Spiders in Budapest: Deeper Understanding of the Brain – Education & Teacher Conferences Skip to main content

Spiders in Budapest: Deeper Understanding of the Brain

“Why can I forget what the capital of Hungary is, but not that I’m afraid of spiders?”

Michael S. C. Thomas kicks off his website “How The Brain Works” with this intriguing question.

Dr. Thomas is a good person to ask. In the first place, he directs the Centre for Educational Neuroscience. He knows from brains.

In the second, he’s got a lively writing voice. Better than most, he can explain important brain concepts without being pedantic, and without relying on Latinate jargon.

The website covers several helpful topics: the importance of sleep, the structure of synapses, the reasons brains have two hemispheres. (And: why being “left-brained” really isn’t a thing.)

I recommend this website as a lively introduction to (or review of) important neuroscience information.

And: if you want to know the answer to that spider/Hungary question, click here.


Recent Blogs

Rows vs. Pods: What Seating Research Says (and Doesn’t Say)
Andrew Watson
Andrew Watson

I spoke recently with an AWESOME group of primary school...

Speaking, Writing, and Learning: What the “Production Effect” Can—and Can’t—Do
Andrew Watson
Andrew Watson

A colleague recently asked me this thoughtful question: I've seen...

Fix the Past or Invent the Future by Yong Zhao
Erik Jahner, PhD
Erik Jahner, PhD

Educators have long rejected the idea of a Brave New...