How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend
A Neuroscientist's Guide to a Healthier, Happier Life
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How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend
Buy Now for £12.99
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Narrated by:
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Rachel Barr
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By:
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Rachel Barr
About this listen
'Fun, but still deeply, rigorously researched.' - Professor Neil Shyminsky
'A true masterpiece. Rachel Barr has done a phenomenal job breaking down the complexities of the human mind.' - Jeffrey Meltzer, LMHC
'Insightful and relatable psychoeducation that demystifies the brain . . . it’s a resource I’ll proudly keep on my shelf as a therapist.' - Joshua Fletcher, anxiety therapist
Your brain is the most remarkable thing in the known universe.
Always trying to mend itself, and always trying to protect you, it’s in a constant state of flux — adapting, reconfiguring, finding new pathways . . . And it has an astonishing capacity for recovery.
Only it doesn’t always get it right.
Rachel Barr struggled through years of devastating loss, heartache, and uncertainty until neuroscience gave her the first spark of self-belief she had felt in her adult life — and proof that, because of the brain’s near-infinite potential for neuroplastic change, it’s never too late to carve out neural pathways to form new habits, new skills, and new ways of thinking.
Whether you want to nerd-out on Neuroscientific acronyms, finally understand what’s going on in your head, or take refuge in an audiobook that’s like a warm hug for your mind, How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend is a delight-filled, evidence-based guide to taking better care of your brain — so it, in turn, will take better care of you.
Rachel Barr holds a master’s degree in molecular neuroscience and wrote How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend while completing her PhD in the electrophysiology of memory and sleep. Beyond the lab, her videos as ‘Rachel the Neuroscientist’ demystify the fundamental principles of brain science, empowering her million-plus followers to make informed decisions about their mental health. Born and raised in Fife, she studied in Bristol and is now based in Quebec, where she shares her home — and keyboard — with Gnocchi the cat.
©2025 Rachel Barr (P)2025 DK Audio
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Critic reviews
I struggle to be in the moment most moments. Just rarely I realise that I am right here, but when I do, I've often already moved on to the next moment.
When I stare up at that spot, after a workout, while listening to music, or in pure silence in the depth of night, my brain stills. I suddenly realise I am breathing, my jaw relaxes, and I think of my day.
I listened to multiple chapters of this book in that meditative state, on that carpet, staring up at that spot, in the middle of the night, at the end of monotonous days. Some pleasant and some less so. while the world was finally quiet enough to hear my own thoughts.
"Delight tethers us to something". That spot tethers me to the world. To the sounds of the seagulls outside, or the strangers making their way home from a night out, to the cars racing through the night, to the buzzing of my fridge, to the spot on my ceiling. To my home. To my life.
It is a rare thing that I can feel as calm and delighted and present as I am when staring at that spot anywhere else at any other moment. I have tried meditation, but my ADHD brain does not have much patience for it. I suppose that sitting there, after exerting myself and allowing myself to breathe is in essence meditation. But I struggle to be present even in that spot sometimes, especially on bad days. And to get to that spot without the aid of its physical presence is an even bigger task.
But sometimes something else comes along. In many occasions, that thing will be a movie, a song, or a book. It will be something that makes me feel, and makes me feel strongly. This book brought me there. On the tram, on my bike, on my walks. It brought me home. This book was a delight, and so is Rachel's lovely narration. And through it I felt connected. Delight gives way to more delight, the savouring of a fruit brings love for the music ringing in my ear. The laugh of my partner paints the world in brighter colours. This book re-framed how I saw delight, and its role in my happiness, in my contentedness, and how I access it, or in many cases, try to do so in vain. And though I'm never big on self-help books, this book helped me lower my self-imposed bars of self-improvement. In a world that's quick to anger, Rachel helps remind you there's no point in adding fuel to that fire, especially not to one under your own feet. But she also reminds us, that we all light fires under our feet from time to time. And that that's human, and that it's ok to be human. Fires can still be doused, and burns can heal. But remember that burns in the brain scar just as greedily as burns on the body. So take it easy on that fire, and be kind to yourself.
In an easy reading, beautiful, and most of all, kind and compassionate package, This book brings delight a little closer and helped me to pause, every once in a while.
This openhearted telling of how the brain tries to help us, and how we inadvertently stymie its efforts in our navigation of this modern world, did indeed make me feel less at odds with my brain, which I've so frequently wished would work with me just a little better.
Thank you Rachel, brain and I will keep at it, a tad more befriended, in our search for searching.
Best of luck in yours.
A brain slightly more befriended, bit by bit
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Amazing
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I enjoyed every moment of this book, even more so as an audio book, as it was narrated by Rachel herself.
I’ve learned, I’ve laughed and I’ve cried. What a fantastic piece of research and writing.
Both practical and informative whilst being fun & funny!
Rachel’s vulnerability is something I’ve not heard before in another audio book. It felt authentic and as previously eluded, poignant.
A fantastic book with genuine everyday advice. Not the same repeated “hacks” but real practical takeaways.
I for one feel a bit more well equipped to face the world after listening. Thank you for this work of art.
P.S. Out of the hundreds of books I’ve read/ listened to, I’ve never left a book review before this one.
Go buy immediately, if not sooner.
Came for the science stuff, stayed for the story telling.
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Informative, helpful, spoken with academic rigour and personal experience & knowledge
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The brain is a character in its own right!
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