Ever played a game? Mastered that tutorial so well you find weird little exploits that let you bounce a little higher, drive a bit faster, squeeze out moves the devs didn't intend? Must have happened, right? Now, if understanding the rules of a game lets you get ahead, what could knowing the rules of our brains allow us to do?
Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (2008) by John Medina is an ultimate guide to familiarizing yourself with how the brain works. A "how to" guide to get the most out of your brain. Backed with scientific research, the book shows how a good night's sleep, regular exercise, and learning from all the senses can increase your productivity.
John Medina is the director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University. He is a lecturer in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Medina starts the book by focusing on the importance of regular exercise to improve the functionality of your brain. Let's dive in!
Summary
The human brain has evolved into a complex system where information is received and sent through neurons. Brain Rules equips you with facts, backed by scientific research, to help you optimize your brain's potential. Regular exercise, adequate sleep, and avoiding stress keep both bodies and minds healthy and recharged. The use of multisensory learning is especially good for students and teachers as a strategy for effective learning.
Daily Exercise Stimulates Optimal Functioning Of The Body And Brain!
We've all heard it - gotta get your butt off the couch and go break a sweat! Exercise is good or whatever. But have you ever stopped and really thought about why, exactly? Sure sure, it keeps our bodies from going soft. But there's more to it. On average, an early homo sapien might have walked 15 kilometers per day. Can you imagine that? So, our big brains evolved in physical activity and not while we were being couch potatoes. And...
Follow Your Natural Sleep Cycle To Optimize Your Physical And Mental Functioning.
What is it about lying motionless for hours, that we literally start malfunctioning if we don't do it every night? Sleep helps to heal the body and mind. Think of it like a big “reset” button that gets us going for another day. Deprive yourself, and you could actually lose your cognitive capabilities. Not to mention diseases like severe fatigue, chronic stomach issues, crankiness, poor memory recall, and even paranoia. Researchers once conducted a study on soldiers and made them pull an...
Chronic Stress Leads To A Decrease In Cognitive Abilities.
Did you know that stress plays an important factor in human evolution? Fight and flight is a legacy of primitive humans, who lived with predators in a jungle and had to protect themselves through either fight or flight. This twin response is activated by stress. So, stress in small amounts is good. But, the problem is the severity - chronic stress! Any person who becomes used to stressful conditions loses their fight or flight response. They have no sense of...
Our Experiences Influence Our Cognition!
Let's start with a dose of science. You probably know what neurons are. The nerve cells are present in our body. These long tentacle-shaped neurons are responsible for transmitting and receiving electrochemical messages at super-high speed. That's how information flow works at the cellular level. Now, this is where it gets interesting. Scientists found out that the brain's neural connections are always evolving. Our brains keep on evolving and growing till the early 20s and more changes can happen till...
Learn How To Wisely Utilize Our Limited Mental Workspace
Have you ever found your mind wandering while reading an overly complex scientific analysis? Does mental fatigue mean you’re lazy or unintelligent? Or is there something deeper at play?Our brains have been shaped over thousands of years to zoom in on important stuff only and ignore the rest. It's like having a built-in spam filter! Why try to perceive all sensory signals, when focusing selectively brings survival advantage? Consider a prehistoric hunter tracking a deer. Were they distracted by every...
Visual Memories Are The Strongest Memories
Most of how we perceive the world depends on how we see it. Yes, other senses do affect the overall perception. But you've got to accept that sight overrides your other senses nearly every time. Don’t believe us? Ask the experts who got duped by white wine dyed red. Yeah, the researchers dyed some white wine red just to see if the pros could tell the difference by taste. But nope, they thought the dyed white was red! In another...
Approach Learning Through Multisensory Learning Methodologies.
Do you like to study with headphones on? It is fascinating how so many people can improve their focus when they study by listening to music. Why is that? Basically, your brain has evolved to have a sort of integrative instinct - we can make sense of information from multiple senses at the same time. So, when you have info coming in from two senses, your brain gets more productive, and you focus better. That also means, our senses affect...
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About the Author
DR. JOHN J. MEDINA is a developmental molecular biologist focused on the genes involved in human brain development and the genetics of psychiatric disorders. He has spent most of his professional life as a private research consultant, working primarily in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries on research related to mental health. Medina is an affiliate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Medina (Meh-DEE-nuh) was the founding director of the Talaris Research Institute, a Seattle-based research center originally focused on how infants encode and process information at the cognitive, cellular, and molecular levels.
In 2004, he was appointed to the rank of affiliate scholar at the National Academy of Engineering. He has been named Outstanding Faculty of the Year at the College of Engineering at the University of Washington; the Merrill Dow/Continuing Medical Education National Teacher of the Year; and, twice, the Bioengineering Student Association Teacher of the Year. He’s been a consultant to the Education Commission of the States and a regular speaker on the relationship between neurology and education. He also writes the “Molecules of the Mind” column for the Psychiatric Times.
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