Rating:  - An Informative and Practical Guide to the Brain
Opinion
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. After purchasing this book, I briefly skimmed through the pages of the book to get an idea of what it would be like. I was surprised to find the book was full of pictures and diagrams. It seemed like the book would be very lacking in actual scientific facts and more geared towards a shallow description of the brain. Surprisingly the book has a good foundation in science. The book is designed more as a practical guide to understanding and improving brain function, but it also provides the necessary scientific knowledge to understand what is happening in the brain. This books is a good mix of brain exercises and science and is worth reading.
Section Synopsis
The book is divided into three general sections titled: "Warming Up," "Exploring Your Brain," and "Understanding Other People's Brains."
The warming up section focuses on the basic functions and needs of the brain. It covers the general anatomy and connections of the brain, the importance and results of eating on the brain, and the effects of sleep on the brain. This section of the book introduces the reader to the brain and focuses mainly on the science of the brain.
The second section of the book explores perception, memory, emotions, reason, and personality. It looks at the specific regions of the brain that are activated when the processes are going on. It also analyzes how and what factors promotes and limits these processes. Common misconceptions, voluntary and involuntary control, and evolutionary context are all addressed when describing these various processes.
The final section of the book looks at differences in sexes and development of the brain. The chapter on gender looks at genetic factors, relationships, and mindset in conceptual differences and relationships. It also goes into great detail mentioning the effects of various hormones. The development chapter gives a good, scientific description of changes in the brain at different stages of life. It describes the effects of aging on your brain and the age old question of nature versus nurture.
Structure of Book
As mentioned above, the book is divided into three sections. Within each section are chapters that related to the overall theme of the section. A typical chapter of the book begins with a brief overview of the chapter. It then briefs the reader on structural portions of the brain and the role and effects it plays in the process the chapter describes. For instance the chapter on sleeping begins with a description of the biological clock, "This time-keeping device is embedded in a region of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)." The chapter then typically describes the components of the specific process such as the different stages of sleep and what goes on during these stages. The chapter then ends on how best to utilize the process described in order to achieve certain goals. In the sleep chapter the book describes the amount of time one should sleep and nap to optimize the learning process. This is general format for each chapter in the book.
Interesting Elements
The book is full of good pictures, graphs, and puzzles. It offers great optical illusions for the perception section and interesting puzzles for the logic section. The book also has unique notes, tips, and science boxes that are separated from the text. These are similar to "related information" sections one might encounter in a text book. The notes section typically introduces an interesting fact. Tip boxes offer addition reading and websites where a reader can learn more about a specific topic. Most of the books and websites mentioned are relatively new and current with the field of neuroscience. The science box gives an in depth description of a certain topic that may have been briefly introduced in the main text. The book also has a personality questionnaire and analysis the reader can follow in order to determine his or her personality type.
Interesting Quotes
"They [dolphins] have the remarkable ability to keep an ever-watchful eye on their surroundings by putting half of their brain to sleep at a time."
"It's thought that over the past few million years, our brains tripled in size while our [prefrontal cortex] grew a staggering six times bigger."
"The amygdale is mature at birth, but the pathways that connect the cortex to the amygdale aren't as developed. This immature wiring just might be to blame for raging toddler tantrums."
Recommendation
I feel that this book is worth getting for anyone interested in the brain or improving and understanding daily interactions. This book is not a reference book or textbook. The information in this book is scientifically based and does introduce neuroscience concepts and structures, but does not give an in depth understanding of neuroscience. Instead it uses the scientific information to explain neuroscience processes in a manner that relates to everyday uses of the brain. This book is an easy read and is packed with informative illustrations that make concepts easier to understand. This book can be purchased online or at any major bookstore.
Rating: - Science meets self-help
Science meets self-help in a survey for general-interest readers which covers everything from brain function to quirks, aging changes, boundaries between physical brain activity and psychology, and more. YOUR BRAIN is studded with color sidebars of information and plenty of color illustrations for maximum impact, making this a pick not just for high school to college level health and science collections, but for the general-interest library, as well.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Rating: - You don't need to be a brain surgeon to understand your brain...
When you think about it, the thing we think *with* is one of the biggest mysteries to us. In Your Brain: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald, you'll gain some level of understanding about how the brain works, what makes it tick, and how you can manipulate it to work better. Even better, you don't have to be a brain surgeon to understand it all.
Contents:
Part 1 - Warming Up: A Lap Around the Brain; Brain Food - Healthy Eating; Sleep - Taking Your Brain Offline
Part 2 - Exploring Your Brain: Perception; Memory; Emotions; Reason; Your Personality
Part 3 - Understanding Other People's Brains: The Battle of the Sexes; The Developing Brain
Index
The thing I appreciate most about the Missing Manual series is the way they are designed to be readable for a "normal" person. Part 1 takes you through more of the "hardware" part of the brain... what the different parts are, the roles they serve, and how they interact with each other. Couple clear writing with plenty of illustrations, and you end up with a firm foundation in Brain 101. From there, MacDonald starts digging into more of the "software" aspect of the brain, as in how are memories stored. He uses the most current studies and findings to explain what makes you, you. The items that made this exceptionally interesting to me are the examples of people who, through some abnormality in the brain, don't quite process things the same way we do. For instance, "Henry M." had his hippocampus removed in 1953 to prevent seizures. The side-effect was that he lost his ability to form long-term memories. Imagine your mind stuck in a time warp, where your last memory is as it was before your surgery. Anything presented to you since then only lasts a few minutes before you have absolutely no recollection of it. By tracking what he could and couldn't do in this state, researchers were able to draw conclusions as to what role the hippocampus played in memory. That kind of stuff is something that amazes me, and confirms the fact that we still only have a fraction of a clue as to how the mind works.
If you're at all interested about your mind, or if you're simply curious about how such things as optical illusions work, this would be a great book to read.
Rating:  - Quite interesting
Was initially drawn in by the title of the book actually.
Some portions are pretty interesting. On a number of occasions, gives you a quick laugh and makes you think "oh, that's why i feel that sometimes".
Though i find couple of sections are abit tough to digest cos they introduced a number of medical terms, but overall it's still quite good.
I would describe it as a good factual book (interesting facts that you don't even realise even as you do some of those stuff everyday)... and which at the same time, also has a number of tricks you can apply or look out for in your actual daily life.
Overall, not a bad read.. assuming if you can pull yourself past the medically technical portion.
Rating: - Better than expected - recommended
When I picked up this book I thought it was going to be yet another one on memory and techniques for recall. I could not have been more wrong. This is an excellent book on understanding the brain and how it works in all its wondrous details. The author delves into the physical structure, the synapses, effect of hormones on the brain and the effect that diet has on those hormones, how it interacts with your appetite and other aspects of the physical brain. Not contented to stop there he then goes into other aspects of the brain including the effect of sleep or lack thereof, perception, emotions, and personality. Your Brain: The Missing Manual is very interesting and highly recommended.
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