Puzzles and brain twisters to keep your mind sharp and your memory intact are all the rage today. More and more people -- Baby Boomers and information workers in particular -- are becoming concerned about their gray matter's ability to function, and with good reason. As this sensible and entertaining guide points out, your brain is easily your most important possession. It deserves proper upkeep. Your Brain: The Missing Manual is a practical look at how to get the most out of your brain -- not just how the brain works, but how you can use it more effectively. What makes this book different than the average self-help guide is that it's grounded in current neuroscience. You get a quick tour of several aspects of the brain, complete with useful advice about:

• Brain Food: The right fuel for the brain and how the brain commands hunger (including an explanation of the different chemicals that control appetite and cravings)

• Sleep: The sleep cycle and circadian rhythm, and how to get a good night's sleep (or do the best you can without it)

• Memory: Techniques for improving your recall

• Reason: Learning to defeat common sense; logical fallacies (including tactics for winning arguments); and good reasons for bad prejudices

• Creativity and Problem-Solving: Brainstorming tips and thinking not outside the box, but about the box -- in other words, find the assumptions that limit your ideas so you can break through them

• Understanding Other People's Brains: The battle of the sexes and babies developing brains

Learn about the built-in circuitry that makes office politics seem like a life-or-death struggle, causes you to toss important facts out of your memory if they're not emotionally charged, and encourages you to eat huge amounts of high-calorie snacks. With Your Brain: The Missing Manual you'll discover that, sometimes, you can learn to compensate for your brain or work around its limitations -- or at least to accept its eccentricities. Exploring your brain is the greatest adventure and biggest mystery you'll ever face. This guide has exactly the advice you need.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 19 Ratings

Finally! A manual for all of us. - 2009-07-12
Reviewer Rating:
This book, which was written in the style of the many other The Missing Manual books offers a slightly different angle than the rest of the series. Of the many other books I have read in this series, this one was the most gripping. The human brain is the most complex computer ever created and so much more. Covered in this manual are concepts in physiology, psychology, and philosophy. The structure is well thought out with ample side notes and references for further reading in other books and websites.

This book also offers a foray into some self-help concepts. There are a number of exercises the reader may use to fortify brainpower in memory, social interaction, and emotional well-being. It encourages interaction with quizzes the reader may complete, and offers more examples of more quizzes with Internet references.

I am a diehard computer geek, but I'm a medical professional by trade. Some of the didactic science behind the physiology is a bit simplified for people in the medical field, but it seems about right for the target audience of curious brain owners. I would have liked to have seen more sources cited. Some of the stories presented as examples can only be considered anecdotal, unless references are indicated. Footnotes would have been very nice, speaking as a scientist.

This book was an enjoyable read and hard to put down. There was just enough humor to balance the heavy content in some parts of the book.

Interesting Read - 2009-11-04
Reviewer Rating:
Book was interesting to read. Could have flipped through it in book store rather than buying it.

Nice read! - 2010-01-13
Reviewer Rating:
The book first caught my sight, when I was checking out new stuff at Fry's. After purchasing it from Amazon, I began to immerse my time in reading the book with fascination. It provides fundamental, commonsense facts about brain, neurotransmitters, eating behaviors, sleeping pattern, emotion and whatnot. I wouldn't say that it's all that, but it's definitely a brain booster and a jump-starter if you haven't got a chance to read about brain and human body functions. As a psychology major, I have already gained little insights into neurotransmitters in the brain, sleeping patter as well as eating behavior. So, I am not so stunned about some of the chapters in the book. Overall, it helps me dive deeper into the breadth of human body and how to live my life to the fullest.

Love this book - 2009-11-28
Reviewer Rating:
This book is very simple written with a lot of interesting information. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about how we, as human beings work.

Clear, Interesting, Informative - 2009-09-07
Reviewer Rating:
In "Your Brain: The Missing Manual," Matthew MacDonald takes a lot of information from neuroscience and evolutionary psychology and distills it into a clearly written and informative book on how the brain works and how to keep it working. This book is neither enlightening nor compelling, controversial nor ground-breaking, and it does not purport to be any of these things. It is a good and concise summary of the current knowledge and understanding of the brain.

Because it is a good and concise summary, most of the information we've heard or read before. Consider the book's advice on how to keep the brain from degenerating: be a life-long learner, exercise, avoid stress, be engaged at work, take care of your body, and consider taking folic acid. Taking folic acid is a new one, but the rest are good and true but known and obvious advice.

The book covers an impressive amount of material in only 248 pages, and its color scheme of dividing information is smart and useful. It's a good read if you're new to neuroscience, and a good read if you just want a clear summary of all the books you've read.

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