Brain Rules

An easy to read book with lots of interesting finding. It talks about 12 rules of how our brain works and how to take the best out of our brain. I would not say it is an eye-opener but definitely worth the time and effort to read it.

As we may hear or read from other sources, sleep and exercise are critical in our memory power. To my surprise, our long term memory needs to be re-processed after each retrieval. No wonder our long term memory is not so accurate! Besides, to boost the long term memory, it is better to space out the repetition than to squeeze them all together.

This is unusal for a scientist could write so clearly! It is so easy to read, and give you such a crystal clear what you should do to keep / make a good brain.

Load of facts with solid scientific proof behind.

And Rule#1 is soooo important!

Let's go running!

He is such a GREAT writter, and can pain some vivid picture in your mind so that you will never forget.

For example, "The fact that deep inside your brain, at this very moment, bits of neurons are moving around like reptiles, slithering to new spots, getting fat at one end or creating split ends. All so that you can remember a few things about Eric Kandel and his sea slugs."

"The little we do know suggests that the moment of learning is like a blender left running with the lid off. The information is literally sliced into discrete pieces as it enters the brain and splattered all over the insides of our mind."

Very vivid, with motion, color, sound...

This is a nice one, with a lot of knowledge I don't know:

1. aerobic exercise regulates the release of the three neurotransmitters most commonly associated with the maintenance of mental health: serotonin, dopamin, and norepinephrine.
2. the human brain cannot simultaneously activate more than 2 percent of its neurons at any one time. More than this, and the glucose supply becomes so quickly exhausted that you will faint.
3. waling on two legs uses fewer calories than walking on four legs.
4. dopamin greatly aids memory and information processing
5. The concentration span is... unfortunately, only 10 minutes
The brain is a sequential processor, unable to pay attention to two things at the same time.
6. the more elaborately we encode information at the moment of learning, the stronger the memory
7. a memory trace appears to be stored in the same parts of the brain that perceived and processed the initial input.
8. Stress, left alone, is niether harmful nor toxic. Whether stress becomes damaging is the result of a complex interaction between the outside world and our physiological capacity to manage the stress.
9. Proust effect: smell can evoke memory
10. The femal embryo ignore one of the X... know as X inactivation. There were no preference. Some cells use Mom's and other use Dad's

This is science writing at it's finest. Simplified enough that laymen can understand it, with references so you can track down more info if you like. He's very clear on what the science says and when he's speculating, and does a great job at engendering curiosity by describing the experiments he'd like to see done.

This book talks about 12 rules on how our brains work, with ideas to utilize the rules to enhance our performance at school and work.

While some rules may look trivial to us, the book offers a scientific description on the working of the brain, which is both informational and interesting.

Overall, it is an interesting and useful book that provides great tips to "hack" our brain to be a better learner/worker.

The rules in the book that I like the most
#1: Exercise
#4: Attention
#5 and #6: Memory
#8: Stress

http://www.brainrules.net/