The best 78 Neuroscience books

1
Use Your Memory

Use Your Memory

Tony Buzan
Banish forgetfulness forever
4.1 (170 ratings)

What's Use Your Memory about?

Use Your Memory (1986) reveals how to develop, train and employ a stellar memory. In a series of guided step-by-step mental exercises, this book will give you all the tools you need to memorize everything from short grocery lists to complex subject matter.

Who should read Use Your Memory?

  • Anyone in the midst of their studies at college or university
  • Anyone who thinks they might be suffering from memory problems
  • People who want to unlock the power of a remarkable memory

2
The Explosive Child

The Explosive Child

Ross W. Greene
A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children
4.6 (20 ratings)

What's The Explosive Child about?

The Explosive Child (2021) is a groundbreaking and scientific guide to dealing with children who react extremely to routine situations. Drawing on neuroscience and child psychology, Greene lays out a conceptual framework focused on the cause of the behavior, rather than the behavior itself. This framework can serve as a guide for frustrated parents who want to understand and address their child’s severe outbursts.

Who should read The Explosive Child?

  • Frustrated parents who feel like they've tried it all
  • Caregivers and teachers who are concerned by a child's violent outbursts
  • Anyone looking for a fresh and compassionate perspective on children's problematic behavior

3
Suggestible You

Suggestible You

Erik Vance
The Curious Science of Your Brain's Ability to Deceive, Transform, and Heal
4.3 (222 ratings)

What's Suggestible You about?

Suggestible You (2016) shows the amazing ways our expectations affect our body’s responses to illness, pain and memory. It explores how the power of human suggestibility changes the processes that happen in our bodies and minds. And it describes how humans can – and already do – harness this ability to improve lives, whether in medicine or in everyday life.

Who should read Suggestible You?

  • Everyone interested in how the human mind works
  • People who don’t believe in miraculous cures but are curious about the science behind them
  • Anyone who’s ever wondered about the body’s ability to heal itself

4
Smarter Tomorrow

Smarter Tomorrow

Elizabeth R. Ricker
How 15 Minutes of Neurohacking a Day Can Help You Work Better, Think Faster, and Get More Done
4.1 (670 ratings)

What's Smarter Tomorrow about?

Smarter Tomorrow (2021) shows you how to upgrade your brain using a technique called neurohacking. You’ll learn how to improve your memory, creativity, emotional regulation, and what’s known as “executive functioning” through self-testing and experimentation – all backed up with insights from neuroscience.

Who should read Smarter Tomorrow?

  • Thinkers looking to improve their cognitive skills
  • Budding neuroscientists and brain nerds
  • Anyone looking to keep up with modern science

5
Being You

Being You

Anil Seth
A New Science of Consciousness
4.2 (416 ratings)

What's Being You about?

Being You (2021) offers a new theory of consciousness. What does it mean to be you? Why do your experiences of the world, your selfhood, and your body feel the way they do? Combining neuroscience, philosophy, and a pinch of speculation, these blinks argue that consciousness is not as mysterious as it seems – it is deeply entwined with our living, breathing bodies.

Who should read Being You?

  • Science enthusiasts interested in the mystery of consciousness
  • The philosophically inclined
  • Fans and critics of Artificial Intelligence

6
The Interpretation of Dreams

The Interpretation of Dreams

Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud’s influential cornerstone work
4.3 (164 ratings)

What's The Interpretation of Dreams about?

Sigmund Freud’s cornerstone work, The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), was one of the most influential books of the twentieth century and continues to shape the way we think and create. These blinks offer a fascinating insight into Freud’s understanding of dreams: what they mean, where they come from, how they are formed and how we can understand them.

Who should read The Interpretation of Dreams?

  • Students of psychology, neuroscience or history
  • Dreamers who want to understand what their minds are trying to tell them

7
The Art Of Thinking Clearly

The Art Of Thinking Clearly

Rolf Dobelli
The "hiccups" in our everyday thinking.
4.2 (333 ratings)

What's The Art Of Thinking Clearly about?

The Art Of Thinking Clearly aims to illuminate our day-to-day thinking “hiccups” so that we can better avoid them and start making improved choices. Using both psychological studies and everyday examples, the author provides us with an entertaining collection of all of our most common fallacies.

Who should read The Art Of Thinking Clearly?

  • Anyone interested in learning about our psychology
  • Anyone who wants to improve her ability to make decisions
  • Anyone who wants to learn how not to fall into the same mind-trap again and again

8
Activate Your Brain

Activate Your Brain

Scott G. Halford
How Understanding Your Brain Can Improve Your Work and Your Life
4.5 (384 ratings)

What's Activate Your Brain about?

Despite all the scientific breakthroughs made in recent decades, we still don’t fully understand the human brain. However, we have discovered some important neuroscientific facts. Backed by research, helpful examples and exercises, Activate Your Brain (2015) shows you how you can use this knowledge to make the best use of your brain and live a more fulfilled and mindful life.

Who should read Activate Your Brain?

  • Anyone who is interested in how their brain works
  • Anyone who wants to regain some control over their life
  • Students and professionals who want to increase their mental stamina

9
The Brain’s Way of Healing

The Brain’s Way of Healing

Norman Doidge
Stories of Remarkable Recoveries and Discoveries
4.4 (243 ratings)

What's The Brain’s Way of Healing about?

The Brain’s Way of Healing (2015) highlights the human brain’s amazing ability to change its structure and develop new ways of coping with disorders. The brain, whether by being “rewired” to process information in new ways or by being “trained” through repetitive exercises, can overcome debilitating diseases and heal itself.

Who should read The Brain’s Way of Healing?

  • People suffering from a neurological disorder such as Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis
  • Physicians and therapists who work with people trying to recover from brain damage
  • Students of neurology looking for new ways to cure old problems

10
Wired for Love

Wired for Love

Stan Tatkin
How Understanding Your Partner's Brain and Attachment Style Can Help You Defuse Conflict and Build a Secure Relationship
4.5 (491 ratings)

What's Wired for Love about?

Wired for Love (2012) is a guide to maintaining closeness and emotional security within romantic partnerships. It uses research from neurobiology and psychology to show why long-term couples come into conflict, and it offers practical tips on how to use knowledge about brain functions to promote peace and mutual security in your relationship.

Who should read Wired for Love?

  • Partners in committed relationships
  • Couples seeking to manage conflict 
  • Those interested in social psychology

11
Dopamine Nation

Dopamine Nation

Anna Lembke
Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence
4.5 (439 ratings)

What's Dopamine Nation about?

Dopamine Nation (2021) explores the connection between pleasure and pain. Our modern world is filled with more dopamine-inducing stimuli than ever – including everything from drugs and sex to smartphones and shopping. Citing years of clinical experience and patients’ stories, this book helps to understand addiction and explains how to achieve a healthy balance in our lives. 

Who should read Dopamine Nation?

  • People struggling to break bad habits
  • Family members of loved ones struggling with addiction
  • Anyone who can’t seem to put down their phone

12
The Disordered Mind

The Disordered Mind

Eric R. Kandel
What Unusual Brains Tell Us About Ourselves
4.5 (258 ratings)

What's The Disordered Mind about?

The Disordered Mind (2018) explores what disorders and diseases of the brain can tell us about the inner workings of our minds. Acclaimed neuroscientist Eric R. Kandel draws on a lifetime of research to explain what depression, schizophrenia, addiction, and more reveal about how our brains affect our thoughts, feelings, and behavior – and explains how new scientific methods could help solve the big puzzle of consciousness.

Who should read The Disordered Mind?

  • Armchair philosophers, hobby psychologists, and aspiring neuroscientists
  • People affected by Alzheimer’s, depression, schizophrenia, or other neurological disorders
  • Anyone puzzled by the mystery of consciousness

13
The Brain that Changes Itself

The Brain that Changes Itself

Norman Doidge
Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science
4.6 (244 ratings)

What's The Brain that Changes Itself about?

How can stroke victims who become paralyzed start using a fork or buttoning their shirts again? Well, contrary to what was believed for so long, the brain is not hardwired. It can change, regenerate and grow. Drawing on real-life cases of scientists, doctors and patients, The Brain that Changes Itself (2007) shows us how, rather than relying on surgery and medicine, we can alter our brains through thought and behavior.

Who should read The Brain that Changes Itself?

  • Anyone who wants to change their habits
  • Psychology students
  • Anyone seeking inspiration while recovering from an injury

14
The Brain

The Brain

David Eagleman
The Story of You
4.5 (356 ratings)

What's The Brain about?

The Brain (2015) unpacks the latest neuroscientific research and sheds light on questions that have perplexed philosophers for millennia. What defines a personality? Why does it keep changing? Is reality really “out there” or are we merely hallucinating? By turns fascinating and unsettling, this is a book that will redefine your idea of the strange and uncanny life of the mind.

Who should read The Brain?

  • Amateur and professional philosophers interested in the nature of reality
  • Anyone keen to keep up with the latest scientific developments
  • Futurologists fascinated by the possibility of a new, transhuman era

15
Brain Wash

Brain Wash

David Perlmutter
Detox Your Mind for Clearer Thinking, Deeper Relationships, and Lasting Happiness
4.5 (466 ratings)

What's Brain Wash about?

Brain Wash (2020) is a no-nonsense handbook for living a calm and content life in a world that’s designed to deliver the opposite. Medical doctors David and Austin Perlmutter unpack how our modern society manipulates our brains. Then they lay out a powerful 10-day bootcamp for breaking these bad patterns and building healthier habits.

Who should read Brain Wash?

  • Harried workers seeking a calmer life
  • Dieters looking for medically sound advice
  • Anyone aspiring to make big changes one day at a time

16
Frames of Mind

Frames of Mind

Howard Gardner
The Theory of Multiple Intelligences
4.5 (348 ratings)

What's Frames of Mind about?

Frames of Mind (1983) is a landmark text that first proposed the psychological theory of multiple intelligences. Upending the long-held conception that intelligence is just one general, monolithic trait, it argues instead that there are several intelligences that everyone possesses in different quantities. By studying them, educators and policymakers can reshape the educational system to benefit a much greater number of students than the current programs do.

Who should read Frames of Mind?

  • Psychology fans interested in one of the field’s significant texts
  • Educators, teachers, and tutors who want to better understand their students
  • Anyone fascinated by the human mind

17
No-Drama Discipline

No-Drama Discipline

Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind
4.5 (268 ratings)

What's No-Drama Discipline about?

No-Drama Discipline (2014) provides a fresh approach to disciplining children by emphasizing the importance of teaching over punishment. Based on neuroscience, this method reduces drama and guides parents on how to build a deeper relationship with their children.

Who should read No-Drama Discipline?

  • Parents who are tired of yelling at their misbehaving kids
  • Therapists, educators, counselors or coaches working with children
  • People interested in mind development

18
Rewire Your Anxious Brain

Rewire Your Anxious Brain

Catherine M. Pittman & Elizabeth M. Karle
How to Use the Neuroscience of Fear to End Anxiety, Panic, and Worry
4.7 (489 ratings)

What's Rewire Your Anxious Brain about?

Rewire Your Anxious Brain (2015) is a powerful guide to overcoming anxiety. Based on the latest research in neuroscience, it explains how two separate regions of the brain are responsible for producing anxiety – and how each requires different strategies and approaches.

Who should read Rewire Your Anxious Brain?

  • Anxiety sufferers
  • Therapists looking for new strategies
  • Brain science enthusiasts

19
Remember

Remember

Lisa Genova
The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting
4.6 (244 ratings)

What's Remember about?

Remember (2021) is about our marvelous and flawed ability to create memories. It explores the different sorts of memories we create, how the brain makes them, why they often fail, and what we can do to get the best out of our astonishing and troubled capacity to remember.

Who should read Remember?

  • People curious about our brain functions
  • Anyone interested in the human capacity to remember and to forget
  • Folks concerned about what happens to memory as we get older

20
Moonwalking with Einstein

Moonwalking with Einstein

Joshua Foer
The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
4.2 (199 ratings)

What's Moonwalking with Einstein about?

Moonwalking with Einstein takes us on the author’s journey towards becoming the USA Memory Champion. Along the way he explains why an extraordinary memory isn’t just available to a select few people but to all of us. The book explores how memory works, why we’re worse at remembering than our ancestors, and explains specific techniques for improving your own memory.

Who should read Moonwalking with Einstein?

  • Anyone who can’t remember their spouse’s or best friend’s phone number   
  • Anyone who wants to impress others with their broad knowledge at a cocktail party
  • Anyone who has trouble remembering names

21
The Seven Sins of Memory

The Seven Sins of Memory

Daniel L. Schacter
How the Mind Forgets and Remembers
4.1 (99 ratings)

What's The Seven Sins of Memory about?

The Seven Sins of Memory (2002) offers a close look at the seven ways our memory can let us down: from why we always lose our car keys to why some people are haunted by recurring negative thoughts. The book also discusses how to mitigate these shortcomings and why they’re actually trade-offs for massive memory benefits. By examining how our memory works and its faults, we see that these weaknesses are actually just side effects of a very clever system.

Who should read The Seven Sins of Memory?

  • Anyone interested in how memory works and how to make it more reliable
  • People hoping to curb recurring negative thoughts
  • Anyone wondering why trying not to think of a white bear just won’t work

22
The Organized Mind

The Organized Mind

Daniel Levitin
Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload
4.3 (609 ratings)

What's The Organized Mind about?

The Organized Mind provides an insightful explanation into the way our brain handles incoming data – a process particularly relevant in this age of information overload. It’s also a practical guide to coping with the multitudes of decisions we’re required to make in everyday life. By learning well-thought-out strategies that will help you organize your life, you’ll become a more productive and effective worker in any task.

Who should read The Organized Mind?

  • Anyone who wants to be more organized
  • Anyone who is interested in the way our brain processes data
  • Anyone struggling with the information overload of modern life

23
Behave

Behave

Robert Sapolsky
The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
4.5 (210 ratings)

What's Behave about?

Humans are complex beings, and human behavior doubly so. Every human act is a result of a myriad of factors, from brain chemistry to social conditioning, that have developed over millennia. In Behave (2017), renowned professor Robert Sapolsky takes a journey into the depths of the human condition, demonstrating the reasons behind the best – and worst – of human behavior.

Who should read Behave?

 

  • Anyone interested in behavioral psychology
  • Students of neurology or biology
  • Curious readers looking to gain a better understanding of their own minds

 


24
Phantoms in the Brain

Phantoms in the Brain

V. S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee
Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind
4.5 (144 ratings)

What's Phantoms in the Brain about?

Phantoms in the Brain (1998) is an enduring classic of popular science that has transformed how we think about the brain and its relationship to the human experience. Drawing on the author’s clinical practice, it presents a series of patients with rare and astonishing neurological conditions. These case studies illuminate the architecture of our brains and, in the process, cast fresh light on timeless philosophical questions regarding the nature of consciousness, identity, and reality itself.

Who should read Phantoms in the Brain?

  • Aficionados of strange and extraordinary tales
  • Perennial learners looking for an accessible introduction to neurology
  • Anyone who wants insight into how the mind works

25
How to Change Your Mind

How to Change Your Mind

Michael Pollan
What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
4.4 (280 ratings)

What's How to Change Your Mind about?

How to Change Your Mind (2018) is a fascinating account of one man’s exploration of the psychedelic drug world. Author Michael Pollan takes readers along for the ride as he learns first-hand about the positive aspects of psychedelic drugs, including the healing and restorative effects they can have on people suffering from depression and addiction. Readers will also hear from neuroscientists to learn exactly what is happening in the brain during a psychedelic trip.

Who should read How to Change Your Mind?

  • Psychologists and therapists
  • Depressive people and addicts
  • Spiritual seekers

26
Buddha’s Brain

Buddha’s Brain

Rick Hanson
The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom
4.4 (328 ratings)

What's Buddha’s Brain about?

Buddha’s Brain is a practical guide to attaining more happiness, love and wisdom in life. It aims to empower readers by providing them with practical skills and tools to help unlock their brains’ potential and achieve greater peace of mind. Specific attention is paid to the contemplative technique “mindfulness” and the latest neurological findings that support it.

Who should read Buddha’s Brain?

  • Psychology students who are interested in meditation but still want information grounded in scientific fact
  • Anyone who wants to learn how to live a stress-free and happy life
  • Anyone who wants to know both the theory behind meditation and its practical application in their everyday lives.

27
Never Enough

Never Enough

Judith Grisel
The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction
4.3 (196 ratings)

What's Never Enough about?

Never Enough (2019) is about drugs and addiction. The author explores the science behind drugs ranging from alcohol to cocaine and explains why certain people are more prone to addiction than others.

Who should read Never Enough?

  • Drug addicts, including alcoholics and smokers
  • Psychologists and health professionals
  • Relatives and friends of addicts

28
Incognito

Incognito

David Eagleman
The Secret Lives of the Brain
3.9 (159 ratings)

What's Incognito about?

Unbeknownst to you, a subconscious part of your brain is constantly whirring away and wielding a tremendous influence on your thoughts, feelings and behavior. Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain (2011) is your guide to the other side of your brain, and how it shapes your life.

Who should read Incognito?

  • Anyone interested in psychology, psychiatry or neuroscience
  • Anyone interested in what makes us see the world the way we see it, and the inner workings of our minds
  • Anyone who wonders whether there is such a thing as free will, and if criminals truly choose to commit their crimes

29
The Aesthetic Brain

The Aesthetic Brain

Anjan Chatterjee
How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art
4.6 (37 ratings)

What's The Aesthetic Brain about?

The Aesthetic Brain (2014) explains how and why the human brain responds to beauty and art. These blinks break down the reasons why we instinctively prefer some faces to others, what art does to our brains and how we started making art in the first place.

Who should read The Aesthetic Brain?

  • Artists and art lovers
  • Students of psychology and anthropology
  • Curious readers interested in how beauty takes shape in the eye of the beholder

30
Descartes' Error

Descartes' Error

Antonio Damasio
Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain
4.6 (190 ratings)

What's Descartes' Error about?

Descartes’ Error (1995) turns conventional wisdom about the human mind on its head. Combining sophisticated neuroscience with fascinating case studies about patients with brain damage, it shows how the traditional dualisms of Western thought do not stand up to scrutiny. Reason depends on emotion, and the brain is intimately connected with the body.

Who should read Descartes' Error?

  • Rationalists skeptical of emotions
  • Emotional people sick of being called irrational
  • Anyone interested in the intersections between neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy

31
How to Create a Mind

How to Create a Mind

Ray Kurzweil
The Secret of Human Thought Revealed
4.4 (141 ratings)

What's How to Create a Mind about?

How to Create a Mind (2012) offers an intimate examination of the nuts and bolts behind how the brain works. Once we understand exactly how people think, perceive the world and decide to take action, the creation of true artificial intelligence seems a possibility that’s just around the corner.

Who should read How to Create a Mind?

  • Anyone interested in artificial intelligence (AI)
  • People who’d like to learn more about neuroscience
  • Students considering a career in advanced computing

32
The Biological Mind

The Biological Mind

Alan Jasanoff
How Brain, Body, and Environment Collaborate to Make Us Who We Are
4.5 (139 ratings)

What's The Biological Mind about?

The Biological Mind (2018) debunks the “cerebral mystique,” the commonly held belief that our brains are somehow completely independent from our bodies and our surroundings. Using the latest insights from neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy, this approachable primer demonstrates that what you see as yourself is much more complex than you thought.

Who should read The Biological Mind?

  • Science buffs looking to keep up with the latest research
  • Armchair philosophers curious about questions of consciousness
  • Psychonauts seeking to understand their own minds

33
Habits of a Happy Brain

Habits of a Happy Brain

Loretta Graziano Breuning
Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin & Endorphin Levels
4.5 (67 ratings)

What's Habits of a Happy Brain about?

Habits of a Happy Brain (2012) provides a detailed introduction to the four chemicals responsible for our happiness: dopamine, serotonin, endorphin and oxytocin. The book explores the mechanics of what makes us happy and why, as well as why some bad things make us feel so good.

Who should read Habits of a Happy Brain?

  • Anyone interested in turning their bad habits into productive ones
  • Anyone who wants to become a happier person
  • Anyone who is interested in psychology and neurology

34
Rethinking Narcissism

Rethinking Narcissism

Craig Malkin
The Bad – and Surprising Good – about Feeling Special
3.7 (103 ratings)

What's Rethinking Narcissism about?

Rethinking Narcissism (2015) provides fresh perspectives on what we typically understand as arrogance or vanity. These blinks situate narcissism both historically and culturally, explaining the spectrum of narcissism and its different forms; they also provide helpful strategies for recognizing and dealing with the narcissists you might know.

Who should read Rethinking Narcissism?

  • Anyone interested in psychology
  • People with narcissistic partners and friends
  • Potential narcissists

35
The Female Brain

The Female Brain

Louann Brizendine
A Comprehensive New Look at What Makes Us Women
4.5 (305 ratings)

What's The Female Brain about?

The Female Brain (2006) is a classic of popular neuroscience which argues that hormone-driven neural development shapes many of women’s drives and behaviors. Just a few hormones chart a course through the cycle of changes that mark life with a female brain.

Who should read The Female Brain?

  • Anyone with a female brain wondering how it all works
  • Biology buffs curious about the intersections of nature and behavior
  • Those who interact with female brains looking for insight

36
The Male Brain

The Male Brain

Louann Brizendine
A Breakthrough Understanding of How Men and Boys Think
4.5 (362 ratings)

What's The Male Brain about?

The Male Brain (2010) is a neuroscientist’s account of the interplay between hormones and brain development that shapes the formation and growth of male brains and behavior. Based on decades of research, it argues that the roots of many masculine stereotypes can be seen in neurobiology, and that hormones shape the male brain and outlook for a lifetime.

Who should read The Male Brain?

  • Anyone with a male brain wondering about how it works
  • Minds curious about biology’s effect on culture
  • Those who interact with male brains looking for insights

37
The Compass of Pleasure

The Compass of Pleasure

David J. Linden
How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning and Gambling Feel So Good
4.1 (112 ratings)

What's The Compass of Pleasure about?

The Compass of Pleasure (2011) explains what seemingly different experiences, from taking heroin to giving to charity, from overeating to orgasm, have in common: their impact on our brain’s pleasure circuitry. These blinks reveal the way pleasurable experiences rewire our brains over time and explain the true nature of addiction.

Who should read The Compass of Pleasure?

  • Anyone curious about the influence of neurology on our daily lives
  • Those interested in the mechanisms of addiction and how to undo them
  • People seeking healthier sources of pleasure

38
The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons

The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons

Sam Kean
The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness and Recovery
4.5 (88 ratings)

What's The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons about?

The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons (2014) is a trip into the fascinating world of the human brain via some of the strangest psychological case studies in history. Until quite recently, neuroscientists could only study the brain by analyzing the thoughts and behaviors of people with aberrant brains. Sam Kean uses these historic case studies to paint a picture of the organ that creates our emotions, personality and consciousness.

Who should read The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons?

  • Psychology and neuroscience students
  • Anyone who wants to understand their own mind
  • Anyone interested in unusual medical conditions

39
The Strange Order of Things

The Strange Order of Things

Antonio Damasio
Life, Feeling, and the Making of Cultures
4.3 (83 ratings)

What's The Strange Order of Things about?

The Strange Order of Things (2018) takes us through the history of human cultural development while focusing on a motivating factor that often gets overlooked: our feelings. When accounting for the major innovations and developments of the past, we often credit human intelligence more than emotions and feelings. But as author Antonio Damasio argues, it’s our feelings that push us forward, inspire our creative accomplishments and define who we are.

Who should read The Strange Order of Things?

  • Neuroscientists, evolutionary biologists, physicians and psychologists
  • Curious minds interested in the emergence of human culture
  • Anyone interested in the power of emotions

40
The Fear Factor

The Fear Factor

Abigail Marsh
How One Emotion Connects Altruists, Psychopaths and Everyone in Between
4.1 (58 ratings)

What's The Fear Factor about?

The Fear Factor (2017) examines the multifaceted role that fear plays in our lives. Though commonly perceived as a purely negative emotion, fear is in fact linked to several virtuous human characteristics, such as empathy and altruism.

Who should read The Fear Factor?

  • People who want to become more altruistic
  • Those interested in neurology and how it affects certain behaviors
  • Individuals who want to turn their fears into something useful

41
The Rise of Superman

The Rise of Superman

Steven Kotler
Decoding The Science of Ultimate Human Performance
4.3 (144 ratings)

What's The Rise of Superman about?

The Rise of Superman examines the top performers in extreme sports in order to gain insight into how they use flow, i.e., the transcendental experience of being in “the zone,” to accomplish their amazing feats and connects the dots between the experience of flow and the neurology behind it.

Who should read The Rise of Superman?

  • Anyone interested in achieving optimal performance
  • Anyone involved in extreme sports
  • Anyone interested in neuroscience and the mind

42
The Inner Game of Tennis

The Inner Game of Tennis

W. Timothy Gallwey
The Ultimate Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance
4.4 (125 ratings)

What's The Inner Game of Tennis about?

The Inner Game of Tennis (1972) explains the tension between your conscious and unconscious minds, and how this conflict relates to performance, specifically through the lens of tennis. These blinks offer concrete advice on how to harness your natural ability and excel both on the court and off.

Who should read The Inner Game of Tennis?

  • Athletes who want to improve their game
  • Entrepreneurs seeking a performance boost
  • All readers who want to live a more fulfilling life

43
The Distraction Addiction

The Distraction Addiction

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Getting the Information You Need and the Communication You Want, Without Enraging Your Family, Annoying Your Colleagues and Destroying Your Soul.
4.1 (103 ratings)

What's The Distraction Addiction about?

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang’s The Distraction Addiction (2013) takes a look at attention in today’s distraction-riddled society and asks how we can stay connected and productive. Drawing on fascinating new research by neuroscientists and psychologists, as well as traditional Buddhist thought, Pang offers hands-on advice on how to stay focused and overcome our internet addictions in a new digital age.

Who should read The Distraction Addiction?

  • Parents with internet-addicted children
  • Anyone who feels they couldn’t do without the internet for a day
  • The seriously distracted looking for tips to boost their attention

44
A Really Good Day

A Really Good Day

Ayelet Waldman
How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life
4.2 (79 ratings)

What's A Really Good Day about?

A Really Good Day (2018) is the true story of one writer’s attempt to tackle her struggles with depression and mood disorder through a novel – and illegal – remedy: microdoses of LSD. Charting her experiment with the drug over 30 days, Ayelet Waldman explores her reactions and discovers a newfound sense of serenity in her everyday life. At the same time, A Really Good Day is a broader exploration of the history of LSD, the myths that surround it and society’s attitudes toward legal and illegal drugs.

Who should read A Really Good Day?

  • People interested in new ways to treat depression and mood-disorder
  • Readers skeptical about traditional medication for depression
  • Those interested in drug policy and legalization

45
End the Insomnia Struggle

End the Insomnia Struggle

Colleen Ehrnstrom and Alisha L. Brosse
A Step-by-Step Guide to Help You Get to Sleep and Stay Asleep
4.1 (77 ratings)

What's End the Insomnia Struggle about?

End the Insomnia Struggle (2016) is a guide to getting a good night’s sleep. These blinks are full of practical advice on how to handle sleeplessness. They explain, among other things, how to track your sleep problems, understand the science of insomnia and apply a variety of strategies that’ll help you get the rest you need.

Who should read End the Insomnia Struggle?

  • Sleepless souls
  • Psychologists and physicians
  • Students of human cognition

46
Subtract

Subtract

Leidy Klotz
The Untapped Science of Less
4.2 (1,239 ratings)

What's Subtract about?

Subtract (2021) explores subtraction as a way to make positive change. It examines the human love affair with adding and having “more” – and it explains how our brains and environments work against subtraction. 

Who should read Subtract?

  • Design professionals looking for a fresh perspective
  • Psychology buffs wanting new insights
  • Anthropology enthusiasts

47
Mindware

Mindware

Richard E. Nisbett
Tools for Smart Thinking
3.9 (102 ratings)

What's Mindware about?

Mindware (2015) is a guide to reason. These blinks explain why we make irrational assumptions while presenting the cognitive tools that statisticians, logicians and philosophers use to approach everyday problems with objectivity.

Who should read Mindware?

  • Anyone interested in psychology, statistics or economics
  • Anyone who wants to make better professional, business and personal decisions
  • Teachers and coaches who want to teach the art of logical decision making

48
Stumbling on Happiness

Stumbling on Happiness

Daniel Gilbert
The psychology of thinking about the future
4.0 (114 ratings)

What's Stumbling on Happiness about?

Stumbling on Happiness (2007) explains how our brains make us think about the future. It employs accessible language and everyday examples to help us understand complex theories from psychology, neuroscience and philosophy.

Stumbling on Happiness helps answer the question: why do we make decisions that leave us unhappy? By showing how our brains work, it aims to help us imagine our futures in new ways, ways that could leave us happier.

Who should read Stumbling on Happiness?

  • Students of psychology
  • Anyone interested in how our imagination works
  • Anyone interested in knowing how we predict the future

49
And Finally

And Finally

Henry Marsh
Matters of Life and Death
4.5 (19 ratings)

What's And Finally about?

And Finally (2022) is about a doctor becoming a patient. The process is painful for neurosurgeon and author Dr. Henry Marsh but in the end, he finds acceptance and understands what truly matters.

Who should read And Finally?

  • Anyone transitioning to a new stage of life
  • People with questions about aging
  • Those whose lives have been touched by cancer

50
Uniquely Human

Uniquely Human

Barry M. Prizant
A Different Way of Seeing Autism
4.5 (170 ratings)

What's Uniquely Human about?

Uniquely Human (2015) is your guide to understanding autism and how it affects the people who live with it. These blinks examine the everyday challenges faced by people on the autism spectrum, and looks at how the people in their lives, from family to teachers and aides, can support and encourage them.

Who should read Uniquely Human?

  • Parents and siblings of autistic children
  • Psychology students
  • Special needs aides and teachers

51
Born Liars

Born Liars

Ian Leslie
Why We Can’t Live Without Deceit
4.2 (68 ratings)

What's Born Liars about?

Born Liars (2011) uncovers the truth about lying and the important role it plays in our lives. Far from being some undesirable glitch in the human system, lying has not only made us smarter but saved many lives and become an essential ingredient to our overall well-being. In these blinks, you’ll learn all about the history and neuroscience of fibbing, why it might be impossible to detect every lie and how central mendacity truly is to being human.

Who should read Born Liars?

  • Anyone working with advertising
  • Armchair psychologists and philosophers
  • Cultural anthropologists

52
How We Learn

How We Learn

Benedict Carey
The Surprising Truth About When, Where and Why It Happens
4.4 (152 ratings)

What's How We Learn about?

How We Learn explains the fascinating mechanisms in our minds that form and hold memories, and shows how with this information, we can better absorb and retain information. You’ll explore the many functions of the brain and gain practical advice on how to better study and learn.

Who should read How We Learn?

  • Anyone who wants to get better grades in school or be a more productive learner
  • Anyone interested in how the brain works
  • Anyone interested in psychology

53
Deviate

Deviate

Beau Lotto
The Science of Seeing Differently
4.4 (151 ratings)

What's Deviate about?

Deviate (2017) is a primer on the sometimes-tricky neuroscience behind human perception. It details all the illusions, distortions, and shortcuts our brains take when making sense of the world around us. 

Who should read Deviate?

  • Curious minds interested in the science of human perception
  • Designers seeking novel approaches to problems
  • Anyone who wants to see the world from a new perspective

54
This Is Your Brain on Music

This Is Your Brain on Music

Daniel Levitin
Understanding a Human Obsession
4.1 (91 ratings)

What's This Is Your Brain on Music about?

In This is Your Brain on Music (2006), musician and neuroscientist Dr. Daniel J. Levitin illuminates exactly what happens in the brain when people listen to rhythms, timbres and pitches, helping us understand why we’re so profoundly affected by music.

Who should read This Is Your Brain on Music?

  • People curious about what happens in their brain when they listen to music
  • Anyone who wants to learn more about the relationship between psychology and music

55
Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming

Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming

Stephen LaBerge and Howard Rheingold
A step-by-step guide to Lucid Dreaming
4.4 (68 ratings)

What's Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming about?

Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming (1990) presents a step-by-step guide to the fascinating world of lucid dreams. It introduces various techniques on how to evoke lucidity and how lucid dreaming can be used to enrich your waking life.

Who should read Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming?

  • Psychologists studying the complex relationship of sleep and dreaming
  • People who suffer from nightmares
  • Students of cognitive science

56
Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite

Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite

Robert Kurzban
Evolution and the Modular Mind
4.5 (53 ratings)

What's Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite about?

Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite (2010) pushes us to challenge our assumptions about the human brain. These blinks explain the modular structure of our mind which, rather than creating a coherent conscious self, can lead to confusion and conflict as evolutionary traits clash with the challenges of the modern world.

Who should read Why Everyone (Else) Is a Hypocrite?

  • Students and teachers of psychology
  • Readers questioning traditional explanations of how the mind works
  • People frustrated with friends’ hypocritical actions and poor judgment

57
Obedience to Authority

Obedience to Authority

Stanley Milgram
The Experiment That Challenged Human Nature
4.6 (30 ratings)

What's Obedience to Authority about?

Obedience to Authority (1974) explores some of the darker elements of the human mind. It addresses tough issues, like why we follow orders and how far we’ll go when commanded to do something. With the author’s own seminal experiments as a backdrop, you’ll learn how even the most upright people can turn into cruel monsters under certain conditions.

Who should read Obedience to Authority?

  • Anyone who wants to know why soldiers unquestioningly commit atrocities
  • Amateur or professional students of psychology
  • People willing to take a look into the dark corners of the human psyche

58
Smarter

Smarter

Dan Hurley
The New Science of Building Brain Power
3.8 (55 ratings)

What's Smarter about?

Smarter questions our understanding of intelligence in this new age of brain-training games. From the traditional adage of “healthy body, healthy mind,” to the latest advances in computerised brain training games, these blinks explore scientifically established methods of improving cognitive abilities.  

Who should read Smarter?

  • Psychology students and those interested in cognitive science
  • Anyone who’d like to learn tricks to increase their intelligence
  • Anyone skeptical that we can improve our IQ

59
The Lucifer Effect

The Lucifer Effect

Philip Zimbardo
Understanding How Good People Turn Evil
4.4 (79 ratings)

What's The Lucifer Effect about?

In an attempt to reveal the source of humanity’s capacity for evil, The Lucifer Effect (2007) delves deep into the dark corners of the human mind. It shows how we walk a fine line between monstrosity and heroism daily – yet it isn’t our nature that determines on which side of the line we fall, but the numerous situational forces that permeate our lives.

Who should read The Lucifer Effect?

  • People interested in psychology and understanding human nature
  • Anyone who wants to know why good people sometimes turn evil

60
Collective Illusions

Collective Illusions

Todd Rose
Conformity, Complicity, and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions
4.6 (53 ratings)

What's Collective Illusions about?

Collective Illusions (2022) explores the idea of conformity bias: how it shapes our decisions for better or worse, and how we can overcome this behavior and even use it for good.

Who should read Collective Illusions?

  • Amateur brain scientists
  • People who want to be the change
  • Dissenters and activists

61
The Extended Mind

The Extended Mind

Annie Murphy Paul
The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain
4.8 (979 ratings)

What's The Extended Mind about?

The Extended Mind (2021) is an exploration of the power of thinking outside the confines of your brain. It shows that the path to greater intelligence is not locked within your skull. Rather, it's a path through your body, your environment and your relationships with others. 

Who should read The Extended Mind?

  • People interested in the interaction of the body, brain and environment
  • Anyone interested in designing better spaces for creativity and teamwork
  • Anyone who’d like to optimize their working and learning relationships

62
On Intelligence

On Intelligence

Jeff Hawkins and Sandra Blakeslee
How a New Understanding of the Brain Will Lead to the Creation of Truly Intelligent Machines
4.0 (60 ratings)

What's On Intelligence about?

These blinks provide an overview of the human brain’s capacity for thinking and for comparing new experiences to old memories. They also explain why today’s machines still aren’t able to emulate this capability, but why we may soon be able to build ones that can.

Who should read On Intelligence?

  • Anyone interested in how the brain works or what makes us intelligent and conscious beings
  • Anyone who wants to know whether we’ll ever build machines that are truly intelligent
  • Anyone wondering whether such intelligent machines would be good or bad for humanity

63
The Hidden Brain

The Hidden Brain

Shankar Vedantam
How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives
3.8 (143 ratings)

What's The Hidden Brain about?

The Hidden Brain (2010) reveals the function and effects of our unconscious lives. In our increasingly interconnected world, unconscious biases and errors influence our memories, judgments, and perceptions and shape our social, economic, and political institutions.

Who should read The Hidden Brain?

  • White people interested in understanding unconscious racial bias
  • Parents and teachers
  • Students of neuroscience or psychology

64
The Invisible Gorilla

The Invisible Gorilla

Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons
And Other Ways Our Intuition Deceives Us
4.0 (31 ratings)

What's The Invisible Gorilla about?

The Invisible Gorilla (2010) explores the way our intuition is not the beacon of guiding light we think it is. In fact, it’s often erroneously based on illusions. By debunking some examples of common knowledge, Chabris and Simons argue why our intuition often cannot be trusted.

Who should read The Invisible Gorilla?

  • People interested in the inner workings of the mind
  • Psychology students
  • Managers who want a new way to approach to decision making

65
Talking to Crazy

Talking to Crazy

Mark Goulston
How to Deal with the Irrational and Impossible People in Your Life
4.0 (41 ratings)

What's Talking to Crazy about?

Talking to Crazy (2015) acknowledges that each person has the potential to be a little crazy, giving into irrational behavior when the mood strikes. These blinks offer sound advice on how to empathize and communicate with a person in “crazy mode” so you can keep yourself from going off the deep end, too.

Who should read Talking to Crazy?

  • People with anger management issues
  • Anyone struggling with constructive communication in a relationship
  • Parents and teachers dealing with young adults

66
My Stroke of Insight

My Stroke of Insight

Jill Bolte Taylor
A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey
3.8 (33 ratings)

What's My Stroke of Insight about?

My Stroke of Insight (2008) is about Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroscientist who suffered a stroke in her mid-thirties. These blinks detail her personal story from medical school to experiencing a stroke to learning how to walk, talk and even identify colors again.

Who should read My Stroke of Insight?

  • Medical students
  • Friends and relatives of individuals with mental illnesses or brain traumas
  • Anyone interested in learning more about the human brain

67
The Happiness Industry

The Happiness Industry

William Davies
How the Government and Big Business Sold Us Well-Being
4.1 (18 ratings)

What's The Happiness Industry about?

What makes you smile, laugh or feel like skipping down the street? Teams of professional psychologists, neuroscientists, marketers, economists and your boss all want to know. Why? So they can make sure you are a productive employee who buys lots of stuff! The Happiness Industry (2015) takes an in-depth look at how our happiness is studied, measured, and profited from – often without our knowledge or consent.

Who should read The Happiness Industry?

  • Anyone interested in the role of happiness in modern society
  • Readers who wonder how happiness works in the human brain
  • People concerned about increasing invasions of privacy online

68
Patient H.M.

Patient H.M.

Luke Dittrich
A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets
4.4 (10 ratings)

What's Patient H.M. about?

Patient H. M. (2016) chronicles the history of the lobotomy procedure, focusing particularly on a famous figure in this story – an amnesic named Henry Molaison, or, as he is also known, Patient H.M. Journey back to when the lobotomy first became a popular treatment for mental illness and learn how it helped us better understand the brain.

Who should read Patient H.M.?

  • Science geeks interested in neuroscience
  • Readers who want to better understand themselves
  • Anyone interested in the history of medicine

69
You May Also Like

You May Also Like

Tom Vanderbilt
Taste in An Age of Endless Choice
4.1 (13 ratings)

What's You May Also Like about?

You May Also Like (2016) dives into the ever-changing world of taste, or what you like and why you like it. Trying to guess whether a consumer will enjoy a movie or buy a product is both tricky science and big business, as a myriad of different factors influences the decisions you make daily.

Who should read You May Also Like?

  • Pop culture enthusiasts
  • Social psychologists
  • Marketers or consumers curious about what influences taste

70
Wiser

Wiser

Dilip Jeste with Scott LaFee
The Scientific Roots of Wisdom, Compassion, and What Makes Us Good
4.8 (89 ratings)

What's Wiser about?

Wiser (2020) combines a scientific approach to wisdom with practical tips on how to grow wiser today. Drawing on decades of research and cutting-edge studies, it pairs explanation and advice in its investigation of compassion, aging, decision-making, and more.

Who should read Wiser?

  • Busy twenty-first-century folk hungry for old-fashioned wisdom
  • Amateur scientists interested in discovering more about the brain
  • People who want to get wise before they get old

71
The Secret Life of Pronouns

The Secret Life of Pronouns

James W. Pennebaker
What Our Words Say About Us
4.4 (28 ratings)

What's The Secret Life of Pronouns about?

The Secret Life of Pronouns (2011) shines a light on the everyday language that we seldom pay attention to, revealing the ways in which it serves as a window into our personality and our social connections.

Who should read The Secret Life of Pronouns?

  • Linguists, psychologists and grammar nerds from all disciplines
  • Anyone interested in what language can reveal about others and ourselves

72
So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed

So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed

Jon Ronson
How Our Mistakes Are Costlier And More Public Than Ever
3.9 (14 ratings)

What's So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed about?

So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed (2015) looks into the terrifying nature of online public shaming. Tracing it back to its historical roots, the book details the motivations behind modern public shaming and offers tips on what to do if you find yourself at the center of a public shaming scandal.

Who should read So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed?

  • People astonished by the brutality of online public shamings
  • Psychology enthusiasts
  • Those wanting to learn about how technology affects our behavior

73
Felt Time

Felt Time

Marc Wittmann
The Psychology of How We Perceive Time
3.8 (25 ratings)

What's Felt Time about?

Felt Time (2014) examines how your brain processes time. These blinks present fascinating facts and theories about how our bodies perceive time, and offers advice on how to make the most of the present moment, deal with boredom and control the pace of our lives.

Who should read Felt Time?

  • Psychologists, neuroscientists and brain researchers
  • People fascinated by the concept of time
  • Anyone wishing to reduce their stress levels

74
This Is Your Brain on Parasites

This Is Your Brain on Parasites

Kathleen McAuliffe
How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behavior and Shape Society
4.1 (25 ratings)

What's This Is Your Brain on Parasites about?

This Is Your Brain on Parasites (2016) is about the microscopic organisms that live inside us. They sometimes make us sick and, more surprisingly, they drive human evolution in a variety of ways. These blinks explain how parasites can guide personalities, emotions and even culture.

Who should read This Is Your Brain on Parasites?

  • Psychologists and doctors, and students of either field
  • Anyone interested in free will
  • People interested in human behavior

75
Hallucinations

Hallucinations

Oliver Sacks
What hallucinations tell us about the organization and structure of our brains
4.3 (16 ratings)

What's Hallucinations about?

This book explores the complex realm of hallucinations, and explains how they happen not only to people who are ill, but also to those who are completely healthy. Drawing on various studies, patient cases and the author’s own experiences, it describes the different causes and types of hallucinations, and shows that they're actually a common phenomenon that manifest in a variety of ways.

Who should read Hallucinations?

  • Anyone interested in psychology
  • Anyone who's ever seen, heard, smelt or felt something that wasn't there
  • Anyone who wants to understand the science and neurology behind hallucinations

76
Time Warped

Time Warped

Claudia Hammond
Unlocking the Mysteries of Time Perception

What's Time Warped about?

Time Warped (2012) is about that enduring mystery: our perception of time. Using research from the fields of neuroscience, biology and psychology, Claudia Hammond investigates the many reasons why, on one day, time appears to pass rapidly, while on another, it seems to grind to a halt. In addition, Time Warped suggests ways in which we can control our individual experience of time.

Who should read Time Warped?

  • Anyone who thinks they have no time
  • Anyone who feels that time moves more quickly nowadays
  • Anyone who can’t remember the year Michael Jackson or Princess Diana died

77
Cool

Cool

Steven Quartz & Anette Asp
How the Brain’s Hidden Quest for Cool Drives Our Economy and Shapes our World
4.1 (14 ratings)

What's Cool about?

Cool (2015) explains how a social desire to fit in and be acknowledged propels humans to consume. Drawing on everything from neuroscience to evolutionary biology to economics and history, Cool explains why the drive to buy is natural.

Who should read Cool?

  • Every marketer, everywhere
  • People interested in neuroscience
  • Anybody who wants to know what “cool” really means

78
Immortality

Immortality

Stephen Cave
The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilization
3.4 (15 ratings)

What's Immortality about?

Immortality explores humanity’s drive to live forever and the constructive and destructive forces that accompany it. The book elaborates on the various ways that we try to achieve eternal life, and ultimately offers us some advice on how to cope with our mortality.

Who should read Immortality?

  • Anyone interested in the question of the meaning of life (and death)
  • Anyone who wants to know about what drives our civilization’s development
  • Anyone who laments their the short time they have left to spend on Earth

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