12 brain facts that will blow your mind!
Your grey and white matter is full of surprises. Read on to learn more about one of the most complex and mysterious organs in your body.
- The average adult brain weights about 3 pounds – or about 2% of your body’s total weight – but it needs 20% of your total energy and oxygen intake to power it.
- Albert Einstein’s brain weighed only 2.71 pounds, about 10% smaller than the average brain.
- Your brain generates about 12-25 watts of electricity, enough to power a low-wattage LED light.
- No one knows the exact number for sure but it has been estimated that we have about 86 billion brain cells (also known as neurons).
- 73% of your brain is water. Make sure you always stay hydrated: only a 2% drop in hydration levels reduces your memory and cognitive skills.
- Your brain is the fattiest organ in your body. Around 25% of your total cholesterol sits in your brain. More than half of your brain’s dry weight is fat.
- Cholesterol is essential for the creation of memories and learning, studies confirm. In fact, the creation and maintenance of the connections between brain cells – known as synapses – is entirely dependent on cholesterol. Low levels of good cholesterol is linked to memory loss and dementia.
- Your fatty brain needs the right kind of fat for development and performance. Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs), particularly omega-3, are important for both cognitive function and moods. Good sources of Omega-3s include oily fish, chia seeds, flaxseeds, and high-quality supplements.
- Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are. Teh olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it! Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Cambridge University researchers say the order of letters in a word doesn’t matter much to your brain. As long as the first and last letters are in the right spot, your brain can rearrange the letters to form words as fast as you can read. This is why you can easily make sense out of this jumble of letters - Are you reading this on your Apple iPhone? A team of neuroscientists with an MRI scanner discovered that Apple products stimulate the same parts of the brain activated by religious imagery in people of faith!
- You have a “second brain”: Your gut contains about 100 million neurons and the flora of bacteria that live inside your intestines constantly affects your thoughts, feelings, mood, behaviour, learning ability, behaviour and more. The gut-brain connection is real, multiple studies confirm.
- For the longest time it was believed that humans cannot grow new brain cells beyond the age of 3. But exciting studies prove that neurogenesis continues to occur in adult brains. You can grow a new brain! There’s hope that neurogenesis can be leveraged to treat depression, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and more.
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