The average human brain weighs three pounds. That is the same weight as one and a half bags of sugar! The brain is three per cent of our body weight.
Water makes up 70 per cent of our human brains.
Our human brains use 25 percent of our body's blood supply and oxygen.
Brains are like 'muscles'. If we use them more they become bigger and stronger.
Neurones are brain cells and we have 10-15 billion of them between our ears! It's not the number of neurones that matters more but the number of connections between them that determines our intelligence. Our brains have at least 10 trillion interconnections. The more connections we have the smarter we are!
Our 'triune' brain is made up of three parts:
1) The 'neocortex' which is the 'thinking' part of our brains.
2) The 'mammalian' brain which is responsible for remembering and long term memory.
3) The 'reptilian' brain which is the instinctive part of our brains and is responsible for heart rate and breathing, and our 'fight or flight' response.
When we experience negative stress we enter the 'reptilian state' and it is very difficult for learning to take place.
When we are relaxed and in the alpha state, learning takes place more easily.
The 'Lateralisation Theory' explained that we had two sides of the brain: right and left, and that they would function independently of each other. The right side was the 'aRt side and the left side was the Logical side of the brain. The right side was associated with imagination, creativity, pictures, rhythm and seeing the 'bigger picture'. The left side was associated with reason, language, order and seeing the smaller details. This brain theory is now said to be too simplistic and is now out of date.
However to increase our learning, combining the left and right sides of our brain can help us to increase our learning.
It is important that we have 'a healthy mind in a healthy body'. We need to eat well. That means eating a well balanced diet, eating a good breakfast, eating the right foods to give us the energy for our bodies and brains to use. We also need to exercise regularly. This helps to increase the blood supply and oxygen to our brains. Exercise also helps us to relax and to be more creative. Finally our bodies and brains need a good rest because during sleep our bodies rest and our brains process what we have learnt. Sleep deprivation will reduce our ability to learn and reduce our ability to retain information.
Now you know some wonderful facts about your amazing brain! And like a pet, you need to feed it well, exercise it and give it plenty of rest and then it will serve you well! Remember 'a healthy mind in a healthy body.'
This mind map simply reviews the physical and physiological facts about the brain which you have just read. Click to view this mind map using the iMindMap viewer: Facts About Your Brain Mind Map