1.
Weight. The
weight of the human brain is about 3 lbs.
2.
Cerebrum. The
cerebrum is the largest part of the brain and makes up 85% of the brain’s
weight.
3.
Skin. Your
skin weighs twice as much as your brain.
4.
Gray matter. The
brain’s gray matter is made up of neurons, which gather and transmit signals.
5.
White matter. The
white matter is made up of dendrites and axons, which create the network by
which neurons send their signals.
6.
Gray and white. Your
brain is 60% white matter and 40% gray matter.
7.
Water. The
brain is made up of about 75% water.
8.
Neurons. Your
brain consists of about 100 billion neurons.
9.
Synapses. There
are anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 synapses for each neuron.
10.
No pain. There
are no pain receptors in the brain, so the brain can feel no pain.
11.
Largest brain. While
an elephant’s brain is physically larger than a human brain, the human brain is
2% of total body weight (compared to 0.15% of an elephant’s
brain), meaning humans have the largest brain to body size.
12.
Blood vessels. There
are 100,000 miles of blood vessels in the brain.
13.
Fat. The
human brain is the fattest organ in the body and may consists of at least 60% fat.
The Developing Brain
Starting from within the womb, fetal brain development begins
the amazing journey that leads to a well-developed brain at birth that
continues to grow for 18 more years.
14.
Neurons.
Neurons develop at the rate of 250,000 neurons per minute during early
pregnancy.
15.
Size at birth. At
birth, your brain was almost the same size as an adult brain and contained most
of the brain cells for your whole life.
16.
Newborn’s growth. A
newborn baby’s brain grows about three times its size in the first year.
17.
Stopped growing. Your
brain stopped growing at age 18.
18.
Cerebral cortex. The
cerebral cortex grows thicker as you learn to use
it.
19.
Stimulation. A
stimulating environment for a child can make the difference between a 25%
greater ability to learn or 25% less in an environment with little stimulation.
20.
New neurons. Humans
continue to make new neurons throughout life in
response to mental activity.
21.
Read aloud.
Reading aloud and talking often to a young child promotes brain development.
22.
Emotions. The
capacity for such emotions as joy, happiness, fear, and shyness are already
developed at birth. The specific type of nurturing a child receives shapes how
these emotions are developed.
23.
First sense. The first
sense to develop while in utero is the sense of touch. The lips and cheeks
can experience touch at about 8 weeks and the rest of the body around 12 weeks.
24.
Bilingual brains.
Children who learn two languages before the age of five alters
the brain structure and adults have a much denser gray matter.
25.
Child abuse and the brain.
Studies have shown that child abuse can inhibit development of
the brain and can permanently affect brain development.
Brain Function
From the invisible workings of the brain to more visible
responses such as yawns or intelligence, find out how the brain functions with
these facts.
26.
Oxygen. Your
brain uses 20% of the total oxygen in your body.
27.
Blood. As
with oxygen, your brain uses 20% of the blood circulating in your body.
28.
Unconsciousness. If
your brain loses blood for 8 to 10 seconds, you will lose consciousness.
29.
Speed.
Information can be processed as slowly as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast
as 120 meters/sec (about 268 miles/hr).
30.
Wattage. While
awake, your brain generates between 10 and 23 watts of
power–or enough energy to power a light bulb.
31.
Yawns. It is
thought that a yawn works to send more oxygen to the brain, therefore working
to cool it down and wake it up.
32.
Neocortex. The
neocortex makes up about 76% of the human brain and is responsible for language
and consciousness. The human neocortex is much larger than in animals.
33.
10%. The
old adage of humans only using 10% of their brain is not
true. Every part of the brain has a known function.
34.
Brain death. The
brain can live for 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen, and then it begins to die. No
oxygen for 5 to 10 minutes will result in permanent brain damage.
35.
Highest temperature. The
next time you get a fever, keep in mind that the highest human body
temperature ever recorded was 115.7 degrees–and the man survived.
36.
Stress.
Excessive stress has shown to "alter brain cells, brain structure and brain function."
37.
Love hormones and autism.
Oxytocin, one of the hormones responsible for triggering feelings of love in
the brain, has shown some benefits to helping control
repetitive behaviors in those with autism.
38.
Food and intelligence. A
study of one million students in New York showed that students who ate lunches
that did not include artificial flavors, preservatives, and dyes did 14%
better on IQ tests than students who ate lunches with these
additives.
39.
Seafood. In
the March 2003 edition of Discover magazine, a report
describes how people in a 7-year study who ate seafood at least one time every
week had a 30% lower occurrence of dementia.
Psychology of the Brain
From tickling to tasting to decision-making, find out how the
brain affects what you experience.
40.
Tickles. You
can’t tickle yourself because your brain distinguished between unexpected
external touch and your own touch.
41.
Imaginary playmates. A study
from Australia showed that children with imaginary playmates between the
ages of 3 and 9 tended to be first-born children.
42.
Reading faces.
Without any words, you may be able to determine if someone is in a good mood,
is feeling sad, or is angry just by reading the face. A small area in the brain
called the amygdala is responsible for your ability to read someone
else’s face for clues to how they are feeling.
43.
Ringing in the ears. For
years, medical
professionals believed that tinnitus was due to a function
within the mechanics of the ear, but newer evidence shows
that it is actually a function of the brain.
44.
Pain and gender.
Scientists have discovered that men and women’s brains
react differently to pain, which explains why they may perceive or discuss
pain differently.
45.
Supertasters. There
is a class of people known as supertasters who
not only have more taste buds on the tongue, but whose brain is more sensitive
to the tastes of foods and drinks. In fact, they can detect some flavors that
others cannot.
46.
Cold. Some
people are much more sensitive to cold and actually feel pain associated with
cold. Research as shown that the reason is due to certain channels that
send cold information to the brain.
47.
Decision-making. Women
tend to take longer to make a decision, but
are more likely to stick with the decision, compared to men, who are more
likely to change their mind after making a decision.
48.
Exercise. Some
studies indicate that while some people are naturally more active, others are
naturally more inactive, which may explain why getting out and exercising is
more difficult for some.
49.
Boredom. Boredom is
brought on by a lack of change of stimulation, is largely a function of
perception, and is connected to the innate curiosity found in humans.
50.
Physical illness. The
connection between body and mind is a strong one. One estimate is
that between 50-70% of visits to the doctor for physical ailments are
attributed to psychological factors.
51.
Sadness and shopping. Researchers
have discovered that those experiencing the blues are more willing to
spend more money in an attempt to alleviate their sadness.
Memory
Learn how scent, jet lag, and estrogen affect memory, plus
plenty of other information, with these facts.
52.
Jet lag. Frequent
jet lag can impair your memory, probably due to the stress
hormones released.
53.
New connections. Every
time you recall a memory or have a new thought, you are creating a new
connection in your brain.
54.
Create associations.
Memory is formed by associations, so if you want help remembering things, create associations for
yourself.
55.
Scent and memory.
Memories triggered by scent have a stronger emotional
connection, therefore appear more intense than other memory triggers.
56.
Anomia.
Anomia is the technical word for tip-of-the-tongue syndrome when you can almost
remember a word, but it just won’t quite come to you.
57.
Sleep. While
you sleep at night may be the best time for your brain to consolidate
all your memories from the day.
58.
No sleep. It
goes to follow…lack of sleep may actuallyhurt your
ability to create new memories.
59.
World Champion. A
world champion memorizer, Ben Pridmore memorized
96 historical events in 5 minutes and memorized a single, shuffled deck of
cards in 26.28 seconds.
60.
Estrogen and memory.
Estrogen (found in both men and women) has been shown to promote better
memory functions.
61.
Insulin.
Insulin works to regulate blood-sugar in the body, but recently, scientists
have discovered that its presence in the brain also helps promote memory.
Dreams and Sleep
The amazing world of dreams and what happens during sleep is a
mystery rooted in the brain. Learn interesting facts about dreams and sleep in
this list.
62.
Everyone dreams. Just
because you don’t remember your dreams doesn’t mean you don’t dream. Everyone
dreams!
63.
Nightly average. Most
people dream about 1-2 hours a night and have an average of 4-7 dreams each
night.
64.
Brain waves.
Studies show that brain waves are more active while dreaming than when you are
awake.
65.
Lost dreams. Five
minutes after a dream, half of the dream is forgotten. Ten minutes after a
dream, over 90% is forgotten. Write down your dreams immediately if you want to
remember them.
66.
Blind people dream.
Dreams are more than just visual images, and blind people do dream. Whether or
not they dream in pictures depends on if they were born blind or lost their
vision later.
67.
Color or B&W. Some
people (about 12%) dream only in black and white while others dream in color.
68.
Virtually paralyzed. While
you sleep, your body produces a hormone that may prevent you from acting out
your dreams, leaving you virtually paralyzed.
69.
Snoring. If
you are snoring, you are not dreaming.
70.
During a dream. If
you are awakened during a dream, you are much more likely to remember the dream
than if you slept until a full night’s sleep.
71.
Symbolism. As
those who invest in dream dictionaries can attest, dreams almost never
represent what they actually are. The unconscious mind strives to make
connections with concepts you will understand, so dreams are largely symbolic
representations.
72.
Adenosine.
Caffeine works to block naturally occurring adenosine in the body, creating
alertness. Scientists have recently discovered this
connection and learned that doing the opposite–boosting adenosine–can actually
help promote more natural sleep patterns and help eliminate insomnia.
73.
Dream showings. Japanese
researchers have successfully developed a technology that can put
thoughts on a screen and may soon be able to screen people’s dreams.
Fun and Interesting Facts
From juggling to a Brain Bank to cannibalism, read about these
fun and interesting brain facts.
74.
Airplanes and headaches. A study showed
a correlation between flying and headaches and states that around 6% of people
who fly get headaches brought on by the flight itself.
75.
Juggling.
Juggling has shown to change the brain in as little as seven days. The
study indicates that learning new things helps the brain to
change very quickly.
76.
Disney and sleep. A
study published in the journal Sleep Medicine describes how Disney
creators used real sleep disorders in many of their
animated pets.
77.
Blinking. Each
time we blink, our brain kicks in and keeps things illuminated so
the whole world doesn’t go dark each time we blink (about 20,000 times a day).
78.
Laughing.
Laughing at a joke is no simple task as it requires activity
in five different areas of the brain.
79.
Yawns are contagious. Ever
notice that you yawned after someone around you did? Scientists believe this
may be a response to an ancient social behavior for
communication that humans still have.
80.
Brain Bank.
Harvard maintains a Brain Bank where over 7,000 human brains are store for research
purposes.
81.
Outer space. The
lack of gravity in outer space affects the brain in several ways. Scientists
are studying how and why, but you may want to hold off on your next trip to the moon.
82.
Music. Music
lessons have shown to considerably boost brain organization and
ability in both children and adults.
83.
Thoughts. The
average number of thoughts that humans are believed to experience each day is
70,000.
84.
Ambidexterity. Those
who are left-handed or ambidextrous have a corpus collosum (the part of the
brain that bridges the two halves) that is about 11%
larger than those who are right-handed.
85.
Stressful job.
According to a study by Bristol-Myers Squibb, accountants have the highest incidence
of on-the-job headaches, followed by librarians, then bus and truck drivers.
86.
Aristotle.
Aristotle mistakenly thought that the functions
of the brain actually took place in the heart.
87.
Cannibalism. Some
research shows that humans carry genes that help protect the brain from
prion diseases, or diseases contracted through eating human flesh, leading medical
experts to believe that ancient humans may have eaten other
humans.
88.
Shakespeare. The
word "brain" appears 66 times in the plays of William Shakespeare.
Source: nursingassistantcentral.com
