Myth Busters: Brain Edition! 🧠

Did you know that the human brain is made up of 86 billion neurons? And each neuron is connected to thousands of others?

Did you know that the largest brain on earth belongs to the sperm whale? Its brain can weigh up to 20 pounds! In contrast, the Etruscan shrew has the smallest brain on earth, coming in at 62 milligrams!

Important Regions and Roles of our Brains 🧠

We all know it’s important, but how much do we really know about the human brain? Here’s a quick rundown on some (not all!) of the major regions of the brain:

• Cerebrum: this is the biggest part of the brain, and it’s responsible for everything from thinking, decision making, to sensory processing. It’s divided into 2 hemispheres (left and right) and 4 lobes:

  • Frontal lobe (the front of the brain): responsible for decision making, problem-solving, planning, and voluntary movements

  • Parietal lobe (the middle part of the brain, right behind the frontal lobe): responsible for processing sensory information, including touch, temperature, and pain

  • Temporal lobe (the sides of the brain, right above your ears): responsible for processing things we hear, as well as contributing to our memory and emotions

  • Occipital lobe (the back part of the brain): responsible for processing everything we see

• Cerebellum: this is located under the cerebrum, and is responsible for controlling all our voluntary movements, including balance

• Brainstem: this connects our brain to the spinal cord, and controls all our basic life functions

  • Midbrain: plays a crucial role in our vision, hearing, motor control, sleep cycles, and regulating our body temperature

  • Medulla Oblongata: controls many of our basic life functions, including breathing, our heart rate, and digestion

• Limbic system (“Emotional brain”): this is located deep in the brain, around the brainstem. It’s involved in many of our emotional responses, including:

  • Amygdala: this part is involved in our fear, pleasure, and anger emotional responses

  • Hippocampus: this part plays an essential role in learning and creating new memories, as well as spatial navigation

We know there’s many other parts of the brain we didn’t mention, but the brain is very complex!

3 Fun Facts about our Brains 🧠

Here’s some fun facts about the brain!

1. Even though we may feel like we’re constantly forgetting things, the brain has an almost unlimited storage capacity! It can hold up to 2.5 petabytes of information - about the equivalent of 3 million hours of TV shows!

2. Our brains are big consumers! Even though our brains make up only about 2% of our body weight, they consume around 20% of our body’s energy!

3. Our brains are fast! Information travels fast between our neurons. In fact, scientists have estimated that they can send signals to each other at speeds as fast as 268 miles per hour! And our brains are highly adaptable and are forming new neural connections throughout our lives, proving that we never stop growing!

And finally… is it true?

One common misconception is that we only use 10% of our brains. This is false, because almost all parts of our brains are active - even when we’re sleeping! When scientists have used advanced technology to measure our brain activity (using scans like fMRI or PET scans), they’ve seen almost every part of the brain light up with some activity, even during simple tasks. And as you saw when we highlighted the different parts of the brain and what each part is responsible for, our whole brain is busy doing a lot just to keep us alive each day!