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Your Brain: The Missing Manual | 
 enlarge | Author: Matthew Macdonald
Publisher: Pogue Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $13.79
You Save: $11.20 (45%)
New (43) Used (7) from $13.64
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 13483
Format: Illustrated
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 274
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.6
ISBN: 0596517785
Dewey Decimal Number: 612.82
EAN: 9780596517786
ASIN: 0596517785
Publication Date: May 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
This is a book about that wet mass of cell tissue called the brain, and why it's responsible for everything from true love to getting you out of bed in the morning. One part science guide, one part self-help concierge, it's grounded in the latest neuroscience, psychology, and nutritional wisdom. The result? An essential guide for the modern brain owner, filled with ready-to-follow advice on everything from eating right to improving your memory.
10 Easy Brain-Enhancing Questions
Q: Turkey is one of the best things to eat if you want to promote sleepiness.
A: False: Turkey may be loaded with tryptophan, the amino acid that can cause drowsiness, but it has no more of it than many other high protein food items like chicken, beef, and soybeans. Plus, eating high protein meals without a corresponding truckload of carbohydrates ensures that tryptophan will never enter the blood-brain barrier.
Q: The REM (for "Rapid Eye Movement") stage of sleep, when the most vivid dreaming usually happens, occurs during the deepest stages of the dream cycle.
A: False: REM sleep actually occurs at the very end of the sleep cycle, when the brain returns to a much lighter stage of sleep.
Q: Contrary to conventional wisdom, memories are not "stored" in the brain as recordings or as discrete "data", but are instead the result of the brain's constant rewiring of neuronal connections.
A: True: There's no static "memory storage" in the brain, but instead a fluid, constantly readapting process of establishing, reinforcing, and fading links between neurons.
Q: Despite huge life changes that temporarily create radical shifts in personal fortune (either good or bad), the brain will always drift back to an inborn "happiness" set point.
A: True: Regardless of whether you win the lotto or suffer catastrophic tragedy, you'll always return to the same chipper or grumpy temperament that sustains throughout your life.
Q: With most traits, heritability (the influence of genetics) decreases through childhood and adolescence, reaching its lowest point in adulthood.
A: False: The reverse is true--genetic links actually get stronger with age (meaning you're more similar to your parents as an adult than as a child), though there is no scientific consensus as to why this is so.
Q: T/F: IQ scores are highly heritable
A: True, page 242
Q: Your brain s energy use is roughly:
a.) 20 watts
b.) 40 watts
c.) 75 watts A: 20 watts enough to power a dim light bulb, page 29
Q: Microsleep is a phenomenon that occurs when the brain?
A: Shuts off for a second or two usually due to lack of sleep, page 52
Q: The art of improving memory is called?
A: Mnemonics, page 107
Q: T/F: Chronically sleep-deprived individuals have a greater incidence of obesity?
A: True, page 40
Product Description
Puzzles and brain twisters to keep your mind sharp and your memory intact are all the rage today. More and more people -- Baby Boomers and information workers in particular -- are becoming concerned about their gray matter's ability to function, and with good reason. As this sensible and entertaining guide points out, your brain is easily your most important possession. It deserves proper upkeep. Your Brain: The Missing Manual is a practical look at how to get the most out of your brain -- not just how the brain works, but how you can use it more effectively. What makes this book different than the average self-help guide is that it's grounded in current neuroscience. You get a quick tour of several aspects of the brain, complete with useful advice about: Brain Food: The right fuel for the brain and how the brain commands hunger (including an explanation of the different chemicals that control appetite and cravings) Sleep: The sleep cycle and circadian rhythm, and how to get a good night's sleep (or do the best you can without it) Memory: Techniques for improving your recall Reason: Learning to defeat common sense; logical fallacies (including tactics for winning arguments); and good reasons for bad prejudices Creativity and Problem-Solving: Brainstorming tips and thinking not outside the box, but about the box -- in other words, find the assumptions that limit your ideas so you can break through them Understanding Other People's Brains: The battle of the sexes and babies developing brainsLearn about the built-in circuitry that makes office politics seem like a life-or-death struggle, causes you to toss important facts out of your memory if they're not emotionally charged, andencourages you to eat huge amounts of high-calorie snacks. With Your Brain: The Missing Manual you'll discover that, sometimes, you can learn to compensate for your brain or work around its limitations -- or at least to accept its eccentricities. Exploring your brain is the greatest adventure and biggest mystery you'll ever face. This guide has exactly the advice you need.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
Learn About the Best Computer in the World December 16, 2008
Asher Weingarten
I am sure everyone will learn something new about the brain from this great book (at least those of us who are not neuroscientists). In Your Brain you can learn why illusions work on us and how to be alert to and prevent the manipulation of our minds by others. This book contains great stuff for memory improvement and other practical advice for everyday living.
An Informative and Practical Guide to the Brain October 21, 2008
Andy Zhu (Suwanee, Ga)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
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.
Science meets self-help August 17, 2008
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
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
You don't need to be a brain surgeon to understand your brain... August 10, 2008
Thomas Duff (Portland, OR United States)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
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.
 Quite interesting August 7, 2008
Neo Han Lip (Singapore)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
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.
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