Brain Rules (Updated and Expanded)

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BRAIN RULES

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BONUS MATERIAL
www.brainrules.net
Film featuring John Medina
Take a lively, 45-minute tour of the 12 original Brain Rules for home, work, and school—from
“Exercise boosts brain power” to “Sleep well, think well.”

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Videos guide you through parenting concepts
John Medina hosts fun videos on speaking in parentese, the cookie experiment, dealing with temper
tantrums, and more. Plus, take our parenting quiz.

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JOHN MEDINA is a developmental molecular biologist and research
consultant. He is an affiliate professor of bioengineering at the University of
Washington School of Medicine. He was the founding director of two brain
research institutes: the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research, at
Seattle Pacific University, and the Talaris Research Institute, a nonprofit
organization originally focused on how infants encode and process
information. Medina lives in Seattle, Washington, with his wife and two
boys.

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BRAIN RULES. Copyright © 2014 by John J. Medina.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or
reviews. Requests for permission should be addressed to:
Pear Press
P.O. Box 70525
Seattle, WA 98127-0525
U.S.A.
This book may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. For information,
please visit 
www.pearpress.com
SECOND EDITION
Edited by Tracy Cutchlow
Designed by Greg Pearson
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN-13: 978-0-99603-260-5
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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To Joshua and Noah
Gratitude, my dear boys, for constantly reminding me that age is not
something that matters unless you are cheese.

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contents
12 Brain Rules
Introduction
Dumb things we do ~ The grump factor ~ Getting you in the loop ~ A
brilliant survival strategy ~ Your amazing brain
Exercise
Our brains love motion ~ The incredible test-score booster ~ Will you age
like Jim or like Frank? ~ How oxygen builds roads for the brain
Sleep
The brain doesn’t sleep to rest ~ Two armies at war in your head ~ How to
improve your performance 34 percent in 26 minutes ~ Which bird are you?
~ Sleep on it!
Stress
Stress is good, stress is bad ~ Villains and heroes in the toxic-stress battle ~
Why the home matters to the workplace ~ Marriage intervention for happy
couples
Wiring
Neurons slide, slither, and split ~ Experience makes the difference ~
Furious brain development not once, but twice ~ The Jennifer Aniston
neuron
Attention
Emotion matters ~ Why there is no such thing as multitasking ~ We pay
great attention to threats, sex, and pattern matching ~ The brain needs a

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break!
Memory