Excerpts

Excerpts from The Owner's Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind/Brain Research, 2nd Edition

by Pierce J. Howard, Ph.D. Austin, TX: Bard Press, 2000

Note: This book presents several hundred findings from brain research. Each finding was included because it entailed practical, everyday applications. The format of the book groups these findings into 37 chapters, each of which alternates "Topics" (or research findings) with the related "Applications" (or specific suggestions for individual use). The examples below provide a flavor of this Topic/Application format. In the hard copy, all Topics are printed in black, while Applications appear in blue ink.

Topic 7.1: The Sleep Cycle

Studies show that the length of sleep is not what causes us to be refreshed upon waking. The key factor is the number of complete sleep cycles we enjoy. Each sleep cycle contains five distinct phases, which exhibit different brain-wave patterns. For our purposes, it suffices to say that one sleep cycle lasts an average of 90 minutes: 65 minutes of normal, or non-REM (rapid eye movement), sleep; 20 minutes of REM sleep (in which we dream); and a final 5 minutes of non-REM sleep. The REM sleep phases are shorter during earlier cycles (less that 20 minutes) and longer during later ones (more than 20 minutes).

If we were to sleep completely naturally, with no alarm clocks or other sleep disturbances, we would wake up, on the average, after a multiple of 90 minutes--for example, after 4 1/2 hours, 6 hours, 7 1/2 hours, or 9 hours, but not after 7 or 8 hours, which are not multiples of 90 minutes. In the period between cycles we are not actually sleeping: it is a sort of twilight zone from which, if we are not disturbed (by light, cold, a full bladder, noise), we move into another 90-minute cycle. A person who sleeps only four cycles (6 hours) will feel more rested than someone who has slept for 8 to 10 hours but who has not been allowed to complete any one cycle because of being awakened before it was completed....

Applications:: 1. Keep a sleep journal. Record the beginning and waking times for each natural sleep episode that is uninterrupted by an alarm or any other disturbance. Find the common multiple. For example, if your recorded sleep periods were 400, 500, 400, 200, and 700 minutes, you would conclude that your personal sleep cycle typically lasts for 100 minutes, or 1 2/3 hours.; 2. Once you know the length of your typical sleep cycle, then, where possible, plan your waking accordingly. If I am ready for bed at 11:00 p.m. and I know that I must rise at 6:00 a.m. in order to make a 7:00 breakfast meeting, I read for about 45 minutes to avoid the alarm going off during the last half of my cycle.

Topic 24.14: Peer Feedback

Peer feedback is more influential than teacher feedback in obtaining lasting performance results; too much teacher feedback can be harmful (Druckman & Swets, 1988). Apparently the approval or disapproval of one's peers is the best reinforcer. Excess feedback from the teacher can be perceived as insincere if it is too effusive or demotivating if it is too discouraging.

Applications:: 1. Emphasize peer feedback for student performance in small groups or one-on-one interaction.; 2. When doing a role play, have all the participants do the exercise at the same time in groups of three--two to actually play the roles and one to help by making suggestions to a participant who is stuck and by providing feedback.

Topic 33.3 Naps

Rossi and Nimmons (1991) cite support for two or three twenty-minute naps per day. That is the ideal number for maximum quality, productivity, sense of well-being, and overall health and longevity. Studies show that nappers outproduce non-nappers; however, a goal of three naps a day is out of reach for most people. Perhaps a minimum of one fifteen- to thirty-minute nap per day should be voted a basic human right.

Applications:: 1. Many companies have official policies that prohibit employees from napping during the workday. These policies serve public relations purposes and are not consistent with research on productivity. Don't associate reasonable napping with laziness; associate it with productivity.

2. There are safety reasons why some people should not be permitted to nap, but even they would be safer workers if they were allowed to nap while off-duty.

Topic 12.6 Hormones and Emotions

Pioneering work by British researcher Katharina Dalton (1987) has yielded two significant findings relative to pre-menstrual tension: first, that administration of progesterone calms the rage center of the brain, and second, that a drop in blood sugar results in a rise in adrenaline and a drop in progesterone. Holly Anderson has opened a PMT clinic based on this research--the PMS Treatment Center in Arcadia, California.