Brain Rules is a book about the brain for everyday people like you and me.
If you want to learn a bit more about how your brain works, this is a book for you
Most of us have no idea what’s going on inside our heads.
I have compiled key takeaways, for fast review.
John Medina, the author, is a molecular biologist who has an interest in how brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and how we work.
Medina outlines 12 principles about the brain which he terms as brain rules that deal with things such as the impact of sleep, exercise, and stress on the brain.
Offices and social Norms are Opposite to Our Brain
1. Brain is a survival organ and it evolves too
Smart Brain for Superior – Don’t strong Donkey
The brain seems to have been designed for solving problems, related to surviving in an unstable outdoor environment and doing so in nearly constant motion. Symbolic reasoning, something our brains allow us to do is described as a uniquely human talent that makes human beings distinct from animals.
2. Exercise Boosts Brain Power
This second rule looks at exercise and the brain. One thing is clear in regards to this brain rule – our brains were built for movement – so there is an undeniable link between exercise and mental alertness.
3. Sleep Well Think Well
The third brain rule looks at the connection between sleep and how our brains work.
The key message about this rule is that “loss of sleep hurts attention, executive function, working memory, mood, quantitative skills, logical reasoning, and even motor dexterity.”
4. Stress Brains Don’t Learn the Same Way
Continuous stress is very damaging – ancestors did not feel continuous stress – BDNF increases by exercise for happiness
The fourth brain rule on stress has one clear message – stress inhibits our ability to learn. In discussing this brain rule Medina clearly outlines the impact of stress on the brain and how that affects in turn affect our ability to learn. Our bodies are built for very short-term stress and so prolonged levels of high stress are detrimental to us. Continuous stress can even lead to conditions like depression. Medina explains how stress at home and work can affect us.
5. Every Barin is Wired
Our brains are wired differently and when we learn new things, the way our brains are wired changes.
6. We don’t Pay Attention to Boring Things
Mean before details
The brain pays attention to emotionally charged events and it also pays attention more to the meaning of things before it can grasp the details. Research has also shown that the brain cannot multitask. Focusing on doing one thing at a time helps the brain perform better.
7. Repeat to Remember
Vission Boards – Reminders – Written Goals
If we can encode a memory more elaborately in its initial moments it will become stronger.
Our chances of remembering something is greater if we can reproduce the environment in which we first put it into our brain.
We can make long-term memory more reliable by incorporating new information gradually and repeating it in timely intervals.
8. Our All Senses Work at Altogether
Fragrance, Corn Smell, for cross-linking
Learning is intriguing
For instance, people learn better from the information presented to them in a multi-sensory manner rather than in a uni-sensory way.
9. Visual is more remembered
Art – Visual – Images –
Vision is by far our most dominant sense, taking up half of our brain’s resources.
Use visuals, video, and animation to pass on instruction. People learn better with such images especially if they are in motion.
Communicate with pictures more than words.
10. Music Can Make Our Brain Smarter
11. Male and Female Brains are Different
12. Humans are Powerful and Natural Explorers
Google led to Gmail and Google News
“Babies are born with a deep desire to understand the world around them and an incessant curiosity that compels them to aggressively explore it .”
Conclusion
- Don’t stop exploring, remain curious.
- Stress doesn’t help our brains, avoid it.
- Exercise, exercise, exercise, even if it is just walking.
- Sleep well, but not too much.
- Communicate in a multi-sensory way, use more pictures than words.
- Take music lessons.
Dr. John Medina | Talks at Google
