The human brain.

Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking. Albert Einstein.

The brain makes up 2% of a persons weight. Despite this even at rest, the brain consumes 20% of the body's energy. The brain consumes energy at 10 times the rate of the of the body per gram tissue. The average power consumption of a typical adult is 100 watts and the brain consumes 20% of this making power of the brain 20 W. 
  Glucose is the main energy source for the brain. As the size and complexity of the brain increases, energy requirements increase. The human brain is one of the most energy hungry organs in the body thereby increase its vulnerability. If the energy supply is cut off just for 10 minutes, there will be serious injury to our brain that will lead to permanent brain damage. There is no other organ nearly as sensitive to changes in its energy supply. In 1955, Albert Einstein's brain was preserved for research. Three scientific papers have been published examining the features of Einstein's brain. The studies showed that Einstein's brain is differed to normal men's brain in that his brain has more glial cells per neuron that might indicate that neurons in Einstein's brain had an increased " metabolic need". They needed and used more energy. Einstein's brain weighted only 1,230 grams, which is less than  the average adult male brain (about 1,400 grams). The thickness of Einstein's cerebral cortex was thinner. However, the density of neurons in Einstein's brain was greater. This means Einstein's was able to pack more neurons in a given area of cortex. The most recent studies concerning Einstein's brain was published in the British medical journal, The Lancet on June 19,1999. They found that a portion of the brain that governs mathematical abilities and spatial reasoning - 2 key ingredients to the sort of thinking Einstein did the best, was 15% wider than average allowing better connection between its cells, which could have allowed them to work together more efficiently.  

Interesting information about the brain : 


What are studies of the brain called?


The study of the brain and its functions is known as neuroscience.

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour.

Neurophysiology is the study of normal healthy brain activity.

Neurology and psychiatry are both medical approaches to the study of the mind and its disorders and pathology or mental illness respectively.

How many main parts to the brain are there?

The human brain can be divided into three main parts: the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain:

1/ The forebrain includes the several lobes of the cerebral cortex that control higher functions.

2/ Midbrain functions include routing, selecting, mapping, and cataloguing information, including information perceived from the environment and information that is remembered and processed throughout the cerebral cortex.

3/ Hindbrain - (rhombencephalon) is a developmental categorization of portions of the central nervous system in vertebrates. A rare disease of the rhombencephalon, "rhombencephalosynapsis" is characterised by a missing vermis resulting in a fused cerebellum. Patients generally present with cerebellar ataxia.

Do men have a larger brain than women?

Male humans have about a 10% larger brain than females. A study of 46 adults aged 22-49 years found an average brain volume of 1273.6cc for men, ranging from 1052.9 to 1498.5cc, and 1131.1cc for women, ranging from 974.9 to 1398.1cc. However differences in male and female brain weight and size do not mean differences in mental ability. There is evidence of a gradual increase in average brain size over the last centuries, estimated to have been around 0.5% per decade.

Is a computer smarter than a human brain?

The brain has a processing capacity of 0.1 quadrillion instructions per second. The fastest super computer in the world, called Roadrunner is capable of handling 1.026 quadrillion calculations per second. However the computational power of the human brain is difficult to ascertain, as the human brain is not easily parallelled to the binary number processing of computers. For while the human brain is calculating a math problem, it is subconsciously processing data from millions of nerve cells that handle the visual input of the paper and surrounding area, the aural input from both ears, and the sensory input of millions of cells throughout the body. The brain is also regulating the heartbeat, monitoring oxygen levels, hunger and thirst requirements, breathing patterns and hundreds of other essential factors throughout the body. It is simultaneously comparing data from the eyes and the sensory cells in the arms and hands to keep track of the position of the pen and paper as the calculation is being performed.

Does alcohol kill brain cells every time you drink?

The idea that alcohol kills brain cells has long been promoted. Drinking alcohol does not actually "kill" brain cells. Roberta Pentney, professor of anatomy and cell biology at the University at Buffalo, concludes that alcohol does not kill brain cells but it damages the dendrites, the branched ends of nerve cells that bring messages into the brain cell causing damage to the way the cells in the brain communicate. Luckily the damage is largely reversible and not permanent. However years of alcohol abuse can cause serious neurological damage, including Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.

How and why do we dream?

Dreams have fascinated nearly everyone for thousands of years. There are two different schools of thought as to why we dream: the physiological school, and the psychological school. While many theories have been proposed, not single consensus has emerged as to why we dream. Some researchers suggest that dreams serve no real purpose, while other believe that dreaming is essential to mental, emotional and physical well-being. One theory for dreaming suggests dreams serve to clean up clutter from the mind.

Are humans born with all their brain cells?

Babies are born with around a 100 billion brain cells, but only a small number of neurons are actually connected. By three years of age a child brain has formed about 1,000 trillion connections, about twice as many as adults have. At around 11 years, the brain begins to prune unused connections. Connections that are used repeatedly in the early years become permanent; those that are not are eliminated. Hence the saying, "use it or lose it."

More interesting facts about the brain.

1. The diameter of an individual brain neuron is just 4 microns thick, you could fit 30,000 neurons on the head of a pin.
2. Your brain generates nearly 25 watts of power while you're awake, which is enough to light up a light bulb.
3. Alcohol interferes with brain processes by weakening connections between neurons.
4. Every time you have a new thought, or recall a memory, a new brain connection is made between two or more brain cells.
5. A living brain is so soft you could cut it with a table knife.
6. Loss of oxygen for just 5 to 10 minutes can cause serious brain damage. The brain can stay alive for 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen. After that cells begin die.
7. The average adults brain weighs 3 - 4 lbs. but consumes 20% of the body oxygen supply.
8. The human brain contains around 400 miles of blood vessels.
9. There is no sense of pain within the brain itself which explains why brain surgeons can probe areas of the brain even when the patient is awake.
10. The left side of your brain (left hemisphere) controls the right side of your body; and, the right side of your brain (right hemisphere) controls the left side of your body.
11. Your cerebral cortex is about as thick as a doctors tongue depressor and it grows thicker as you learn more.
12. You will lose consciousness in 10 seconds after the loss of blood supply to the brain.
13. Of all creatures on earth humans have the most complex brain.
14. Differences in brain weight and size do not equal differences in mental ability.
15. If stretched out the cerebral cortex would be 0.23 sq. m or 2.5sq.ft.
16. Average surface area of the cerebral cortex is 2,500 cm2 or 2.69 sq.ft.
17. There are about 100 billion neurons in the human brain, the same number of stars in our galaxy.

                                
                                Use it .


Edited by Ganeskumaran.