How the Brain Works

Michael S. C. Thomas is a professor of cognitive neuroscience at Birkbeck, University of London and Director of the Centre for Educational Neuroscience. One of his main interests is the translation of research between neuroscience and education. With Cathy Rogers, he recently published the book ‘Educational Neuroscience: The Basics’ (Routledge). The focus of his research laboratory, the Developmental Neurocognition Lab, is to use multi-disciplinary methods to understand the brain and cognitive bases of cognitive variability, including the use of behavioural, brain imaging, computational, and genetic methods. He has published over 150 scientific papers and book chapters, and his work has been cited over 10,000 times. He is a Chartered Psychologist, Fellow of the British Psychological Society, Fellow of the US Association for Psychological Science, and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.Simon Green was for many years a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London. Recently retired, he specialised in teaching introductory neuroscience to first year students. Along the way he published several textbooks in the area, including ‘Principles of Biopsychology’, still in print after 25 years. His research interests include neurotransmitter and hormonal modulation of brain function, the evolutionary background to the modern human brain, and the psychological and biological roots of psychological disorders. He is a Chartered Psychologist and member of the British Psychological Society.

As teachers we are in the business of literally changing the connections in the brains of our students. However, many of us only have a rudimentary knowledge of how the brain actually works. This book provides a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the most complex of organs and I would strongly recommend that those involved in education, not just psychology students, read it.

• Chapter 1: Introduction (and some puzzles)Chapter 2: Where the brain comes from: evolutionChapter 3: What are the bits of the brain and what together do they do?Chapter 4: How does a neuron work?Chapter 5: The brain is a computer, obviouslyChapter 6: The brain is a biological organ, not a computerChapter 7: How it gets to work this way: development and learningChapter 8: Working better, working worse, working differentChapter 9: Humans apartChapter 10: Saving the planetChapter 11: Conclusion (and answers to those puzzles)