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The Balanced Brain
- The Science of Mental Health
- Narrated by: Camilla Nord
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
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Publisher's summary
This audiobook narrated by Camilla Nord reveals how we can use what we’ve learned about the brain to improve our mental health
There are many routes to mental well-being. In this groundbreaking book, neuroscientist Camilla Nord offers a fascinating tour of the scientific developments that are revolutionizing the way we think about mental health, showing why and how events—and treatments—can affect people in such different ways.
In The Balanced Brain, Nord explains how our brain constructs our sense of mental health—actively striving to maintain balance in response to our changing circumstances. While a mentally healthy brain deals well with life’s turbulence, poor mental health results when the brain struggles with disruption. But just what is the brain trying to balance? Nord describes the foundations of mental health in the brain—from the neurobiology of pleasure, pain and desire to the role of mood-mediating chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, and opioids. She then pivots to interventions, revealing how antidepressants, placebos, and even recreational drugs work; how psychotherapy changes brain chemistry; and how the brain and body interact to make us feel physically (as well as mentally) healthy. Along the way, Nord explains how the seemingly small things we use to lift our moods—a piece of chocolate, a walk, a chat with a friend—work on the same pathways in our brains as the latest treatments for mental health disorders.
Understanding the cause of poor mental health is one of the crucial questions of our time. But the answer is unique to each of us. Finding what helps your brain rebalance and thrive means finding the answer to this question. With so many factors at play, there are more possibilities for recovery and resilience than we might think.
Critic reviews
“This excellent book is a breath of fresh air . . . anyone reading it will come away with a kinder, better understanding of themselves. A clear-thinking tour of the latest research from a leading mental health scientist and an accessible exploration of how our bodies and minds make us feel the way we do—or better or worse.”—Lucy Foulkes, author of What Mental Illness Really Is . . . (and what it isn’t)
“This is a wonderful, living history of how scientists have gained insights into and currently think about the dynamic health of the brain. Nord’s narrative style is intimate and engaging, making you feel almost as though you were there when breakthroughs were made. The denouement is a deeply compelling message. To navigate the fleeting joys and transient displeasures of life, there is one sustaining imperative—namely, balance.”—Karl Friston, University College London
“Fascinating . . . Camilla Nord, one of our most original thinkers, writes compellingly about the complexities of the brain and mental health. She presents new insights from neuroscience about how the brain generates our mental state, thoughts, moods and feelings, and what happens when things go wrong. This thought-provoking book is an essential resource.”—Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, author of Inventing Ourselves
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- Narrated by: Michael Langan
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Science and politics have collaborated throughout human history and science is repeatedly invoked today in political debates, from pandemic management to climate change. Leading policy analyst Geoff Mulgan here calls attention to the growing frictions caused by the expanding—and unsolicited—authority being heaped upon science. As science increasingly competes with politics, a defined plan of cooperation is urgently needed.
By: Geoff Mulgan
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The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking
- How Irrational Beliefs Keep Us Happy, Healthy, and Sane
- By: Matthew Hutson
- Narrated by: Matthew Hutson, Don Hagen
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In this witty and perceptive debut, a former editor at Psychology Today shows us how magical thinking makes life worth living. Psychologists have documented a litany of cognitive biases and explained their positive functions. Now, Matthew Hutson shows us that even the most hardcore skeptic indulges in magical thinking all the time - and it's crucial to our survival. Drawing on evolution, cognitive science, and neuroscience, Hutson shows us that magical thinking has been so useful to us that it's hardwired into our brains.
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Highly enjoyable
- By David R Pinsof on 05-01-12
By: Matthew Hutson
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Better in Every Sense
- How the New Science of Sensation Can Help You Reclaim Your Life
- By: Norman Farb PhD, Zindel Segal PhD
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
By: Norman Farb PhD, and others
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Loaded
- A Disarming History of the Second Amendment
- By: Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment is a deeply researched - and deeply disturbing - history of guns and gun laws in the United States, from the original colonization of the country to the present. As historian and educator Dunbar-Ortiz explains, in order to understand the current obstacles to gun control, we must understand the history of US guns, from their role in the "settling of America" and the early formation of the new nation, and continuing up to the present.
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Don't bother
- By John Cashman on 12-26-18
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Fluke
- Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters
- By: Brian Klaas
- Narrated by: Brian Klaas
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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If you could rewind your life to the very beginning and then press play, would everything turn out the same? Or could making an accidental phone call or missing an exit off the highway change not just your life, but history itself? And would you remain blind to the radically different possible world you unknowingly left behind?
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brain breaking in a good way
- By stacey a shapiro on 03-07-24
By: Brian Klaas
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Brain Changer
- How Harnessing Your Brain's Power to Adapt Can Change Your Life
- By: David DiSalvo
- Narrated by: Tim Andreas Pabon
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Let’s be honest. You've tried the sticky-note inspirations, the motivational calendar, and the cute (but ineffective) "carpe diem" mug - yet your attitude hasn't changed. It's time to apply cutting-edge science to the challenges of daily life. While everyone desires self-improvement, we are quickly frustrated when trying to implement the contradictory philosophies of self-appointed self-help gurus. Too often, their advice is based on anecdote and personal opinion, not real research.
By: David DiSalvo
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When Science Meets Power (1st Edition)
- By: Geoff Mulgan
- Narrated by: Michael Langan
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Science and politics have collaborated throughout human history and science is repeatedly invoked today in political debates, from pandemic management to climate change. Leading policy analyst Geoff Mulgan here calls attention to the growing frictions caused by the expanding—and unsolicited—authority being heaped upon science. As science increasingly competes with politics, a defined plan of cooperation is urgently needed.
By: Geoff Mulgan
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The Weirdness of the World
- By: Eric Schwitzgebel
- Narrated by: Will Collyer
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Do we live inside a simulated reality or a pocket universe embedded in a larger structure about which we know virtually nothing? Is consciousness a purely physical matter, or might it require something extra, something nonphysical? According to the philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel, it’s hard to say. In The Weirdness of the World, Schwitzgebel argues that the answers to these fundamental questions lie beyond our powers of comprehension. We can be certain only that the truth—whatever it is—is weird.
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A great book if you're serious about philosophy
- By John K. Clark on 05-04-24
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Why We Remember
- Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters
- By: Charan Ranganath
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins, Charan Ranganath
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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A new understanding of memory is emerging from the latest scientific research. In Why We Remember, pioneering neuroscientist and psychologist Charan Ranganath radically reframes the way we think about the everyday act of remembering. Combining accessible language with cutting-edge research, he reveals the surprising ways our brains record the past and how we use that information to understand who we are in the present, and to imagine and plan for the future.
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The science
- By Amazon Customer on 05-13-24
By: Charan Ranganath
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How to Focus
- A Monastic Guide for an Age of Distraction (Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers)
- By: John Cassian, Jamie Kreiner - translator, Jamie Kreiner - selector, and others
- Narrated by: Mike Cooper
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Distraction isn't a new problem. We're also not the first to complain about how hard it is to concentrate. Early Christian monks beat us to it. They had given up everything to focus on God, yet they still struggled to keep the demons of distraction at bay. But rather than surrender to the meandering of their minds, they developed powerful strategies to improve their attention and engagement. How to Focus is an inviting collection of their strikingly relatable insights and advice—frank, funny, sympathetic, and psychologically sophisticated.
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reader spoke really fast and was hard to understand
- By R. Corbin on 03-28-24
By: John Cassian, and others
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Rewire Your Brain
- Declutter Your Anxious Mind, Stop Overthinking and Switch on the Brain. How to Control Your Thoughts, Reduce Stress and Anxiety with Mindfulness and Build Self Discipline
- By: Robert Leary
- Narrated by: Ivan Busenius
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
- Abridged
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Rewire Your Brain puts the tools you need into your hands and asks you whether or not you want to take the journey towards your dreams. The process of rewiring the brain is not an overnight phenomenon. It takes months and sometimes years of practiced effort to get the results you want. But there is great joy to be found in the journey and each step will help to enhance your life more and more.
By: Robert Leary
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The Four Realms of Existence
- A New Theory of Being Human
- By: Joseph LeDoux
- Narrated by: Graham Rowat
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Humans have long thought of their bodies and minds as separate spheres of existence. The body is physical. But the mind is mental; it perceives, remembers, believes, feels, and imagines. Although modern science has largely eliminated this mind-body dualism, people still tend to imagine their minds as separate from their physical being. Even in research, the notion of the "self" as somehow distinct from the rest of the organism persists. Joseph LeDoux argues that we have hit an epistemological wall—that ideas like the self are increasingly barriers to discovery and understanding.
By: Joseph LeDoux
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How We Age
- The Science of Longevity
- By: Coleen T. Murphy
- Narrated by: Rosemary Benson
- Length: 19 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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All of us would like to live longer, or to slow the debilitating effects of age. In How We Age, Coleen Murphy shows how recent research on longevity and aging may be bringing us closer to this goal. Murphy, a leading scholar of aging, explains that the study of model systems, particularly simple invertebrate animals, combined with breakthroughs in genomic methods, have allowed scientists to probe the molecular mechanisms of longevity and aging.
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Excellent
- By Sotirios on 05-26-24
By: Coleen T. Murphy
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Otherlands
- A Journey Through Earth's Extinct Worlds
- By: Thomas Halliday
- Narrated by: Adetomiwa Edun
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The past is past, but it does leave clues, and Thomas Halliday has used cutting-edge science to decipher them more completely than ever before. In Otherlands, Halliday makes sixteen fossil sites burst to life.
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Great book brilliantly read
- By Dipam on 04-06-22
By: Thomas Halliday
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A Real Right to Vote
- How a Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy
- By: Richard L. Hasen
- Narrated by: Daniel Henning
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Too many Americans have been disenfranchised or faced needless barriers to vote. Part of the blame falls on the Constitution, which does not contain an affirmative right to vote. The Supreme Court has made matters worse by failing to protect voting rights and limiting Congress's ability to do so. The time has come for voters to take action and push for an amendment to the Constitution that would guarantee this right for all. Richard Hasen argues that American democracy can and should do better in assuring that all eligible voters can cast a meaningful vote that will be fairly counted.
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solid
- By Thomas Bixby on 02-25-24
By: Richard L. Hasen
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This Is Why You Dream
- What Your Sleeping Brain Reveals About Your Waking Life
- By: Rahul Jandial MD PhD
- Narrated by: Rahul Jandial
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Dreaming is one of the most deeply misunderstood functions of the human brain. Yet recent science reveals that our very survival as a species has depended on it. This Is Why You Dream explores the landscape of our subconscious, showing why humans have retained the ability to dream across millennia and how we can now harness its wondrous powers in both our sleeping and waking lives.
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Third Millennium Thinking
- Creating Sense in a World of Nonsense
- By: Saul Perlmutter PhD, Robert MacCoun PhD, John Campbell PhD
- Narrated by: Joe Paulino
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on a wildly popular UC Berkeley course, a primer on how to think critically, make sound decisions, and solve problems—individually and collectively—using scientists’ tricks of the trade.
By: Saul Perlmutter PhD, and others
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Languishing
- How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down
- By: Corey Keyes
- Narrated by: Landon Woodson
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Languishing—the state of mental weariness that erodes our self-esteem, motivation, and sense of meaning—can be easy to brush off as the new normal, especially since indifference is one of its symptoms. It’s not a synonym for depression and its attendant state of prolonged sadness. Languishers are more likely to feel out of control of their lives, uncertain about what they want from the future, and paralyzed when faced with decisions.
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Fantastic life-changing book
- By Nate Daily on 05-06-24
By: Corey Keyes
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The Long Game
- How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World
- By: Dorie Clark
- Narrated by: Dorie Clark
- Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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It's no secret that we're pushed to the limit. Today's professionals feel rushed, overwhelmed, and perennially behind. How can we break out of the cycle and create the kind of interesting, meaningful lives that we all seek? Just as CEOs who optimize for quarterly profits often fail to make the strategic investments necessary for long-term growth, the same is true in our own personal and professional lives.
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Worse version of a book that’s already been written
- By Chris B on 12-31-21
By: Dorie Clark
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What listeners say about The Balanced Brain
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Sam Torrisi
- 02-22-24
Fantastic
Fantastic overview of the current state of the science, not selling BS, being realistic about what we understand, being brilliantly integrative, and offering plenty of hope for the future.
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- Michael
- 03-29-24
Mildly informative, minimally actionable
This is a bit like a dinner conversation with a neuroscience expert.
Many topics are mentioned, some novel ideas are raised, but nothing really actionable is proposed. Basically, a lot of different things work in different cases. This is a pleasant optimistic outlook.
There were two concepts I recall being particularly interested in. First was her focus on tiny barely noticeable neurological imbalances which can over long periods of time slowly self reinforce to a significant imbalance.
The other was her focus on “drive” as distinct from desire/want/like. This is an interesting topic that needs more research and is only touched on in this book
The author’s narration was excellent.
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