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The 38 Best Books about the Brain & Mind

December 28, 2015April 1, 2017 by

“What are the best brain and mind books?” We looked at 16 articles and 272 different books in an attempt to answer that very question. Below you will find our results of the 38 top books about the brain and mind of all-time. Click here to see the methodology used.

What can be Found in a “Best Brain & Mind Book” Listicle

Pictures of the brain
Outlines of the human head
Talk of how to conquer or tame your brain

The 38 Best Books about the Brain & Mind

What can be Found in a “Best Brain & Mind Book” Listicle

38.) A Natural History of the Senses By Diane Ackerman

37.) A users guide to the brain by John Ratey

36.) Aging with Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About Leading Longer, Healthier, and More Meaningful Lives By David Snowden

35.) Brain mat­ters: Trans­lat­ing research into class­room prac­tice by Patricia Wolffe

34.) Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference, by Cordelia Fine

33.) Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain By Antonio R. Damasio

32.) Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ By Daniel Goleman

31.) Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being by Martin E.P. Seligman

30.) How the Brain Learns by David A. Sousa

29.) How We Decide By Jonah Lehrer

28.) Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain By Antonio Damasio

27.) Mapping the Mind: The Secrets of the Human Brain and How it Works by Joel Davis

26.) Mind, brain, and edu­ca­tion: Neu­ro­science impli­ca­tions for the class­room. by David A. Sousa

25.) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D

24.) My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey By Jill Bolte Taylor

23.) Principles of Neural Science, Fifth Edition by Eric R. Kandel

22.) Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention By Stanislas Dehaene

21.) Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are By Joseph LeDoux

20.) The Believing Brain: From Ghosts To Gods To Politics And Conspiracies — How We Construct Beliefs And Reinforce Them As Truths by Michael Shermer

19.) The Compass Of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, And Gambling Feel So Good by David J. Linden

18.) The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life By Joseph LeDoux

17.) The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want By: Sonya Lyubomirsky

16.) The Optimism Bias: A Tour Of The Irrationally Positive Brain By Tali Sharot

15.) The Power Of Habit: Why we do what we do and how to change by Duhigg, Charles

14.) The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through The Madness Industry By Jon Ronson

13.) The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers By Daniel L. Schacter

12.) The stuff of thought: Lan­guage as a win­dow into human nature by Steven Pinker

11.) Theoretical Neuroscience: Computational and Mathematical Modeling of Neural Systems by Peter Dayan

10.) This Is Your Brain on Music By Daniel J. Levitin

9.) What’s Going on in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life By Lise Elliot

7.) Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain By John Ratey

6.) The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales By Oliver Sacks

5.) The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being By Daniel J. Siegel

4.) Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

3.) Train Your Mind Change Your Brain by Sharon Begley

2.) Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School By John Medina

1.) The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science By Norman Doidge

The 234 Other Books Appearing on a Single List

Article Sources Arranged by Publish Date

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35.) Brain matters: Translating research into classroom practice by Patricia Wolffe

26.) Mind, brain, and education: Neuroscience implications for the classroom. by David A. Sousa

12.) The stuff of thought: Language as a window into human nature by Steven Pinker