Brain

Making Neuroscience Easy to Understand

November 7, 2016 | Leave a Comment

This Week’s Book: Change Your Brain, Change Your Life Before 25 (J. Payne)

If you are a regular reader of my blog, it should be no secret by now that I have a bit of a love affair with neuroscience. Ok, more than a bit…I find it fascinating. So, I’m always on a quest to find great books that make neuroscience accessible and easy to understand. Just like all things related to psychology, it doesn’t need to be as complicated as it’s usually presented…or at least that’s my opinion. Anywho, this week I found another awesome book – a spin off from the bestselling book Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by Daniel Amen (spoiler alert: I’ll probably write about this book one day too). This book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life Before 25, targets the 25 and unders, which just happens to be the age of a good chunk of my clients…so it seemed like a must read for me.

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life Before 25 is written in the same vein as Amen’s book, focusing on the brain’s ability for change and how we can modify it for the better. The book starts by giving a solid foundation of information about the brain, its developmental patterns and the science of neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to change), followed by a section on ways that we can damage the brain. Payne also encourages readers to be empathic towards others, as he includes a section on understanding the brains of others. Lastly, this book includes a section on strategies for changing the brain. Payne takes a holistic approach to change in that section, targeting the mind, body, and soul.

So here’s an interesting fact about people under the age of 25 – their brains aren’t fully developed. I would imagine that a ton of people wouldn’t realize that fact until they read this book. Our brains don’t fully develop until between the ages of 25-28 and, when you think about it, oh man it explains a lot. This book does a great job of discussing the developmental process, while kindly helping readers understand what their brain is up to and why they may engage in certain behaviours. I feel like that education could’ve been done in a condescending manner, but Payne masterfully weaves in humour and information without a hint of condescension. In fact, throughout the whole book it is clear that Payne has worked a lot with young adults and knows how to communicate with them in a manner that will make them feel empowered.

In case you can’t tell yet, I loved this book. People under the age of 25 are so unique and their feelings are always so pure and big. This book does an amazing job of describing why that may be and some strategies that may be useful when encountering the enormity of it all. Payne manages to educate readers about their body’s biggest asset, the brain…something which we are often woefully ignorant about. I would recommend this book to anyone – under 25s, as a way to gain some self-understanding, and over 25s, as a way to increase understanding and empathy. Self-understanding, empathy, and understanding of others are always beneficial things to gain.

Interested in this book? Click here!

Our Brain Keeps Secrets

September 21, 2016 | Leave a Comment

This Week’s Book: Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain (D. Eagleman)

Ok, let’s do this! I’m actually super pumped to write about books again…and what a shocker, I chose a book on neuroscience to kick it all off. For those of you who have read my blog in the past, you’ll know all about my affinity for discussions of neuroscience and for those of you who are new to my blog…well, now you know. I love me some neuroscience. The brain is so fascinating to me and, as this book reminded me, we still have sooooo much to learn about it!

Incognito takes the reader on a journey through the brain. No, it’s not an anatomy lesson…it’s a detailed discussion on the meagre facts that we know about the brain and a look at all of the contradictions that are present in the mind. Eagleman does a masterful job of weaving together the conscious and subconscious story of the brain, showing the readers how our brain is often one step ahead of us and how it is always on the go. Our brain is made up of an abundance of overlapping subsystems and, at times, our conscious mind has a hard time keeping up.

I am in love with this book. It included a combination of my three favourite things in a psychology-related book: it was easy to read, it discussed cool science stuff, and it told me about a shitload of cool experiments. Seriously – I love reading about experiments and studies that have interesting and/or unexpected results. Like, how cool is it that our brain has already decided to make movements before our conscious mind decides? This book describes the study where they found that out. The more I read this book, the more I realized that our brain really does have a mind of its own…a simultaneously cool and horrifying thought. In a way, the brain really does operate like a giant switchboard à la the movie Inside Out.

I’ll admit though, despite my love for this book, there was a portion of it that somewhat lost me. In a seemingly random turn, the author included a large section on social policy, law, and the brain. I didn’t realize that the information being conveyed was building to that topic, but then it was happening and I was admittedly confused. But that section aside, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is even remotely interested in the inner workings of the brain. This type of book makes me existed to see where science will take us next!

Interested in buying the book? Click here!

No Mistakes Were Made Here!

February 15, 2016 | Leave a Comment

This Week’s Book: Mistakes were Made (but not by me) (C. Tavris and E. Aronson)

(photo c/o amazon.ca)

So I may have said this before, but I’m easily won over by a witty book title or a flashy cover. Yes, I do in fact judge a book by its cover. The book that I read this week was totally bought for its clever title…and since it’s been sitting on my shelf for a few years now, I figured it was time to crack it open.

Mistakes were Made (but not by me) looks at the science and psychology behind self-justification. The authors discuss cognitive dissonance at length, defining it as “a state of tension that occurs whenever a person holds two cognitions…that are psychologically inconsistent.” (p. 13) They examine how people naturally try to reduce dissonance as it tends to create an abundance of mental discomfort. The authors discuss cognitive dissonance using a variety of examples set in various different contexts, thus giving the readers a comprehensive picture of how self-justification infiltrates all of our lives and actions.

I’ll say it bluntly – I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Talking about a complex psychological topic like cognitive dissonance left this book with the potential to be horribly boring, but the authors managed to give interesting and relevant examples to illustrate the concept. The authors also provide readers with some instruction on how to effectively live with cognitive dissonance…though not in a self-help sort of style. Actually, they make it sound so simple – just take responsibility rather than making excuses or self-justifications. If you’ve made a mistake, own it, learn from it and move on! It’s a lesson that we can all learn from, especially since reducing cognitive dissonance is a natural (seemingly automatic at times?) reaction. Whether we are willing to admit it or not, cognitive dissonance is something that we all experience. For that reason alone, I would recommend this to everyone. It certainly wouldn’t hurt for all of us to become more aware of this mental process!

Interested in the book? Click here!

Wrapping Our Brains Around…The Brain

January 25, 2016 | Leave a Comment

This Week’s Book = Your Brain: A User’s Guide (by National Geographic)

Ok, I’m back to reading! I’ll confess that I always find it challenging to pick up work-related and/or psychology-focused books after the holiday season. For some reason my brain just wants to linger in its relaxed, think-about-nothing-serious kind of state and I tend towards fun, easy to read novel. But alas, today it is exactly one month post-Christmas, so it’s time to get back into the swing of reading. I chose to be nicer to myself though and ease myself in with a magazine as opposed to a book.

I’ll admit it…I’m not a fan of the fact that National Geographic recently shifted from its non-profit roots to being majority owned by 21st Century Fox. It annoys me to the point of contemplating a boycott…but then I see a National Geographic magazine on the newsstands and they just look so damn appealing. So here we are, talking about National Geographic’s Your Brain: A User’s Guide. This magazine, as the title advertises, teaches the readers about the brain. Readers will learn about the learning, perceptive, unconscious, emotional, and aging brain. Sprinkled throughout the magazine are bright and relevant pictures, sidebars with interesting stories, and 100 facts that you may not have known about the brain.

This may seem like a relatively lame choice for my first review of 2016 and, in a way, I would agree. For me (and any other professionals, I would assume), this magazine reminded me of information that I learned waaaaay back in my undergraduate program when we would study the brain in 100/200 level courses. That’s cool – I don’t shy away from reminders and it’s been a while since I’ve read about that sort of stuff. It’s probably not a huge surprise to hear that my favourite chapters (yes, this magazine is split into chapters) were on the Unconscious Brain and the Emotional Brain. In those chapters, you can learn about mapping emotions, positive and negative emotions, mental health, dreams, altered states, and the importance of sleep for our brain (among other things). My penchant for describing complex concepts in a simplistic, easy to read manner was definitely satisfied with this magazine. I would recommend it for anybody looking to learn more about the brain, particularly the emotional and unconscious sides. After all, an understanding of the brain can give you a good foundation of knowledge for when you are considering the ups and downs of life.

Interested in this magazine? Click here! It’s only available on shelves until 02/12/16.