We are fans of the Brain Science Podcast series hosted by Ginger Campbell, so are pleased to announce that Dr. Campbell will start offering to SharpBrains readers, periodically, the highlights of her most interesting podcasts. Below, her first post. Enjoy!

- Alvaro

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In a recent interview on the Brain Science Podcast, Dr. John Medina, author of Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School shared some of the practical implications of recent neuroscience research.

We talked about the importance of exercise and sleep and we discussed why appreciating how our memory and attention systems really work could change how we run schools, businesses, and even our daily lives.

For example, while adequate sleep is generally acknowledged to be essential to optimal mental function, many people are chronically sleep deprived. Dr. Medina advises that the first thing an individual should do is determine their own sleep style. While people who naturally arise early and go to bed early (”larks”) tend to perform well in the traditional education setting, those whose natural cycle is to rise late and stay up late (what Medina calls “late chronotypes” or “night owls”) tend to accumulate a huge sleep deficit that impairs their performance. Dr. Medina argues that schools and businesses could run more efficiently if people’s schedules were better matched to their natural rhythms. He advises people who are home schooling their children to determine their child’s natural cycle since home schooling provides greater flexibility than the traditional school schedule.

Listen to John Medina’s interview

Dr. Medina’s Brain Rules goes into 12 principles that anyone can apply in their daily lives. You can hear the rest of Dr. Medina’s interview on Episode 37 of the Brain Science Podcast and in iTunes™.

Ginger Campbell, MD graduated from the University of Alabama School of Medicine. She also has a Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering and spent several years teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Dr. Campbell has been practicing emergency medicine since 1992. She started the Brain Science Podcast in 2006. Her goal is to help general audiences understand how recent discoveries in neuroscience are unraveling the mysteries of how our brains make us who we are.