- Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour. Ever
wonder how you can react so fast to things around you or why that
stubbed toe hurts right away? It’s due to the super-speedy movement of
nerve impulses from your brain to the rest of your body and vice versa,
bringing reactions at the speed of a high powered luxury sports car.
- The brain operates on the same amount of power as 10-watt light bulb. The
cartoon image of a light bulb over your head when a great thought
occurs isn’t too far off the mark. Your brain generates as much energy
as a small light bulb even when you’re sleeping.
- The human brain cell can hold 5 times as much information as the Encyclopedia Britannica. Or any other encyclopedia for that matter. Scientists have yet to settle on a definitive amount,
but the storage capacity of the brain in electronic terms is thought to
be between 3 or even 1,000 terabytes. The National Archives of Britain,
containing over 900 years of history, only takes up 70 terabytes,
making your brain’s memory power pretty darn impressive.
- Your brain uses 20% of the oxygen that enters your bloodstream.The
brain only makes up about 2% of our body mass, yet consumes more oxygen
than any other organ in the body, making it extremely susceptible to
damage related to oxygen deprivation. So breathe deep to keep your brain
happy and swimming in oxygenated cells.
- The brain is much more active at night than during the day.Logically,
you would think that all the moving around, complicated calculations
and tasks and general interaction we do on a daily basis during our
working hours would take a lot more brain power than,
say, lying in bed. Turns out, the opposite is true. When you turn off
your brain turns on. Scientists don’t yet know why this is but you can
thank the hard work of your brain while you sleep for all those pleasant
dreams.
- Scientists say the higher your I.Q. the more you dream. While
this may be true, don’t take it as a sign you’re mentally lacking if
you can’t recall your dreams. Most of us don’t remember many of our
dreams and the average length of most dreams is only 2-3 seconds–barely
long enough to register.
- Neurons continue to grow throughout human life. For
years scientists and doctors thought that brain and neural tissue
couldn’t grow or regenerate. While it doesn’t act in the same manner as
tissues in many other parts of the body, neurons can and do grow
throughout your life, adding a whole new dimension to the study of the
brain and the illnesses that affect it.
- Information travels at different speeds within different types of neurons. Not
all neurons are the same. There are a few different types within the
body and transmission along these different kinds can be as slow as 0.5
meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec.
- The brain itself cannot feel pain. While
the brain might be the pain center when you cut your finger or burn
yourself, the brain itself does not have pain receptors and cannot feel
pain. That doesn’t mean your head can’t hurt. The brain is surrounded by
loads of tissues, nerves and blood vessels that are plenty receptive to
pain and can give you a pounding headache.
- 80% of the brain is water. Your
brain isn’t the firm, gray mass you’ve seen on TV. Living brain tissue
is a squishy, pink and jelly-like organ thanks to the loads of blood and
high water content of the tissue. So the next time you’re feeling
dehydrated get a drink to keep your brain hydrated.
Go to link www.science10000.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment