Fun Facts About Your Brain

On a searing-hot summer Friday afternoon when I don’t feel like working, here are some fun facts about your brain.

As you’ve probably heard, the roughly six inches between your ears contains the most complex structure in the known universal. This marvellous post called 199 Fascinating Facts You Never Knew About the Human Brain is from a long-gone website for Nursing Assistant Central.

Did you know …?

Your brain weighs about 3 pounds (1.3 kilograms), and is roughly justg 2% of your total body weight. Your skin weighs more than you brain.

Your brain is made of both grey matter (40%, comprising neurons which gather and transmit signals) and white matter (60%, comprising dendrites and axons, or how the neurons send their signals.)

There are 100 billion neurons in your brain, and each neuron has between 1,000 to 10,000 synapses.

The average brain is 75% is water and 60% fat. It’s the fattiest organ in your body.

There are no pain receptors in your brain, so it can’t feel pain … no matter how stupid that idea is you have.

You can’t tickle yourself because your brain knows the difference between an unexpected touch and your own touch.

There are 100,000 miles of blood vessels in your brain. That’s about half-way to the moon.

A baby’s brain grows about 3 times its size in its first year, and stops growing at age 18.

Your brain uses 20% of the total oxygen in your body, and 20% of the blood circulating in your body.

Information can move as quickly as 268 miles per hour (or 431kph) in your brain.

During the day, your brain generates enough energy to power a light bulb – specifically about 10 to 23 watts or power.

I can’t resist throwing this statistic in: music lessons have shown to considerably boost brain organisation and ability in both children and adults.

Studies show that brain waves are more active while dreaming than when you’re awake.

Everybody dreams, even though you may not remember it. In fact, most people dream about 1-2 hours every night, and have an average of 4-7 dreams each night. Studies have shown that five minutes after a dream, half of it is forgotten. Ten minutes after a dream, more than 90% is forgotten.

The average number of thoughts that humans are believed to experience each day is 70,000. I’ve never been able to substantiate this quote, but it’s been said that 60% of your thoughts are the same thoughts you had yesterday, and worse, 80% of your thoughts are negative.

Have any other fun facs about your brain? Please add your comments below. Have a great weekend and stay cool!