The Brain Rules by John Medina

   I recently finished reading the wonderful book, The Brain Rules, authored by John Medina, a researcher dedicated to truth and having an excellent flair for making difficult concepts simple to understand.
   The book gives an insightful perspective on how the human brain has evolved over the millions of years, and why we should not ignore its operating principles if we want to live well.
   It summarizes the enormous wealth of research findings on the complex subject in the form of twelve simple principles (or 'rules') that Medina considers crucial for 'surviving and thriving at work, home and school'. These include the relevance of aerobic exercise to brain health, the unique symbolic reasoning employed by human beings, the uniqueness of every single brain, dynamics of attention, formation and nature of short-term and long-term memories, importance of sleep for brain health, impact of stress on functioning of brain, the sensory integration performed by brain, dominant role of vision, gender differences, and our intrinsic exploratory urge.
   A must-read for those interested in knowing how the brain works and how to use its marvelous capacities for survival and growth.