The amazing things your brain can do

The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. It works like a sophisticated machine with unfathomable technology.

It is obvious that as the engine of the body, the brain is something extraordinary. Let's discover the amazing things and facts about the brain that will blow your mind (no pun intended).

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The brain has 100.000 million neurons. It sounds like a lot, but let's not forget that our brain is the one in charge of every mental process.

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Although it's the organ in charge of identifying pain, it doesn't feel it. In fact, the anesthesia used in brain surgeries is only for the pain caused to the scalp.

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The human body is 60% water, and the brain is almost made of 75-80% of it. The lack of water makes our brain hinder its abilities.

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A grown functional brain weighs between 1.300 and 1500 grams. A baby's brain weighs 350 grams and reaches 900 grams when it turns 2. However, size doesn't matter because Albert Einstein's brain was just 1200 grams.

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We could say that the brain keeps two copies of the same memory: one in the prefrontal cortex (long-term memory) and the other in the subiculum (which erases memories with time).

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According to Northwestern University in Illinois, the brain is able to deceive us with certain memories. The hypothalamus is constantly editing memories, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it transforms them into good ones… The hypothalamus modifies and adapts them to each person.

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There's a part of the brain that, exclusively, keeps the information of the faces we come across in order to remember them every time we see them again.

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The University of Birmingham in the UK confirms that oxytocin has the same effect in humans as alcohol. Oxytocin is the hormone that controls things like friendship, happiness, empathy, and even love.

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According to the Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands, men's brain is 14% bigger than women's. However, women's brains are better organized and process information more efficiently.

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The State University of New York assures that the duration of the yawn is connected to the complex structure of our brains. Although there's no explanation for yawns, we understand that is a way for the brain to refresh and improve our response speed.

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The brain is constantly producing electricity, to the point that it could be able to light up a small lamp. The signals that the neurons send to each other are the ones creating such electricity.

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The brain is divided into two halves, and each oversees different functions. The left hemisphere is connected to language, logical reasoning, reading, mathematic operations, and analyzing skills.

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The right hemisphere is responsible for the imaginative and creative processes of the brain. But do not worry, both sides are in constant connection.

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According to the Loma Linda University in California, laughter has the same effect on the brain as meditation and helps think more straightforwardly, and more positively whilst improving decision making.

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According to several experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), our brain is able to process an image in just 13 thousandths of a second.

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What we have often heard in movies is false. We don't use just 10% of our brain, in fact, it's working all day at its maximum capacity. However, if we were to use 100% of the brain, we will reach human perfection.

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According to the neuroscientist, Leah Somerville, of Harvard University, the brain reaches its biggest size at 10 years old but can keep changing until 30.

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Neurotransmitters of the brain send messages to the whole body at 360 km/h, so, right when you're thinking of doing something, the body proceeds to do it.

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The answer is yes. The North Carolina University of Duke presented a study that states that sleeping less than 7 hours a day reduces brain activity and cognitive performance. What's more, it causes premature aging of the nervous system.

According to the Mental Health Center of the University of Texas, the brain prioritizes dangerous information and enhances the areas that control visual information, decision making as well as motor behavior.

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Although the brain represents just 2% of the total body weight, it needs 20% of the body's energy to keep a constant correlation between stimuli and responses. Believe it or not, it burns 300 calories per day.

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Opposite to what everybody thinks, alcohol doesn't kill neurons. However, it can damage their connective tissue and leave them incapacitated.

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