Book Review of Your Daily Brain by Marbles: The Brain Store and Garth Sundem

I generally think of my brain as a blobby organ that causes me to spout random nonsense on a regular basis, and chugs steadily along on doses of caffeine, but according to the authors of Your Daily Brain, there’s more to it than that.  During the course of twenty-four hours, your brain will be called upon to prioritize, decide, categorize, and evaluate—sometimes all at once. That’s a lot of stress for a couple of pounds of gray cells. Your Daily Brain attempts to explain the why and where of the decision making process and how best to maximize your brain’s potential.  

The book is organized into sections according to ten or fifteen minute periods throughout the typical day. Each time period has snippets on what a brain may be doing, and advice on how to help it function better. It starts with waking up at 6:00 am (don’t use the snooze alarm) and ends at 9:00 pm (forgive yourself for a good night’s sleep). Want to jump-start your brain power at 7:15 in the morning? Leave the Sugar Frosted Flakes in the pantry and eat a breakfast with a low glycemic index like steel cut oatmeal. Shopping for groceries in the afternoon? Favor your amygdala over the prefrontal cortex. The amygdala wants the Snickers, the cortex screams you’re a lard butt and makes you put it back. The book deals with such far-flung topics as how best to use your brain to search the internet to why you should fine an exercise routine (the chemicals secreted are the same ones oozed out when you’re in love.) My favorite was the 6:15 pm, love in the evening, section. Apparently, the following three questions are all you need to determine a mate’s compatibility. Do you like horror movies? Have you ever traveled around the country alone? Wouldn’t it be fun to chuck it all and live on a sailboat? 

I'd recommend this book for anyone who likes odd facts and interesting science tidbits. All the articles are short and easy to read for the non-sciency type. Since they are keyed to a particular time, you can finish this book in a day in short bursts, or skip from one article to another. The latter is actually a better idea. According to Your Daily Brain, creativity comes from shaking things up.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.