Amazon Editors' Pick for Best Nonfiction Books of 2024

Cynicism is making us sick; Stanford Psychologist Dr. Jamil Zaki has the cure--a ray of light for dark days (Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author).

In 1972, half of Americans agreed that most people can be trusted; by 2018, only a third did. Different generations, genders, religions, and political parties all think human virtue is evaporating. Cynicism is an understandable response to a world full of injustice and inequality. But in many cases, it is misplaced. Dozens of studies find that people fail to realize how kind, generous, and open-minded others really are. Cynical thinking deepens social problems: when we expect the worst in people, we often bring it out of them.

We don't have to remain stuck in this cynicism trap. Through science and storytelling, Jamil Zaki imparts the secret for beating back cynicism: hopeful skepticism--thinking critically about people and our problems, while honoring and encouraging our strengths. Far from being naïve, hopeful skepticism is a precise way of understanding others that can rebalance our view of human nature and help us build the world we truly want.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

WINNER OF THE NAUTILUS GOLD AWARD

A powerful and provocative testament to the diverse coalition of minds we'll need to face the mounting challenges of the twenty-first century. --Steve Silberman

An absolute eye-opener. --Frans de Waal

A landmark book that reveals, celebrates, and advocates for the special minds and contributions of visual thinkers

A quarter of a century after her memoir, Thinking in Pictures, forever changed how the world understood autism, Temple Grandin-- an anthropologist on Mars, as Oliver Sacks dubbed her--transforms our awareness of the different ways our brains are wired. Do you have a keen sense of direction, a love of puzzles, the ability to assemble furniture without crying? You are likely a visual thinker.

With her genius for demystifying science, Grandin draws on cutting-edge research to take us inside visual thinking. Visual thinkers constitute a far greater proportion of the population than previously believed, she reveals, and a more varied one, from the photo-realistic object visualizers like Grandin herself, with their intuitive knack for design and problem solving, to the abstract, mathematically inclined visual spatial thinkers who excel in pattern recognition and systemic thinking. She also makes us understand how a world increasingly geared to the verbal tends to sideline visual thinkers, screening them out at school and passing over them in the workplace. Rather than continuing to waste their singular gifts, driving a collective loss in productivity and innovation, Grandin proposes new approaches to educating, parenting, employing, and collaborating with visual thinkers. In a highly competitive world, this important book helps us see, we need every mind on board.

In this New York Times-bestselling book, Dr. Daniel Siegel shows parents how to turn one of the most challenging developmental periods in their children's lives into one of the most rewarding.

Between the ages of twelve and twenty-four, the brain changes in important and, at times, challenging ways. In Brainstorm, Dr. Daniel Siegel busts a number of commonly held myths about adolescence--for example, that it is merely a stage of immaturity filled with often crazy behavior. According to Siegel, during adolescence we learn vital skills, such as how to leave home and enter the larger world, connect deeply with others, and safely experiment and take risks.

Drawing on important new research in the field of interpersonal neurobiology, Siegel explores exciting ways in which understanding how the brain functions can improve the lives of adolescents, making their relationships more fulfilling and less lonely and distressing on both sides of the generational divide.

From a neurologist and award-winning author of The Sleeping Beauties, a meticulous and compassionate exploration of how our culture of medical diagnosis can harm, rather than help, patients

I'm a neurologist. Diagnosis is my bread and butter. So why then would I, an experienced medical doctor, be very careful about which diagnosis I would pursue for myself or would be willing to accept if foisted upon me?

We live in an age of diagnosis. The advance of sophisticated genetic sequencing techniques means that we may all soon be screened for potential abnormalities. The internet provides a vast array of information that helps us speculate about our symptoms. Conditions like ADHD and Autism are on the rapid rise, while other new categories like Long Covid are driven by patients themselves.

When we are suffering, it feels natural to seek a diagnosis. We want a clear label, understanding, and, of course, treatment. But is diagnosis an unqualified good thing? Could it sometimes even make us worse instead of better?

Through the moving stories of real people, neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan explores the complex world of modern diagnosis, comparing the impact of a medical label to the pain of not knowing. With scientific authority and compassionate storytelling, she opens up new possibilities for how we might approach our health and our suffering.

An updated edition of Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide's popular dyslexia book with a wealth of new material and improved dyslexic-friendly font.

What if we viewed dyslexia as a learning and processing style rather than as a learning disorder?

Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide use their impressive backgrounds in neurology and education to debunk the standard deficit-based approach to dyslexia. People typically define dyslexia as a reading and spelling disorder. But through published research studies, clinical observations, and interviews with dyslexic individuals, the Eides prove that these challenges are not dyslexia's main features but are instead trade-offs resulting from an entirely different pattern of brain organization and information processing that has powerful advantages. For example, dyslexic adults routinely outperform their non-dyslexic peers in studies on three-dimensional spatial reasoning and divergent creativity--one of the reasons why so many dyslexics are successful engineers. Approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population has dyslexia, and The Dyslexic Advantage shows how each one is predisposed to powerful skills called MIND strengths (Material, Interconnected, Narrative, and Dynamic Reasoning), leading them to possess incredible pattern detection, divergent thinking, episodic memory, problem solving, and prediction abilities.

The revised and updated edition of The Dyslexic Advantage includes eighteen rich new profiles of remarkable individuals with dyslexia--such as several world-renowned scientists, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, a world-record-setting memory specialist, three MacArthur Genius Award winners, the technical advisor for the Jurassic Park movies, and many more. Meanwhile, the enormous advances in dyslexia research over the last ten years provide valuable new insights for educators, employers, parents, dyslexic adults, and anyone interested in neurodiversity and human cognition. Blending personal stories with hard science, The Dyslexic Advantage (Revised and Updated) provides empowering advice on how to identify, understand, nurture, and enjoy the strengths of the dyslexic mind.

A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Seven Deadly Sins will explore the underlying nature of the seven deadly sins, their neuroscientific and psychological basis, and their origin in our genes.

Gluttony. Greed. Sloth. Pride. Envy. Lust. Anger. These are The Seven Deadly Sins, the vices of humankind that define immorality. But do these sins really represent moral failings, or are they simply important and useful biological functions that humans need to survive? Instead of being acts of immorality, are they really just a result of how our bodies, our psyches, and our brains in particular, are wired? In Seven Deadly Sins: The Biology of Being Human, Guy Leschziner, a professor of neurology, dares to turn much of what society thinks of as morality on its head and to ask these controversial questions.

Leschziner takes readers on an exploration of the Seven Deadly Sins as he looks at their neuroscientific and psychological bases, their origin in our genes, and, crucially, how certain medical disorders may give rise to them. He introduces us to patients whose physical and psychological conditions have given rise to behaviours that have for centuries been labelled as sin and how these behaviours might actually be evolutionary imperatives that preserve the tribe and ensure the wellbeing of our societies. In Seven Deadly Sins, a book certain to cause debate and raise controversy, Guy Leschziner, a writer who has explored the mysteries of our sleeping brains and the odd crossed wires of our five senses, asks whether these traits truly represent sin, or simply reflect our intrinsic drive to survive and thrive.

Deeply personal and infinitely digestible, Then I Am Myself the World is a remarkable must-read for anyone interested in knowing their mind.―Judson Brewer MD, PhD, New York Times-bestselling author of Unwinding Anxiety

The world's leading investigator of consciousness argues that by understanding what consciousness does--cause change in the world--we can understand its origins and its future 

In Then I Am Myself the World, Christof Koch explores the only thing we directly experience: consciousness. At the book's heart is integrated-information theory, the idea that the essence of consciousness is the ability to exert causal power over itself, to be an agent of change. Koch investigates the physical origins of consciousness in the brain and how this knowledge can be used to measure consciousness in natural and artificial systems.   
 
Enabled by such tools, Koch reveals when and where consciousness exists, and uses that knowledge to confront major social and scientific questions: When does a fetus first become self-aware? Can psychedelic and mystical experiences transform lives? What happens to consciousness in near-death experiences? Why will generative AI ultimately be able to do the very thing we can do, yet never feel any of it? And do our experiences reveal a single, objective reality?   

This is an essential book for anyone who seeks to understand ourselves and the future we are creating.

Keep your brain young, healthy, and sharp with this science-driven guide to protecting your mind from decline by neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.Throughout our life, we look for ways to keep our minds sharp and effortlessly productive. Now, globetrotting neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta offers the book all of us need, young and old (Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Code Breaker) with insights from top scientists all over the world, whose cutting-edge research can help you heighten and protect brain function and maintain cognitive health at any age. Keep Sharp debunks common myths about aging and mental decline, explores whether there's a best diet or exercise regimen for the brain, and explains whether it's healthier to play video games that test memory and processing speed, or to engage in more social interaction. Discover what we can learn from super-brained people who are in their eighties and nineties with no signs of slowing down--and whether there are truly any benefits to drugs, supplements, and vitamins. Dr. Gupta also addresses brain disease, particularly Alzheimer's, answers all your questions about the signs and symptoms, and shows how to ward against it and stay healthy while caring for a partner in cognitive decline. He likewise provides you with a personalized twelve-week program featuring practical strategies to strengthen your brain every day. Keep Sharp is the must-read owner's manual (Arianna Huffington) you'll need to keep your brain young and healthy regardless of your age!

Cómo cambiar un cerebro (y tu vida) conversando

Después del éxito mundial de La vida secreta de la mente, Mariano Sigman reúne los últimos avances de la neurociencia y los combina con historias de vida y una dosis importante de humor para explicar cómo y por qué las buenas conversaciones mejoran nuestras decisiones, ideas, memoria y emociones. He aquí un poder que está a nuestro alcance para cambiar nuestra mente y tener una vida mejor: el poder de las palabras.

Aquí se da cuenta de la fabulosa fuerza de las palabras para reinterpretar nuestra propia historia y de ese modo cambiar nuestra experiencia emocional, lo que hacemos y lo que no, lo que sentimos y lo que somos: para encontrar la mejor versión de nosotros mismos. Si bien hoy contamos con dispositivos que nos permiten hablar con miles de personas a la vez en los lugares más remotos, al mismo tiempo el diálogo parece haber perdido su poder: lo desdeñamos como cosa inútil y ya no confiamos en su capacidad de promover el intercambio de puntos de vista. Sin embargo, la conversación es quizás la fábrica de ideas más extraordinaria que tenemos a nuestro alcance, la herramienta más potente para transformarnos. Su efecto es tan general que irradia a todos los dominios de la cognición: desde el aprendizaje, la memoria y la creatividad hasta los procesos de toma de decisiones en la vida cotidiana y la gestión de nuestras emociones. Mariano Sigman reúne los últimos avances de la investigación contemporánea sobre el poder de las palabras y nos ofrece un libro amenamente científico y optimistamente práctico y transformado.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

After the international success of The Secret Life of the Mind, Mariano Sigman brings together the latest advancements in neuroscience and combines them with life stories and a significant dose of humor to explain how and why good conversations improve our decisions, ideas, memory, and emotions. Here, at our reach, is the power to change our minds and live better lives--the power of words.

Mariano Sigman gives account of the fabulous potential words have for reinterpreting our own history and thus change our emotional experience: what we do and what we don't do, what we feel and who we are, in order to look for the best versions of ourselves. Although we have devices that allow us to speak with thousands of people in the remotest locations simultaneously, dialogue seems to have lost its power at the same time. We discard it as useless and no longer trust its ability to promote an exchange of views. However, conversing is perhaps the most extraordinary factory of ideas we have at our reach, the most powerful tool for transformation. It has such an overall effect, it radiates to all cognitive domains, from learning, memory, and creativity, to decision-making processes in everyday life and our management of emotions. Mariano Sigman brings together the latest advancements in contemporary research on the power of words and gives us a pleasantly scientific book, optimistically practical, and transformative.

Weaving together cutting-edge science and the contemplative insights that arise from mystical experience, Dr. James Cooke radically redraws our understanding of consciousness and what it truly means to be who we are.

What if you had the power to change ANYTHING in your life? Finances, Health, Happiness, even your DNA. Mind Change will help give you the tools to tap into the tremendous potential of the Mind/Body connection. In a world full of life hacks, you can finally learn how to hack into the biochemistry of your brain. The information within this book has helped countless people transform their lives by changing their minds.

After finding herself at death's door and then healing from numerous incurable diseases, Heather McKean was on a mission to help empower others to have their own success story. After diving into the cutting edge information on neuroplasticity, epigenetics, psychoneuroimmunology and more...Mind Change takes key research and ideas and makes them practical and easy to digest. Using concepts from a multitude of Mind/Body modalities, Mind Change takes all of the best information and slims it down into a few fast and easy-to-follow steps. Whether you have tried everything and you are still stuck in pain, dis-ease, depression, bad relationships, addiction or you are simply not living your BEST life; Mind Change will enable you to live a healthier and happier life. If you are tired of living in a powerless or victimized state and you are ready to challenge everything you thought you knew, then Mind Change is for you!

Are you ready to change your mind? It's time to explore the newest and most unfamiliar territory known to man...the landscape of our mind. See you on the other side!

«Un libro escrito con erudición, rigor y cercanía, en el que Susana nos acompaña, desde su experiencia personal y su sólida trayectoria científica, en el viaje que da vida a la humanidad . Nazareth Castellanos

La neurociencia, por fin, respalda lo que las mujeres ya intuíamos: la maternidad nos transforma. Gracias a estudios rigurosos que analizan imágenes cerebrales, hoy podemos demostrar que el embarazo modifica profundamente el cerebro de la mujer, facilitando así la transición a la maternidad.

Neuromaternal se nutre de la evidencia científica más puntera para describir las adaptaciones neuronales durante el embarazo y la maternidad. Las investigaciones presentadas en este libro, muchas de ellas dirigidas por la propia autora, nos muestran la dimensión biológica de la «matrescencia , situando el proceso como uno de los periodos de mayor plasticidad cerebral en la vida adulta. El lector descubrirá el papel crucial de las hormonas en estos cambios, su duración y su impacto en la salud y en la conexión con el bebé. Asimismo, se mostrará qué hay de cierto en los supuestos déficits cognitivos atribuidos a menudo a la maternidad. En el trayecto, se evidenciará el sesgo de sexo en biomedicina y, en particular, en neurociencia.

El 85 % de las mujeres experimenta un embarazo en algún momento de su vida. Si abogamos por una visión integral de la salud de la mujer, es esencial visibilizar esta experiencia tan transformadora en múltiples niveles, incluyendo el cerebral.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

An erudite, rigorous but accessible book. Drawing on her personal experiences and solid scientific credentials, Susana explains the journey that gives life to humanity.- Nazareth Castellanos

Finally, neuroscience supports what women have always known: maternity transforms us. Thanks to brain imaging, it is possible to show that pregnancy profoundly changes women's brains, facilitating their transition into mothers.

Neuromaternal relies on the latest scientific evidence to describe the neurological adaptations that occur during pregnancy and motherhood. The research presented in this book, much of it led by the author herself, explores the biological dimensions of matrescence, revealing it to be one of the periods of greatest neuroplasticity in our adult lives. Readers will discover the crucial role played by hormones in these changes, how long their effects last, and their impact on health and the mother-infant bond. They'll also learn if there's any truth to the cognitive deficits cited by many new mothers. In the process, they'll gain new insights into the gender biases in biomedicine and, especially, neuroscience.

Eighty-five percent of women will experience pregnancy at some point in their lives. Advocating for a comprehensive approach to women's health means understanding the many aspects of this transformative experience, including at the level of the brain.

Optimize your life using science-backed advice and discover how to get your brain working at peak efficiency.

A FINANCIAL TIMES must-read business book of the month.
A NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB must read book for September.

We all know how to nudge our brains to perform better. A strong cup of coffee helps us get through a dull meeting, and a brisk walk helps us think more clearly. But what if some nudges could optimise how we focus, create and process information even more effectively, to take mental performance to new heights?

Today, most office workers are expected to operate with industrial-era efficiency. Yet the work that matters most in our technology-dominated workplace - generating brilliant ideas, solving complex problems, and learning - can't be manufactured like outputs on an assembly line. Instead, we need a new, HYPEREFFICIENT way of working: rather than imposing the rhythms of work on our brains, Dr. Mithu Storoni proposes we impose the rhythm of our brains on our work.

Storoni explains that our brains function like a car's engine, with multiple gears that put our brains in optimal mode for different mental challenges. Drawing on the latest research, she shows us how to seamlessly shift our brains into the best gear for the tasks we need to be doing, so we can perform at our best throughout the day, every day.

A Consumer's Guide to Understanding QEEG Brain Mapping and Neurofeedback Training is written for the consumers. If you are considering participating in neurofeedback or a parent of a child, a relative, a colleague, or a friend who is looking to participate in neurofeedback brain wave training, this booklet is designed to inform you about the process of being assessed for and participating in neurofeedback. This booklet covers the very basics of what the reader needs to know and understand regarding neurofeedback. What is neurofeedback? How is a person assessed for participating in neurofeedback? What are the benefits? What, if any, are the side effects? How does one know it is helping? Does it require lifestyle changes? How long do the benefits last? What happens if it does not help? And many more such questions and issues are addressed.

New York Times bestseller - This groundbreaking book from New York Times bestselling author Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., introduces readers to his pioneering, science-based meditation practice.

Aware provides practical instruction for mastering the Wheel of Awareness, a life-changing tool for cultivating more focus, presence, and peace in one's day-to-day life.

An in-depth look at the science that underlies meditation's effectiveness, this book teaches readers how to harness the power of the principle Where attention goes, neural firing flows, and neural connection grows. Siegel reveals how developing a Wheel of Awareness practice to focus attention, open awareness, and cultivate kind intention can literally help you grow a healthier brain and reduce fear, anxiety, and stress in your life.

Whether you have no experience with a reflective practice or are an experienced practitioner, Aware is a hands-on guide that will enable you to become more focused and present, as well as more energized and emotionally resilient in the face of stress and the everyday challenges life throws your way.

Two New York Times-bestselling authors unveil new research showing what meditation can really do for the brain.

In the last twenty years, meditation and mindfulness have gone from being kind of cool to becoming an omnipresent Band-Aid for fixing everything from your weight to your relationship to your achievement level. Unveiling here the kind of cutting-edge research that has made them giants in their fields, Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson show us the truth about what meditation can really do for us, as well as exactly how to get the most out of it.

Sweeping away common misconceptions and neuromythology to open readers' eyes to the ways data has been distorted to sell mind-training methods, the authors demonstrate that beyond the pleasant states mental exercises can produce, the real payoffs are the lasting personality traits that can result. But short daily doses will not get us to the highest level of lasting positive change--even if we continue for years--without specific additions. More than sheer hours, we need smart practice, including crucial ingredients such as targeted feedback from a master teacher and a more spacious, less attached view of the self, all of which are missing in widespread versions of mind training. The authors also reveal the latest data from Davidson's own lab that point to a new methodology for developing a broader array of mind-training methods with larger implications for how we can derive the greatest benefits from the practice.

Exciting, compelling, and grounded in new research, this is one of those rare books that has the power to change us at the deepest level.

65+ Ready-to-Use CBT worksheets that you can reproduce and use immediately with your clients.

With step-by-step directions and therapeutic explanations for each worksheet, these simple, yet effective tools give clients more clarity, meaning, and beneficial feedback, plus tracks progress in a concrete way. Help clients get the most out of therapy by adapting these tools to their specific needs, symptoms, and goals.

Improve Symptoms Associated with: Anxiety, Depression, Insomnia, Grief, Stress, Social Isolation, PTSD, Eating Disorders

Going Over the Edge? is a one-of-a-kind Asperger Syndrome book on the Amazon best-seller list for books on Behavioral Disorders. The Anniversary Edition is one of a five-part series of Dr. Marshack's books, ASPERGER SYNDROME & Relationships: Five Books to Help You Reclaim, Refresh, and Perhaps Save Your Life.

The Anniversary edition of Dr. Marshack's classic has been augmented with updates on theory and terminology plus practical tips for saving you and your relationship. Her goal, with this informative and easy-to-read book, is to help you learn how to take back your life. Using the tools discussed in this book, many NeuroDivergent couples have succeeded in reclaiming the love lost in the chaos of NeuroDivergence. Going Over the Edge? is like a tool kit and first aid kit melded to help your relationship evolve to a saner, more companionable state.

Important additions to this edition are the Map of Empathy Territory and the 7 Step Interface Protocol, both innovative tools developed by Dr. Marshack to guide you through complex and confusing NeuroDivergent relationships. To help you expand your communication skills, Dr. Marshack provides a Lexicon of new terms which make it easier to bridge the gap between the worlds of the NeuroDiverse and NeuroTypical.

An established psychologist for more than 36 years and a prolific writer on Autism, Asperger Syndrome, NeuroDivergent relationships, Empathy, and Empathy Dysfunction, Dr. Marshack's professional training and personal experience as the daughter, wife and mother of NeuroDiverse family members, addresses profound and solid highlights to this enhanced edition.

With engrossing stories from the OR and the lab, a leading neurosurgeon and neuroscientist explores the cutting-edge science that can be applied to everyday life for peak performance, improved memory, enhanced creativity, and much more.

From the operating room, where he performs some of the riskiest surgeries around, to the lab, where he works on leading clinical trials, Dr. Rahul Jandial is on the cutting edge of the latest advancements in neuroscience. This fascinating book draws on Dr. Jandial's broad-spectrum expertise and brings together the best of various fields--surgery, science, brain structure, the conscious mind--all to explain the bigger picture of brain health and rejuvenation. It is a journey into his operating room, around the world on his surgical missions, inside his laboratory, and to the outer edges of neuroscience to reveal the latest brain breakthroughs that are turning science fiction into reality, translating their implications for everyday life. Busting myths along the way, Jandial helps readers get wired for success at work and school, perform better when the pressure is on, boost memory, control stress and emotions, minimize pain, stick to a healthy eating plan, unleash creativity, raise smarter kids, and stay sharp as they age. Combining the treatment guidelines he gives his patients, the most promising concepts from frontier science, and the smartest super-achiever hacks, he provides practical takeaways for optimizing brain function and leading a healthier, happier, more productive life.

Break out of negative patterns, relieve anxiety, build new habits, and find fresh motivation by using the groundbreaking sense foraging technique

How do you make a change in your life when the tools you used to rely on start letting you down? Whether we're struggling with a problem, a bad habit, or life in general, we often think we need to tough it out or try harder. But when we do that, our brains double down on the patterns that got us stuck in the first place. Fortunately, the science of sensation provides the key.

In Better in Every Sense, neuroscientist Norman Farb and clinical psychologist Zindel Segal explain that the brain has two networks--the rapid problem-solving (habit) network and the sensory network, which is devoted to fresh insight. By tuning into sensations--from the feeling of our feet on a crowded street to the sound of birdsong in the park--we can engage the sensory network. When we're stressed or stuck, we can use the technique of sense foraging to boost our resilience, well-being, health, and creativity wherever we are.

Grounded in decades of scientific research and filled with simple exercises and practical mental techniques, Better in Every Sense explores the power of sensory experiences to liberate us from ruts and dead ends--and handle all of life's challenges.