The Amazing Human Brain..

The human brain has amazed and baffled people throughout the ages. Some scientists and researchers have devoted their entire lives to learning how the brain works. Here are some facts about your brain.

Physical Attributes

• The weight of your brain is about 3 pounds.


• Your skin weighs twice as much as your brain.


• Your brain is made up of about 75 percent water.Your brain consists of about 100 billion neurons.


• There are anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 synapses for each neuron.


• There are no pain receptors in your brain, so your brain can feel no pain.


• There are 100,000 miles of blood vessels in your brain.


• Your brain is the fattest organ in your body and may consists of at least 60 percent fat.

The Developing Brain

• At birth, your brain was almost the same size as an adult brain and contained most of the brain cells for your whole life.


• A newborn baby’s brain grows about three times its size in the first year.


• Humans continue to make new neurons throughout life in response to mental activity.


• The first sense to develop while in utero is the sense of touch.


• The lips and cheeks can experience touch at about 8 weeks and the rest of the body around 12 weeks.

Brain Function

• Your brain uses 20 percent of the total oxygen in your body.


• If your brain loses blood for 8 to 10 seconds, you will lose consciousness.


• While awake, your brain generates between 10 and 23 watts of power -- or enough energy to power a light bulb.


• The old adage of humans only using 10% of their brain is not true. Every part of the brain has a known function.


• The brain can live for 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen, and then it begins to die. No oxygen for 5 to 10 minutes will result in permanent brain damage.


• A study of 1 million students in New York showed that students who ate lunches that did not include artificial flavors, preservatives, and dyes did 14 percent better on IQ tests than students who ate lunches with these additives.

Psychology of Your Brain

• You can’t tickle yourself because your brain distinguishes between unexpected external touch and your own touch.


• There is a class of people known as supertasters who not only have more taste buds on their tongue, but whose brain is more sensitive to the tastes of foods and drinks. In fact, they can detect some flavors that others cannot.


• The connection between body and mind is a strong one. One estimate is that between 50-70 percent of visits to the doctor for physical ailments are attributed to psychological factors.

Memory

• Every time you recall a memory or have a new thought, you are creating a new connection in your brain.


• Memories triggered by scent have a stronger emotional connection, and therefore appear more intense than other memory triggers.


• While you sleep at night may be the best time for your brain to consolidate all your memories from the day. Lack of sleep may actually hurt your ability to create new memories.

Dreams and Sleep

• Most people dream about 1-2 hours a night and have an average of 4-7 dreams each night.


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


• Some people (about 12 percent) dream only in black and white while others dream in color.While you sleep, your body produces a hormone that may prevent you from acting out your dreams, leaving you virtually paralyzed.

How to Keep Your Brain Healthy: Nine Essential TipsA healthy lifestyle can help protect, nourish, and revitalize your brain. This includes:

1. Taking omega-3 fats. The omega -3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) keep the dopamine levels in your brain high, increase neuronal growth in the frontal cortex of your brain, and increase cerebral circulation. Krill oil is an excellent source of omega-3, and may even be superior to fish oil.

2. Exercising. Exercise may encourage your brain to work at optimum capacity by causing nerve cells to multiply, strengthening their interconnections and protecting them from damage.

3. Sleeping well. It’s during sleep that your mental energy is restored, and a lack of sleep may cause your brain to stop producing new cells.

4. Eating healthy. Like the rest of your body, your brain depends on healthy foods to function. While protein is the main source of fuel for your brain, vitamins and minerals from fresh veggies are also important, as is limiting sugar.

5. Getting out into the sun. This will help you maintain optimal vitamin D levels. Scientists are now beginning to realize vitamin D is involved in maintaining the health of your brain, as they’ve recently discovered vitamin D receptors in the brain, spinal cord, and central nervous system. There’s even evidence indicating vitamin D improves your brain’s detoxification process. For children and pregnant women, getting enough vitamin D is especially crucial, as it may play a major role in protecting infants' brains from autism.

6. Turning off the TV. Allowing children under the age of 3 to watch television can impair their linguistic and social development, and it can affect your brain chemistry as well.

7. Protecting your brain from cell phones. Recent studies have found that cell phone users are 240 percent more prone to brain tumors, and a study back in 2004 found that your risk of acoustic neuroma (a tumor on your auditory nerve) was nearly four times greater on the side of your head where your phone was most frequently held.

8. Challenging your brain. Mind-training exercises can keep your brain fit as you age. This can be something as simple as searching for famous people whose first names begin with the letter A, doing crossword puzzles or playing board games that get you thinking.

9. Avoiding foods that contain artificial sweeteners and additives. Substances such as aspartame (Nutrasweet) and MSG, which are common in processed foods, can damage your brain. For instance, consuming a lot of aspartame may inhibit the ability of enzymes in your brain to function normally, and high doses of the sweetener may lead to neurodegeneration. You may notice that all of these things will help not only your brain but also your entire body. So being good to your brain means enjoying better health from head to toe!

source: www.mercola.com