insides of our brains

How the brain pieces them back together again

Where memories go

long-term memory 121

Rule #6 Remember to repeat.

If you don't repeat this within 30 seconds, you'll forget it

Spaced repetition cycles are key to remembering

When floating in water could help your memory

sleep 149

Rule #7 Sleep well, think well.

The brain doesn't sleep to rest

Two armies at war in your head

How to improve your performance 34 percent in 26 minutes

Which bird are you?

Sleep on it!

stress 169

Rule #8 Stressed brains don't learn the same way.

Stress is good, stress is bad

A villain and a hero in the toxic-stress battle

Why the home matters to the workplace

Marriage intervention for happy couples

sensory integration 197

Rule #9 Stimulate more of thesenses.

Lessons from a nightclub

How and why all of our senses work together

Multisensory learning means better remembering

What's that smell?

vision 221

Rule #10 Vision trumps all other senses.

Playing tricks on wine tasters

You see what your brain wants to see, and it likes to make stuff up

Throw out your PowerPoint

gender 241

Rule #11 Male and female brains are different.

Sexing humans

The difference between little girl best friends and little boy best friends

Men favor gist when stressed; women favor details

A forgetting drug

exploration 261

Rule #12 We are powerful and natural explorers.

Babies are great scientists

Exploration is aggressive

Monkey see, monkey do

Curiosity is everything

acknowledgements 283

index 285