Brain Rules 3

Question 1

Rule 7: Sleep well, think well
Sleep means war
Dormant volcano
To each his own
Quantity equals quality

Answer 1

The brain is in constant state of tension between cells and chemicals that try to put you to sleep or cells/chemicals that keep you awake
Neurons of your brain show vigorous activity when you’re asleep: probably replaying what you learned that day
We all vary in how much sleep we need and when, but biological need for afternoon nap is universal
Loss of sleep hurts attention, executive function, working memory, mood, quantitative skills, logical reasoning, and even motor dexterity

Question 2

Rule 8: Stressed brains don't learn the same way
Misinterpretation
Virus
SOS
Drama queen

Answer 2

Body’s defense system-release of adrenaline and cortisol-is built for immediate response to serious but passing danger (saber-toothed tiger). Chronic stress, such as hostility at home, dangerously deregulates system built to only deal with short-term responses
Under chronic stress, adrenaline creates scars in blood vessels that can cause heart attack or stroke. Cortisol damages cells of hippocampus, crippling ability to learn and remember
Individually, worst kind of stress is feeling of helplessness
Emotional stress has huge impacts across society: children’s ability to learn and employees’ productivity at work

Question 3

Rule 9: Stimulate more of the senses at the same time
The director
History repeats itself
Cooperation
Smelly thoughts

Answer 3

We absorb information of events through our senses, translate into electrical signals (sight, sound, etc.), disperse those signals to separate parts of brain, then reconstruct what happened, eventually perceiving event as a whole
Brain seems to rely partly on past experiences to decide how to combine these signals: two people can perceive same event VERY differently
Our senses evolved to work together-vision influencing hearing, for example-which means we learn best by stimulating several senses at once
Smells have unusual power to bring back memories, perhaps because smell signals head straight to amygdala (supervisor of emotions)