John Medina's Brain Rules

The human brain is the control center of all behavior and movement. The most fascinating and complex organ in the entire body. Working faster than any computer ever made, our brain makes us the individual that we are. John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist, wrote the book Brain Rules: 12 principles for surviving and thriving at Work, Home, and School, which discusses the brain and its complexity, along with ways to improve it. His 12 principles are concepts that have been proven to increase brain function and stimulation. Each chapter is a detailed experience filled with studies and stories about brain functions. The chapters included are exercise, survival, wiring, attention, short-term/long term memory, sleep, stress, sensory integration,

The human brain evolved under conditions of constant movement. Through constant change within the environment, we were forced to wander across vast territories. Forced to adapt to new landscapes and new resources. Weaker genes were excluded as those not capable of surviving died off and only left the strong ones the evolve. This makes sense that our brains are needed to be put through regular exercise. In the article The Link Between Exercise and Boosting Brain Power in Forbes magazine, they discuss the process of neurogenesis. This is the creation of neurons from neural stems. The creation of new neurons will strengthen parts of the brain that are stimulated. One part of the brain which is impacted is the hippocampus; it grows when put through regular exercise. During unit 3 in psychology, we learned that the hippocampus is associated with memory and learning. Any increase would improve the areas in which that part is associated with. A neurotransmitter called norepinephrine is also released into the bloodstream. This leads to the increase in attention, motivation, and perception. Medina argues that periodical exercise during work days or school days would have a direct increase in cognitive function. He discusses a scenario where children would be walking on treadmills when learning a subject, and then predicts the impact of that stimulation. In my life, exercise is a big aspect. On average, I exercise

“Repeat to remember” he claims. The brain can only hold up to 7 pieces of information for up to 30 seconds. So repetition of new information is proven to increase the likelihood of it sticking. Memory systems go through four stages for processing information: encoding, storing, retrieving and forgetting. The process of encoding is essential when learning new information. Associating new knowledge with other specific things has been proven to increase processing. The neural pathways initially used to process new information were used to permanently reuse for storage of information. These pathways are most likely leading to the limbic system, which include the hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus and more. Many of which have to deal with the processing of memory. Each person is different when faced with processing information. “There is more than one way to store a given memory, just as there are often multiple routes to drive to a destination. One person may choose to go to the grocery store by route A whereas another person may prefer route B”(Richards 1). Neither way is incorrect. For example, someone may visualize in association with the list to help remember or they may sing the list to help remember. It does not take minutes or hours to memorize, it takes year to fully integrate it into the brain. When knowledge is taken in, it is communicated back and forth between the cortex and