1. Grad school. I came in as a more tech/physics applicant and had to learn it all from a fire hose.

The canonical book is Kandell: https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Neural-Science-Fifth-Kande...

But, please, don;t read that unless you're a neuroscientist. It's too much for a 'layperson'

This one should be better for most casual people with an interest: https://www.amazon.com/Creating-Mind-How-Brain-Works/dp/0393...

Honestly? Just ask chatGPT questions that you have. It's more than good enough for casual interest.

2. Nope. Not even as a person researching and doing experiments. Most US based academia is firmly in the camp of 'beatings will continue until morale improves'. They ignore almost all of their own findings about the need for sleep and learning and spaced repetition when it comes to teaching. Culture is hard to overcome.

Nearly everything I've learned about optimal brain performance (if you can even consider that a thing, which I do not), I learned from reading papers (mostly reviews) and random internet garbage that somehow ended up being true.

The New Turing Omnibus by A K Dewdney (https://www.amazon.com/New-Turing-Omnibus-Sixty-Six-Excursio...)

The Society of Mind by Marvin Minsky (https://www.amazon.com/Society-Mind-Marvin-Minsky/dp/0671657...)

Creating Mind: How the Brain Works by John E Dowling (https://www.amazon.com/Creating-Mind-How-Brain-Works/dp/0393...)