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The Owner's Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind-Brain Research
Since the first edition of The Owner's Manual, Dr. Howard has appeared on Oprah, conducted countless seminars and added new topics and 300+ pages of new brain research to the book.
736 pages, Paperback
First published May 19, 1994
259 people are currently reading
3082 people want to read
About the author
Pierce J. Howard
17 books27 followersPierce graduated from Davidson College with a B.A. in 1963. After a three-year tour of duty with the U.S. Army, he completed his Ph.D. in 1971 at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. An organizational consultant for 40 years, he currently is Managing Director of Research and Development at the Center for Applied Cognitive Studies, Charlotte NC USA. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences, and the Carolinas Organization Development Network. Books include The Owner’s Manual for the Brain: (2006; 3rd edition), The Owner’s Manual for Personality at Work (2001), Professional Manual for the WorkPlace Big Five ProFile (2009), and Professional Manual for the SchoolPlace Big Five ProFile (2007). He has taught Organization Development at the University of NorthCarolina at Charlotte, Queens College (Charlotte), and Pfeiffer University (Charlotte campus). Interests include chamber and choral music, crafts, and camping.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
March 11, 2020
This is a fantastic book that covers a wide range of topics related to your brain. Let me state right at the beginning that despite being an over-sized tome with 1000+ pages it can only provide overviews and introductions. The author mentions in the introduction that he wanted to build a bridge between research reports on the one side and "how-to" guides on the other and in my opinion he succeeded. If you want to learn more then you can always pick from the list of suggested resources at the end of each chapter. The missing depth is compensated by offering a huge huge skeleton that the interested reader can fill in later.
Looking at the table of contents it is clear that this is no book that you have to read from cover to cover. Instead I picked the topics that interested me most and started from there. The structure is always the same. The author summarizes what is currently known, cites reports or books and provides what he calls Applications. Here the reader gets a short list of suggestions how to act based on the facts he just learnt and it also contains cross links to other parts within the book. This is an excellent idea to motivate people to do something with the knowledge.
The concise style made me wonder a bit how much the author can be trusted. True, he has a Ph.D., but how up-to-date is he? I am familiar with some of the resources that are cited and can confirm that for instance the part about "Learning" is top notch. It's always clear if something is the consensus among scientists, if there are other trends to watch out for or if we get the personal opinion of the author.
Initially I wanted to tell you my favorite chapters but as an "aspiring hobby neuroscientist" myself I found everything so exciting that it's hard to pick one. The long chapters about learning and memory were great, or the development "from the cradle to the grave", or the impact of drugs, gender differences, consciousness, food, ... you get the idea.
For the price it's an absolute bargain and I can highly recommend it as an easy-to-read introduction.
Looking at the table of contents it is clear that this is no book that you have to read from cover to cover. Instead I picked the topics that interested me most and started from there. The structure is always the same. The author summarizes what is currently known, cites reports or books and provides what he calls Applications. Here the reader gets a short list of suggestions how to act based on the facts he just learnt and it also contains cross links to other parts within the book. This is an excellent idea to motivate people to do something with the knowledge.
The concise style made me wonder a bit how much the author can be trusted. True, he has a Ph.D., but how up-to-date is he? I am familiar with some of the resources that are cited and can confirm that for instance the part about "Learning" is top notch. It's always clear if something is the consensus among scientists, if there are other trends to watch out for or if we get the personal opinion of the author.
Initially I wanted to tell you my favorite chapters but as an "aspiring hobby neuroscientist" myself I found everything so exciting that it's hard to pick one. The long chapters about learning and memory were great, or the development "from the cradle to the grave", or the impact of drugs, gender differences, consciousness, food, ... you get the idea.
For the price it's an absolute bargain and I can highly recommend it as an easy-to-read introduction.
July 18, 2023
This book bridges the gap between the nearly incomprehensible and narrowly focused technical tomes, and the light fluff that parades around in the popular press. In other words, the target audience is the non-specialist who wants to know how things work, and how to make them work better.
Although any one topic might not be treated in great depth, the references are there so that the interested reader may go to original sources to dive deeper into a particular topic. After all, you can only cover so much material when you are limited to 1000 pages or so.
The Fourth Edition has 36 chapters. Some of them are very similar to the 3rd edition. Some are new, and there seem to be some that were removed. rather than list all of the chapters, - here are the section headings:
1. Forming a Foundation: The Context for Using Your Owner’s Manual
2. From the Cradle to the Grave . . . with a Turbulent Stop at Adolescence
3. Wellness: Getting the Most Out of Every Day
4. Learning: The Brain as Student
5. Creativity and Problem Solving: Making Mountains Out of Hills
6. Closing with a Prayer: A Peek at States of Consciousness
Section Five. Creativity and Problem Solving: Making Mountains Out of Hills
24 Getting to New You: The Psychobiology of Creativity
25 Chipping Off the Old Block: Removing Barriers to Creativity
26 Creating Leverage: Brain-Based Decision Making
27 Neuromarketing: Brain-Based Selling and Influencing
Section 6 is perhaps the most interesting because it sums up what we have been working toward with all that background material.
Chapters in Section 6 are::
29. Getting Smart about IQ: The Many Ways to Be Intelligent
30 The Big Five: At Last, a Universal Language for Personality Traits
31 EQ, Call Home: Getting Savvy about Your Emotional Side
32 Violence and Aggression: Running Hot and Cold in a Global Society
33 Stress and Burnout: The Unrelenting Fire Alarm
34 Happiness: The False God If I’m Not Naturally Happy, What’s in It (i.e., Life) for Me?
35 States of Consciousness: Phases of the Mind
36 Updating Your Owner’s Manual: The Continuing Search for New Mind-Body Applications
And of course, a slew of appendix matter.
Although any one topic might not be treated in great depth, the references are there so that the interested reader may go to original sources to dive deeper into a particular topic. After all, you can only cover so much material when you are limited to 1000 pages or so.
The Fourth Edition has 36 chapters. Some of them are very similar to the 3rd edition. Some are new, and there seem to be some that were removed. rather than list all of the chapters, - here are the section headings:
1. Forming a Foundation: The Context for Using Your Owner’s Manual
2. From the Cradle to the Grave . . . with a Turbulent Stop at Adolescence
3. Wellness: Getting the Most Out of Every Day
4. Learning: The Brain as Student
5. Creativity and Problem Solving: Making Mountains Out of Hills
6. Closing with a Prayer: A Peek at States of Consciousness
Section Five. Creativity and Problem Solving: Making Mountains Out of Hills
24 Getting to New You: The Psychobiology of Creativity
25 Chipping Off the Old Block: Removing Barriers to Creativity
26 Creating Leverage: Brain-Based Decision Making
27 Neuromarketing: Brain-Based Selling and Influencing
Section 6 is perhaps the most interesting because it sums up what we have been working toward with all that background material.
Chapters in Section 6 are::
29. Getting Smart about IQ: The Many Ways to Be Intelligent
30 The Big Five: At Last, a Universal Language for Personality Traits
31 EQ, Call Home: Getting Savvy about Your Emotional Side
32 Violence and Aggression: Running Hot and Cold in a Global Society
33 Stress and Burnout: The Unrelenting Fire Alarm
34 Happiness: The False God If I’m Not Naturally Happy, What’s in It (i.e., Life) for Me?
35 States of Consciousness: Phases of the Mind
36 Updating Your Owner’s Manual: The Continuing Search for New Mind-Body Applications
And of course, a slew of appendix matter.
December 9, 2013
Thought I'd finally learn how to use this thing....
A decent reference book for the latest (at least up to the year 2009) findings in brain research, covering the full gamut of topics: cognition, behavior, brain health, personality, lifespan, the creative impulse, spirituality, etc. My main issue with the book is that it reflects the author's experience as a management consultant (which he states in the preface), so it has a psychology-for-the-workplace bias to it; whereas I was looking for something with more of a clinical psychology & neurobiology focus. Plus, the only theory of personality Howard presents is the Five-Factor Model, a methodology for which he offers training and certification for human resources personnel at the research center he and his wife run.
A decent reference book for the latest (at least up to the year 2009) findings in brain research, covering the full gamut of topics: cognition, behavior, brain health, personality, lifespan, the creative impulse, spirituality, etc. My main issue with the book is that it reflects the author's experience as a management consultant (which he states in the preface), so it has a psychology-for-the-workplace bias to it; whereas I was looking for something with more of a clinical psychology & neurobiology focus. Plus, the only theory of personality Howard presents is the Five-Factor Model, a methodology for which he offers training and certification for human resources personnel at the research center he and his wife run.
January 21, 2021
Really, really bad. This book was great 20 years ago. However, the author did not think that the last 20 years of science within the fields of body, health, neuroscience and psychology are important enough to be even mentioned in the new editions. There is even a whole bunch of misoginistic claims about women that have been debunked ages ago. Ridiculous. DO NOT BUY.
August 28, 2009
Whenever I would check out a book at the library and I really loved it, I had this habit of going and getting a copy for my mom. I got her this one about 20 years ago. It still sits on her shelf.
Man, this is a good book. It tells the physiological details of the human brain, what makes it work and why and how we use it to get through the day. Fascinating. Though the information doesn't really help us improve our behavior or deal with challenges like many self-help books do, this book is science. We understand why we are the way we are by studying the inner workings of what we are. It's .... interesting. We don't have to know how a computer works in order to operate it. We use our brain without knowing how or why it's working too. This book teaches us the underlying operation of something we take for granted every day.
This is an awesome book.
Man, this is a good book. It tells the physiological details of the human brain, what makes it work and why and how we use it to get through the day. Fascinating. Though the information doesn't really help us improve our behavior or deal with challenges like many self-help books do, this book is science. We understand why we are the way we are by studying the inner workings of what we are. It's .... interesting. We don't have to know how a computer works in order to operate it. We use our brain without knowing how or why it's working too. This book teaches us the underlying operation of something we take for granted every day.
This is an awesome book.
October 18, 2017
Didn't work. No smarter.
October 24, 2019
This book bridges the gap between the nearly incomprehensible and narrowly focused technical tomes, and the light fluff that parades around in the popular press. In other words, the target audience is the non-specialist who wants to know how things work, and how to make them work better.
Although any one topic might not be treated in great depth, the references are there so that the interested reader may go to original sources to dive deeper into a particular topic. After all, you can only cover so much material when you are limited to 1000 pages or so.
The 4th edition is listed separately & I also have reviewed the 4th edition.
Although any one topic might not be treated in great depth, the references are there so that the interested reader may go to original sources to dive deeper into a particular topic. After all, you can only cover so much material when you are limited to 1000 pages or so.
The 4th edition is listed separately & I also have reviewed the 4th edition.
April 16, 2016
This is a very basic, very elementary reference document of very limited value. Encyclopedic presentation with cross referencings -- well organized but vastly oversimplified.
March 17, 2014
Useful. I haven't read it straight through but have referred to it often. Clear explanations of many issues related to brain science. A good reference.
March 24, 2019
This book is so vague, it talks about one million different things, I thought it was about biology but it wasn't, I thought it was philosophy but it wasn't, the cover made me feel so excited to read it but the cover has nothing to do with the content.
April 17, 2020
Kfkslsl
April 25, 2020
Not sure about it yet. But it was a long read. Happy to be able to finish. There was a lot to learn. Some of which I remember and that is an achievement.
April 24, 2022
I just read the sleep section. Useful practical ideas.
September 15, 2023
A Must Read and Top Shelf Reference Book
Mr Howard’s efforts have become a layman’s bible for me. Its so helpful and entertaining!
It resides in my electronics and my bookshelf!
Mr Howard’s efforts have become a layman’s bible for me. Its so helpful and entertaining!
It resides in my electronics and my bookshelf!
November 2, 2024
The only book you will ever need to manage your powerful powerful mind
January 11, 2010
This is exactly what it claims to be -- a quite exhaustive review of relevant things from mind-brain research that bear on teaching, learning, memory, coping with mental illness, learning disability, drug abuse, and more. It is an owner's manual -- not detailed enough to let you build a brain, but a good enough overview of well-researched facts for any owner of a brain to be able to learn many, many important and useful things about the brain that they are.
I strongly recommend it to teachers at all levels, and students at all levels. For example, Howard reviews the importance of sleep in the formation of long term memory, how the sleep cycle works, the negative impact of e.g. sleep apnea and other disorders, the importance of sleep in learning and combatting disease, strategies for dealing with shift work and time zone changes, all in a single short chapter in a very long book. The book is encyclopedic in scope, and every chapter fairly drips with facts and with references to the original work from which the facts are drawn.
Since the last twenty five years have been critical in the study of how the brain learns and how we can best use our brains to learn informed by that new knowledge, books like this are invaluable to the educator and the student seeking to increase their efficiency as a learner. However, it is equally useful to people seeking to quit smoking, people trying to figure out their children and why they behave the way that they do, people trying to cope with and minimize the negative effects of aging on the brain, and much more.
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I strongly recommend it to teachers at all levels, and students at all levels. For example, Howard reviews the importance of sleep in the formation of long term memory, how the sleep cycle works, the negative impact of e.g. sleep apnea and other disorders, the importance of sleep in learning and combatting disease, strategies for dealing with shift work and time zone changes, all in a single short chapter in a very long book. The book is encyclopedic in scope, and every chapter fairly drips with facts and with references to the original work from which the facts are drawn.
Since the last twenty five years have been critical in the study of how the brain learns and how we can best use our brains to learn informed by that new knowledge, books like this are invaluable to the educator and the student seeking to increase their efficiency as a learner. However, it is equally useful to people seeking to quit smoking, people trying to figure out their children and why they behave the way that they do, people trying to cope with and minimize the negative effects of aging on the brain, and much more.
rgb
February 5, 2017
Doctor Howard has gone through a great deal of relevant material to produce this book. He sifts through the material and finds the little tidbits that most apply to certain situations. The book is organized in such a manner that it is easy to find the information you desire.
It is split into seven parts that are further subdivided into chapters. Let's say you want to read something on the aging brain, particularly on memory and how that is affected. You would go to part 2 chapter 6 section 8, which is called Memory and Aging. Depending on the depth of the subject, it could be anywhere from a paragraph to an entire series of pages. Following the preliminary information is a series of applicable suggestions. Some of them are obviously designed for people that are building classrooms or other types of environment, and that doesn't really relate to me. However, it was quite interesting to learn about the different things that affect learning.
It is hard to think of any part of brain science that Dr. Howard has not covered in this tome. The bibliography alone is 28 pages in length, and he frequently mentions outside sources that one can refer to. This is a marvelously well-done book.
It is split into seven parts that are further subdivided into chapters. Let's say you want to read something on the aging brain, particularly on memory and how that is affected. You would go to part 2 chapter 6 section 8, which is called Memory and Aging. Depending on the depth of the subject, it could be anywhere from a paragraph to an entire series of pages. Following the preliminary information is a series of applicable suggestions. Some of them are obviously designed for people that are building classrooms or other types of environment, and that doesn't really relate to me. However, it was quite interesting to learn about the different things that affect learning.
It is hard to think of any part of brain science that Dr. Howard has not covered in this tome. The bibliography alone is 28 pages in length, and he frequently mentions outside sources that one can refer to. This is a marvelously well-done book.
August 19, 2009
Step-by-step approach to optimizing brainpower
Do you use your head? Do you think before you act? Do you really know how to ponder things? Pierce J. Howard does. As the director of research at a cognitive science center, he has developed a truly practical, well-organized book about the brain, complete with information on how to think more effectively. He details, in a fascinating, comprehensive fashion, the latest knowledge about mind-brain functioning. You can put his specific, helpful reporting to work to boost your mental prowess and overall health. getAbstract recommends this excellent book to readers who want to know how their thinking works, and to learn how to improve and protect their brainpower.
Do you use your head? Do you think before you act? Do you really know how to ponder things? Pierce J. Howard does. As the director of research at a cognitive science center, he has developed a truly practical, well-organized book about the brain, complete with information on how to think more effectively. He details, in a fascinating, comprehensive fashion, the latest knowledge about mind-brain functioning. You can put his specific, helpful reporting to work to boost your mental prowess and overall health. getAbstract recommends this excellent book to readers who want to know how their thinking works, and to learn how to improve and protect their brainpower.
October 14, 2008
Not the sort of thing I'm inclined to read cover to cover, but I've been dipping into it a lot lately and it's great. Real, recent research, not dumbed down but distilled to be very readable, and all with a down to earth tone. The message is something like: yes, people are complicated and often mysterious, but actually the people who study people and their brains have gathered up a fair amount of information, some of which can actually be put to use in everyday life. There's a lot of interesting information, and I think it succeeds at providing some practical suggestions and a healthy perspective on what to expect from one's own and others' brains.
September 9, 2018
A book not to be taken lightly. Rather than a casual lecture, it is a true manual for those interested in improving brain health. Covers from dietary intake to learning techniques, the biological differences between men and women, how genetics and brain chemistry affect not only our health but our daily behaviour, etc.
You won't read this book on one sitting; it's more of a reference manual you want to keep around for re-reading it when needed. Totally recommended!
You won't read this book on one sitting; it's more of a reference manual you want to keep around for re-reading it when needed. Totally recommended!
September 7, 2012
I was so thankful to find that there was an owner's manual for the brain. : ) Though my brain isn't terribly normal, there were still bits I could apply. I refer back to it often. Check out page 236 on Hormones and Emotions. Men experience hormonal fluxes as well as women and it affects the brains of both.
February 5, 2008
I haven't read this entire book. I use it for reference. I think the brain is fascinating!
April 5, 2008
Very interesting read!
May 21, 2008
Filled to the brim with knowledge, and organized neatly in subdivided sections. Though not written by a medical professional, Mr. Howard cites his work efficiently.
February 25, 2010
I love this book. There is so much information in it I could read it 10 times and still learn things.
June 19, 2010
Everything you can possibly fucking imagine about the human brain--800 plus pages of it; fantastic.
February 26, 2011
I've enjoyed this book for a few years, I don't plan on actually finishing it- I pick it up to read interesting articles that are relevant to what I'm studying or just for curiosity.
Read
May 26, 2011poopy
January 10, 2012
I'm really enjoying this book do far. I like the applications he includes and the knowledge is given from all ends of the topic.
May 23, 2012
Love it, fuck'n fabulous... Neurons that fire together wire together, therefore if we conceive it we creat it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews