How We Use Our Brains

HOW WE USE OUR BRAINS Many things have been said about how we use our grey matter, but what's fact and what's fiction? "We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources. SO WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER 80%? We know people can survive after losing significant portions of their brains. The most famous case dates back from 1848 when Phineas Gage was injured in an explosion where an iron rod entered & exited his skull. Although he survived it was not without dramatic consequences. People close to Phnieas said his personality was never the same and that he was plagued by seizures until his death 12 years after the accident. WE ONLY USE 10% OF OUR BRAINS Widely known to be a misinterpretation of William James and later of Albert Einstein, the truth is actually somewhat confusing. 10% SEEMS A LITTLE LOW The MythBusters delved into this myth and found that at any one point in time a person is only using about 20-35% of their brain. HOW COULD SOMEONE SURVIVE SUCH A SERIOUS LOSS OF BRAIN TISSUE? The Brain is a very adaptable organ and every element of the body's response to tramatic brain injury is important to recovery, even stress. * We do use 100% of our brains, but no-one uses all of their brain all of the time. Researchers now know that when the Brain experiences severe injury that inhibits one part, it reworks itself to assign the functions of the inhibited area to another area. 20 10to23 the weight of your brain in pounds 8to10 the percentage of oxygen and blood flow going to the brain the number of watts of power your brain generates when you're awake (that's enough to turn on a light bulb!) the number of seconds you have before losing consciousness due to blood loss 11 12 1 10 Keep exercising your brain, because mental activity stimulates the creation of new neurons throughout your whole life. 3: C132 .8 4. 1,000 to 10,000 5. how old Albert Einstein would be in years on his birthday March 14, 1879 6 4to6 the number of synapses for each neuron in your brain the number of minutes your brain can survive without oxygen before it starts to die 100,000,000,000 100,000 the number of neurons in your brain (and yes, that is 100 Billion!) the number of miles of blood vessels in your brain The Future of Neuropharmacology So is Something Like NZT in the Film 'Limitless' a Complete Fantasy? Hidden Potential In some cases of brain injury people have recovered to discover they have suddenly become experts in areas they previously have no experience in. This is known as Acquired Savant Syndrome. Finding out exactly what mechanisms and neural pathways allow for such acquired excellence could lead to a revolution of new smart drugs as well as potential cures for conditions like Autism. Right now it looks like that's the case, but in the next 10-20 years, well, the possibilities are starting to look Limitless aren't they. Some researchers believe that this is due in part to the brain having to create new neural pathways to compensate for damage inflicted in the injured brain tissues. Sometime this results in Synaethesia where a Savant experiences one sensory input through another sense such as seeing sound and as a result becoming a professional piano player without any training. LIMITLESS IN THEATERS FRIDAY use-10-percent-of-brain, http//mythbustersres ntable cloth-chaos, hetp//www.damninteresting.com/phineas gages http://journals.lww.com/shockjournal/Abstract/2005/07000/Neurobiology_of_the_Stress_Response_Contribution.2aspx, http:/gizmodo.com/S77094the-next-wave-of-smart-drugs, http://www.wikipedia.org