The Human Brain

What about the uniqueness of the human brain?

Our brain is the most important part of our body. 

In the same way you need to exercise your body you also have to exercise your brain and its capacity. This is done by several activities that require the use of logic. 

You have certainly heard of the term "Brainstorm" which has the meaning of using your brain capacities in order to get what you need because every information we absorb is stored in the brain.

So to have a "strong" brain you should read a lot, play games that requires logic such as chess, take quizzes and many similar activities. So read a lot and improve your brain!

Scientists identify the brain's fear frequency

Ever wondered why you get chills down your spine each time you sit in the dentist’s chair or strap yourself into a rollercoaster? They're produced by a conditioned fear response, which can be learned following a bad experience and recalled whenever certain stimuli relating to that event present themselves. While this concept is certainly nothing new, scientists have for the first time identified a particular brainwave that appears to regulate this response, potentially opening the door to new treatments for conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

The brain’s ability to learn and recall conditioned behaviors was famously illustrated by Ivan Pavlov and his slobbery dogs in the 19th century, and numerous subsequent studies have revealed how this phenomenon can be manipulated to elicit fear as well as hunger. Rodents, for instance, can easily be trained to freeze upon hearing a tone that they have come to associate with an aversive experience such as pain.

Scientists have found a method to decode what a person is perceiving

Neuroscientists have developed a new technique that enables them to decode what people are perceiving just by looking at a readout of their brain signals. This ability to spontaneously decipher human consciousness in real-time could have wide-ranging implications, potentially leading to novel treatments for brain injuries or helping people with locked-in syndrome to communicate.
The researchers collaborated with seven epilepsy patients at a hospital in Seattle, who had a number of electrodes called electrocorticographic (ECoG) arrays implanted into their brains. These targeted the temporal and occipital lobes of the brain's cortex, concerned with hearing and vision, respectively.
Patients were each shown a series of grayscale images of faces and houses, which flashed up on a screen in a random order for 400 milliseconds each. Using a novel framework for interpreting subjects’ brain activity data, the researchers were able to tell exactly when each patient had seen an image, and what that image contained. A report of this process has been published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology.
Lead researcher Kai Miller told IFLScience that “there have been other studies where scientists have been able to tell when a patient is looking at one type of an image or another, but the timing of this stimulus had always been known ahead of time.
“However, we were able to decode spontaneously from the signal, so we were able to look at the brain signal and say at this point in time they saw this particular type of image.” To achieve this, the team focused on two types of brain signals: event-related potentials (ERPs) and broadband.

^{Electrodes were implanted into the temporal and occipital lobes of epilepsy patients, and used to measure their brain activity when viewing a series of images. Kai Miller, Stanford University}

Scientists shed new light on how the brain detects motion

If you’ve managed to avoid getting hit by a bus today, you should thank your brain, which is designed to detect motion in order to help us safely navigate the world around us. This ability is so vital for our survival as a species that we’ve even developed the capacity to detect “implied motion,” such as movement that is suggested in still photographs. Yet while most of us take this for granted, scientists have long struggled to understand the neural pathways that control this essential function.
Publishing their findings in the journal NeuroImage, a team of researchers from Dartmouth College have now shed new light on how the brain interprets motion, indicating that the two pathways involved in this process may be more integrated than previously thought. Additionally, their results suggest that motion is processed differently depending on whether the moving object is animate or inanimate.

The impact of smartphone thumbing on your brain

Almost like a new drug, our addiction to using our smartphones is having a profound effect on our brains. Whether we’re texting, posting on Facebook, or playing Angry Birds, the way we’re repetitively using our fingers and thumbs on the smooth surface of a touch screen is causing certain areas of our brains to become bigger. In other words, we’re experiencing heightened brain activity that rewires sensory processing when our fingertips and thumbs are touched, a phenomenon known as “brain plasticity” in which the brain adapts to learning new things.

How are memories stored in the brain.

How effective are crosswords?

Many people believe that doing crossword puzzles can keep the brain sharp, and even prevent Alzheimer’s.

But it’s probably not true. Research suggests that while crosswords can form one part of a brain fitness regimen, they aren’t enough by themselves. And a recent study that pitted crossword puzzles against Posit Science brain training found that BrainHQ training improved cognitive function while crosswords seemed to have no positive effects.

Crosswords may help with a brain function called fluency, or word finding. Fluency is a type of process based in the speech and language centers of the brain. But watch out: only crosswords that challenge you can help your brain improve its function. Crossword puzzles that are too easy won’t help—you have to push yourself to the next level to change your brain. And although fluency is an important brain function, it’s just one of many.

Crosswords might not keep you sharp, but they are fun! Try our brain-trivia crossword to see how much you know about the brain. Or, to learn more about research on the effects ofcrosswords vs. brain training, read about this independent, peer-reviewed study in 681 participants.

The E-book "Staying Sharp" with brain fitness content.

Today we are offering a copy of a popular e-book called 'Staying Sharp, Successful Aging and Your Brain'.  You can read it online or even download it if you want. 

Here Brainy fellows take a look at the cover.

This E-book takes you to several stages of informing you about your brain and what happens there , for example like how are memories created.  

There are also outlines of the process of 'successfully aging' from the neuroscience perspective. 

Also the largest chapter in this ebook is all about our favorite topic here Taking Control of your Brain Health. 

                                       Let me see the e-book

Five foods that can sharpen your brain.

Did you know that certain foods can increase your brain power and give you a mental boost?
Here is a list of 5 foods that help you to sharpen your brain.

10 myths about the brain.

1. Your brain is gray.
2. Listening to Mozart makes you smarter.
3. You get new brain wrinkles when you learn something.
4. You can learn through subliminal messages.
5. The human brain is the biggest brain.
6. Your brain stays active after you get decapitated.
7. Brain damage is always permanent.
8. You can get holes in your brain through drug use.
9. Alcohol kills brain cells.
10. You only use 10% of your brain.

Facts about the human brain.

Fast Brain Facts

• 3 = the weight of your brain in pounds
• 4 to 6 = the number of minutes your brain can survive without oxygen before it starts to die
• 8 to 10 = the number of seconds you have before losing consciousness due to blood loss
• 10 to 23 = the number of watts of power your grain generates when you’re awake (that’s enough to turn on a light bulb!)
• 20 = the percentages of oxygen and blood flow going to the brain
• 100,000 = the number of miles of blood vessels in your brain
• 1,000 to 10,000 = the number of synapses for each neuron in your brain
• 100 billion = the number of neurons in your brain

Read more

50 interesting facts about the human brain

50 interesting facts about the human brain

Interesting facts about the human Brain

The human brain has amazed and baffled people throughout the ages. Some scientists and doctors have devoted their entire lives to learning how the brain works. It is no wonder that people enjoy learning facts about this incredible organ in the human body. Below, you will find 100 facts about the brain including how it works, how it develops, what it controls, how it affects sleep, dreams, and memory, and more, which may be helpful. When you finish reading about these fun facts, take this short brainpower quiz and see how much you learned about the human brain.

Physical Attributes                                                                   interesting facts about the human brain

These facts will teach you interesting bits of information about the physical make-up of the human brain.

1. Weight. The weight of the human brain is about 3 lbs.
2. Cerebrum. The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain and makes up 85% of the brain’s weight.
3. Skin. Your skin weighs twice as much as your brain.
4. Gray matter. The brain’s gray matter is made up of neurons, which gather and transmit signals.
5. White matter. The white matter is made up of dendrites and axons, which create the network by which neurons send their signals.
6. Gray and white. Your brain is 60% white matter and 40% gray matter.
7. Water. The brain is made up of about 75% water.
8. Neurons. Your brain consists of about 100 billion neurons.
9. Synapses. There are anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 synapses for each neuron.
10. No pain. There are no pain receptors in the brain, so the brain can feel no pain.
11. Largest brain. While an elephant’s brain is physically larger than a human brain, the human brain is 2% of total body weight (compared to 0.15% of an elephant’s brain), meaning humans have the largest brain to body size.
12. Blood vessels. There are 100,000 miles of blood vessels in the brain.
13. Fat. The human brain is the fattest organ in the body and may consists of at least 60% fat.

The Developing Brain

Starting from within the womb, fetal brain development begins the amazing journey that leads to a well-developed brain at birth that continues to grow for 18 more years.

14. Neurons. Neurons develop at the rate of 250,000 neurons per minute during early pregnancy.

14. Size at birth. At birth, your brain was almost the same size as an adult brain and contained most of the brain cells for your whole life.
15. Newborn’s growth. A newborn baby’s brain grows about three times its size in the first year.
16. Stopped growing. Your brain stopped growing at age 18.
17. Cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex grows thicker as you learn to use it.
18. Stimulation. A stimulating environment for a child can make the difference between a 25% greater ability to learn or 25% less in an environment with little stimulation.
19. New neurons. Humans continue to make new neurons throughout life in response to mental activity.
20. Read aloud. Reading aloud and talking often to a young child promotes brain development.
21. Emotions. The capacity for such emotions as joy, happiness, fear, and shyness are already developed at birth. The specific type of nurturing a child receives shapes how these emotions are developed.
22. First sense. The first sense to develop while in utero is the sense of touch. The lips and cheeks can experience touch at about 8 weeks and the rest of the body around 12 weeks.
23. Bilingual brains. Children who learn two languages before the age of five alters the brain structure and adults have a much denser gray matter.
24. Child abuse and the brain. Studies have shown that child abuse can inhibit development of the brain and can permanently affect brain development.

Brain Function

From the invisible workings of the brain to more visible responses such as yawns or intelligence, find out how the brain functions with these facts.

26. Oxygen. Your brain uses 20% of the total oxygen in your body.
27. Blood. As with oxygen, your brain uses 20% of the blood circulating in your body.
28. Unconsciousness. If your brain loses blood for 8 to 10 seconds, you will lose consciousness.
29. Speed. Information can be processed as slowly as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec (about 268 miles/hr).
30. Wattage. While awake, your brain generates between 10 and 23 watts of power–or enough energy to power a light bulb.
31. Yawns. It is thought that a yawn works to send more oxygen to the brain, therefore working to cool it down and wake it up.
32. Neocortex. The neocortex makes up about 76% of the human brain and is responsible for language and consciousness. The human neocortex is much larger than in animals.
33. 10%. The old adage of humans only using 10% of their brain is not true. Every part of the brain has a known function.
34. Brain death. The brain can live for 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen, and then it begins to die. No oxygen for 5 to 10 minutes will result in permanent brain damage.
35. Highest temperature. The next time you get a fever, keep in mind that thehighest human body temperature ever recorded was 115.7 degrees–and the man survived.
36. Stress. Excessive stress has shown to "alter brain cells, brain structure and brain function."
37. Love hormones and autism. Oxytocin, one of the hormones responsible for triggering feelings of love in the brain, has shown some benefits to helping control repetitive behaviors in those with autism.
38. Food and intelligence. A study of one million students in New York showed that students who ate lunches that did not include artificial flavors, preservatives, and dyes did 14% better on IQ tests than students who ate lunches with these additives.
39. Seafood. In the March 2003 edition of Discover magazine, a report describes how people in a 7-year study who ate seafood at least one time every week had a 30% lower occurrence of dementia.

Psychology of the Brain

From tickling to tasting to decision-making, find out how the brain affects what you experience.

40. Tickles. You can’t tickle yourself because your brain distinguished between unexpected external touch and your own touch.
41. Imaginary playmates. A study from Australia showed that children with imaginary playmates between the ages of 3 and 9 tended to be first-born children.
42. Reading faces. Without any words, you may be able to determine if someone is in a good mood, is feeling sad, or is angry just by reading the face. A small area in the brain called the amygdala is responsible for your ability to read someone else’s face for clues to how they are feeling.
43. Ringing in the ears. For years, medical professionals believed that tinnitus was due to a function within the mechanics of the ear, but newer evidence shows that it is actually a function of the brain.
44. Pain and gender. Scientists have discovered that men and women’s brains react differently to pain, which explains why they may perceive or discuss pain differently.
45. Supertasters. There is a class of people known as supertasters who not only have more taste buds on the tongue, but whose brain is more sensitive to the tastes of foods and drinks. In fact, they can detect some flavors that others cannot.
46. Cold. Some people are much more sensitive to cold and actually feel pain associated with cold. Research as shown that the reason is due to certain channels that send cold information to the brain.
47. Decision-making. Women tend to take longer to make a decision, but are more likely to stick with the decision, compared to men, who are more likely to change their mind after making a decision.
48. Exercise. Some studies indicate that while some people are naturally more active, others are naturally more inactive, which may explain why getting out and exercising is more difficult for some.
49. Boredom. Boredom is brought on by a lack of change of stimulation, is largely a function of perception, and is connected to the innate curiosity found in humans.
50. Physical illness. The connection between body and mind is a strong one. One estimate is that between 50-70% of visits to the doctor for physical ailments are attributed to psychological factors.

interesting facts about the human brain