Using only 10% of your brain?

This was a age old myth that humans use only 10% of our brains. This myth came about due to many reasons and was later busted. Lets get a sneak peak!

HOW THIS MYTH CAME ABOUT?

• The brain is made of 10% neurons and 90% glial cells. The neurons are the transmitters of all information within the brain, which is the major brain function. Now since we are using only neurons to do all the transmission, we seemed to be using only this 10%
  
• In 1930 Karl Lashley and his mice contributed to this myth. He conducted experiments by removing large parts of the mice and putting them back into the mazes they had been earlier trained in. These mice could still retrace the paths despite removed parts.
  
• The popular movies and TV series continue to use this myth and create works of fiction which caused its popularity
  

ON THE CONTRARY..

• The glial cells though earlier were thought of as having little or no function are capable of much more! They form the glue like network around the neurons and carry out many functions. They support the neurons, hold them together and insulate them. They feed the neurons with nutrients and cause them to be up and running They also take care removing any dead neurons. So glial cells do the major chunk of work of cleaning, feeding, support and ensure the entire brain system is well-maintained. There are different type of glial cells which take up different supportive functions. Thus, we cannot consider them as the unutilized portion of the brain!
  
• Karl Lashley's mice probably used another brain function. The brain has the ability to heal itself. When an injury occurs in one part of the brain, the other cells surround the area. The intact areas can adapt and compensate for the injured area. If this took place in the mice, they probably seemed still normal!
  
• There are other arguments which are quite logical. If we used only 10% of our brains then why would a small damage cause such serious effects
  
• From an evolutionary point of view, nature should have ideally discarded so much unused matter
  
• Experiments conducted to measure brain activity using a magnetoencephalogram (MEG) showed high brain activity. When the subject is exposed to various mental functions like calculations, memory recall etc brain shows upto 35% activity
  
• There is brain activity even during our sleep

Nevertheless, the much complex brain has been the most intriguing organ of the human body!!!

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