Fun Facts About Your Brain

There is so much we don't know about our own brains, yet it is of the single most important organ. An organ which makes up our identity. We can have a heart transplant, we can even have our colon removed, but the brain is irreplaceable. The brain is responsible for our attitudes, our emotions, our motor functions, our senses, our pain tolerance, our health, our ability to love, our ability to speak, and so many more functions that we would not be able to do without the functioning of our brain. Each year, scientists are making more and more breakthroughs on discoveries of our brain processes, mental capabilities, and how the brain works? Although, like any good science discovery leads, we often find that we end up with more questions about the brains than answers discovered.

As far back as 400 BC, the Greeks and Egyptians understood that the brain was the control center for the entire body. Hippocrates was aware that the brain involved our intelligence and where we felt sensations from, and since then so much more knowledge on this one all powerful organ has come to light. There is even evidence through Plato's teaching in 387 BC that he taught others that our brain was where our thoughts came from.

Aristotle, on the other hand, argued against Plato.Aristotle believed that the heart is where our thoughts come from. His belief was so well accepted in his time that we are even affected by these beliefs to this day. For instance, we often will say that we memorize things by heart, and who knows maybe that's why we often will say our heart feels one way, and our brain knows another. Aristotle's beliefs were soon disregarded in the years after Christ, and the brain was more thoroughly studied as the power house for the whole body in thought, sensations, and so much more. This led to the discovery of neurological disorders, which led to discoveries on how to surgically remedy them.

There was a period during the Renaissance that hindered these discoveries due to the church banning human dissection. Once this law was lifted, discoveries have amplified over the years.

It was in the nineteenth century when significant discoveries were discovered about the brain. In 1811, Charles Bell discovered that each of the five senses have a specific spot within the brain that is used for each of the senses. Since then there have been significant studies regarding which portion of our bodies is affected by what ability.

One of the first parts of a human embryo to begin to develop is the brain. It is also one of the fastest growing part of the embryo and fetus to grow. Every minute roughly a quarter of a million new neurons is being produced in an unborn baby. By the time the baby is born they will then have over 100 billion neurons in the brain.

This is a significant reason why lifestyle choices of the mother are extremely detrimental to the well being of an unborn child. Not only is the brain responsible for motor functions, but intelligence, overall health, emotional well being, and so much more. It is actually believed that the reason the mother is so tired is not only because their bodies are supporting two beings, but because the rate of the baby's growth especially its brain is so consuming to the mothers body.

Some causes that may happen if a pregnant woman chooses to live a rough lifestyle, is the brain can actually end up forming clumps of brain matter outside of the brain. This actually can result in dyslexia among other problems a child faces.One great example of this is fetal alcohol syndrome.

The brain is not just developing in order for the child to use it once its born, but the child is already storing data and memories and much much more before the mother even goes in labor. That's why a baby often will be soothed when they hear their mother's voice, because they remember it from the womb. The brain is such an important part of the child even before birth which is why proportionately the baby's brain is much larger in comparison to its body than that of an adults brain.

As you can see, the brain has significant power even for the young embryo. In fact, although, your brain only is about 2% of your weight at three pounds, it actually uses about 20 percent of your bodies energy. It is because of this that if you do not have enough sleep or have proper nutrition, your mood, your attitude, your energy and even your motor responses are affected. It uses so much energy that the same amount could light a 25 watt light bulb. Although more impressively, the brain has more electrical impulses in one day, than all the telephone poles in the whole world do!

Did you know that your brain can go from four to six minutes without oxygen, before brain cells will actually begin dying? Not to say that the brain is not severely effected by the lack of oxygen. On any given minute, the brain absorbs 1/5 of a cup of oxygen in which it supplies to itself. Almost 95% of that oxygen goes to its gray matter, the rest to its white matter. The brain absorbs that oxygen from the nearly 1000 ml of blood that is pumped through it every minute. This is equal to about 3 soda cans full of blood. Once this is realized, it does not seem  surprising that 10 percent of the cranial make-up consists of blood. If the brain has a lack of blood, a person will become unconscious in about 10 seconds.

The human brain is not the largest of all brains in the animal kingdom, in fact the elephants brain is significantly larger than that of a humans. Proportionately the human brain is significantly larger in proportion to its body. Also, our brains are 2 percent of our body weight, whereas an elephants is only .15 percent of its body.

Your brain continues to grow until you are roughly 18, then around age 30 your brain will actually begin to shrink over time. Although you can still add connections in the brain, since everytime you recall a memory or fact, you actually are causing a new connection in your brain. Even learning new things can cause your brain to physically change. It has been found that your brain will change within seven days of learning and continued practicing of a new task. This is one good reason to try to take up new activities such as juggling, playing piano, or a second language. It has also been found that people who are bilingual before the age of five actually have denser brain tissues.

Although many might assume that the smarter you are the bigger your brain. Einstein's brain was actually smaller than the average brain. Interestingly enough, the portion that deals with math and spatial reasoning was about 15 percent wider than the average persons.

Despite the brain being an intricate part of our pain receptors that tells us when we are experiencing pain, the brain itself does not have any pain receptors and therefore cannot feel pain. Also it is so soft that one could cut it with a butter knife. This thought REALLY grosses me out!

Another oddity of the brain, which most people know, is that the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, and vice versa. Although one would assume that your brain is most active when you are awake, your brain is actually the most active during dreaming while you are asleep.

And let's not forget the belief that we only use 10 percent of our brains. The truth is, every part of the human brain does have a known function, and most of us do use the whole matter. Many scientists do not believe dreaming serves any real purpose, while others feel that we are reorganizing our cluttered minds during our dreams.

• http://www.brainhealthandpuzzles.com
• http://www.nursingassistantcentral.com/blog/2008/100-fascinating-facts-you-never-knew-about-the-human-brain/
• http://www.tastyhuman.com/30-interesting-facts-about-human-brain/