Everything you want to know about the brain

As soon as people find out that I am a neuropsychologist, a puzzled expression is drawn on their faces, as if they have just heard that I am a Martian or something similar. But once the initial surprise is over, invariably the same thing happens: they start asking me all kinds of questions related to the human mind. It doesn't matter if I'm at a party, in a taxi, or in line at a bank, people want to know what they can do to solve their different problems.

All these questions have a common denominator: they refer to how we think and behave in everyday life; in short, they allude to life itself. Our behavior is the software that runs on hardware, a physical support that is none other than the brain.

• You may be interested: "Parts of the human brain (and functions)"

The organ of the human mind is full of secrets

This organ of approximately 1,400 grams and 86,000 million neurons is what enables us to do everything we do, whether it is chewing gum, playing tennis, contemplating a landscape, solving a mathematical puzzle, writing poetry, and even the development of art and science as it is. we know.

In the last 20 years, more progress has been made in the understanding of how the brain works than in the entire history of mankind. In this book, I intend to bring some of that knowledge closer to the reader and help you make decisions based on a better understanding of how your brain works.

Like any other part of the body, the brain does its work according to its own idiosyncrasies. By reading this book, the reader will know these operating guidelines, and will be able to better understand behind the scenes of their particular way of thinking and behaving on a day-to-day basis.

I am convinced that the knowledge of how the brain performs its feats is extremely useful, since it allows us to introduce those small changes many times unsuspected but always necessary so that we can lead a happier life and productive.

Like a walk through a great and beautiful city, this book was conceived as a guided tour through the streets and recesses of the human mind. Along the way, the reader will know all the places of interest and most important points. You can stop and stay longer in the place you want, since each chapter is relatively independent from the others, which also allows you to open the book anywhere and start reading from there.

All the curiosities about the brain

Why do we usually believe we are the absolute owners of the truth? What is prejudice and how does it affect us? Is it true that we cannot pay attention to two things at the same time? Why is it so difficult to get over a breakup? Why do we often act against our own interests? How does marketing manage to manipulate our emotions? Can we do something to be happier?

These are just some of the questions that are addressed during the journey that this work proposes. It also explores how mental illness can damage the brain, and along the way some deeply rooted myths and lies are dismantled between people and society in general.

I trust that the reader friend will want to have this book always at hand, that it will be entertaining but also that it will help clarify many issues. I hope that when you have read just a few pages you will be hopelessly tempted to read it everything, and do not forget to pay attention to the little tricks and strategies that are proposed at the end of each chapter; it is my wish that they lead you to a fuller and more efficient life.