“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.