Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School

This is a great book that came recommended to me by multiple sources and I'm really glad I read it.John Medina is a neuroscientist with a deep passion for learning and education and he explains the principles that he thinks are important using 12 simple Rules. I love things that are researched and there's lots of research in here but it's written in a very engaging way - in fact I think he's thought hard about his rules as he's written it. There are certainly some memorable stories and other devices to help things to stick.The style is easy to read and quite light hearted but he suggests some innovative and potentially challenging ways for educators and businesses to change the way they engage with people and help them learn better. His suggestions are aimed at the United States education system but the rules appear to be universally applicable, based on available data.So rule 1 is that of Exercise - we think better when our bodies are engaged as well as our brains and this is hardly a new concept but Medina explains it with examples about real people, experimental data and longitudinal studies. He discusses cognitive fitness at all ages and talks about the long term effects of exercise on our mental abilities as we age. There are some interesting facts about the brain and he explains complex neuroscience using analogies and metaphors.The writing style is personal, engaging and clear so that when you encounter technical terms like dentate gyrus or Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor you've still got processing power left to handle them and don't feel overwhelmed by complexity. More science should be written up like this so that more people can understand it.A lot of the information in the book is published in other places but it's a very accessible and memorable way to understand more about neuroscience if you're not an expert - and I do like the way he's tried to follow his own rules with summaries, stories, sensory language and a structure that leads you through and allows you to find what you want.At the end of each chapter is a set of ideas for implementing the rules so it's a very practical book but he's also calling for more research to be done because he wants to avoid people making large and spurious claims about the way to live, work or educate based on random scientific findings. We don't know enough about how the brain works yet to be prescriptive - we need to experiment, test and remain flexible in our approaches.Medina has a powerful chapter on why we find images useful so it's a pity there aren't more pictures to illustrate his points but I guess that's down to the publisher.This book feels like a generous book because he appears to share so much and so willingly. There's also some bonus material online but I haven't had a chance to look at that yet - if you have seen it then do let me know what you thought. All in all an interesting and comfortable read with some very useful implications for the way we all live and work.

Book arrived earlier than expected, with a bonus DVD which I was not expecting. A good read and really useful for my master's degree.

Having been a trainer for most of my working life I'm always keen to improve my techniques. I bought this book because I've always known that our brains are still largely a mystery and we only use a fraction of its abilities.As a lay person, medically, I found the book absolutely riveting and once started, hard to put down. It reinforced what I've been doing for years and has given me some scientific basis for whatever success I've had in helping people of all ages and abilites to develop their skills and knowledge.John Medina has helped me to build on whatever abilites I had as a trainer. I recommend this book to any trainer who wants to understand a little of what the brain can do.

...the author tells us that Vision beats all other senses when it comes to understanding and memory, and text is a poor second. So why is there not a single explanatory diagram in the whole book!Do what you say!But about 100 times better than a related book called "Spark!"

OK

Great book easy to read and probably should be read at least by teachers, parents and business folk - many relevant points for all these people. If you are in anyway interested in how the brain works this is very enlightening - no mumbo-jumbo, only facts. - a little scary about how little we know really, but that which we do know, we should make use of

very interesting read explaining all the different things that can make your brain work better throughout your life, and has separated it into sections (i.e. sleep, eating, exercise etc). more like advice than rules and worth a read for any one of any age

Clearly written, easy to read, and over-flowing with exceptionally useful information about how the brain works. I can't imagine anyone reading this and not finding several things that they can improve immediately about whatever it is they do.