20 amazing curiosities of the human brain (that you did not know)

The human brain is a "complex machine" essential for the proper functioning of the entire body. It is for this reason that it generates great intrigue and has led to multiple investigations to get to know it better.

Despite having knowledge of a large part of the functions and brain structures, the investigations do not stop since given its complexity there is still knowledge to discover. It is fascinating how this organ allows us to be who we are, it allows us to carry out basic functions such as breathing or beating of the heart and other more complex ones that distinguish us from other living beings such as having feelings or reasoning. If you want to know the best curious facts about our brain, keep reading.

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The fascinating human brain: the most curious and shocking facts

Discoveries about the structure and functioning of the human brain never cease to amaze. How many neurons constitute it, what is its main component, how fast does it work, what is its capacity... these are some of the many questions that arise. In this article we give you 20 data regarding our brain that will surely not leave you indifferent.

1. The human brain does not feel pain

It seems incredible, but it's true. The brain does not feel pain, that is, if we make a cut with a scalpel directly on the brain would not hurt us, since it is the only organ in the human body that does not have receptors for the pain. Paradoxically, it is responsible for processing the signals that come from other parts of the body and generating the sensation of pain..

2. The brain is made up of 75% water.

It is estimated that the human body is made up of 60% water, therefore the brain will not be less and also reaches percentages of up to 75% in water composition. In this way, staying hydrated is important for its proper development and functioning.

3. weighs 1,500 grams

The adult human brain is approximately considered to weigh one kilo and five hundred grams, being only 2% of the total body weight. We are not born with this size of brain, but rather its weight increases progressively, it is calculated that on average the brain of a newborn weighs about 350 grams reaching 900 grams at two years of age age. Another remarkable point is that weight does not influence intelligence, there are other variables that are more important such as the number of neural connections.

4. It is made up of 100 billion neurons.

To get a better idea and make it more visual, the human brain is made up of about 100,000,000,000 neurons. If this amount already surprises you, you should bear in mind that the number of synapses, that is, connections between neurons, is even greater since they can establish between them more than one connection at the same time.

5. It is estimated that you consume about 350 kilocalories daily

It is considered that the average human body consumes between 1,200 and 1,400 kilocalories per day, if the brain it needs approximately 350 kilocalories to function so it spends 20% of the energy consumption newspaper. This expenditure, close to a quarter, is proportionally high if we take into account that the brain accounts for only 2% of body weight.

6. The brain is capable of producing new neurons

Neurogenesis is the process by which new neurons are created, for example the hippocampus, which is the region of the brain that is mainly related to memory, is capable of producing about 1,400 new neurons each year.

7. It is made up of a high amount of fat.

Apart from the high percentage of water that forms the human brain, the other compound that represents a greater quantity is fatty tissue. This fact is due to an insulating layer that covers some neurons, called the myelin sheath, which is formed mainly by fat and have the function of helping the electrical potentials of these to be transmitted faster through the axon (part of the neuron).

8. The brain consumes itself if we don't feed it

It has been observed that if we follow very restrictive diets where the amount of energy that we contribute to the body is not enough, the cells of our brain begin to consume small parts of themselves in order to survive.

9. We use 100% of our brain

It is completely false that we only use 10% of the brain as is popularly said. On the contrary, our brain is so complex because it is capable of using 100% of its capacity, emphasizing In addition, it does it permanently, that is, the brain never stops working, not even when we slept.

10. Only 15% of brain cells are neurons

After knowing the number of neurons that make up the brain, we might think that these cells are the ones that are present in the largest number in the brain. brain, but this is not the case, there is another type of brain cells called glial cells, whose main function is to support the neurons, which can exceed 5 to 10 times the number of neurons, considering 85% of the brain.

11. brain plasticity

Brain plasticity is the ability of the brain to restructure and recover, thus being able to recover from disorders and injuries. This fact was verified in subjects who, after losing part of their brain mass, were able to continue living in a functional way thanks to other parts of the brain acquiring the abilities of the areas affected.

12. The brain generates two copies of each memory

In this way, it has been observed that the brain in the process of memorizing creates two memories, one is stored in the prefrontal cortex, located in the front part of the organ and a second memory in the subiculum located in the lower part of the formation hippocampus After a while, when the memory is no longer used, only the copy of this prevails in the prefrontal cortex, which is what gives rise to long-term memory.

13. We lose neural connections

When we get older the number of neural connections decreases, this fact is not alarming because as we pointed out before we have many connections, but we can observe a slowdown of some functions. This loss occurs in greater quantity in subjects with neurodegenerative pathology such as dementia, we must point out that if a neuron loses its connections it dies.

14. A brain injury can affect our personality

A fact that confirms that personality, apart from the environmental influence, also affects the most Biology is that cases have been observed where a brain injury has led to changes in the personality of the subject. A well-known case is that of Phineas Gage who in an accident an iron bar pierced his prefrontal cortex, Gage was able to recover from the injury but after this he showed a more disrespectful, irritable, capricious, impatient behavior, he was easily frustrated and had a hard time persisting to achieve his goals. objectives.

15. The brain is surrounded by fluid

The brain is not in direct contact with the skull, but is surrounded by fluid, called cerebrospinal fluid, which has the function of protecting the central nervous system from possible injuries.

16. Information in the brain travels at 360 km/h.

In order to respond and act in time to the different stimuli that are presented to us, it is necessary for our brain to send information at high speed. So we observe how after a thought arises, action appears quickly, taking only milliseconds.

17. Its length can reach 1000 km

The brain is made up of folds, so that it takes up less space, but we know that if If we could stretch the brain mass and put it in a straight line, it would travel a distance of 1000 km.

18. One part is dedicated exclusively to recognizing faces

There is a part of the cerebral cortex called the fusiform gyrus. whose function allows us to recognize faces. The impairment of this function is called prosopagnosia, which consists of the inability to recognize a familiar face, as it might be faces of relatives or even their own face, that is, in a photograph they can perceive the face but they will not be able to identify that they are they.

19. There are 10,000 different types of neurons

As we have already pointed out, our brain is made up of many neurons, and these may be of different types. Nearly 10,000 types of neurons have been observed. different with diverse functions, two of the main ones are the sensory ones, related to sensory perception and the motor ones that allow movement voluntary.

20. Brain activity is influenced by sunlight

The human brain consists of an endogenous clock that is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which is a region of the hypothalamus that has the main function of regulating rhythms. circadian, which are the cycles that last 24 hours, these rhythms are important for regulating sleep, eating, hormonal activity, cell regeneration and activity cerebral. The influence of sunlight occurs because this core captures changes in luminosity and According to these, it secretes a hormone called melatonin that will increase its amount during the night, favoring sleep..