Composed of billions of neurons (or nerve cells) that connect in trillions of different connections, your brain, is one of the most complicated and fascinating organs in your body. Keeping your brain healthy and active is key. But many mysteries about it remain unknown. The things we do know about it are so interesting that I one is left thinking what an organ! So here are the 7 Facts You Didn’t Know About The Brain
1#How old is the human brain?
Well, the brain is as old as the first human but still scientists have found fossils of brains as old as 3.2 million years, but they’re not sure when humans developed our current brain structure. It could have been 2 million years ago, 1.5 million years ago, or even more recently maybe 100,000 years ago.
2#Do we only use 20% of our brains?
It’s not a myth. We use every part of our brain. The FMRI shows in research that we use almost every part of our brain for even small activities at one time but there is still a lot to learn about the brain, researchers continue to fill in the gaps between fact and fiction and maybe someday we can answer this question with certainty.
3#Can you outsmart your mind?
Thanks to its complex network of neurons, your brain processes millions of pieces of information each day. But it’s often much smarter than you are. For example, it can figure out how to operate a voice-activated smart TV without reading the instruction manual. Just because your brain can do something doesn’t mean that you understand how or why it works. Isn’t that an interesting one of the 7 facts you didn’t know about the brain.
4#Are IQ scores accurate predictors of intelligence?
What IQ scores fail to capture is called grit, defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals. Turns out, grit is a much better predictor of success than raw intelligence. And having high levels of it could help you reap benefits in your professional life and beyond. Studies have shown that students with high levels of grit are less likely to drop out of school, while those with low levels are more likely to struggle socially and academically throughout their lives.
5#how much space does a single memory takes on your mind?
Although we often joke about being able to forget where we left our keys or our phone, we underestimate how much information is stored in our memories. Researchers estimate that a single memory can take up approximately 10 megabytes of storage space. This means that over your lifetime, you’ve accumulated billions of bytes worth of memories far more than you would have ever imagined!
6#Do humans dream in color or black and white?
It’s a question that has plagued mankind for years, and now research conducted at Cornell University suggests humans dream in color. According to Dr. Deirdre Barrett, people who claim they dream exclusively in black and white may be recalling dreams more accurately than those who recall dreaming in color. If you ask people what their dreams were like last night, very often they say ‘I don’t remember them but I’m sure they were in black and white,’ because that’s how we tend to think of dreams, she said.
7#What does an average day look like for a baby’s brain at age 6 months?
A baby’s brain is a work in progress. But in their first year of life, babies’ brains grow and change dramatically. They go from spending almost all of their time sleeping to waking every few hours to eat and drink. After that they get back to sleep as quickly as possible. As a result, they spend most of their days in short bouts of being awake and sleeping.
Now we want you to share your opinions on this fascinating organ! Comment below which of these 7 facts you didn’t know about the brain you found interesting?