Best books list
Welcome to our Best Neuroscience Books Collection.
Here you’ll find summaries of the top books on neuroscience, to help you gain a deep understanding of how our brains work.
These must-read books simplify the latest research and are written by experts like Robert Sapolsky, Steven Pinker, and Oliver Sacks.
Why this is one of the best Neuroscience books:
Behave explains why humans behave the way we do.
Sapolsky breaks down complex science into enjoyable explanations, beginning at the level of our brains, then diving into hormones, genes, evolution and even culture and history.
By the end, you'll be questioning many long-held assumptions about how much we control ourselves.
"Crucially, the brain region most involved in feeling afraid and anxious [the amygdala] is most involved in generating aggression."
Robert Sapolsky
Why this is one of the best Neuroscience books:
Why We Sleep is about the critical importance of sleep, including the science of how sleep works, and some tips for how we can get better sleep.
Modern people often don't realize that getting less than 7-8 hours of sleep daily can significantly decrease our short-term mental abilities and long-term physical health.
"Routinely sleeping less than six or seven hours a night demolishes your immune system, more than doubling your risk of cancer."
Matthew Walker
Why this is one of the best Neuroscience books:
The Body Keeps the Score is about fascinating new trauma treatments based on the latest research, like eye movement therapy and neurofeedback.
Van der Kolk says many of us carry traces of trauma from childhood adversity or neglect.
Emotional healing can happen through practices like mindfulness, yoga, play and more.
"Being able to feel safe with other people is probably the single most important aspect of mental health."
Bessel van der Kolk
Why this is one of the best Neuroscience books:
Dopamine Nation explains how to break bad habits using the neuroscience of dopamine, the "pleasure molecule" in our brains.
If you want to retrain your brain to like doing hard things, Dr.
Anna Lembke shares tools that may help like dopamine fasting, self-binding, truth-telling and leaning into pain.
"The paradox is that hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure for its own sake, leads to anhedonia, which is the inability to enjoy pleasure of any kind."
Anna Lembke, MD
Imagine a book that helps you understand why we're all seemingly addicted to things like coffee, Instagram likes, or that that sweet, sweet rush of completing a to-do list.
Dr.
Anna Lembke takes us on a journey through the neuroscience of pleasure and pain, proving that sometimes, too much of a good thing is exactly as bad as it sounds. 🍩
Why this is one of the best Neuroscience books:
Thinking, Fast and Slow explains how people make decisions using two mental systems: "fast" thinking is instinctive and emotional, while "slow" thinking is deliberate and logical.
Daniel Kahneman helps us understand our when our mind fall into common biases and irrational shortcuts, so we can make better decisions in the future.
"A reliable way to make people believe in falsehoods is frequent repetition, because familiarity is not easily distinguished from truth."
Daniel Kahneman
