These 10 Facts About Your Brain Will Blow Your Mind

Your brain has the power to control your body, affect your mood, and even impact motor functions. It’s also one of the most complex organs in the human body. From neurotransmitters to neurons, from the hippocampus to the cerebellum, we have a lot of information about everything that does happen within our brains. We’re not just taking about anatomy either: there are so many facts about this amazing organ that blows my mind on a daily basis.

Here are ten facts about your brain and how it works for you every day of your life.

1. Your brain is the most complex system in your entire body

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but it’s not just your brain that is the most complex organ in your entire body. Every single part of your body has its own separate system, and each one requires its own kind of nutrients to be properly functioning. Your brain is at least four times more complex than any other organ or system in your body, and it’s almost certainly more complex than any other organ ever invented.

2. Your brain is not as smart as you think it is

Think about the most brilliant person you know, and then think about how much smarter your brain is than that person’s. It’s true. Your brain may be amazing and powerful, but you shouldn’t expect to be as smart as you can possibly be. The reason for this? Simple: the maximum potential of your brain has not been reached because we are still evolving. The human brain has only been around for 2 million years, but it’s still developing at a rapid rate it will be hundreds of thousands of years before our brains reach their maximum potential.

3. The majority of your brain is not used for thinking

The majority of your brain does not facilitate thoughts, planning, memory and higher cognition. Only a small portion of your brain is used for these functions. Although the frontal lobe which is only subtly larger in primates seems to be the part of the brain that judges and analyzes things, it actually has a function in helping us use our five senses. The rest of the brain’s cortex helps you to process information from your senses then that information is temporarily stored in specific areas before being passed on to the frontal lobe for deeper analysis.

4. Your brain is capable of memorizing entire phone numbers

Your brain actually remembers phone numbers in such a way that it can cache them for later use even if you don’t think you’ve ever needed them before. You will be able to recall your phone number in future years, especially if you carry it with you in an easily accessible place, like a pocket. Every time you see the number on a store or bank receipt, or enter it into your smartphone, your brain will instantly recognize it and recall it without any problems whatsoever.

5. The brain is responsible for just 6 percent of your body’s energy consumption

Like any other organ, your brain primarily the cerebral cortex does consume some energy, but it only consumes about 6 percent of all the energy that you consume on a daily basis, either indirectly or completely through direct contact with outside elements. Compare that to liver 23%, kidneys 44% and heart 75% your brain only uses less than 1 percent of all the energy you get from food and less than 2% if you take into account just the direct effect on the body.

6. Because the brain is so complex, it can only remember the last few details you’ve experienced

If your brain only had to hold onto information for a short period of time like less than ten seconds before, it would probably be overloaded with data and have a hard time holding onto any of it as it is, your brain only holds on to about six events for at least 50 seconds each. If you think you can remember more than that amount of information, try doing this experiment: move something from one point in a room to another point in the same room while someone else is distracting you. You’ll find that you can’t remember anything but the last few details of what happened.

7. Your brain always tries to find patterns

No matter how similar or different two items are, your brain will try to find a pattern that connects both of them. The brain is constantly trying to connect different pieces of information in an attempt to create order and make sense of things. Patterns are one of the main reasons that some people have such a hard time trying new foods the taste, texture, smell and color are all at odds with what your brain expects, so it creates a disconnect between what you think you should be feeling and what it does feel. Most people eventually learn to overcome this by practicing exposure therapy like I did.

8. Your brain has something called functional lateralization

Your brain functions somewhat independently from itself. It’s not a completely separate entity, but it does have some independence. What this means is that certain parts of your brain are used for specific functions, the most notable being right-brained or left-brained individuals. Most human beings are right brained this just means that they use their right hemisphere more than they do their left. As far as I can gather, there are really only two types of people: those who use their right brain more and those who use their left brain more.

9. You can literally make your brain smaller

This is completely insane, and I’ve never told anyone about it. But the fact is, you have the power to shrink your brain simply by repeating a certain set of words. Each time you repeat a set of words with no variation, it will get smaller and smaller until you’re back at the beginning size again! Yes! All it takes is literally saying certain words while thinking they’re real and not just any thoughts, but specific phrases that increase stress or cause negative emotions. You don’t even have to say them out loud: just try to repeat the phrase in your mind as many times as you can in a row.

10. You can literally make your brain larger

This is the best part. If you memorize a certain set of words, it will increase in size and the more words you memorize, the larger it gets. This is usually only good for children, though: no one really uses these techniques for adults because adults tend to get bored with them. However, if you’ve ever tried to memorize something word for word like a poem or song then eventually forgot or lost most of it over time then this article should interest you! The pleasure and pride that comes from being able to recite something you’ve practiced so hard to memorize is worth the effort.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the human brain is indeed incredible and absolutely massive in size, complexity and functionality most people don’t even realize how powerful the mind can be. The human brain has the ability to memorize entire phone numbers, remember events that happened multiple years ago just by hearing them mentioned a few times, and take into account all sorts of feelings and feelings of others. You can literally make your brain smaller or larger by repeating certain words over and over again.