SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR BRAIN by Scientific American Staff and Judith Horstman. Jossey-Bass, 2009
OUTLINE OF BOOK'S FACTS & IDEAS
QUESTION: What is the most important organ in your body? ANSWER: Your brain! (Without it, nothing else would work — and you would not be aware of it if it did!)

Furthermore, your brain is the place of your memory, mind, and feeling. It is the controller of the rest of your body. It is the source of your consciousness. It is you!

This book is a 24 hour journal of what's happening in your brain as you sleep, dream, wake up, eat, work, play, fight, love, worry, compete, hope, make important decisions, age and change.
    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (xiii)

    PREFACE (xv-xvi)

      Did you know? — List of nine paraphrased "brain-facts" that give you a quick breathtaking review of the wonerful things now known about your brain: (3)

        [1] Your brain has an estimated 100 billion neuron cells and 40 quadrillion connections! (But nobody knows for sure.)

        [2] You used to have even more cells and brain connections. But by the time you were born, you lost half the neurons you had as a fetus. When you were a teenager, you lost even more brain cells as your brain streamlined itself for optimal function.

        [3] Your brain is very big in proportion to the size of your body compared to other mammals! With its many creases, folds, and layers, it would take up more than three times its area if it were spread out flat.

        [4] Your brain is an energy hog! (Although your brain occupies only 2% of your body, it sucks up 20% of your body energy even when you are at rest.)

        [5] Your brain can make new neurons --- even in old age! (This was thought to be impossible until the past few years.)

        [6] Your brain can change! While the brains of children are most adaptive, older brains can be retrained as well. (Your brain can adapt from exterior to interior experiences to take on new functions. The more you repeat something --- either an action or a thought --- the more "brain space" is devoted to it.)

        [7] Your brain can "prune" itself! Your brain weakens less-used connections and strengthens useful connections. (This process actually improves your memory.)

        [8] Stress can "shrink" your brain! (But meditation and physical exercise can strengthen your brain and your ability to relieve stress.)

        [9] Your brain's surface itself has no sensation! You could touch it and you would feel nothing. Only when the interior parts are stimulated by surgeons during brain surgery do you feel --- both tactilely and emotionally! (This fact allows brain surgery patients to be conscious when surgeons perform delicate brain operations.)

    INTRODUCTION (1-10)
    [1] You gotta know the territory — a Short tour of your brain (4-6)

    [2] Your neurotransmitters (6-8)

    There are more than one hundred known neurotransmitters and may be many more. Scientists have discovered that some hormones can play the role of neurotransmitter as well. Your brain uses the following EIGHT neurotransmitters every day: (6 and 8)

      (1) ACETYLCHOLINE = excites your cells, activates your muscles, and is involved in wakefulness, attentiveness, anger, aggression, and your sexuality.

      (2) GLUTAMATE = involves your learning and memory abilities and is dispersed widely throughout your brain.

      (3) GABA = keeps your body in balance and slows your bodily processes down and regulates your anxiety [The acronym stands for "Gamma-Amino Butyric Acid"].

      (3) ENDORPHINES = increases your pleasure and reduces your sensations of pain [Acts both as a hormone and as a neurotransmitter. Its name is derived from combining "end(ogenous) and (m)orphine"].

      (4) EPINEPHRINE = keeps your body alert and your blood pressure balanced and gives you energy when you need it. Also, it is produced by your adrenal glands when you are stressed, and it can increase your anxiety or tension [Also it is called "adrenaline"].

      (5) DOPAMINE = vitally involved in all your voluntary movements, attentiveness, motivation, and pleasure and any addictions you might have.

      (6) SEROTONIN = regulates your body temperature, memory, emotion, sleep, appetite, and all your moods. [Many antidepressants work by increasing your serotonin level.]

      (7) OXYTOCIN = is created during the birth process of labor, during breast feeding of a baby, mother-baby bonding or love, romantic love of couples, trust in relationships [Acts both as a hormone and as a neurotransmitter].

    [3] Charting the day — Your body clocks (8-9)

    [4] The best of times? (9)

      A time for everything — Daily patterns (10)

    "Although each of us has a personal and slightly different body clock, surveys, observation, and research have found some overall patterns that follow the hours of the day. Your personal rhythm may not match the events listed here, of course, as the data are from many sources and represent an average." (10)
    PART 1 — COMING TO CONSCIOUSNESS — Awake and aware [5 a.m. to 8 a.m.] (13-44)

      5:00 a.m. — WAKING TO THE WORLD (14-25)

        [1] Your inner alarm clocks (14-15)

        [2] Your brain chemicals (15-16)

        [3] Larks and owls (16-19)

        [4] Coming to our senses (19-20)

          Why do men awake with erections? (19)

        [5] An orchestra of sensory harmony (20-22)

          The very smell of coffee may help the rat race (21)

        [6] Touch and movement — Feeling our way (22-23)

        [7] Varieties of touch (23-24)

          Your brain prefers autopilot — It saves fuel (24)

      6:00 a.m. — COMING TO CONSCIOUSNESS (25-32)

          [1] The seat of consciousness (26-27)

            Big-brained bamboozlers (26)

          [2] Emotion, memory, and consciousness (27-28)

            Role of your "cingulate cortex" = It is involved in controlling alertness and the emotional coloring of your internal reactions to physical sensations such as pain. It works closely with your "frontal lobe" to control the recognition and correction of mistakes, which is a process that is vital to memory and survival.

          [3] It is always about networking (28)

          [4] Little gray cells and big white matter — Myelin in your brain (29-31)

          [5] Prime time for heart attack and stroke (31-32)

            Why does the outer surface of the brain have folds? (31)

      7:00 a.m. — THOSE MORNING EMOTIONS (33-40)

          [1] Reason needs a neurochemical boost (34-36)

            Soothing the cranky morning beast (35)

          [2] Can meditation help master those emotions (36-37)

          [3] Is there a "god spot" in your brain? (37-39)

          [4] Practice makes comparison (39-40)

      8:00 a.m. — FINDING YOUR WAY (41-44)

          [1] Why his brain may not ask directions (42-43)

            Been there, done that — Could deja vu be explained by "grid cells"? (43)

          [2] How we know where to find our lost keys (44)

    PART 2 — ENGAGING THE WORLD --- Getting out and about [9 a.m. to Noon] (46-81)

      9:00 a.m. — ENCOUNTERING OTHERS (48-54)

        [1] That face, that familiar face (48-49)

        [2] Friend or foe? Read my face (49-51)

          Are you my mother? (50)

        [3] Mirror, mirror — Copycat neurons in the brain (51-52)

        [4] The broken mirror — Autism insights from mirror neurons and face perception (52-54)

          (1) Tip-of-the-tongue moments (53)

          (2) If I could read your mind (54)

      10:00 a.m. — PEAK PERFORMANCE OR STRESS? (55-64)

        [1] Stress in the brain (55-56)

        [2] The alarm that doesn't stop — Why chronic stress is so bad (56)

        [3] Stress destroys neurons (56-57)

        [4] Stress ups the risk of Alzheimer's disease (57-58)

        [5] The very thought of it is enough (58-59)

          Seven bad things stress does to you and your brain (59)

        [6] Multitasking — Again? (59-60)

        [7] The limits of multitasking (60-61)

        [8] How your brain helps your job kill you (61-62)

          Fighting fire with fire — Using stress hormones to lower stress (61)

        [9] You can lull your brain away from stress (62-63)

        [10] Flow versus stress (63-64)

      11:00 a.m. — DECISIONS, DECISIONS, AND MORE DECISIONS (65-71)

        [1] The brain's "CEO" (65-66)

          Does price affect your wine choice? You betcha! (67)

        [2] "Chemo Brain" can ambush your "CEO" (66-67)

        [3] Choosing economically (67-68)

        [4] Making an emotional moral choice (68-69)

        [5] Choosing wearies your brain (69-70)

        [6] The brain has a section for regret (70-71)

      12:00 NOON — THE HUNGRY BRAIN (72-81)

        [1] How hunger works in your brain (72-73)

        [2] We are losing our scents (73-74)

        [3] Still hungry? When hunger goes awry (74-75)

        [4] Why calories taste delicious (75-76)

        [5] Addicted to _________________ [Fill in the blank] (76-77)

        [6] Self-control sucks your energy (78-79)

        [7] Yes, there is such a thing as brain food (79-81)

          (1) Provisions for "brain power" (80-81)

          (2) Your appetite regulator might be rewritable (81)

    PART 3 — THE GUTS OF THE DAY — Getting down to business [1 p.m. to 4 p.m.] (82-89)

      1:00 p.m. — THE TIRED BRAIN (84-89)

        [1] Partial recall — Why memory fades with age (84-85)

        [2] Can you help your brain stay young[er]? (85)

        [3] Predicting Alzheimer's disease (86)

          Got degrees? Education delays dementia, but not for long (87)

        [4] How forgetting is good for the brain (86-88)

        [5] Asleep at the wheel — Almost? It could be narcolepsy (88)

        [6] 1:54 p.m. — Just time for a six-minute power nap (89)

      2:00 p.m. — BORED, BORED, BORED (90-94)

        [1] Can't get no satisfaction? Maybe it's "ADHD" (90-92)

          Risky business — Are you driven to extremes? (91)

        [2] "ADHD" and risk taking could be good — Sometimes! (92-93)

          Maybe we're born with a wandering brain (93)

        [3] Wired and hooked — Addicted to technology (93-94)

      3:00 p.m. — YOUR PAIN IS MAINLY IN THE BRAIN (95-101)

        [1] How pain hurts your brain (96)

        [2] Mind under matter, mind over brain (96-98)

          Your brain itself has no pain (97)

        [3] Is hypnosis real? (98-100)

          The United States is a country in pain (99)

        [4] A window into traumatic forgetting (100-101)

          Sticking point = Acupuncture changes your brain! (101)

      4:00 p.m. — EXERCISE YOUR BRAIN (102-106)

        [1] Exercise grows neurons and improves memory (102-104)

        [2] Why we get food cravings (104)

        [3] The most dangerous time for teens (105)

        [3] The teen brain is still changing (105-106)

        [4] But don't forget hormones (106)

    PART 4 — TIME OUT — Letting go and coming home [5 p.m. to 8 p.m.] (109-137)

      5:00 p.m. — THE DIMMING OF THE DAY (110-115)

        [1] Is it really depression? Or just a bad patch? (110-111)

          COLOR PICTURES OF MAJOR BRAIN FUNCTIONS (between pages 110-111)

            (1) Clocks in the brain — Your circadian clock (#1)

            (2) Gateway to consciousness (#2)

            (3) Emotions and memory (#3)

            (4) Structures for seeing (#4)

            (5) A cerebral spot for faces (#5)

            (6) The vicious cycle of stress (#6)

            (7) Sensory homunculus (#7)

            (8) Feeling the pain (#8)

            (9) The fear response (#10)

            (10) Singing in the brain (#10-11)

            (11) Mental choreography (#12)

            (12) The brain's moving parts (#13)

            (13) Anatomy of aggression (#14)

            (14) When the cleaning stops (#15)

            (15) Humor in the brain (#16)

        [2] Searching for the pathway to depression (111-112)

        [3] Maybe you're just "SAD" (112-113)

        [4] Magnetic energy may work when meds fail (113)

        [5] A peak time for suicide (113-114)

        [6] Good grief — Addicted to grieving (114-115)

      6:00 p.m. — COMING HOME (116-123)

        [1] An oxytocin high (116-117)

        [2] Nobody home? Loneliness hurts (117-119)

          Pat the bunny — go ahead. It is good for your health! (117)

          A close circle of friends (118)

        [3] Oh, those comforting cravings. Or is it addiction? (119-120)

        [4] Bottoms up — Where many alcoholics end (120)

        [5] Is addiction the result rather than the cause of brain damage? (121-122)

          How alcohol steals your sense of humor. What? You don't find that funny? (121)

        [6] Still crazy after all these years? Aging isn't stopping drug use. (122-123)

      7:00 p.m. — GOTTA SING, GOTTA DANCE (124-132)

        [1] The musical path to the brain (125)

        [2] Music survives brain damage (125-127)

          How the brain hears over din (126)

        [3] Your brain expands to store music (127)

        [4] So you think you can dance? (128)

        [4] Born to rock? (128-129)

        [5] The creative brain (129-130)

          Tango to better balance (129)

        [6] Right brain, left brain? (130-131)

        [7] Don't oversimplify that "right brain" stuff (131-132)

        [8] The "musical ear" is learned, not born (132)

      8:00 p.m. — HUMOR IS HEALTHY (133-137)

        [1] The best medicine (133-134)

        [2] Tracking your internal laugh track (134-135)

          The "AHA!" moment (135)

        [3] TV Addiction is no mere metaphor (135-137)

    PART 5 — WINDING DOWN — Fear, sex, sleep, and dreams [9 p.m to Midnight] (139-

      9:00 p.m. — THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT (140-146)

        [1] How fear works in your brain (140-141)

        [2] Who's afraid? Not these brain cells (141-142)

        [3] When the brain decides it's time to scram (142-144)

          Time seems to stand still in fear (143)

        [3] The many parts of a violent brain (144-146)

          The testosterone connection (145)

      10:00 p.m. — LUST, SEX, AND LOVE (p147-155)

        [1] Your brain on sex (147-150)

          Love potion number 9 — It's a chemical kind of thing (149)

        [2] Women, men, and orgasms — How alike are they? (150-151)

        [3] Does the penis have a brain of its own? (151-153)

          A kiss is more than just a kiss (152)

        [4] What's love got to do with it? Plenty, it turns out — for women! (153-154)

        [5] Are you born gay? Sexual orientation is biology, not choice (154-155)

      11:00 p.m. — FALLING ASLEEP (156-164)

        [1] The five stages of sleep (156-159)

          (1) How long can someone stay awake? (157)

          (2) How much sleep do we need? (158)

        [2] Insomnia — Curse of the night (149-160)

        [3] Perhaps less is more? (160)

        [4] Interrupted sleep? Don't call it insomnia. It's normal (161-162)

          Is sleep like a coma? (161)

        [5] Call me sleepless (162-163)

        [6] Still awake? Can you catch up on lost sleep? (163)

        [7] Is insomnia worse for night owls? (164)

      12:00 MIDNIGHT — Sleeping in the midnight hour (165-170)

        [1] Strolling in your sleep (165-166)

        [2] Drifting into dreamland (166-169)

          Will you die without "REM" sleep (168)

        [3] Do banished thoughts resurface in dreams? (169)

        [4] Want to dream more? Try sleep deprivation (169-170)

    PART 6 — NIGHT CREW AT WORK [1 a.m. to 4.a.m.] (173-178)

      1:00 a.m. — Night crew at work (174-178)

        [1] Cleaning up your neural garbage (175-176)

        [2] Why your brain doesn't take a break already (176-177)

          Stimulating the sleeping brain might boost memory (177)

        [3] The 10 percent myth (178)

      2:00 a.m. — GOING AGAINST THE CLOCK IN YOUR BRAIN (179-184)

        [1] Disasters on the night shift (180-181)

        [2] Lack of sleep affects doctors as much as alcohol (181)

        [3] Less sleep? More fat (181-183)

        [4] Biorhythm and blues — Faulty clocks (183)

        [5] Resetting your body clock (183-184)

      3:00 a.m. — AWAKE AND ANXIOUS (185-190)

        [1] Where the nightmare begins (185-186)

        [2] A false alarm (186-188)

          Dopamine — the chemical of delight — may fuel dread (187)

        [3] That pill to fix your ills has a price (188-189)

        [4] 3:30 a.m. — Night nurse on duty (189-190)

      4:00 a.m. — LAST SLEEP (191-192)

    YOUR BRAIN TOMORROW (193-194)

    SOURCES (195-211)

    ILLUSTRATION CREDITS (213-214)

    GLOSSARY (215-221)

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR (223)

    ABOUT SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN (224)

    INDEX (225-236)
BOOK'S DESCRIPTION & REVIEWS

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR = Judith Horstman is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in publications ranging from USA Today to the Primer on the Rheumatic Diseases (twelfth edition). Horstman's work has also appeared in publications by Harvard, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins universities, numerous magazines, and on the Internet. She has been a Washington correspondent, a Fullbright scholar, a journalism profesor, and is the author of four books.

    SUMMARY = "A 24-hour journal of what's happening in your brain as you sleep, dream, wake up, eat, work, play, fight, love, worry, compete, hope, make important decisions, age, and change."

    PRODUCT DESCRIPTION = Have you ever wondered what's happening in your brain as you go through a typical day and night? This fascinating book presents an hour-by-hour, round-the-clock journal of your brain's activities. Drawing on the treasure trove of information from Scientific American and Scientific American Mind magazines as well as original material written specifically for this book, Judith Horstman weaves together a compelling description of your brain at work and at play.

    This book reveals what's going on in there while you sleep and dream, how your brain makes memories and forms addictions, and why we sometimes make bad decisions. The book also offers intriguing information about your emotional brain and what's happening when you're feeling love, lust, fear, and anxiety—and how sex, drugs, and rock and roll tickle the same spots.

    Based on the latest scientific information, the book explores your brain's remarkable ability to change, how your brain can make new neurons even into old age, and why multitasking may be bad for you. Your brain is uniquely yours — but research is showing that many of its day-to-day cycles are universal. This book gives you a look inside your brain and some insights into why you may feel and act as you do.

    The Scientific American Day in the Life of Your Brain is written in the entertaining, informative, and easy-to-understand style that fans of Scientific American and Scientific American Mind magazines have come to expect.– From the Back Cover

    FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY = In this thorough health and science overview, journalist Horstman (Overcoming Arthritis) reviews a full day of brainwork by accounting for the mental processes of everyday activities, arranged by hour, beginning with 5 a.m. and "coming to consciousness." Fascinatingly, Horstman shows how, as hormone and neurotransmitter levels change throughout the day, there may be an optimal time for everything. Moving through the workday, Horstman discusses stress, decision-making, hunger and fatigue, ADHD and more, before returning home to cover music, humor, sex, fear and sleep. Horstman's lively prose is packed with useful information: meditation increases attention while delaying aging; brain exercise and a strong social network decrease the odds of developing dementia; diet can quell morning crabbiness, increase afternoon focus, and promote sleep. Multitasking, as Horstman explains, is less like an efficient model of problem solving and more like channel-surfing; stress, she says, "may be the single worst thing your brain does to your heart." Information-packed and fully referenced, this Scientific American publication is perfect for anyone with interest in mind/body interaction, mental health or aging. – Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.

    FROM LIBRARY JOURNAL (Starred Review) = Drawing on neurology articles from Scientific American and Scientific American Mind, science journalist Horstman creates a seamless and fascinating look at our brain's functioning throughout the day, adeptly noting cycles and processes that may occur by mentioning them in a time context that makes sense. Beginning her exploration at 5 a.m., when the brain begins to return to consciousness, she bases the chapters on each hour in a 24-hour period and groups hours into sections related to typical activities, such as "Winding Down" from 9 p.m. to midnight. She examines how and when other bodily processes and functions, such as hunger, impact the brain. Drops in blood sugar, for example, also indicate lowered levels of serotonin. The explanations are easy to read, and they incorporate anecdotes and callouts that deftly explain neuroscientific content. VERDICT Appealing to lay scientists, Scientific American readers, and all those interested in how to care for their brain as it matures and ages, this book will be a popular science title.

    In this thorough health and science overview, journalist Horstman (Overcoming Arthritis) reviews a full day of brainwork by accounting for the mental processes of everyday activities, arranged by hour, beginning with 5 a.m. and "coming to consciousness." Fascinatingly, Horstman shows how, as hormone and neurotransmitter levels change throughout the day, there may be an optimal time for everything. Moving through the workday, Horstman discusses stress, decision-making, hunger and fatigue, ADHD and more, before returning home to cover music, humor, sex, fear and sleep. Horstman's lively prose is packed with useful information: meditation increases attention while delaying aging; brain exercise and a strong social network decrease the odds of developing dementia; diet can quell morning crabbiness, increase afternoon focus, and promote sleep. Multitasking, as Horstman explains, is less like an efficient model of problem solving and more like channel-surfing; stress, she says, "may be the single worst thing your brain does to your heart." Information-packed and fully referenced, this Scientific American publication is perfect for anyone with interest in mind/body interaction, mental health or aging. (PublishersWeekly.com, August 24, 2009)

    MORE PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

    "This book takes us on a breezy, fact-filled, and eye-opening journey through the neural machinery that navigates us through every moment. Read it and learn." —Daniel Goleman, best-selling author, Emotional Intelligence

    "This book is a fabulous accomplishment. It is practical, fun, easy to read, and filled with interesting, useful information. I highly recommend this book." —Daniel G. Amen, M.D., best-selling author, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life

    "This book is a terrific read—fun and chock-a-block full of fascinating facts and ideas. Judith Horstman takes us on a romp through the day and the night, telling us what our brains are doing on an hourly basis. It also provides some wonderful and solid advice. I learned from it, and you will too!" – John E. Dowling, Ph.D., Gund Professor of Neurosciences, Harvard University; author, Creating Mind — How the Brain Works

    "This book is a fascinating read. It capitalizes on the natural flux of experiences throughout our day to boldly illustrate the relevance and penetration of the new brain science in helping us understand ourselves more fully." – Zindel V. Segal, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry, University of Toronto; author, The Mindful Way Through Depression.
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