The human mind is capable of amazing and often baffling things. Baseball fans remember the cautionary tale of Steve Blass, the All-Star pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates whose career was undone prematurely when he couldn’t resolve a case of “the yips,” or the tendency to choke under pressure. Though the example is extreme, Blass isn’t alone. From irrational phobias to a midlife crisis, we've all experienced moments of utter confusion about the nature of our own behavior, emotions or perception of reality. Many women report a decline in memory and attention during pregnancy, but does “pregnancy brain” really exist? What causes the physical chest pain experienced with emotional heartbreak? In Part 2 of Ask the Brains, we’ve gathered 62 of the most interesting reader questions from Scientific American MIND’s popular Q&A column. In this eBook, neurologists and other scientists share what they know about how the mind works, including some of these baffling psychological experiences.

Why do we do the things we do? The human brain is a marvelous, mysterious piece of evolution that on one hand empowers us to be rational, self-aware and innovative. On the other, the disciplines of psychiatry and psychology are a testament to our attempts to understand the human brain and behavior. Why do we persist in believing opinions despite scientific evidence to the contrary? What exactly is déjà vu? What causes prejudice? For more than a decade, Scientific American MIND’s long-running feature “Ask the Brains” has addressed questions like these from our readers on the quirks and quandaries of human behavior, psychology and neurology. Here in Ask the Brains, Part 1, we’ve compiled 55 of the best and most interesting inquiries on the form and structure of the brain, intelligence, learning, memory and more and have enlisted professors, instructors and other experts to provide answers that are accurate, understandable and just plain fascinating.

We are profoundly social creatures--more than we know. In Social, renowned psychologist Matthew Lieberman explores groundbreaking research in social neuroscience revealing that our need to connect with other people is even more fundamental, more basic, than our need for food or shelter. Because of this, our brain uses its spare time to learn about the social world--other people and our relation to them. It is believed that we must commit 10,000 hours to master a skill. According to Lieberman, each of us has spent 10,000 hours learning to make sense of people and groups by the time we are ten. Social argues that our need to reach out to and connect with others is a primary driver behind our behavior. We believe that pain and pleasure alone guide our actions. Yet, new research using fMRI--including a great deal of original research conducted by Lieberman and his UCLA lab--shows that our brains react to social pain and pleasure in much the same way as they do to physical pain and pleasure. Fortunately, the brain has evolved sophisticated mechanisms for securing our place in the social world. We have a unique ability to read other people’s minds, to figure out their hopes, fears, and motivations, allowing us to effectively coordinate our lives with one another. And our most private sense of who we are is intimately linked to the important people and groups in our lives. This wiring often leads us to restrain our selfish impulses for the greater good. These mechanisms lead to behavior that might seem irrational, but is really just the result of our deep social wiring and necessary for our success as a species. Based on the latest cutting edge research, the findings in Social have important real-world implications. Our schools and businesses, for example, attempt to minimalize social distractions. But this is exactly the wrong thing to do to encourage engagement and learning, and literally shuts down the social brain, leaving powerful neuro-cognitive resources untapped. The insights revealed in this pioneering book suggest ways to improve learning in schools, make the workplace more productive, and improve our overall well-being.

BrainFishing is the “missing link”, the hands-on, practical guide for professionals looking to forge better agreements and build stronger relationships in difficult and challenging situations. It is the one, slim book that will complete your professional bookshelf. Designed for anyone who manages, sells, coaches, negotiates, resolves conflict or needs to influence other people, BrainFishing will help you understand and apply questioning skills in new, effective, and creative ways. Filled with examples, stories and exercises to help you put the skills and tools to work immediately, BrainFishing will help change your relationships from the ground up. And there’s the neuroscience behind it all, too!

New York Times bestseller • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • One of the Washington Post's 10 Best Books of the Year “It’s no exaggeration to say that Behave is one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read.” —David P. Barash, The Wall Street Journal "It has my vote for science book of the year.” —Parul Sehgal, The New York Times "Immensely readable, often hilarious...Hands-down one of the best books I’ve read in years. I loved it." —Dina Temple-Raston, The Washington Post From the bestselling author of A Primate's Memoir and the forthcoming Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will comes a landmark, genre-defining examination of human behavior and an answer to the question: Why do we do the things we do? Behave is one of the most dazzling tours d’horizon of the science of human behavior ever attempted. Moving across a range of disciplines, Sapolsky—a neuroscientist and primatologist—uncovers the hidden story of our actions. Undertaking some of our thorniest questions relating to tribalism and xenophobia, hierarchy and competition, and war and peace, Behave is a towering achievement—a majestic synthesis of cutting-edge research and a heroic exploration of why we ultimately do the things we do . . . for good and for ill.

An easy way to learn about the brain. The most interesting questions you have about the brain are finally answered.◆ How are memories created?◆ Do men and women have different brains?◆ What are dreams and why do we have them?This book makes the brain fun and easy to enjoy. Anyone who is curious about what really goes on in that mushy pink thing inside their head will enjoy this guide to the brain and neuroscience.Join neuroscientist Mike Tranter PhD as he explains the brain in his unique and funny style. He answers questions that were submitted by the public, and the best part is, no scientific background is needed whatsoever. Includes a chapter describing some of the strange mysteries about the brain, and a behind the scenes look at how cutting-edge neuroscience research will change the future.Finally, the brain is made easy.

From the author of How Emotions Are Made, a myth-busting primer on the brain, in the tradition of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry