Book Review
Rama Gaind
By Rama Gaind
PS News Books

Brain Rules
   By John Medina (Scribe, $24.95, softcover, 299 pages)

If doing simple arithmetic in your ‘head’ is difficult, imagine the hard work involved in understanding how your brain works.
   Now that is not the case any more since Dr John Medina, a molecular biologist, has   simplified the knowledge, explaining the best ways to get the most out of our brains.  
   Brain Rules discloses his life-long interest in how the brain sciences may influence the way we prosper at home, work and in teaching our children. It’s also a survival mantra.
   Most of us don’t know how our brains function, but this gifted communicator gives extraordinary insight. It’s impressive by design.
Brain Rules
Brain Rules by John Medina.
   Each chapter has a brain rule – what scientists know with certainty about how our brains work – coupled with ideas to transform our daily lives.
   That’s why it’s subtitled 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school.
   He puts it into perspective: parents, teachers and business leaders should know that   physical activity boosts brain power. Then the explanations follow to questions including do men and women have different brains? What does stress and sleep do to our brains? Is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget and important to repeat new information?
   Dr Medina is meticulous: research in this book has first been published in a peer-reviewed journal and then successfully replicated.
   An integral part of this project is a film. You can jump online to watch the illustrations while reading a chapter.
   Sampling of the ideas you will encounter include exercise boosting brain power; using stories to make a point since we don’t pay attention to boring things; thinking well if you sleep; and we are powerful and natural explorers.
   This “grumpy scientist” engagingly puts lifestyles into perspective and “in many ways, starting over is what this book is all about”.

To find out more about Rama Gaind click here.
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