100 Best Neurology Books of All Time

Suzanne O'SullivanI didn’t choose neurology because of it but the way Oliver Sacks writes about neurology is very compelling. (Source)

Tanya ByronThis is a seminal book that anyone who wants to work in mental health should read. It is a charming and gentle and also an honest exposé of what can happen to us when our mental health is compromised for whatever reason. (Source)

Bradley VoytekI can’t imagine one day waking up and not knowing who my wife is, or seeing my wife and thinking that she was replaced by some sort of clone or robot. But that could happen to any of us. (Source)

Barack ObamaA few months ago, Mr. Obama read “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman, about how people make decisions — quick, instinctive thinking versus slower, contemplative deliberation. For Mr. Obama, a deliberator in an instinctive business, this may be as instructive as any political science text. (Source)

Bill Gates[On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012.] (Source)

Marc AndreessenCaptivating dive into human decision making, marred by inclusion of several/many? psychology studies that fail to replicate. Will stand as a cautionary tale? (Source)

Bill GatesExplains how neglecting sleep undercuts your creativity, problem solving, decision-making, learning, memory, heart health, brain health, mental health, emotional well-being, immune system, and even your life span. (Source)

Brad FeldSeveral friends, who know I both love to sleep and am intrigued with how sleep works, recommended that I read Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams. It was excellent. While my self-assessment of my sleep habits are very positive, I learned a few things. More importantly, I now have a much better understanding of the “Why” surrounding sleep, especially around sleep’s importance to... (Source)

Alexis Ohanian Sr.Agree! Best book I've read this year. Wasted so many hours just proving to myself I'd be the last one up working at @reddit and for what??? Stupid. Diminishing marginal returns after enough hours without sleep. https://t.co/cT7fDNBF3A (Source)

Joann CorleyschwarzkopfNeed a fun boost for your team? Want to jump-start great problem-solving? >Book a 1-hour #creativethinking, virtual experience & get a complimentary pdf copy - Brain on Fire: Unleashing Your Creative Superpowers! for each attendee #teambuilding Info here: https://t.co/j6hOxMJrNH https://t.co/b9hAxV90Mf (Source)

Jessica FlitterThe readability for me is probably the key element for students—and maybe for teachers as well—because it’s a book that you really can’t put down. If that’s what we need to make students readers, then I’m all for it. (Source)

Carol DweckFor me it was exciting to read this book because while my research shows a growth mindset is really good for you, this book shows that a growth mindset also has a strong basis in modern neuroscience. It illustrates, though fascinating case histories and descriptions of recent research, the amazing power of the brain to change and even to reorganise itself with practice and experience. (Source)

Naveen JainI think the book that I really, really enjoy was, "The Brain That Changes Itself." It's all about neuroplasticity, you'd really love that book. (Source)

Bogdana ButnarI don't have favourite books. I equate a favourite something with wanting to do it over and over again and I've never wanted to read a book too many times. I have favourite authors and I have books that changed me in significant ways because they moved me or taught me something or changed my view of the world. So, here's some of those books... (Source)

Aniela GregorekI gained a deeper understanding of how music affects our moods and our brains. (Source)

Justin Boreta[Justin Boreta said this is one of his most-recommended books.] (Source)

Alexandra HorowitzSacks’s books are an inspiration to me in bringing together scientific and philosophical reflections on various human conditions. (Source)

Naval RavikantI also recently finished The Power of Habit, or close to finish as I get. That one was interesting, not because of its content necessarily, but because it’s good for me to always keep on top of mind how powerful my habits are. [...] I think learning how to break habits is a very important meta-skill that can serve you better in life than almost anything else. Although you can read tons of books... (Source)

Blake IrvingYou know, there's a book called The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Simple read book about just how to build positive habits that can be I think I what I'd call you know whether in your personal life or whether in your business life to help you build you know, have a loop that can build your success and that's one I mean there are so many great books out there. (Source)

Santiago BasultoAnother book with great impact was “The power of habit”. But to be honest, I read only a couple of pages. It’s a good book, with many interesting stories. But to be honest, the idea it tries to communicate is simple and after a couple of pages you’ve pretty much understood all of it. Happens the same thing with those types of books (Getting things done, crossing the chasm, etc.) (Source)

Lewis WolpertIt’s really about how people who have some physical injury to their brain can have fantasies that bear no relationship to reality whatsoever. (Source)

Will SelfI must have first read this book in the early eighties, and found it – like a lot of Sacks’s writing – absolutely fascinating. Not just because of the philosophical and scientific perspectives that he is involved in, but because of his involuntary self-characterisation. I used some of Sacks’s modes and mannerisms quite shamelessly as one of the sources for my character Zack Busner, who is a... (Source)

Bill GatesI don’t know how Kalanithi found the physical strength to write this book while he was so debilitated by the disease and then potent chemotherapy. But I’m so glad he did. He spent his whole brief life searching for meaning in one way or another -- through books, writing, medicine, surgery, and science. I’m grateful that, by reading this book, I got to witness a small part of that journey. I just... (Source)

Ryan HolidayDespite its popularity, When Breath Becomes Air is actually underrated. It’s make-you-cry good. (Source)

Bethany S. MandelMore Shabbat reading recommendations: This book was breathtaking and such a powerful advertisement for the joy of parenthood. https://t.co/V8BH97eiL9 (Source)

Mike ShinodaI know most of the guys in the band read [this book]. (Source)

Marillyn HewsonCEO Marilyn Hewson recommends this book because it helped her to trust her instincts in business. (Source)

Cat Williams-TreloarThe books that I've talked the most about with friends and colleagues over the years are the Malcolm Gladwell series of novels. Glorious stories that mix science, behaviours and insight. You can't go wrong with the "The Tipping Point", "Outliers", "Blink" or "David & Goliath". (Source)

Drew HoustonIt’s nonfiction, but it spelled out something that I just didn’t know you could kind of break down in a logical way. And, suddenly, I had this understanding about the world that I didn’t have before. (Source)

Sharon Salzberg[Sharon Salzberg recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show".] (Source)

Roxana Bitoleanu[One of the books recommends to young people interested in her career path.] (Source)

Simon Sinekeval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'theceolibrary_com-large-mobile-banner-2','ezslot_5',164,'0','1'])); Leaders needn’t be the loudest. Leadership is not about theater. It’s not about dominance. It is about putting the lives of others before any other priority. In Quiet, Cain affirms to a good many of us who are introverts by nature that we needn’t try to be extroverts if we want to lead.... (Source)

Jason FriedA good book I’d recommend is “Quiet” by Susan Cain. (Source)

James AltucherProbably half the world is introverts. Maybe more. It’s not an easy life to live. I sometimes have that feeling in a room full of people, “uh-oh. I just shut down. I can’t talk anymore and there’s a lock on my mouth and this crowd threw away the key.” Do you ever get that feeling? Please? I hope you do. Let’s try to lock eyes at the party. “Quiet” shows the reader how to unlock the secret powers... (Source)

Seth GodinAt a conference I recently attended, David talked about his work. It's all anyone discussed for the next two days. This book will help you understand the meat/electricity/chemicals you're carrying around inside your head better than you ever have before. (Source)

Louis Grenier“Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain” and “Predictably Irrational” are 2 very good books on psychology that I think you should read. (Source)

David BrooksDamasio worked with people who have suffered strokes and as a result are incapable of feeling emotion. And far from making good decisions, they make terrible decisions, and their lives fall apart. (Source)

Paul ThagardThis book understood emotion in terms of what the brain does – not as a kind of abstract computational process but very much tied in with the particular brain processes. (Source)

Vinod KhoslaFascinating though older book. (Source)

Justin BoretaGoes into the evolutionary thinking behind why music does what it does. (Source)

Bill GatesOf the five books I finished over vacation, the one that impressed me the most – and that is probably of broadest interest – is Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, by science writer Joshua Foer. This is an absolutely phenomenal book that looks at memory and techniques for dramatically improving memory. Foer actually mastered these techniques, which led him to... (Source)

Chelsea HandlerIt has changed my life and made me embarrass myself much less when meeting someone twice. (Source)

Deborah BlumThis book focuses not so much on the scientists but more on the consequence and meaning of memory for the rest of us. Within the framework of a memory championship, Foer looks at this almost obsessive interest in learning, how to remember everything. He asks the really interesting philosophical question, which is, are we defined by what we remember? (Source)

Morten KringelbachI became interested in neuroscience was because of the way Oliver Sacks uses stories to illuminate science. (Source)

Sam HarrisI highly recommend. It really is the most accessible discussion of brain science you will find. (Source)

Vinod KhoslaAmong the best insights into our brain and behavior. A top of the charts for me for this year, along with Scale. (Source)

Bryan Johnson[Bryan Johnson recommended this book on Twitter.] (Source)

Max Levchin[Max Levchin recommended this book as an answer to "What business books would you advise young entrepreneurs read?"] (Source)

Nick HarkawayPredictably Irrational is an examination of the way in which we make decisions irrationally, and how that irrationality can be predicted. (Source)

Jonah LehrerDan Ariely is a very creative guy and was able to take this basic idea, that humans are irrational, and mine it in a million different directions. (Source)

Carol GilliganDamasio distinguishes between a core sense of self, grounded in the body and in emotions, and the autobiographical self. (Source)

Suzana Herculano-HouzelThis book was really ground breaking and a real turning point for neuroscience. (Source)

Daniel GolemanMichael Pollan masterfully guides us through the highs, lows, and highs again of psychedelic drugs. How to Change Your mind chronicles how it’s been a longer and stranger trip than most any of us knew. (Source)

Yuval Noah HarariChanged my mind, or at least some of the ideas held in my mind. (Source)

David Heinemeier HanssonHow we get locked into viewing the world, ourselves, and each other in a certain way, and then finding it difficult to relate to alternative perspectives or seeing other angles. Studying philosophy, psychology, and sociology is a way to break those rigid frames we all build over time. But that’s still all happening at a pretty high level of perception. Mind altering drugs, and especially... (Source)

Bill Gates[On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012.] (Source)

James AltucherDiscusses how to keep your brain healthy. (Source)

Dmitry DragilevThere’s a book called Brain Rules, also a great book, by John Medina, sort of like how your brain works. (Source)

Dan Kaminsky@DanielMiessler @balajis How The Mind Works being the formative book of my intellectual career makes this particularly interesting. I don’t always agree with Pinker but that’s not a requirement. (Source)

Barry PrizantNeurotribes lays down the history and the philosophy of our need to respect people with autism. (Source)

Joan BoixadosI’m reading “On intelligence” by Jeff Hawkins. I am really enjoying it. It’s a very specific theory of how our brain learns and makes predictions (the root of our intelligence) explained for average people unfamiliar with the field. It’s also very related to computer science and artificial intelligence since it tried to prove the current approaches to those are flawed. I’m getting a better... (Source)

Joshua FoerThis book created the entire genre of humanistic clinical histories. Without Luria, there could be no Oliver Sacks, the British neurologist who wrote Awakenings. For 30 years, Luria studied a journalist called Solomon Shereshevsky or simply ‘S’. Supposedly, S had a vacuum cleaner memory. He could remember anything. (Source)

Susan BlackmoreJaynes thinks we only started talking and thinking about consciousness and the problem of consciousness within historical times. (Source)

Adam Robinson[One of five books (this one perhaps most of all) that confirm] there is far, far more in our unconscious mind than is dreamt of in our philosophy. (Source)

Adam Robinson[One of five books (this one perhaps most of all) that confirm] there is far, far more in our unconscious mind than is dreamt of in our philosophy. (Source)

Dominic Steil[One of the books that had the biggest impact on .] (Source)

David BrooksAn argument against the old view that there is no such thing as human nature, that we’re all culturally determined. He brings together a ton of evidence that that’s wrong. (Source)

Steve Jurvetson[Steve Jurvetson recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show".] (Source)

Seth GodinIn the last week, I discovered that at least two of my smart friends hadn't read Godel, Escher, Bach. They have now. You should too. (Source)

Kevin KellyOver the years, I kept finding myself returning to its insights, and each time I would arrive at them at a deeper level. (Source)

Juliette AristidesNicholas Carr talks at length about what is gained and lost by technological progress. Reading and writing enlarged people’s sympathetic response and enriched their lives even when the book was put aside. One could say the same thing about drawing. (Source)

Andra ZahariaWhile I was thinking of the best books to add to this short list, I realized that not even half of them are directly related to digital marketing. This is because I believe that the best marketers are people who understand human nature deeply and aim to bring out the best in it. Call me naive, but that’s how I see it. If I were to want to pursue a career in marketing, I’d read [...] The Shallows. (Source)

Maya Zlatanova[One of the books that had the biggest impact on Maya.] (Source)

Johann HariIf you wanted to design a system that would make addiction worse, you’d design the system we have now. (Source)

Peg TyreRead this and you will never again hand your iPhone to your child in the stroller. You will start talking to them and pointing out colours. (Source)

Genevieve Von LobSiegel uses what neuroscience tells us about how a child’s brain develops to provide practical tips for parents. (Source)

Graham Duncan[Graham Duncan recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show".] (Source)

Simon Baron-CohenIn fiction the writer has some licence to deviate from what is real – it’s a work of art, ultimately, for people’s interest and enjoyment, but I think that the character is very recognisable of many people with Asperger syndrome. I think the author has done a very good job. (Source)

Vanessa KengI've always loved fiction - mainly crime and legal thrillers, but there's something wonderful about reading a completely different style of writing from what I'm used to. I found myself absorbed in the narrative of guilt and love in The Kite Runner, and The Curious Incident told me a story from a completely different perspective. (Source)

Robert MuchamoreMark Haddon wrote a spy series for eight- or nine-year-olds and then he suddenly comes out with this rather brilliant novel. Is it an adult book? Is it a kids’ book? So many people can read it and approach it. (Source)

Simon Baron-CohenIt’s a really wonderful example of what you can do: take research into something as fundamental to human nature as language and make it accessible to a wide audience. (Source)

Lane GreeneThere are two achievements in this book. One is to smuggle Linguistics 101 into a popular book, which is just fantastic. The other is his own argument about the nature of language, and the title says it all. (Source)

Robin SharmaI think you’ll gain great value—and reading joy—from this book. Have an excellent Saturday. Love, Robin https://t.co/8e5D4Y2LLp (Source)

Roxana Bitoleanu[One of the books recommends to young people interested in her career path.] (Source)

Memo Akten@therourke you may very well be a pyschopath!, it doesn't mean you'll be an axe wielding homicidal maniac :) (I think I might be a bit pyschopath, dunno. My AE is a bit of a yoyo. At times I might feel more for a fly in a spiderweb than a person). V interesting book: https://t.co/QRAJAZPhDY (Source)

Nicholas EpleyCornelia’s book is a rigorous walk through the scientific literature that presents the facts about gender differences. She blows up a lot of the popular books which posited that ‘men are from Mars and women are from Venus’ and described the male and female brain as fundamentally different. Cordelia’s book puts the real and relatively small differences between men and women into perspective. (Source)

Nick PyensonSapolsky’s book is my favourite in the modern scientist-author canon.He places you in his shoes, and shows you how his ensemble cast of baboons (generations of them, actually) have personality, agency, and succumb to the same foibles that we do. (Source)

Susan BlackmorePeople go in two directions: they either love the way he writes, or they hate it. I love it, with all his mad examples and neologisms. (Source)

Keith FrankishThe book is packed with thought experiments, all designed to undermine the intuitive but misleading picture of the Cartesian Theatre. (Source)

Suzanne O'SullivanHe says something that Sacks doesn’t say. (Source)

Elaine FoxThis again is a very interesting and personal book. As you mention, he developed Parkinson’s and was aware from a very early age that it was going to end his acting career. He writes in the book that there was no way he could continue his movie career with the kinds of problems that Parkinson’s brought. But one of the interesting things he makes clear is that in spite of all that he absolutely... (Source)

Noah KaganA few months ago, I was drinking a Noah’s Mill whiskey (cute) with my good buddy Brian Balfour and talking about life... During the conversation, we got on the topic of books that changed our lives. I want to share them with you. I judge a book's success if a year later I'm still using at least 1 thing from the book. (Source)

Kyrylo TaranenkoThe golden rule that always works for me: “If something takes two minutes or less, just do it”. I also work remotely, so reading “Your Brain at Work” by D. Rock taught me… well, how our brain works at work (sorry if this sentence sounds like a Rihanna`s song). With this knowledge, I manage my priorities better. (Source)

Jason StirmanUnderstand how our brains operate at work throughout the day was really illuminating for me, especially because I manage other humans who have brains. (Source)

Christina ReynoldsInteresting book on medicine with broader applications for all of us. https://t.co/KUeHOPWMom (Source)

Elad Yom-TovHe has a way of explaining the medical world in a manner that is both compassionate but also very much data driven. (Source)

Simon Baron-CohenI think this book is unusual for lots of reasons. I found it really gripping. First of all, it is written by someone with autism. For me, as a scientist who has been looking at autism from the outside, I felt there is so much we can learn from her because she has actually got the condition, and is able to tell us what the world looks like from her point of view. (Source)

Dominic Steil[One of the books that had the biggest impact on .] (Source)

Melissa MohrThis is about language more generally, but it has a great chapter on swearing. It’s a really good shorter summary, where he hits all the highlights about swearing and physiology in terms of how it works in the brain and the effects it has on your body. (Source)

Oliver SacksRobert M. Sapolsky is one of the best science writers of our time. (Source)

Susan CainSuch a fantastic book. And it was really, for me, completely lifechanging. (Source)

Chris GowardI also highly recommend Sam Harris' Waking Up, which is a more well-rounded unpacking of non-religious mindfulness practice. (Source)

Fabrice GrindaVery well thought through analysis of spirituality without religion. (Source)

Kirk BorneAs #AI moves toward #AGI with #NeuralNetworks, deeper understanding of Emotion Science is critical! See "How Emotions Are Made — The Secret Life of the Brain" by @LFeldmanBarrett Get the book: https://t.co/MH4f0mgnrs Watch her amazing video on @TEDTalks https://t.co/hPFB1vx4me https://t.co/hzZ4z2RCIr (Source)

Margaret MorrisI appreciate Lisa Feldman Barrett’s argument that we can become the architects of our experiences. She pushes against the idea that events trigger emotions in a predetermined way and suggests we find the most specific language possible to describe our experiences and feelings. This specificity may propel us to move forward from challenges in a constructive way. (Source)

Tessa WattThis is a book that focuses on the neuroscience of mindfulness. (Source)

Doug McMillonHere are some of my favorite reads from 2017. Lots of friends and colleagues send me book suggestions and it's impossible to squeeze them all in. I continue to be super curious about how digital and tech are enabling people to transform our lives but I try to read a good mix of books that apply to a variety of areas and stretch my thinking more broadly. (Source)

Sriram Krishnan@rabois @nealkhosla Yes! Love that book (Source)

Chris OliverThis is a great book talking about how you can use computer science to help you make decisions in life. How do you know when to make a decision on the perfect house? Car? etc? It helps you apply algorithms to making those decisions optimally without getting lost. (Source)

Lydia RufflesIt’s a comprehensive survey of different kinds of synesthesia alongside research that’s been done into it so far. (Source)

Susan BlackmoreAn enjoyable read that will make you think. (Source)

Nassim Nicholas TalebI started my interest in neurobiology in December 1998 after reading a discussion by Rita Carter in the FT showing that rational behavior under uncertainty and rational decision making can come from a defect in the amygdala. Since then I've had five years of reading more technical material (Gazzaniga et al is perhaps the most complete reference on cognitive neuroscience) and thought that I... (Source)

Sarah-Jayne BlakemoreIt’s about consciousness, and how we are conscious, and how our brains enable us to be conscious, and to have awareness of the world around us. (Source)

Dorothy RoweThis first book is by Chris Frith, Making up the Mind, How the Brain Creates our Mental World. Everything that I have written has been based on the proposition that what determines our behaviour isn’t what happens to us but how we interpret what happens to us. The basis of that is what neuroscientists have been showing over the last 20-odd years, which is that the way our brain operates means... (Source)

Kara Nortman@patrick_oshag @JohnCGreer @zackkanter Mindsight by @DrDanSiegel - Great book on board and executive team management w/o intending to be Meant to be a summary of broad range of research on brain science + best ways to impact your brain (for better outcomes) in the moment https://t.co/sMH9rfO0Ba (Source)