The Happy Brain – The Science of Where Happiness Comes From, and Why
I guess happiness comes fairly high up the list for all of us, but sometimes its difficult to put of finger on exactly what it is, and how we achieve it.
Although there are many philosophical approaches to this question, in this book the author concerns himself with neurobiology of happiness; what makes our brain happy, and what does this mean in practice?
In short its complex. Thats not surprising, else science would have delivered us the elixir of happiness. However we can see patterns in the brain that correlate to happiness, and use these to understand a little more about the idea, and its this that the author tackles. I would suggest this book is aimed at the amateur scientist – thats to say its not a weighty professional manual, but equally its not a glib and forthy read-this-and-be-happy manual. The author has an engaging and accessible writing style, with sufficient detail for understanding without getting bogged down.
For me, as is often the case, there was little new in this book, but it was a useful refresher of previous reading, study and training, and helped to cement my understanding. As such its a book I’d recommend to practitioners and professionals interested in the idea of happiness, and wanting to learn a little more about how it presents in the brain.
Worth a read.
