Introduction

Go ahead and multiply the number 8,388,628 x 2 in your head. Can you do it in a few seconds? There is a youn man who can double that number 2! times in the space of a few seconds. "e ets it ri ht e#ery time. There is a boy who can tell you the exact time of day at any moment, e#en in his sleep. There is a irl who can correctly determine the exact dimensions of an ob$ect 2% feet away. There is a child who at a e 6 drew such lifeli&e and powerful pictures, she ot her own show at a allery on 'adison (#enue. )et none of these children could be tau ht to tie their shoes. *ndeed, none of them ha#e an *+ reater than ,%. The brain is an ama-in thin . )our brain may not be nearly so odd, but it is no less extraordinary. .asily the most sophisticated information/transfer system on .arth, your brain is fully capable of ta&in little blac& s0ui les on this piece of bleached wood and deri#in meanin from them. To accomplish this miracle, your brain sends $olts of electricity crac&lin throu h hundreds of miles of wires composed of brain cells so small that thousands of them could fit into the period at the end of this sentence. )ou accomplish all of this in less time than it ta&es you to blin&. *ndeed, you ha#e $ust done it. 1hat2s e0ually incredible, i#en our intimate association with it, is this3 'ost of us ha#e no idea how our brain wor&s. This has stran e conse0uences. 1e try to tal& on our cell phones and dri#e at the same time, e#en thou h it is literally impossible for our brains to multitas& when it comes to payin attention. 1e ha#e created hi h/stress office en#ironments, e#en thou h a stressed brain is si nificantly less producti#e. 4ur schools are desi ned so that most real learnin has to occur at home. This would be funny, if it weren2t so harmful. 5lame it on the fact that brain scientists rarely ha#e a con#ersation with teachers and business professionals, education ma$ors and accountants, superintendents and C.4s. 6nless you ha#e the Journal of Neuroscience sittin on your coffee table, you2re out of the loop. This boo& is meant to et you into the loop.

12 brain rules

'y oal is to introduce you to 72 thin s we &now about how the brain wor&s. * call these 5rain 8ules. 9or each rule, * present the science and then offer ideas for in#esti atin how the rule mi ht apply to our daily li#es, especially at wor& and school. The brain is complex, and * am ta&in only sli#ers of information from each sub$ect:non/comprehensi#e but accessible. The 5rain 8ules 5onus ;<;, included with the boo&, and interacti#e tutorials at www.brainrules.net are an inte ral part of the pro$ect. )ou mi ht use the film as an introduction, and then $ump between a chapter in the boo& and the 1eb site. ( samplin of the ideas you2ll encounter3

= 9or starters, we are not used to sittin at a des& for ei ht hours a day. 9rom an e#olutionary perspecti#e, our brains de#eloped while wor&in out, wal&in as many as 72 miles a day. The brain still cra#es the experience, especially in sedentary populations li&e our own. That2s why exercise boosts brain power >5rain 8ule ?2@ in such populations. .xercisers outperform couch potatoes in lon /term memory, reasonin , attention, problem/sol#in tas&s, and more. * am con#inced that inte ratin exercise into our ei ht hours at wor& or school would only be normal. = (s you no doubt ha#e noticed if you2#e e#er sat throu h a typical AowerAoint presentation, people don2t pay attention to borin thin s >5rain 8ule ?!@. )ou2#e ot seconds to rab someone2s attention, and only 7% minutes to &eep it. (t B minutes and ,B seconds, somethin must be done 0uic&ly:somethin emotional and rele#ant. (lso, the brain needs a brea&. That2s why * use stories in this boo& to ma&e many of my points. = .#er feel tired around 3 o2cloc& in the afternoon? That2s because your brain really wants to ta&e a nap. )ou mi ht be more producti#e if you did3 *n one study, a 26/minute nap impro#ed C(D( pilots2 performance by 3! percent. .#en so, the brain isn2t restin while it sleeps. *t is surprisin ly acti#e. (nd whether you et enou h rest affects your mental a ility the next day. Dleep well, thin& well >5rain 8ule ?E@. = 1e2ll meet a man who can read two pa es at the same time, one with each eye, and remember e#erythin in the pa es fore#er. 'ost of us do more for ettin than rememberin , of course, and that2s why we must repeat to remember >5rain 8ule ?,@. 1hen you understand the brain2s rules for memory, you2ll see why * want to destroy the notion of homewor&. = 1e2ll find out why the terrible twos only loo& li&e acti#e rebellion but are actually a child2s powerful ur e to explore. 5abies may not ha#e a lot of &nowled e about the world, but they &now a whole lot about how to et it. 1e are all natural explorers >5rain 8ule ?72@, and this ne#er lea#es us, despite the artificial en#ironments we2#e built for oursel#es.

no prescriptions

The ideas endin the chapters of this boo& are not a prescription. They are a call for real/world research. The reason sprin s from what * do for a li#in . 'y research expertise is the molecular basis of psychiatric disorders, but my real interest is in tryin to understand the fascinatin distance between a ene and a beha#ior. * ha#e been a pri#ate consultant for most of my professional life, a hired un for research pro$ects in need of a de#elopmental molecular biolo ist with such speciali-ation. * ha#e had the pri#ile e of watchin countless research efforts in#ol#in chromosomes and mental function. 4n such $ourneys, * occasionally would run across articles and boo&s that made startlin claims based on Frecent ad#ancesG in brain science about how to chan e the way we teach people and do business. (nd * would panic, wonderin if the authors were readin some literature totally off my radar screen. * spea& se#eral dialects of brain science, and * &new nothin from those worlds capable of dictatin best practices for education and business. *n truth, if we e#er fully understood how the human brain &new how to pic& up a lass of water, it would represent a ma$or achie#ement.

There was no need to panic. )ou can responsibly train a s&eptical eye on any claim that brain research can without e0ui#ocation tell us how to become better teachers, parents, business leaders, or students. This boo& is a call for research simply because we don2t &now enou h to be prescripti#e. *t is an attempt to #accinate a ainst mytholo ies li&e the F'o-art effect,G left brainHri ht brain personalities, and ettin your babies into "ar#ard by ma&in them listen to lan ua e tapes while they are still in the womb.

back to the jungle

1hat we &now about the brain comes from biolo ists who study brain tissues, experimental psycholo ists who study beha#ior, and co niti#e neuroscientists who study how the first relates to the second. .#olutionary biolo ists ha#e otten into the act as well. Thou h we &now precious little about how the brain wor&s, our e#olutionary history tells us this3 The brain appears to be desi ned to sol#e problems related to sur#i#in in an unstable outdoor en#ironment, and to do so in nearly constant motion. * call this the brain2s performance en#elope. .ach sub$ect in this boo&:exercise, sur#i#al, wirin , attention, memory, sleep, stress, sense, #ision, ender, and exploration:relates to this performance en#elope. 'otion translates to exercise. .n#ironmental instability led to the extremely flexible way our brains are wired, allowin us to sol#e problems throu h exploration. Iearnin from our mista&es so we could sur#i#e in the reat outdoors meant payin attention to certain thin s at the expense of others, and it meant creatin memories in a particular way. Thou h we ha#e been stuffin them into classrooms and cubicles for decades, our brains actually were built to sur#i#e in $un les and rasslands. * am a nice uy, but * am a rumpy scientist. 9or a study to appear in this boo&, it has to pass what some at The 5oein Company >for which * ha#e done some consultin @ call the 'G93 the 'edina Grump 9actor. That means the supportin research for each of my points must first be published in a peer/re#iewed $ournal and then successfully be replicated. 'any of the studies ha#e been replicated do-ens of times. >)ouJll find the extensi#e references on this site.@ 1hat do these studies show, #iewed as a whole? 'ostly this3 *f you wanted to create an education en#ironment that was directly opposed to what the brain was ood at doin , you probably would desi n somethin li&e a classroom. *f you wanted to create a business en#ironment that was directly opposed to what the brain was ood at doin , you probably would desi n somethin li&e a cubicle. (nd if you wanted to chan e thin s, you mi ht ha#e to tear down both and start o#er. *n many ways, startin o#er is what this boo& is all about.