THE UNUSED BRAIN



One myth about the human brain is the claim that humans use only about 10 percent of their brain capacity. Medical doctors and psychologists insist that the statement is not supported by any scientific evidence.

It is likely the myth that humans use only about 10 percent of their brains arose during 1930s research when scientists were uncertain regarding the functions of large areas of the cortex. In recent years, researchers have been able to "map" the functions of different areas of the brain.

The neocortex, by which higher thinking is performed, consists of a sheet of cells about 2.5 millimeters in thickness. Without the neocortex, consciousness, would not exist.

Although the neocortex is a large part of human evolution, it does contain cavities without any brain cells, as well as considerable amounts of cerebrospinal fluid, white matter, blood vessels, blood, and "non-thinking cells." However, scientists say these areas should not be constituted as the mythical unused 90 percent of the brain.

SOURCES:

Czerner, Thomas B. What Makes You Tick? The Brain in Plain English. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2001.

Nolte, John. The Human Brain: An Introduction to Its Functional Anatomy. Philadelphia: Mosby Publishing, 2002.

Restak, Richard M., and David Grubin. The Secret Life of the Brain. Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry Press, 2001.



User Contributions:

1
HUSNAIN ABBAS
it is totaly wrong to say that husman beings use only 10% of mind.
but according to advance research it is said that we can't compare
the latest computer to the brain of a creeping insect as insect mind
is more superior than our latest computer.now u can make idea how far
husman mind is, than insect mind.but if we compare husman mind with simple computer it seems our mind is nothing.according to above comparsion averge man use only 2% of mind not 10%.
2
Zinjo
Your comment would carry more weight if you could spell!!!

However I do tend to agree that we haven't utilitzed our brain's fullest capacity yet.
3
Jahk
My comment is somewhat unrelated but somewhat is.

I have been testing my own abilities of my brain.

I use a deck of cards. The first one is simple. I made a card trick of my own. And at the end of the card trick I place the pile of cards face down. I take three piles away; one large one, a smaller one, and the next even smaller. My goal is to leave only 3 cards remaining. The more I practiced it, the more I could complete my goal exactly how I planned.

My second trick is completely different. I shuffle the cards a over and over. As I do it, I try to imagine the card the I will pull from a random spot of the deck.

At first I could not do it..of course. I tried to imagine it, feel it. I felt for a temperature change in the card or my hand when I was looking for a specific card.

However the more often I tried, the more often I did not. What I mean by this is. once in a while I would call a card without actually trying to figure it out. After a while I started to notice a pattern starting. One instance in particular. Within about 20 cards pulled, I called more than half of them.

So whenever I can, I pull out a deck of cards and I play around with them. Some times I hardly call a card. Other times I call many.

At this point I am tempted to relate my test to different theories for analysis: 1)"spatial- temporal reasoning". Because I am musically inclined and music works with a metronome. Perhaps I am counting my cards as I shuffle them. For every card that I pull up and replace in the pile; my mind keeps a memory print of that card within mind. Whether or not my memory can keep track of so many cards all at once, I am not sure. But it is worth looking into.
4
J.
Dr. Newberg of U of Pennsylvania, and Dr Patterson of ORU indicate that there is a part of the brain is only activated by speaking in tongues to God/Jesus, using brain scans, and other wise it is not used, and not prayer, singing, emotions, reaction, or thinking affect this brain section. What part is it?

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