Wendy Suzuki: 2 Powerful Tools To Use When You Feel Stressed Out (This Will Lower Your Anxiety in 1 Minute)

In Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain, neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett sheds light on the inner workings of the brain and how they impact feelings, behaviors, and relationships. While providing an entertaining peek behind the curtain, she argues that by understanding the basics of how your brain works, you can take a more active role in deciding how to think and behave.

Barrett’s book is a collection of eight informal essays—one for each lesson. Our guide explores those lessons through four themes: how the brain is organized, how the brain operates, how the brain develops, and how brains collaborate. Along the way, we compare Barrett’s explanations of the brain to those of other experts in neurology and offer practical applications for the insights she shares.

Modern technological progress is ablaze with the potential of artificial intelligence, but we still don’t fully understand how natural, human intelligence works. If we could crack the code of human cognition, many scientists believe we could use that knowledge to create even more powerful and useful AI.

In A Thousand Brains, neuroscientist Jeff Hawkins presents a theory of intelligence rooted in how each component of the brain creates mental models and makes predictions, just as the brain does as a whole. Hawkins is known for his groundbreaking work in both mobile computing and neuroscience. In this guide, we’ll explore Hawkins’s theory that intelligence springs from a basic neural circuit in the brain, and we’ll describe how this model could be used to advance AI research. We’ll also look at alternate theories of the brain, while expanding on the practical applications of Hawkins’s theory and the dangers inherent in both human and machine cognition.

Do people who turn their backs on religion leave something crucial behind? Atheist philosopher and scientist Sam Harris thinks they do. He argues that those who reject the contemplative aspects of faith traditions are missing out on the contentment that comes from seeking transcendental states of mind, which has historically been the domain of religion.

Harris is known for encouraging skeptics to confront religion. In 2017’s Waking Up, he lays out a reason-based approach to spirituality that’s rooted in what science and meditation teach about the workings of the human mind.

In this guide, we’ll explore Harris’s definition of spirituality, what neuroscience says about the nature of consciousness, and Harris’s argument that while consciousness is real, your sense of self is an illusion. We’ll examine what spiritual enlightenment looks like from a secular worldview, its implications for self-improvement, and what science and theology have to say about consciousness, the soul, and the mind.

Do you exercise enough? You know it’s good for your overall health—but do you know it’s also vital for your brain? John Ratey is an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard, and he’s been convinced by the scientific and clinical evidence—our brains are built to move. He’s seen firsthand how patients struggling with addiction, anxiety, and depression are transformed by exercise.

In Spark, he discusses the evolutionary origins of the mind-body connection and how exercise optimizes brain function and supports mental health. In this guide, we’ll examine these theories as well as Ratey’s recommendations for how to incorporate exercise into your life, exploring which exercise is most beneficial and how you can stick to a routine.

Along the way, we’ll discuss how the theories of other experts align with or differ from Ratey’s ideas, and we’ll update the science where new insights have emerged in the years since the book’s release.

Trauma can stem from abuse to a severe car accident to wartime combat—and cause a lifetime of flashbacks, nightmares, isolation, insomnia, hypervigilance, and rage. In The Body Keeps the Score, the author explores how diagnosing and treating trauma has evolved as new technologies, research, and fields of science emerged.

Trauma’s impact is not only mental, emotional, and neurological, but also physiological: Trauma rewires the brain to put people in a constant state of stress or numbness, leading to a host of physical problems.

In this summary, you’ll learn:

• Why trauma survivors feel like their trauma is never-ending
• How flashbacks make parts of the brain shut down and others to go into overdrive
• Why some trauma survivors can’t recognize themselves in the mirror
• How activities like choral singing, yoga, and theater can be therapeutic

In What Happened to You?, Oprah Winfrey and renowned psychiatrist Bruce D. Perry discuss how childhood trauma can have a severe and lasting impact on the brain—and thus our worldview, health, and behavior—sometimes without us even realizing it. They discuss why the developing brain is so susceptible to trauma, why trauma survivors often experience flashbacks, and why it’s so important to address your trauma to live a healthy and happy life. They also describe how to begin the healing process with compassion for yourself and others.

Throughout our guide, we’ll connect Perry and Winfrey’s ideas to those in other popular books on trauma, such as Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score. We’ll also elaborate on the authors’ main themes, such as trauma’s impact and the healing process. Finally, we’ll provide information and resources to help those struggling with trauma find high-quality care.

Most of us think of “trauma” as psychological scars that require psychological intervention to heal. But what if the key to healing trauma doesn’t lie in your mind, but in your body? In Waking the Tiger, Peter A. Levine argues that trauma isn’t just a psychological disorder but a deep-rooted physiological one. Based on this understanding, Levine has developed a therapeutic approach called “Somatic Experiencing,” which he believes has the potential to reverse trauma symptoms and transform the lives of trauma survivors.

In this guide, you’ll learn the four ways in which the body’s immediate response to a traumatic event can continue indefinitely and turn into chronic symptoms. You’ll also learn, step-by-step, how to use the Somatic Experiencing method to process and heal your trauma. In our commentary, we’ll supplement Levine’s advice for trauma survivors with ideas from books like What Happened to You? and The Body Keeps the Score. Furthermore, we’ll consult modern research to determine the degree to which Levine’s understanding of trauma is currently supported by evidence.

Many of us are glued to our smartphones, tablets, and laptops, to the point that we’ve lost control of how we spend our time and attention. We feel overpowered and exhausted by the multitude of digital tools at our fingertips, including smartphones and tablets, websites, addictive apps, and social media platforms. Meanwhile, tech companies continue to invest major resources into making their products and services addictive so that we’ll continue scrolling and tapping.

This book explains how you can transform your tech habits by adopting digital minimalism, which aims to maximize the benefits of technology and avoid the pitfalls by identifying your values and determining how to use technology to support them. Learn how tech companies use human psychology to make their apps addictive, how likes and comments are weakening your relationship, and why trading your smartphone for a dumb phone could change your life.

When it comes to taking care of your brain, the best time to start is now. Many people don’t consider dementia or cognitive decline until later in life, but neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s begin developing decades before symptoms appear. Fortunately, you can take steps to prevent cognitive decline and keep your brain strong and resilient throughout your life. In Keep Sharp, neurosurgeon and medical reporter Sanjay Gupta explains how we can best look after our brains in five key areas: exercise, sleep, nutrition, discovery, and social connection.

In our guide, we’ll examine how the human brain works, the potential causes of cognitive decline, and things you can do to promote a healthy brain. We’ll also explain why certain things are helpful or harmful to your brain, like why the Mediterranean diet is so beneficial and what a lack of sleep does to your brain. Throughout the guide, we’ll delve into the ever-evolving science of human cognition so you can better understand how to develop a healthier, happier brain.