Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD)
Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD)
Most of us have no idea what’s really going on inside our heads. Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know–such as the brain’s need for physical activity to work at its best.
How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget–and so important to repeat new information? Is it true that men and women have different brains?
In Brain Rules, molecular biologist Dr. John Medina shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule–what scientists know for sure about how our brains work–and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives.
Medina’s fascinating stories and sense of humor breathe life into brain science. You’ll learn why Michael Jordan was no good at baseball. You’ll peer over a surgeon’s shoulder as he finds, to his surprise, that we have a Jennifer Aniston neuron. You’ll meet a boy who has an amazing memory for music but can’t tie his own shoes.
You will discover how:
- Every brain is wired differently
- Exercise improves cognition
- We are designed to never stop learning and exploring
- Memories are volatile
- Sleep is powerfully linked with the ability to learn
- Vision trumps all of the other senses
- Stress changes the way we learn
In the end, you’ll understand how your brain really works–and how to get the most out of it.
About the DVD The Brain Rules DVD, included with this book, is a lively tour of the 12 brain rules. You will experience firsthand Medina’s rare gift for making science fun, accessible, and relevant. The DVD will take your understanding of the book to the next level.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Excellent journey into the way the brain functions
I found this book very informative and accessible. It’s easy to read and understand, and it provides a view into the way the brain works.
A great aspect about the book is that its content is based on scientific data and experiments, not just opinions and fabricated speculations. The author, J. Medina, is a molecular biologist truly involved in brain research and bioengineering.
The fact that the book is easy to understand is even a greater accomplishment given the very heavy scientific background that the author has, and what the book is based on. Mr. Medina manages very elegantly to present many aspects related to the way the brain functions in a very accessible language.
After you read the book you will find many things about the brain: how the memory works, about long/short term memory, attention, the role of sleep in brain functioning, stress, how girls learn different from boys, and many, many more!
There are many aspects that I liked about the book, and it teaches you many things, but I particularly liked the insight it gives into how people learn and how to maximize the learning process (and how broken our education system is and not suitable for the way our brain functions!). Mr. Medina really “walks the talk” by including many stories and examples that illustrate the points that he’s making, and by including the additional DVD which also emphasizes his concepts: that learning is maximized and information is better “cemented” by providing it from various angles, through as many sensory inputs as possible, and through repetition.
Maybe the best way to summarize what the book is about is with the subtitle on the cover: “12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School”. The concepts/rules presented are truly applicable in ones entire life (home, work and/or school).
You will look differently at the interactions you have with people after you read the book! I did! Specifically, why people around you act/react the way they do, how to deal with other people, your children, etc. Great learning!
5 Stars Can we get this on Kindle please???
I just read the first chapter of this book, and I really, really, really wanna read the rest. When will this be able for my Kindle? Come on, Amazon!!!
5 Stars Great easy reading about the brain
Pros:
Easy to read
Has meaningful information about the brain
Has NEW meaningful information about the brain
Dr. Medina implements his 10 minute rule to “grab” your attention when needed
Anecdotes range from silly to funny to simply very cool
Fantastic read on the kindle
CONS:
Some of the educational system suggestions for improvement too far out
at the end it gets a little technical about some brain functions.
Overall:
5 stars
I highly recommend it to any person that wants to understand some of the enigmas of “why we act the way we act”.
3 Stars 12 principles for learning
John Medina breaks down the rules of the brain into 12 simple principles in order to best use our brains inherent structure to succeed in life. For me, most of this book was a rehash of psychology 101. Of course, reading the different anecdotes of him and his kids made the book very interesting. On the other hand, this material is a great foundation–very basic stuff about the brain presented in an intelligent fashion.
So, just to give an example of “rules” of the brain: Exercise to boost mental capacity; structure learning so that boring things are eliminated as much as possible; repeat things in order to remember them.
The most interesting part of the book was the idea of breaking down learning modules into 10 minute sections with interesting anecdotes at each of these intervals in order to stimulate the brain again and stop it from being bored. In fact, he has several ideas of how to better the education system by changing things in order to best fit t he way that the brain is wired to learn and those little thoughts were a fascinating part of the book. It’s only too bad that he didn’t explore them further.
I would recommend this book to someone interested in learning more about the brain and needing to start from the basics.
5 Stars Learning How to Learn
Every day we use our brain without knowing what really is going on inside of our heads. Brain Rules is a fantastic journey to our brain, because we are not just discovering how the brain works, but how to boost our memory and how to improve our learning skills. Brain Rules is a fundamental tool that helps us to become better students by helping us to understand how long it takes to consolidate what we learned in class, why repetition helps us to remember schools’ lessons and why attention is so important to improve our learning skills. If we apply Medina’s Brain Rules we will not just be better students but we will be life long learners.
How does the brain consolidate information? And how long does the brain take to store it? By knowing how the brain consolidates new memories students can boost their memory and their learning skills. Medina, in his short and long term memory chapters, explains that the brain has different types of encoding. One type of encoding is automatic, that is the one that doesn’t need a lot of effort to store the information in the brain. But the brain has other types of encoding that need more effort and attention to store the new information. These types are: Semantic encodes the definitions of words, Phonetic encodes the comparison between sounds, and Structural encodes the visual inspection of shapes. But the brain does not just encode information in different ways, the brain also takes its time to consolidate information. To consolidate information the brain takes years, not days or months. This means that what students learned today in class will be consolidated in around 10 years. Therefore what a fifth grader learned today at school will be consolidated in his or her brain when he or she is 20 or 21 years old.
Because the brain doesn’t encode information the same way and because the brain takes so long consolidating information, Medina points out that the best way students can remember new information is by giving it a personal meaning. Making the information more elaborate and repeating it over and over will allow the brain to store the information more effectively. By giving a personal meaning to new information students encode the information with personal experiences. Providing the new information with personal examples makes the information more elaborate, more complex, better encoded, and consequently, better learned. By making the information more elaborate students personalize the information giving it more meaning; therefore the information will be better encoded. Thinking, talking and reviewing over and over new information students will remember in detail what they learn in class. Medina also mentions that students should review what they learned in class 90 minutes after a lecture, so the neurons don’t forget the information that they got from the teacher.
Students many times have a hard time paying attention to class or to school’s chores. Brain Rules explains why sometimes it is so difficult for students to pay attention, and also explains how students can improve their ability to pay attention. The best way to be better learners is by making knowledge interesting. Nobody’s brain pays attention to boring things; the brain pays attention to emotions, to new and interesting things, and to things that are more elaborate and meaningful. People’s emotions make events and new information stay in the memory longer. Students can improve their learning skills by relating the new information to their emotions. Therefore the information becomes more elaborate, making the information better encoded.
In addition, it is important to understand that the brain needs a break. The best way to encode new information is by giving the brain time to rest. Many students try to study for a lesson in three or more consecutive hours. What happens after studying for so many hours without resting is that the brain burns out, and the information and the time will be lost. The best way to study is by taking breaks, giving the brain some time to store the information. Another way to be better students is to understand that multitasking is a myth. Many students try to do many things at the same time. For example, some students turn on the TV, text to their friends and study for their next test at the same time. What happens is that the brain can only pay attention to one thing at a time. The brain can not multitask; it gets overwhelmed by all the information that is happening at the same time. The best way to learn is by paying attention to one thing at a time. By turning all the electronics off, leaving the phone off or on silent, and just doing one task at a time, students can improve their learning skills.
In sum, Brain Rules does not just explain how the brain works, but gives students the tools to improve their learning skills. John Medina explains in his book twelve rules that will help any student to become a long term learner and be more efficient in school and therefore at work. Medina explains how the brain works with real experiences and also gives simple tools that anyone can use to transform the brain into a powerful part of his or her life.
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