Description

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A groundbreaking study into the formative role of play in our lives

Sergio and Vivien Pellis have synthesized three decades of empirical research to create a remarkable work, unequalled in its field.
A book that will not only expand our current knowledge of play behaviour, but will inspire change and progress from the laboratory to the playground.

About the Author

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Professor Sergio M. Pellis works at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

Associate Professor Vivien Pellis works at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

Praise For…

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"Their descriptive and experimental studies on play in many species are inspirational, offering a blueprint on how to do science properly - and good science is never exclusive."
— The Times Higher Educational Supplement

"an erudite exploration of the science and mystery of play"
— International Play Association

"Their descriptive and experimental studies on play in many species are inspirational, offering a blueprint on how to do science properly - and good science is never exclusive."
— The Times Higher Educational Supplement

"an erudite exploration of the science and mystery of play"
— International Play Association

“Sergio and Vivien Pellis’ adventure into the wonders of the the 'playful brain' has fully legitimized play science as a mainstream discipline. Every page confirmed clinical hunches,evoked“aha’s” and created fresh enthusiasm for the subject tinged with light-heartedness.A treat to read, it also motivated with urgency our need, as a play-ignorant culture, to move with boldness toward more play research and evidence-based play policies.”
— Stuart Brown - Founder and President of The National Institute for Play

“The Playful Brain is just what is needed as play behaviour continues to emerge as one of the most important activities in which nonhuman and human animals engage.This book will set the standard for future interdisciplinary research involving biologists, psychologists, and neuroscientists.”
— Marc Bekoff - author of Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals (with Jessica Pierce) and Animals a

“This book is uniquely important not just in giving play the space it so richly deserves, but in the extraordinarily comprehensive coverage that it offers and the lucidity with which it gives us glimpses beneath the surface of something that has played such a formative role in each of our individual life stories.”
— Robin Dunbar

“This book is uniquely important not just in giving play the space it so richly deserves, but in the extraordinarily comprehensive coverage that it offers and the lucidity with which it gives us glimpses beneath the surface of something that has played such a formative role in each of our individual life stories.”
— Robin Dunbar

“Sergio and Vivien Pellis’ adventure into the wonders of the the 'playful brain' has fully legitimized play science as a mainstream discipline. Every page confirmed clinical hunches,evoked“aha’s” and created fresh enthusiasm for the subject tinged with light-heartedness.A treat to read, it also motivated with urgency our need, as a play-ignorant culture, to move with boldness toward more play research and evidence-based play policies.”
— Stuart Brown - Founder and President of The National Institute for Play

“The Playful Brain is just what is needed as play behaviour continues to emerge as one of the most important activities in which nonhuman and human animals engage.This book will set the standard for future interdisciplinary research involving biologists, psychologists, and neuroscientists.”
— Marc Bekoff - author of Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals (with Jessica Pierce) and Animals a