The most complicated thing in the universe...

(This is from Edition 43 of The Upleveler, our weekly smartletter)

Your brain (and mine) are strong contenders for being the most interesting thing in the universe. Luckily, we live in what is likely to be a golden age of neuroscience. With new scanning techniques, research methods, and data, scientists are making rapid progress in figuring this lump of cells and synapses that speaks in electric and chemical pulses and does some amazing things.

For those of us who like to think, it helps to get a quick primer to the brain. After all, our brain is the ultimate tool in keeping us relevant in the future.

So on this topic, here are five books we recommend, and below is a summary of one of them. We hope your brain enjoys them.

1. Brain Rules - 12 of the most basic rules of the brain. (see below)
2. Phantoms in the Brain - scientists learn a lot about the brain from studying patients with brain damage. A fascinating book about the curious case of phantom limbs and more.
3. The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons - case studies from a time when you could only study the brain after a person's death.
4. The Leading Brain - ideas from neuroscience for use in managing and leading teams.
5. This is Your Brain on Music - why does music have such an effect on us?