Why we do what we do : understanding our brain to get the best out of ourselves and others / Helena Boschi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Boschi , Helena, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Self-help techniques.

Brain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (351 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

West Sussex, England : John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, [2020]

Summary:

"This is the first book that combines the neuroscience of how our brain works and other insights into how we can apply this to everyday, home and work, as well as offering practical tools and tips to lead healthy and productive lives. It focuses on how we behave, communicate, feel, remember, pay attention, create, influence and make decisions"-- Provided by publisher.

"This is the first book that combines the neuroscience of how our brain works and other insights into how we can apply this to everyday, home and work, as well as offering practical tools and tips to lead healthy and productive lives. It focuses on how we behave, communicate, feel, remember, pay attention, create, influence and make decisions. TOPICAL -- the topic of neuroscience is huge right now, particularly when combined with information on AI/Big Data/technology overload. It would follow on well from Offline publishing in December 18, AI in Practice publishing in Feb/March. We have a solid track record in this area. AUTHOR EXPERT -- Dr Helena Boschi is a renowned expert in this area, and is becoming hugely in demand at all neuroscience events / speaking and conferences -- SEE AUTHOR PROPOSAL. SPEAKING -- Dr Helena Boschi is starting to be in huge demand to speak and train at a lot of high profile events and with big industry players. She'll be using the new book here as a much more authoritative lead generation tool than the current version. TRAINING -- Lansons' client list is huge so Lansons and Helena will be giving books to all these clients at every opportunity"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

About the Author

About Lansons

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter 1 Our Brain

About this chapter

Part 1: The science explained

Why we need to keep it all in balance

Our brain, neurons and synapses

Our four lobes . . .

. . . and two hemispheres

How neurons communicate with each other

Our nervous system

Function of the nervous system

Central nervous system (CNS)

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

What happens when we activate the autonomic nervous system?

Part 2: Impact on our daily life

Do women and men have different brains?

Why are both nature AND nurture important?

What difference does being right- or left-handed make?

Why do adolescents do what they do?

Part 3: Stories and top tips

Was Einstein's brain different?

Should young children head footballs?

The making of Vanessa-Mae

References for Chapter 1

Chapter 2 Our Brain and Emotion

Our brain's emotional circuitry

Why do we have emotions?

What exactly is emotion?

The importance of endorphins

How can we read emotions in others?

Empathy: a force for good in the brain?

We need to read emotional expression

Why do women tend to be faster than men at identifying emotions?

Why is our brain designed for fear?

Why do psychopaths not feel fear?

Why do emotions influence our decision-making?

We rationalise - but we are not rational!

Why do fear and anger colour our judgement?

Why are emotional memories so vivid?

What is our gut feel?

Emotional intelligence: thinking about feeling

We are fooled by our emotions

A dream that stirred a nation

A display of affection that touched a child.

The dark side of emotion

The impact of medication on our mood

Positive emotions make us strong

References for Chapter 2

Chapter 3 Our Brain and Memory

How do we research memory?

How does memory work in our brain?

How do we form memories?

Different types of memory

Why do we remember what we remember?

Types of amnesia

What memories are most memorable?

What affects our memory?

Is the Internet making us stupid?

Use it or lose it

Lost and false memories

How do we improve our memory?

We do not remember accurately

A memory of 10 seconds and still a brilliant musician

How does Alzheimer's Disease affect long-term memory?

Does time of day affect our memory?

The brain of the London black cab driver

References for Chapter 3

Chapter 4 Our Brain and Attention

How do we pay attention?

We do not see what we do not expect to see

How do we know what to focus on?

Our autopilot makes us lazy thinkers

Why do experts miss what is right in front of them?

Focus is critical to improvement . . .

. . . but focus can also make us blind

No one can multitask

Trying to multitask hurts our brain

Why does multitasking make us feel good?

Why is distraction so dangerous?

We take mental shortcuts to deal with information

Why do we like our comfort zone?

Attention-related accidents are on the rise

The march of the machine

Is our attention span shrinking?

The relationship between attention and learning

References for Chapter 4

Chapter 5 Our Brain and Language

Part 1: The science explained.

Where is language processed in our brain?

Language: a left-brained thing?

How is language affected by injury or brain trauma?

Language is complex

Intonation affects meaning

Different words light up different parts of our brain

Our brain is organised for communication

Our brain sees words

Why nouns make us respond more quickly than verbs

We see words as shapes

Can an understanding of language help stroke patients?

What do our emails say about us?

The power of words

Why do some words annoy or repel us?

Does feedback work?

So how we do we make a feedback sandwich?

Three separate feedback conversations

Language inspires us

Language sells

Headlines harness and hold attention

Stories switch on our brain

References for Chapter 5

Chapter 6 Our Brain and Visual Perception

How do we see?

Visual perception: a complex process

We see the whole first and details second

We see faces everywhere

Blindness in our brain

We take shortcuts to simplify what we see

How do we see colour?

We fill in the gaps

Why are we susceptible to visual illusions?

Our visual perception protects us . . .

. . . but can also prevent new thinking

Our truth is subjective

We do not see ourselves accurately

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Our reality is what we are used to

What should we believe?

Fact, fiction or just fake?

The Lab of Misfits: enabling people to perceive differently

The dangers of our digital age

References for Chapter 6

Chapter 7 Our Brain and Biases

A psychological immune system in the brain.

Why are our biases so powerful?

Types of biases

We think other people are more biased than we are

We hate being wrong

Our brain avoids complexity

We are easily influenced

Nudge theory

Even children become biased quickly

Who are our friends?

Do we ever learn from our mistakes?

Nudges or dark patterns?

Being human makes us biased

We see outcomes and not probabilities

Can we beat our biases?

References for Chapter 7

Chapter 8 Our Brain and Creativity

How does creativity work in our brain?

Creativity is messy and contradictory

How are new ideas formed?

Why is a eureka moment not 'out of the blue'?

Are creative people different from everyone else?

But creativity is also in the small stuff

Our senses affect our creativity

Is intelligence linked to creativity?

Can we learn to be creative?

Creativity is not fragile: we need to challenge it!

Convergent versus divergent thinking

Creativity helps us to imagine the future

Why do many of us stop being creative?

Why does brainstorming not always work?

How we crush creativity early on

Reigniting and harnessing the creative spark

Why are bad ideas still good ideas?

Green is good for creativity

Sleepiness removes constraints . . .

. . . but sometimes constraint is good

Do the opposite to what people expect

Innovator or fast follower?

References for Chapter 8

Chapter 9 Our Brain and Change

Change is painful for the brain

Anxiety is contagious

Why do our brains love routine and habits?

We are all lazy

Experience and expectation are interlinked.

How does the brain make and change decisions?

Why does most change fail in organisations?

Successful change needs the right leadership

Leading change: dealing with the push-back first

We like the challenge of change - if we are given enough freedom

We need other people around us

Information is essential during change

Change rewires our brain

We need to stay fit and healthy

The importance of resilience

Create the right conditions for change

We need to change, even when life is good!

We need to change our thinking in order to change

Make change easy for people

Employee mobility can be a good thing

Successful change goes beyond facts

Culture is key

Change is essential for a healthy brain

References for Chapter 9

Chapter 10 Our Brain and Stress

What is stress?

How do we get stressed?

Where does stress start in the brain?

1) Sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) system

2) Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis

Causes of stress

Stress can shrink our brain

How do we measure stress?

Stress, inflammation and disease

What we think is stressful will be stressful

Can stress be good for us?

Our braking system

The power of meditation and mindfulness

Are our jobs killing us?

Stress can affect anyone

The cost of commitment

We can all do something to help others

Exercise reduces stress

References for Chapter 10

Chapter 11 Our Brain and Leadership

Neuroscience and leadership

Are there chemicals of leadership?

The cognitive cost of decisions

Leaders can help us reshape our brain.

Expectations drive results.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes index.

ISBN:

9781119561545

111956154X

9781119561538

1119561531

OCLC:

1164505446