Amazing facts about our beautiful brains

Until recently, very little was known about the brain and even now, despite the fact that we know a great deal more about the human brain than ever before, researchers are still barely scratching the surface.

Sophisticated technology means we can tell that certain parts of the brain are responsible for specific actions but then there are always exceptions to the rule. Take the Savants for example, who can perform mind boggling feats that defy logic and baffle neuroscientists, or the uncanny, seemingly telepathic connection between twins that is hard to explain, or those who have defied medical science and overcome brain damage by learning to use different parts of the brain for various tasks.

The fact is, our brains are pretty mysterious and perhaps that’s the way it’s meant to be. Your brain enables you to think, speak, see, feel, breathe, move, imagine, learn, solve problems, read, dream, reason and so on. In fact your brain is the source of everything required in order to live and to experience life itself. It is more powerful than any computer and is the most complex structure in the known universe, not bad for something that is only about the size of a small cauliflower and looks just as interesting.

Did you know?

• Your brain itself feels no pain because there are no nerves in your brain that can register pain.

• Your brain weighs around 3 pounds or approximately 1.4 kg

• The average sized brain has around 100 billion neurons. A neuron is a cell that is designed to transmit information

• Every time you learn something new, your brain makes new connections and you can continue to make new connections throughout your entire life

• Although you lose some neurons every day, this amounts to very little in comparison to the number of neurons in your brain. Also, recent research has shown that the brain can and does produce new neurons in response to stimulation



• When you are stressed, angry or feeling hostile, your brain releases a chemical known as Cortisol which inhibits learning so to learn effectively you need a stress free environment

• Music can synchronise your brain waves, improve your mood and help you to learn more efficiently

• Your brain needs a constant supply of oxygen and uses around 20% of all the oxygen you breathe. If the brain is deprived of oxygen for 10 minutes, the brain will suffer damage.

• It takes only 8 to 10 seconds to lose consciousness if the blood supply to the brain is cut off

• Using brain imaging data, it is possible to tell whether a person is thinking about a face or a place.

• Your brain is composed mostly of fat and needs the right kind of fat as fuel so that it can function efficiently. This is why oily fish or fish oil containing Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is so important in the diet; your brain needs it but cannot produce it.

Interesting research…

You btteer bleivee it yuor biarn is clveer, jsut try and see if you can raed tihs, msot lkiely you can. Tihs is bcuseae the mnid deos not raed all lteters, olny the wrod as a wlhoe aoccdring to rscheearch at Cmabridge Uinvresity.

Incredible isn’t it. According to the research, as long as the first and the last letter of a word are in the right place, it doesn’t matter if the rest of them are jumbled up; most people will still be able to read the text.

Left brain Right brain Hemispheres

The brain has two hemispheres which look very similar but have different functions. Although we use both sides of our brains for most tasks, the degree of dominance from either right or left side can vary significantly from person to person; we are all different.

Generally speaking, the left side of the brain processes information in a linear, sequential and logical manner taking the various bits of information and piecing them together to make the whole, whereas the right side of the brain is more intuitive, random and visual and will start with the answer or the bigger picture and then fill in the details.

We often speak of someone being right brained or left brained but this isn’t strictly true as none of us are completely one or the other, however, there are certain traits that can be attributed to right or left sided processing.

Can you recognise yourself as predominantly left or right brained?

Left brained

• Good at remembering names
• Uses few gestures when communicating
• Logical thinker
• Punctual
• Listens to the meaning of words
• More verbal

Right brained

• Good at remembering faces
• Uses a lot of gestures when communicating
• Responds to emotion
• Often late for appointments
• Listens to how something is said rather than what is being said
• More visual

Posted: 27 September 2007