The human brain has
amazed and baffled
people throughout
the ages. Some
scientists and
researchers have
devoted their entire
lives to learning how
the brain works.

Here are some facts
about your brain.

Physical Attributes

The weight of
your brain is
about 3 pounds.

Your skin weighs twice as much as your
brain.

Your brain is made up of about 75 percent
water.

Your brain consists of about 100 billion
neurons.

There are anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000
synapses for each neuron.

There are no pain receptors in your brain,
so your brain can feel no pain.
There are 100,000 miles of blood vessels in
your brain.
Your brain is the fattest organ in your body
and may consist of at least 60 percent fat.

The Developing Brain

At birth, your brain was almost the same
size as an adult brain and contained most
of the brain cells for your whole life.
A newborn baby’s brain grows about three
times its size in the first year.

Humans continue to make new neurons
throughout life in response to mental
activity.

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.
Brain Function

Your brain uses 20 percent of the total
oxygen in your body.
If your brain loses blood for 8 to 10
seconds, you will lose consciousness.

While awake, your brain generates
between 10 and 23 watts of power -- or
enough energy to power a light bulb.
The old adage of humans only using 10% of
their brain is not true. Every part of the
brain has a known function.

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.

A study of 1 million students in New York
showed that students who ate lunches that
did not include artificial flavors,
preservatives, and dyes did 14 percent
better on IQ tests than students who ate
lunches with these additives.
Psychology of Your Brain

You can’t tickle yourself because your brain
distinguishes between unexpected external
touch and your own touch(the only place you can tickle youself is your upper part of your mouth).

There is a class of people known as
supertasters who not only have more taste
buds on their tongue, but whose brain is
more sensitive to the tastes of foods and
drinks. In fact, they can detect some flavors
that others cannot.

The connection between body and mind is
a strong one. One estimate is that between
50-70 percent of visits to the doctor for
physical ailments are attributed to
psychological factors.


Memory

Every time you recall a memory or have a
new thought, you are creating a new
connection in your brain.

Memories triggered by scent have a
stronger emotional connection, and
therefore appear more intense than other
memory triggers.

While you sleep at night may be the best
time for your brain to consolidate all your
memories from the day. Lack of sleep may
actually hurt your ability to create new
memories.

Dreams and Sleep

Most people dream about 1-2 hours a night
and have an average of 4-7 dreams each
night.

Studies show that brain waves are more
active while dreaming than when you are
awake.

Some people (about 12 percent) dream
only in black and white while others dream
in color.

While you sleep, your body produces a
hormone that may prevent you from acting
out your dreams, leaving you virtually
paralyzed.