6 useful books about the brain for those who want to sort themselves out and change their lives

Some knowledge has little impact on the quality of life. We can live peacefully and happily without knowing anything about the history of other countries, about how to accent words correctly, or forgetting in which years significant events took place. But it is only necessary to understand how our brain works, and life changes before our eyes.

The principles of the most complex and important organ will tell you how to manage your emotions and behavior, faster to develop useful habits, remember more, better understand people and even become physically stronger. Together with the Alpina Publishing Group, we’ve selected books on neurobiology that will help us sort out what’s in our heads and change our lives.

“Brain Crossfit: How to prepare yourself to solve non-standard tasks”, Igor Namakonov

Communications expert Igor Namakonov is convinced that the brain needs a workout, just like our body, to stay healthy. The author uses the image of “mental crossfit” and tells how to pump the brain to make it more stress-resistant and adaptive, but not to harm it in the process.

Anyone who has ever thought of something at least once knows that creative work tires the brain quickly. It is believed that a six-hour workday is the limit of productivity for a creative, and with longer hours of work, the quality of ideas goes downhill. Therefore, to remain productive, it is important to control four sources of energy: breathing, nutrition, “physics” and “chemistry”.

By the last one, the author means interpersonal relationships: he writes that unresolved conflicts and the need to socialize with unpleasant people reduce our cognitive abilities.

“Brain Crossfit.”

“On Music: The Science of the Human Obsession with Sound,” Daniel Levitin

The author of this book, a professor of psychology and behavioral neurobiology, is a formerly quite successful musician and producer. He tells us why certain tunes stick in our heads, why we start twitching our feet to the beat, how music makes us get sentimental, angry or relaxed.

After reading his book, you will learn how music works from a neurobiological point of view, how our brain perceives it and why some songs become hits and others disappear from our playlists forever.

“On Music.”

“Homo Mutabilis: How Brain Science Helped Me Overcome Stereotypes, Believe in Myself, and Change My Life Abruptly,” by Nastya Travkina

Science journalist Nastya Travkina explains neurobiology in simple language from a practical side: for example, the factors that reduce our cognitive abilities, how physical exercise affects thinking, and explains how knowledge about brain function helps marketers sell us products more effectively.

The goal of neuromarketing is to influence people’s behavior, to get them to make the right emotional response that is guaranteed to lead to the purchase of a product. This is a manipulation technique aimed at using unconscious preferences to induce people to buy something or agree with something before they realize it. The author of the book explains in detail with concrete examples how it works.

Homo Mutabilis

“Will and self-control: How genes and the brain prevent us from fighting temptation”, Irina Yakutenko

Science journalist Irina Yakutenko has written a fascinating book about how genetic traits and the workings of neurotransmitters affect our willpower and ability to control habits.

She explains why we find it difficult to deny ourselves the pleasure of the here and now, even if it threatens to have unfortunate consequences, and shares effective recommendations on how to resist temptation and achieve long-term goals.

“Will and Self-Control.”

“Kludge: The accidental construction of the human brain, and how it made us who we are,” Gary Marcus

Psychologist Gary Marcus talks about how marvelously and intricately we are organized and how this feature helps us cope with life’s challenges. The key concept of the book is brought out in the title. Kludge is a ridiculous, clumsy, but surprisingly effective solution to a problem.

As one example, Marcus cited a case on the Apollo 13 spacecraft when the carbon dioxide filters there began to fail. It was impossible to get a replacement filter to the crew, nor was it possible to get the ship home. And without this part, the astronauts were doomed. So the flight control center engineer gathered a list of everything available on board, and the ground team quickly invented a filter of some sort from a cardboard box, duct tape, a plastic bag and a sock. They relayed the information to Apollo 13, and the lives of the three astronauts were saved. As one of them later recalled, “the device wasn’t pretty, but it worked.”

Our memories, beliefs, habits and predilections are replete with kludges that can suggest a way to solve a problem.

“Kludge.”

“The Weird Girl Who Fell in Love with the Brain: How Knowing Neurobiology Helps You Become More Attractive, Happier, and Better,” Billy Fitzpatrick, Wendy Suzuki

One morning, neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki realized she wasn’t happy with her life. Instead of changing jobs, hairstyles, or hobbies, she decided to change using her knowledge of the human brain. To develop parts of the brain that had been dormant (such as the cerebellum, which is responsible for motor coordination and muscle tone), Suzuki created an exercise methodology that helps develop neuroplasticity, improve cognitive abilities and connect the brain and body.

The outcome of an experiment in turning neurobiological concepts into a set of practical exercises is the subject of this light, engaging book. In addition to a set of exercises that anyone can repeat, Suzuki describes many facts that change the way we think about the brain.

“The strange girl who fell in love with the brain.”