The "Scientific American" Day In The Life Of Your Brain: A 24 Hour Journal Of What's Happening In Your Brain As You Sleep, Dream, Wake Up, Eat, Work, Play, Fight, Love, Worry, Compete, Hope, Make Important Decisions, Age And Change

Description

Have you ever wondered what's happening in your brain as you go through a typical day and night? This fascinating book presents an hour-by-hour round-the-clock journal of your brain's activities. Drawing on the treasure trove of information from "Scientific American" and "Scientific American Mind" magazines as well as original material written specifically for this book, Judith Horstman weaves together a compelling description of your brain at work and at play. "The Scientific American Day in the Life of Your Brain" reveals what's going on in there while you sleep and dream, how your brain makes memories and forms addictions and why we sometimes make bad decisions. The book also offers intriguing information about your emotional brain, and what's happening when you're feeling love, lust, fear and anxiety-and how sex, drugs and rock and roll tickle the same spots. Based on the latest scientific information, the book explores your brain's remarkable ability to change, how your brain can make new neurons even into old age and why multitasking may be bad for you. Your brain is uniquely yours - but research is showing many of its day-to-day cycles are universal.
This book gives you a look inside your brain and some insights into why you may feel and act as you do. "The Scientific American Day in the Life of Your Brain" is written in the entertaining, informative and easy-to-understand style that fans of "Scientific American" and "Scientific American Mind" magazines have come to expect.

Reviews

Praise for The Scientific American A Day in the Life of Your Brain "A Day in the Life of Your Brain takes us on breezy, fact-filled and eye-opening journey through the neural machinery that navigates us through every moment. Read it and learn." -Daniel Goleman, best-selling author of Emotional Intelligence "A Day in the Life of Your Brain is a fabulous accomplishment. It is practical, fun, easy to read and filled with interesting, useful information. I highly recommend this book." - Daniel G. Amen, MD, bestselling author of Change Your Brain, Change Your Life "A Day in the Life of Your Brain is a terrific read--fun and chock-a-block full of fascinating facts and ideas. Judith Horstman takes us on a romp through the day and the night, telling us what our brains are doing on an hourly basis. It also provides some wonderful and solid advice. I learned from it, and you will too!" - John E. Dowling, PhD, Gund Professor of Neurosciences, Harvard University, author of Creating Mind: How the Brain Works "This book is a fascinating read. It capitalizes on the natural flux of experiences throughout our day to boldly illustrate the relevance and penetration of the new brain science in helping us understand ourselves more fully." -Zindel V. Segal, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, author of The Mindful Way Through Depression

Author description

Judith Horstman is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in publications ranging from USA Today to the Primer on the Rheumatic Diseases (twelfth edition). Horstman's work has also appeared in publications by Harvard, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins universities, numerous magazines, and on the Internet. She has been a Washington correspondent, a Fullbright scholar, a journalism profesor, and is the author of four books.

Table of contents

Acknowledgments. Preface. Introduction. You gotta know the territory: A short tour of your brain. Your neurotransmitters. Charting the day: Your body clocks. The best of times? Coming to consciousness: Awake and aware. 5:00 A.M. to 8:00 A.M.