Dr. John MedinaDr. John Medina

Dr. John Medina

Developmental molecular biologist and research consultant.

John Medina is a developmental molecular biologist and research consultant. He is an affiliate professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He was the founding director of two brain research institutes: the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research, at Seattle Pacific University, and the Talaris Research Institute, a nonprofit organization originally focused on how infants encode and process information. Medina lives in Seattle, Washington, with his wife and two boys.
Author Website

Philosopher's Notes on Dr. John Medina's Books

Brain Rules
LockedPhilosopher's Notes

Brain Rules

by Dr. John Medina

Dr. John Medina is a developmental molecular biologist focused on the genes involved in human brain development and the genetics of psychiatric disorders. He’s also a professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine in its Department of Bioengineering. And, perhaps most importantly for our purposes, he’s a great writer and storyteller. This is a fascinating look at his 12 “brain rules.” I loved it—especially the first five rules which are a nice confirmation of why our fundamentals are so important! Big Ideas we explore include: a quick glance at our 12 brain rules, the importance of: moving (remember our Olympian ancient ancestors!), sleep (sleep loss = brain drain), attention (multitasking is a MYTH), memory (how we learn), and exploration (we're all scientists running experiments!).

Quotes by Dr. John Medina

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Though we know precious little about how the brain works, our evolutionary history tells us: The brain appears to be designed to (1) solve problems (2) related to surviving (3) in an unstable outdoor environment, and (4) to do so in nearly constant motion. ... Though we have been stuffing them into classrooms and cubicles for decades, our brains actually were built to survive in jungles and grasslands. We have not outgrown this.
Dr. John Medina
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The brain gobbles up 20 percent of the body’s energy, even though it’s only about 2 percent of the body’s weight. When the brain is fully working, it uses more energy per unit of tissue weight than a fully exercising quadricep. In fact, the human brain cannot simultaneously activate more than 2 percent of its neurons at any one time. More than this, and the brain’s energy supply becomes so quickly exhausted that you will faint.
Dr. John Medina
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If you want people to pay attention, don’t start with details. Start with the key ideas and, in a hierarchical fashion, form the details around these larger notions. Meaning before details.
Dr. John Medina
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Cutting off physical exercise [by removing PE classes]—the very activity most likely to promote cognitive performance—to do better on a test score—is like trying to gain weight by starving yourself.
Dr. John Medina
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Your brain acts like a muscle: The more activity you do, the larger and more complex it can become. Whether that equates to more intelligence is another issue, but one fact is indisputable: What you do in life physically changes what your brain looks like.
Dr. John Medina
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Is this caused by nature or nurture? As Stephen Jay Gould says, ‘It is logically, mathematically, and philosophically impossible to pull them apart.’
Dr. John Medina
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Psychologist Howard Gardner believes we have at least seven categories of intelligence: verbal/linguistic, musical/rhythmic, logical/mathematical, spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal.
Dr. John Medina
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Multitasking, when it comes to paying attention, is a myth. The brain naturally focuses on concepts sequentially, one at a time.
Dr. John Medina
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