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

When Retrieval Practice Backfires (and When It Doesn’t)
Andrew Watson
Andrew Watson

If you've heard about retrieval practice, you've probably heard this...

Beyond the Science of Reading by Natalie Wexler
Erik Jahner, PhD
Erik Jahner, PhD

There is something almost combustible about stepping into the reading...

Why Cognitive Science in Education Feels Fragmented—and How Self-Efficacy Helps
Andrew Watson
Andrew Watson

I've got good news: cognitive psychology has SO MANY practical...