The human brain is the center of the human nervous system.

The brain monitors and regulates the

body's actions and reactions.

The human brain is thought to be the source of the conscious, cognitive mind. The mind is the set
of cognitive processes related to perception, interpretation, imagination, and memories, of which
a person may or may not be aware. Beyond cognitive functions, the brain regulates autonomic
processes related to essential body functions such as respiration and heartbeat.

Extended neocortical capacity allows humans some control over emotional behavior,

The brain performs an incredible number of tasks:

 It controls body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and breathing.

 It accepts a flood of information about the world around you from your various senses
(seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, etc).
 It handles physical motion when walking, talking, standing or sitting.
 It lets you think, dream, reason and experience emotions.

All of these tasks are coordinated, controlled and regulated by an organ that is about the size of a
small head of cauliflower: your brain.

Your brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves make up a complex, integrated information-
processing and control system. The scientific study of the brain and nervous system is called
neuroscience or neurobiology

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

2) The human brain is the fattest organ in the body and may consists of at least 60% fat.

3) Neurons develop at the rate of 250,000 neurons per minute during early pregnancy.

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

5) Alcohol interferes with brain processes by weakening connections between neurons.

6) Altitude makes the brain see strange visions – Many religions involve
special visions that occurred at great heights. For example, Moses
encountered a voice emanating from a burning bush on Mount Sinai and
Muhammad was visited by an angel on Mount Hira. Similar phenomena
are reported by mountain climbers, but they don’t think it’s very mystical.
Many of the effects are attributable to the reduced supply of oxygen to the
brain. At 8,000ft or higher, some mountaineers report perceiving unseen
companions, seeing light emanating from themselves or others, seeing a
second body like their own, and suddenly feeling emotions such as fear. Oxygen deprivation is
likely to interfere with brain regions active in visual and face processing, and in emotional
events.

7) Reading aloud and talking often to a young child promotes brain development.

8 ) Information travels at different speeds within different types of

neurons. Not all neurons are the same. There are a few different types
within the body and transmission along these different kinds can be as
slow as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec.

9) The capacity for such emotions as joy, happiness, fear, and shyness are
already developed at birth. The specific type of nurturing a child receives
shapes how these emotions are developed.

10) The left side of your brain (left hemisphere) controls the right side of your body; and, the
right side of your brain (right hemisphere) controls the left side of your body.

11) Children who learn two languages before the age of five alters the brain structure and adults
have a much denser gray matter.

12) Information can be processed as slowly as 0.5 meters/sec or as fast as 120 meters/sec (about
268 miles/hr).

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

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

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

16) For years, scientists believed that tinnitus was due to a function within the
mechanics of the ear, but newer evidence shows that it is actually a function of the
brain.

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

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

19) Each time we blink, our brain kicks in and keeps things illuminated so the whole world
doesn’t go dark each time we blink (about 20,000 times a day).
20) Laughing at a joke is no simple task as it requires activity in five different areas of the brain.

21) The average number of thoughts that humans are believed to experience each day is 70,000.

22) There are two different schools of thought as to why we dream: the physiological school, and
the psychological school. While many theories have been proposed, not single consensus has
emerged as to why we dream. Some researchers suggest that dreams serve no real purpose, while
other believe that dreaming is essential to mental, emotional and physical well-being. One theory
for dreaming suggests dreams serve to clean up clutter from the mind.

23) The Hypothalamus part of the brain regulates body temperature much like a thermostat. The
hypothalamus knows what temperature your body should be (about 98.6 Fahrenheit or 37
Celsius), and if your body is too hot, the hypothalamus tells it to sweat. If you’re too cold, the
hypothalamus makes you start shivering. Shivering and sweating helps get your body’s
temperature back to normal.

24) Approximately 85,000 neocortical neurons are lost each day in your brain. Fortunately, his
goes unnoticed due to the built-in redundancies and the fact that even after three years this loss
adds up to less than 1% of the total.

25) Differences in brain weight and size do not equal differences in mental ability. The weight of
Albert Einstein’s brain was 1,230 grams that is less than an average weight of the human brain.

26) A living brain is so soft you could cut it with a table knife.

27) There are about 100,000 miles of blood vessels in the brain.

28) London taxi drivers ,famous for knowing all the London streets by heart,
have a larger than normal hippocampus, especially the drivers who have been
on the job longest. The study suggests that as people memorize more and more
information, this part of their brain continues to grow.

29) 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.

 Your brain uses 20% of your body's energy, but it makes up only 2%
of your body's weight.
 Your cerebral cortex is about as thick as a tongue depressor. It grows thicker as you
learn and use it.
 Your brain is about 1300-1400 cubic centimeters in volume, about the size of a
cantaloupe and wrinkled like a walnut.
 The brain feels like a ripe avocado and looks pink because of the blood flowing
through it.
 Your brain generates 25 watts of power while you're awake---enough to illuminate a
light bulb.
 A newborn baby's brain grows almost 3 times in course of first year
 These are a few of the interesting facts on the human brain. You should also know lavender
would help to reduce insomnia and jasmine oil has the ability to restore mental alertness.
Dimensions and Sizes
 Average dimensions of the adult brain: Width = 140 mm/5.5 in, Length = 167 mm/6.5 in, Height
= 93 mm/3.6 in.
 How much does human brain weigh? At birth our brains weigh and average of 350-400g (about
4/5 lbs), as adults the brain averages 1300-1400g (about 3 lbs).
 If Stretched out the cerebral cortex would be 0.23 sq. m(2.5sq.ft), the area of a night table.
 Total surface area of the cerebral cortex is 2,500 cm2 or 2.69 sq.ft.

Composition
 The composition of the brain = 77-78% water, 10-12% lipids, 8% protein, 1% carbs, 2% soluble
organics, 1% inorganic salt.
 The breakdown of intracranial contents by volume (1,700 ml, 100%): brain = 1,400 ml (80%);
blood = 150 ml (10%); cerebrospinal fluid = 150 ml (10%).
 The cerebellum contains half of all the neurons in the brain but comprises only 10% of the
brain.
 The cerebral cortex is about 85% of the brain.
 Percentage of total cerebral cortex volume = frontal lobe 41%, temporal lobe 22%, parietal lobe
19%, occipital lobe 18%.
 There are about 100 billion neurons in the human brain, the same number of stars in our
galaxy.
 The left hemisphere of the brain has 186 million more neurons than the right hemisphere.
 750-1000ml of blood flow through the brain every minute or about 3 full soda cans.
 In that minute the brain will consume 46cm3 (1/5 cups) of oxygen from that blood.
 Of that oxygen consumed, 6% will be used by the brain's white matter and 94% by the grey
matter.

Times
 The brain can stay alive for 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen. After that cells begin die.
 The slowest speed at which information travels between neurons is 416 km/h or 260 mph, thats
as "slow" as todays supercar's top speed (the Bugatti EB 16.4 Veyron clocked at 253 mph).
 10 seconds is the amount of time until unconsciousness after the loss of blood supply to the
brain.
 Time until reflex loss after loss of blood supply to the brain, 40-110 seconds.
 During early pregnancy the rate of neuron growth is 250,000 neurons a minute.
Other Fun Facts About The Human Brain
 Results from cognitive tests show 30% of 80-year-olds perform as well as young adults.
 Your brain is about 2% of your total body weight but uses 20% of your body's energy.
 The energy used by the brain is enough to light a 25 watt bulb.
 More electrical impulses are generated in one day by a single human brain than by all the
telephones in the world.
 How much does human brain think? 70,000 is the number of thoughts that it is estimated the
human brain produces on an average day.
 After age 30, the brain shrinks a quarter of a percent (0.25%) in mass each year.
 Albert Einsteins brain weighed 1,230 grams (2.71 lbs), significantly less then the human
average of 1,300g to 1,400g (3 lbs).
 Each year Americans consume 50 billion aspirin tablets or 15.5 million tons.
 89.06 is the percentage of people who report normally writing with their right hand, 10.6% with
their left and 0.34% with either hand.

Memory

How Does the Memory Work?

Memory is defined as: the mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experience; The act
or an instance of remembering; recollection.

Our 5 Senses (vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell) help us to receive and record
information. The recorded information is sorted in our brains. This recorded information
becomes our "memory".

Types of Memory

1. Short Term Memory is remembering something that you recently saw or heard. An
example of short term memory is remembering the color of the car that just passed
by you. Short term memory is very brief. It only lasts about 5 seconds. In order to
remember the same information at a later time, your brain transfers this information
from your Short Term Memory to Long Term Memory. Short Term Memory can be
transferred to Long Term Memory by repeating the information, or visualizing it.
2. Long Term Memory contains information that you have recorded in your brain in
the past. An example of Long Term Memory is the gift you received for a birthday 5
years ago. Long term memory has no limit on capacity and can store vast amounts
of information.
Although long term memory always remains intact, sometimes it may take longer to recall
information.

Sometimes, it becomes very difficult to remember information. Difficulty results from

growing older and health conditions.

Yoga and Memory

To keep your memory in tip-top shape, exercise it. Yoga exercises can help improve your
memory.

Memory and Aging

As you get older, you may not be able to remember things as well as you did in your
younger years. This is a natural part of aging