The mysteries of the brain are just as intriguing as the brain itself. Composed mostly of fat, the brain is an amazing organ which is capable of surprising feats of memory and learning.
It's very much susceptible to damage while still being remarkably adaptable to change.
So without further Ado here are some mysterious facts about the human brain.
1. An Adult brain weighs around 3 pound.
One fact that is popularly known is that the human brain is very heavy. The human brain is estimated to weigh about three pounds and as such puts humans among the list of animals with the largest brains. But the human brain isn't the largest, when it comes down to size, the sperm whale and the elephant are more qualified as their brain weighs 18 pounds and 11 pounds respectively. That is, the Sperm whales brains weighs about 0.06% it's body size while the elephant's brain weighs 0.2% it's body size. But despite the elephant and the sperm whale having a gigantic brain, it's equivalent when compared to body mass is still less than that of the human brain( the human brain weighs 2% of the body mass.)
Do brain size determine intelligence?
Although the brain of an adult human weighs about 3 pounds, it's not always so as children tend to have a lower brain mass(about 400gram). But some conditions like Autism could affect how well the brain develops. For example, children with Autism tend to have bigger brains than non-autistic children. Also in disease condition such as Alzheimer's disease in older adults, the hippocampus which is a center of the brain associated with memory tends to be smaller.
With facts like these, question such as " do brain size matter in intelligence?" Is most likely to occur.
And the answer to that question is yes, as seen in the case of children versus adults, but it's important to note that high brain size doesn't really equal high level of intelligence as illustrated by Micheal McDaniel of the Virgina Commonwealth university. However some factors do play a role in determining intelligence and such factors include, relative brain size, density of neurons in the brain, social and cultural factors and other structural differences inside the brain.
2. 60% of the Human brain is made of fat.
Fats just like proteins and vitamins are important to the human body for proper maintenance of vital functions. But the main question this article looks to take is why the brain has too much fat.
As many of you reading this article may know, fat is essential to the body and in most case is stored in the adipose tissue for energy purposes. But in the brain it's a different story, the brain doesn't store fat because it's needs it for energy, fat are found more in the brain because the brain uses it for insulation.
The brain is a complex structure of wires called neurons which transfers information from one point to another inform of electric pulse. The fats in the brain wraps around these neurons forming myelin sheaths, and in doing so they insulate the neurons causing speedy transfer of information as well as prevent damage to the brain tissues by the electricity it conveys.
Brain Food.
The brain needs fat for it's active function, 25% of fat in the brain is cholesterol which is important for memory and learning but not all fat is good for the health or brain despite it being present in our food.
The most important fat for the brain is polyunsaturated fatty acids, aka Omega( particularly Omega-3).
Because the human body doesn't manufacture such fats we need to implement them in our diet. Examples of food that contain such fat includes,
- Oil fish: such as Tuna, Sardines..etc.
- Walnuts.
- Avocados.
- etc.....
3. The brain operates on a enough watts of electricity to power a small light bulb.
For a massive tissue that weighs 2% of the human body, it would be expected of the giant mass of tissue to operate slowly but contrary to that idea, the brain is extremely fast in receiving, processing and responding to stimuli or information.
Picture this, you are walking on a lonely dark road, humming a beautiful melody as you hurriedly walk home. You arrive at a junction that splits the single path into two paths, left and right. But in the middle of this divide is a dark figure, you are unsure who it is or what it is. All you see is the seemingly Sharp knife held in it's hand that glows in the nightlight reflected from the moon. Instantly your brain signals danger, and quickly sends the necessary response to the body neurons to implement and this response is sent via electric pulse mediated through the billions of neuron cells present in the body.
The brain alone has over a 100 billion neurons that allows it to process inform and respond to incoming information at a speed greater than that of a super computer. The brain is so powerful that it never takes a break, even when we sleep and while a single neuron generates only a tiny amount of electricity, all the neurons in the brain put together can generate enough electricity to power a low-wattage bulb.
Now, this explains why we are able to think fast, and react quickly to life threatening situations relayed to the brain by the other sense organs.(There is so much electricity flowing through the brain).