Are we only using 10% of the brain?

Is it true that 90% of neurons in your body are on vacation somewhere?

You have heard this many times, by your parents, teachers, or a Discovery fan: 'You only use 10% of your brain'. This information, which began to circulate around the mid-1930s, continues to be widespread today. It can very well be the driving force for the efforts of many people, because it comes with the message, if you really try and promote your ability, success will surely come.

Although widely accepted and widely accepted, this information has been proven to be completely unfounded. For years, doctors, researchers and scientists have patiently explained to anyone who wants to listen, that there is no scientific basis for this 10% myth . Similarly, many prestigious scientific publications have tried to reject it, but the effectiveness is still very low.

On an amateur poll at Helium.com, up to 52% of respondents believe that people use only 10% of their brains, and only 48% disagree with the statement. this. This misconception became so popular that, in a study published in the 1998 Journal of Psychology, researchers realized that students in psychiatry who should have understood know better than the amateur, believe it too.

'Although there has been a lot of evidence to prove its illogical nature, this myth still refuses to go into the past, certainly because of the mental strength and encouragement it brings' - neurologist learn Sergio Della Sala. 'If the remaining 90% of the brain is actually still unused, as many people recognize, exploiting their potential will be the path to success, wealth and fame, and even, openness. a magical power for a new era ".

So what is the truth about your brain? And how do scientists study this? Join us in the article below.

The study of the brain in the 19th century

How can you come up with a charming and reliable idea, but so wrong? Let's start by distorting the statements of reputable scientists.

At the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, doctors discovered the brains of animals and stroke patients discovered that parts of the brain control different activities. In 1870, two German physiologists Gustav Fritsch and Eduard Hitzig used electrical stimuli on a spot on the dog's brain and found that it moved the front leg to the right. When they surgically removed that area of ​​the brain on two other dogs, they found that not only were they unable to move that area, but they also lost their awareness of it.

During the next half century, many scientists have tried in many experiments to create a dominant map of the brain, but they can only do this on 10% of the brain, by The remaining 90% stimulation did not show muscle contraction in any area of ​​the body. They named this 90% 'silent zone' , because their function is unknown. So far, we have discovered many of these functions, including thinking, language, coordination . Amateur people, with extremely harmful ignorance (a nature they often bear excellently) translated this into the message '90% of our brains are still vacationing somewhere and waiting to be used '.

This misleading quote continues to be reinforced by the statements of many famous people, pioneers as psychiatrist, philosopher William James, then Lowell Thomas, a famous American writer, Dale Carnegie. , the author of the famous book Dac Nhan Tam , and even many people believe that Albert Einstein himself had uttered this. Their common characteristics: they are all very good in non-disciplined fields.

Brain activity

If you read here and still believe that 90% of the 100 billion (even more) of our neurons are being thrown into the trash, you should know that researchers, who have basic knowledge and a lot of nervous system function tools, discovered that no area of ​​the brain is completely silent."We use all our brains, and most brains work 24 hours a day," said Barry Gordon, a neuroscientist at John Hopkins University.

This statement seems to shock many people, but it's perfectly reasonable. As scientist Christopher Wanjek pointed out in his book 'Bad Medicine' published in 2005, if humans only need up to 10% of their brains to function, the evolutionary process will definitely seek to eliminate. 90% of 'useless' remains. The reason is simple: the brain only accounts for 5% of the body's weight, but it consumes up to 20% of the total energy. A machine that requires a huge amount of energy, but only operates at 10% efficiency? This is unacceptable with natural selection.

In addition, if humans only need up to 10% of the brain to get normal functioning, this will almost mean that we become completely immune to neurological diseases. But the reality is, as Barry J. Beyerstein, the scientist, points out in his Scientific American article, inactivation of 90% of the brain, regardless of 90%, will immediately lead to coma. .

It is true that different parts of the brain govern different functions, at different times, but this does not mean they have a long rest period. Many functional exploration methods have shown that most of our brains undergo a hard working process almost continuously for 24 hours, and in fact, some of them do not have Resting concept. Even when we sleep, the frontal lobe - with the function of controlling high-level thinking and self-awareness, the body sensory area continues to function.

Brain discovery tools

Unlike their predecessors in the nineteenth century, those who had only one way to ignite the brain and observe what happened, scientists now have a warehouse of equipment to help they learn the truth about the brain.

One of them is the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In essence, this is a magnet that creates a powerful magnetic field associated with a computer that creates a series of images that allow the brain to behave. An fMRI machine not only provides detailed images of the anatomical structure of the brain, it also allows to determine exactly what part of the brain is functioning - thinking, talking, moving. or perceptive.

Another way to look at the brain is by magnetic resonance imaging (Computerize Tomography Scan - CT scan). This machine will create a series of X-ray films and put them together to produce an image that cuts across the brain. From this method, PET scan (positron emission tomography - positron cutting tomography) was born. With this method, a small amount of radioactive material will be taken into the body, either by injection or by mouth. This amount of radioactivity accumulates in the brain and emits gamma rays, which are 'grabbed' by many different types of cameras. The PET scan is heavily used to identify abnormalities in the brain and to study which parts of the brain are most active when performing a certain function.

These methods are also widely used in neurosurgery, aiming to accurately identify areas of surgery, thereby minimizing unnecessary injuries to patients.