Psychology Facts

▼ Brain ▼

The human brain is the command center for the human nervous system. It receives signals from the body's sensory organs and outputs information to the muscles.

》It can store an estimated 2,500,000 gigabyte's

According to Paul Reber, Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University, the human brain can store an estimated 2,500,000 gigabytes. That's equivalent to 300 years worth of TV shows.

》Composition of the brain: 78% water, 12% lipids, 8% protein, 1% carbs, 2% soluble organics, and 1% salt

》Your brain isn't fully formed until age 25. Brain development begins from the back of the brain and works its way to the front. Therefore, your frontal lobes, which control planning and reasoning, are the last to strengthen and structure connections.

》It's a myth that you only use 10 percent of your brain. You actually use all of it. (Yes, even when you are sleeping.) Neurologists confirm that your brain is always active.

》The human brain can generate about 23 watts of power (enough to power a lightbulb). All that power calls for some much-needed rest. Adequate sleep helps maintain the pathways in your brain. Additionally, sleep deprivation can increase the build-up of a protein in your brain that is linked to Alzheimer's disease.

》The human brain is divided into two hemispheres, the left and right, connected by a bundle of nerve fibers called the corpus callosum. The hemispheres are strongly, though not entirely, symmetrical. Generally, the left brain controls the muscles on the right side of the body, and the right brain controls the left side. One hemisphere may be slightly dominant, as with left- or right-handedness.

》The brain can't feel pain. It interprets pain signals sent to it, but it does not feel pain.

》The human brain begins to lose some memory abilities as well as some cognitive skills by your late 20s.

》MRIs Can See You Falling In Love.

Technology can spot the most powerful force in the universe playing out in your brain --romantic love. Imaging studies showed that participants who were in love had high activity in areas of the brain associated with reward, motivation, emotion, and social functioning. The study compared in-love brains against the scans of those that had recently ended a relationship or were not in one at all. Not only did they find that heightened activity in the aforementioned regions of the brain, but found that the longer someone had been in love, the greater that brain activity was.

》Your brain uses 20 percent of the oxygen and blood in your body.

》Male Brain vs. Female Brains: Different, But Equal
Imaging studies have shown us a few differences in the size and processing characteristics of the male and female brain. Men's brains are about 10% larger than women's, but size doesn't make a difference here -- intelligence remains the same. Other studies have found that the brain processes pain differently for men and women (women have a higher sensitivity to pain, for example).

Women have more grey matter in their brain, but use less of it than men (while also using more white matter than men). The male brain seems to differ from the female brain in social decision-making processes and how it copes with stress. There's still more to discover, though, on what causes these differences.

》Brains Are Like Fingerprints.
To the untrained eye, every brain looks the same -- but actually, no two people have the same brain anatomy. Your brain is the only one in the world like it because of the experiences that influenced your brain development, what you've learned, along with genetics. And the more you experience, the more your wiring continues to change. It was only until about 30 years ago that scientists realized how different brains are from each other.

》The Body Below Your Neck Greatly Impacts What's Above It.

Body health is related to brain health. What you put into your stomach will affect your brain's performance (hence the term "brain food"). Staying hydrated is really important -- if you're dehydrated by just 2%, you may start to notice decreased ability in focus, memory, and cognition. As more evidence that water loss from the body affects the brain, 90 minutes of sweating can age your brain as much as one year (by shrinking it)!
Exercise and brain health go hand-in-hand. Exercise benefits the brain by boosting your capacity for learning and slowing down the (inevitable) cognitive decline. Those who exercise regularly over time (doing more than the recommended minimum) can actually slow the brain aging process by up to ten years.

》Alcoholism Can Permanently Alter Your Brain

How alcohol affects the brain (and subsequently, behavior) is not a mystery -- drinking reduces the ability to make good decisions or coordinate actions like driving, etc. But when it comes to heavy usage over time, the brain and alcohol do not fare well together. Researchers have discovered that alcohol can cause irreversible damage to cognitive function (including the onset of dementia) and memory.