Brain Rules (Updated and Expanded): 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School
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- Create Date：2021-06-18 05:51:14
- Update Date：2025-09-13
- Status：finish
- Author：John Medina
- ISBN：098326337X
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Summary
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--like the need for physical activity to get your brain working 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 knowledge？ Is it true that men and women have different brains？
In Brain Rules， Dr。 John Medina， a molecular biologist， 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 infectious 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 proves that most of us 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。
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 knowledge？ Is it true that men and women have different brains？
In Brain Rules， Dr。 John Medina， a molecular biologist， 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 infectious 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 proves that most of us 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。
Reviews
Betsy
，
This is a great read for educators and for those looking to hack their brain。 It's an easy introduction to the science of how the brain works。 I enjoyed how Medina broke things down and made the material easy to understand。 He made some suggestions on how schools and workplaces could improve their format for highest levels of success。 This is a great read for educators and for those looking to hack their brain。 It's an easy introduction to the science of how the brain works。 I enjoyed how Medina broke things down and made the material easy to understand。 He made some suggestions on how schools and workplaces could improve their format for highest levels of success。 。。。more
أحمد ساعد الحبسي
，
كتاب جميل ومفيد ، وصدمت عندما علمت أن السبب الرئيسي للنوم هو لعملية تخزين الذاكرة بشكل رئيسي
Xi Xi
，
great read！ finished it in one go
Milan
，
Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work， Home， and School by John Medina looks quite promising but I found it a little underwhelming。 The book gives some information about various aspects of brain along with real life examples and some personal anecdotes of the author。 However， he does not delve deep into brain research， even some well-known brain research。 The 12 brain rules are related to: survival， exercise， sleep， stress， brain-wiring， attention spans， memory， sensory s Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work， Home， and School by John Medina looks quite promising but I found it a little underwhelming。 The book gives some information about various aspects of brain along with real life examples and some personal anecdotes of the author。 However， he does not delve deep into brain research， even some well-known brain research。 The 12 brain rules are related to: survival， exercise， sleep， stress， brain-wiring， attention spans， memory， sensory stimulation， sight， gender， and curiosity。 Some of the so called rules don’t look very useful。 The oversimplification of the workings of the brain did not really work for me and the book does not provide any new insights。 Another annoying factor was that the book did not provide any notes or bibliography to refer to， the author asks us to check the notes on his website。 See you around。 。。。more
Kathryn
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Fascinating！！
Hallie
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Much more expansive than I thought when I picked this up - this text covers a wide range of material on how our brains work， from physical construction to debunking common misconceptions to tips on how to improve function。 My only complaint is that the author devotes time at the end of each section to share thoughts on what can/should be done in schools， work environments， etc。 to change from current practices to ones that are more effective for the principle under discussion。 I found those sect Much more expansive than I thought when I picked this up - this text covers a wide range of material on how our brains work， from physical construction to debunking common misconceptions to tips on how to improve function。 My only complaint is that the author devotes time at the end of each section to share thoughts on what can/should be done in schools， work environments， etc。 to change from current practices to ones that are more effective for the principle under discussion。 I found those sections entirely aggravating as they are consistently overly simplistic and the equivalent of just throwing an idea out there with no thought for the realities of what is required to be considered for implementation。 It would have been more enjoyable to cut out these end sections altogether and focus just on the main content。 。。。more
Priya
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Explanations are Good in this books， But we can't understand some biological terms and names Explanations are Good in this books， But we can't understand some biological terms and names 。。。more
Crystal Min
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Knowing how something works is the starting point to making it better。 The author's insights on how the brain works helped me understand myself （and possibly others） better。 I also walked away with action items on how to apply some of this knowledge to improve the way I learn， the way I teach my kids， and the way I build relationships。 Bonus takeaway: getting adequate amount of sleep is a serious matter。 Knowing how something works is the starting point to making it better。 The author's insights on how the brain works helped me understand myself （and possibly others） better。 I also walked away with action items on how to apply some of this knowledge to improve the way I learn， the way I teach my kids， and the way I build relationships。 Bonus takeaway: getting adequate amount of sleep is a serious matter。 。。。more
Sarmad Mahar
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Sleep well think well， and sleeping at mid of the day is also sunah in islam
Valerie Huffman
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I found this book fascinating。 Really good information。 Much of I think I knew on an experiential level and that was good to read the why of the facts。。。some of it came as an "Ahaaaa moment"， this was mostly in the section dealing with how our brains are wired。My favorite section was dealing with music and our brains 。。。 So cool！ I found this book fascinating。 Really good information。 Much of I think I knew on an experiential level and that was good to read the why of the facts。。。some of it came as an "Ahaaaa moment"， this was mostly in the section dealing with how our brains are wired。My favorite section was dealing with music and our brains 。。。 So cool！ 。。。more
SYED SAAD ZAMAN
，
Seeing good review and rating about the book “Brain Rules”， I’m excited to read that text。 But as I read， I understand first six chapters but not understand the remaining ones。 I think it’s a fact and figure containing， text like book。 I get main points from this book which are given below:•tThere are two ways to beat the cruelty of a harsh environment: You can become stronger or you can become smarter。•tRelationships matter when attempting to teach human being。•tThe brain acts like a muscle: Th Seeing good review and rating about the book “Brain Rules”， I’m excited to read that text。 But as I read， I understand first six chapters but not understand the remaining ones。 I think it’s a fact and figure containing， text like book。 I get main points from this book which are given below:•tThere are two ways to beat the cruelty of a harsh environment: You can become stronger or you can become smarter。•tRelationships matter when attempting to teach human being。•tThe brain acts like a muscle: The more activity you do， the larger and more complex it can become。•tThe presynaptic neuron is considered as the “teacher” and the postsynaptic neuron the “student”。 The goal of the teacher neuron is to pass on information。•tThe brain sees words as lots of tiny pictures。 。。。more
Jesse
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One of the things that makes John Medina's work refreshing， is that he doesn't make bold unsubstantiated conjecture， nor does he exaggerate claims， nor does he oversimplify complicated topics。 This seems rather rare when it comes to popular science reads， as so many do at least one of those above three things。 Medina tells us when science does not yet know the answer to something and he gives a nuanced report of the various subjects he writes about。In Brain Rules， Medina covers a wide range of t One of the things that makes John Medina's work refreshing， is that he doesn't make bold unsubstantiated conjecture， nor does he exaggerate claims， nor does he oversimplify complicated topics。 This seems rather rare when it comes to popular science reads， as so many do at least one of those above three things。 Medina tells us when science does not yet know the answer to something and he gives a nuanced report of the various subjects he writes about。In Brain Rules， Medina covers a wide range of topics related to brain health。 Some will be like review for readers of similar literature， while some of it talks about lesser knowns。 By far the most interesting part of the book is when Medina talks about children's development， in general。 No wonder he wrote a separate book about brain rules For baby， as he is obviously passionate about and extremely knowledgeable about early developing minds。There are some highly interesting things in here as well about music， how it affects the mind， and how it affects academics。 Medina does not oversimplify this subject， and goes to great lengths explaining the nuance of music and its perceived benefits to people， looking first at literature on the potential benefits of listening to music， and then discussing the different subject of how people are affected by playing music。Some of his ideas for how we should now organize work environments， and work schedules， seem a bit off。 Or should I say， impractical。 Same for some of his school ideas。 However， he does not say his ideas are right， he says he'd be curious to see what happened when his ideas were tried。 To that end， I'd be curious， too。 I like that he's an expert who presents ideas simply as ideas， rather than saying things SHOULD be a certain way， as others claiming to be experts sometimes will claim。 。。。more
Tgaddy
，
I found Brain Rules to be very interesting。 It provided reminders of some things I already knew and presented information that I had not seen or heard before。 The writing had a good， conversational flow and was easy to read。 Though full of scientific information， there was humor and stories of real people which kept me engaged。 The author even provided his own ideas of incorporating the rule into everyday life。 When scientific evidence has not provided a clear conclusion， Medina does not hesitat I found Brain Rules to be very interesting。 It provided reminders of some things I already knew and presented information that I had not seen or heard before。 The writing had a good， conversational flow and was easy to read。 Though full of scientific information， there was humor and stories of real people which kept me engaged。 The author even provided his own ideas of incorporating the rule into everyday life。 When scientific evidence has not provided a clear conclusion， Medina does not hesitate to relate this。 Each chapter of Medina’s book starts with an introduction to a new brain rule， something we know about how the brain works， and then expounds on that rule。 The first three rules - exercise， sleep， and stress – included much information that I had learned previously， but many of the supporting research and stories gave new insight。 My favorite brain rules were wiring （“Every brain is wired differently。”） and memory （“Repeat to remember。”） I was especially intrigued by the idea that memory works best when the environmental conditions at the time of both encoding and retrieval match。 This supports the practice of retracing your steps to find a lost item， or as I do more often as I age， to remember what I was about to do before I got distracted。 Though vision is included in the chapter on sensory integration， it also gets a chapter all its own。 According to Medina， “vision trumps all other senses。” He provides detailed information on the workings of the visual system along with unique examples of the power of vision。I feel that each person who reads this book can find applicable information。 Personally， I have gained some insight for improving training in the workplace and will revisit this book as I work to implement these improvements。 。。。more
Lacey Williams
，
I really enjoyed this book overall。 I think it was a pretty quick read， as each chapter is extremely attention-getting。 Medina explains his research in very great detail， and also includes several examples of how to make a great application of what you're learning from him。 I highly enjoyed the ending of each chapter， as Medina gives a great recap of the entire chapter。 He does a wonderful job of highlighting the main points， as most readers might get off track or lose sight of the main idea wit I really enjoyed this book overall。 I think it was a pretty quick read， as each chapter is extremely attention-getting。 Medina explains his research in very great detail， and also includes several examples of how to make a great application of what you're learning from him。 I highly enjoyed the ending of each chapter， as Medina gives a great recap of the entire chapter。 He does a wonderful job of highlighting the main points， as most readers might get off track or lose sight of the main idea with all the extreme details that are given about each Brain Rule。 I think it would be a great idea to post these recaps inside a classroom， or around your workspace to help better facilitate the learning of you or your students。 I would hope to see more educators read this novel， I think it could really help teachers of all skill levels innovate their way of teaching。 High school students could also benefit from reading this book， more specifically graduating seniors。 I think that could help influence students to discover more about their own learning styles and take what they learn from this book to the next level。 The reader will be surprised when they realize our schools and business are trying to facilitate learning in a way that disregards most of the data in the research Medina mentions。 This book is great for those who would like to evaluate their own learning process。 This book made me realize a lot about the way I learn， and ways that could improve at my job and in school。 I do suggest when purchasing this book， that you go for the extended version。 I purchased this book from iBooks and the extended version was available。 The extended version is more updated and has a good bit of extra commentary that adds to the overall quality of this book。 。。。more
Ayesha Ratnayake
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An enjoyable book about how the brain works， and what to do about it。 A bit heavy on the biology side， but still valuable in practical life。
Bilal Tahir
，
A great book that takes you to the journey of all your fundamental brain rules。 If you Google the concepts given in this book it will be more beneficial。 The language is simple and not very technical but the concepts are vital and the book can really enhance your understanding about how your brain works and how can you get maximum out of it。
Penny
，
In full disclosure， I chose Brain Rules to read as one of my assignments for my Master’s degree。 We are required to post a review of our chosen book。 This book is jam-packed with useful and relatable information。 While reading， I found myself agreeing with the author in a variety of different ways， relating his explanations to my personal life experiences。 Through his explanations， I developed a deeper understanding of how and why a variety of factors affect（ed） my life。 All of the author’s expl In full disclosure， I chose Brain Rules to read as one of my assignments for my Master’s degree。 We are required to post a review of our chosen book。 This book is jam-packed with useful and relatable information。 While reading， I found myself agreeing with the author in a variety of different ways， relating his explanations to my personal life experiences。 Through his explanations， I developed a deeper understanding of how and why a variety of factors affect（ed） my life。 All of the author’s explanations are wholly authentic and are research and science-based。 For example， on page 77 the author wrote: “I think Gottman’s findings can change the world。” John Gottman， founder of the Gottman Institute， and an incredibly respected marriage researcher due to years of scientific research in the field of marital behaviors。 He has since expanded his research by exposing expectant couples to marital interventions， in an effort to see how children born to trained couples are the same or different to children born to couples in the control group。 The findings were that children in the intervention group showed all the signs of healthy emotional regulation。 I say all this because the author’s Brain Rule #4: Stressed brains don’t learn the same way。 If a child can have an emotionally stable foundation， then learning will be less of a struggle for them， and increase their quality of life。 This book contains many examples of how your past， lifestyle traits， gender， music， vision， attention， memory， and sleep all affect your brain and its ability to function at its maximum potential。 The author is talented at explaining difficult scientific findings into simple， easy to understand， and relatable content。 Here’s an example of the author plainly stating how to achieve a certain goal after stating the science behind it: on page 149: “A great deal of research shows that thinking or talking about an event immediately after it has occurred enhances memory for that event， even when accounting for differences in type of memory。” So， even if you didn’t pick up or fully grasp the why， the author provides the results in an easy to apply manner for self use。 Towards the end of the book however， I felt the author dragged it out a bit， as I grew tired of the repetitive nature of the final chapters。 It’s an easy read and full of useful information。Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work， Home， and School 。。。more
سليمة
，
بعد سنة أتممت قرائة هذا الكتابممتاز👌🏽 ولكنه علمي بحت يحتاج صبر و فهم و وعي و تفرغ。
Renee G。
，
This is my favorite kind of non-fiction。 Excellent writing。 I even emailed the publisher to let them know how much I enjoyed it。
Hans Jelo Magtira
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 It was not the ‘tips’ that was super helpful。 Rather， explaining the scientific nature of the brain allowed me to have a more effective understanding。 The curiosity mindset really touched my heart and it was well ended。
Nghia
，
Tạm được！
Mulva
，
Good as a summary book， not as a first read on the subject。
Helle
，
Spændende bog der giver god indsigt i hvordan hjernen fungerer og hvordan det på baggrund heraf er mest hensigtsmæssigt at indrette sin hverdag/hvad man bør være opmærksom på。 Bogen er overskueligt og hvert kapitel afsluttes med en kort opsummering af de vigtigste pointer。 Nogle afsnit er dog lidt langtrukne。
Pau
，
Best-seller mundial， no es un libro de habilidades sociales pero explica de forma sencilla cómo funciona el cerebro humano y ofrece consejos para mejorar tu capacidad intelectual， lo cual nunca viene mal。 Probablemente， de entre todos los libros que pretenden explicar el funcionamiento cognitivo de la mente éste sea el que lo hace de forma más amena。Te lo recomiendo si: quieres conocer las bases del funcionamiento del cerebro y aprender algunas curiosidades útiles para mejorar tu capacidad intel Best-seller mundial， no es un libro de habilidades sociales pero explica de forma sencilla cómo funciona el cerebro humano y ofrece consejos para mejorar tu capacidad intelectual， lo cual nunca viene mal。 Probablemente， de entre todos los libros que pretenden explicar el funcionamiento cognitivo de la mente éste sea el que lo hace de forma más amena。Te lo recomiendo si: quieres conocer las bases del funcionamiento del cerebro y aprender algunas curiosidades útiles para mejorar tu capacidad intelectual。 Valoración 7/10。 。。。more
Peter P。
，
I absolutely loved this book。 It is a gift - metaphorically speaking - for anyone with even the slightest interest in how our brain works; how it impacts our behaviors， our decisions， what we respond to， what we avoid， how we interact， how we learn。 John Medina， a molecular biologist， has no business being this relatable， even funny。 But he is and this book is a treat。
Eliana Pacheco
，
This book， as many others of the same kind， is written as if it holds the whole universal truth and everybody else is dumb by not having discovered this awesome knowledge before。。。 It has some good data but I would double check some affirmations and take what can work for me。
Zachary Viray
，
The rules here may seem obvious， but it's made more meaningful by John Medina's anecdotes and data， and it stuck to me more and resonated with me because of it， which is， in fact， one of Medina's many points in this awesome book。 The rules here may seem obvious， but it's made more meaningful by John Medina's anecdotes and data， and it stuck to me more and resonated with me because of it， which is， in fact， one of Medina's many points in this awesome book。 。。。more
Terry Pearce
，
I mean， there's a lot of good science here， but of the twelve sets of conclusions， most seem pretty obvious at this stage （stress is bad， sleep is good， etc。）。 The only one that doesn't is the gender chapter， which doesn't give enough weight to the fact that for most of the differences he talks about， the average difference between two men or between two women is bigger than the difference between the average man and the average woman。 Which renders some of his conclusions and recommendations in I mean， there's a lot of good science here， but of the twelve sets of conclusions， most seem pretty obvious at this stage （stress is bad， sleep is good， etc。）。 The only one that doesn't is the gender chapter， which doesn't give enough weight to the fact that for most of the differences he talks about， the average difference between two men or between two women is bigger than the difference between the average man and the average woman。 Which renders some of his conclusions and recommendations in that chapter a bit farcical （choose project team members based on gender mix to get different types of thinking？ really？）。 Again， there's little （at least in the other eleven chapters） to argue with， but if you've read much other neuroscience （and Dean Burnett and Oliver Sacks to name a couple are much better places to start）， this doesn't really tell you anything you don't know。 And his style （I read the audiobook） grates after awhile。 He's very earnest and occasionally funny， but he tries a bit too hard to be funny and I was often left wishing he'd just give it straight。 。。。more
Dani O
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Easy to read， informative text summarizing dozens of research studies related to brain function。 The chapters are specific to things like gender， exercise， sleep， and stress。 Useful when it comes to reminding people of the importance of certain elements/habits in their life related to these topics。
Shibyaev2002
，