Brain+Facts

__Fun Facts! __  The brain is by far the most fascinating organ in out body; controlling everything from breathing and learning to emotions. Who wouldn't love to hear a couple fun facts here or there to spice up the boring stuff? __Physical: ﻿﻿ physical make-up of the brain! __

- The human brain is roughly 3 pounds. - The cerebrum makes up 85% of the brain's weight. - The weight of your skin is twice that of your brain.

- The brain is made up of about 75% water.

- No pain receptors are present in the brain.

- The blood vessels in your brain could stretch out to be 100,000 miles long.

- Your brain consists of 60% white matter (dendrites and axons) and 40% grey matter (neurons).

 - The brain is the fattest organ in your body, containing 60% fat.

__Developing:  development of the brain starts in the womb and continues to grow 18 years past birth __ - The first sense developed is the sense of touch (occurs in the utero).

- You already know how to interpret emotions (joy, fear, sadness, etc.) at birth.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- At birth, your brain weighs almost as much as a fully developed adult brain.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- A newborns brain size nearly triples in the first year.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- The brain stops growing at age 18.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- The cerebrum grows thicker as you learn.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- New neurons form throughout life as a response to mental activity.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Reading aloud often and frequent communication promotes brain development.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Studies have proven that child abuse can permanently affect brain development by inhibiting it.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__ Brain Function : facts about the invisible and visible workings of the brain! __

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- The brain uses 20% of the oxygen in your body as well as 20% of the blood.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- On average, your brain generates about 16.5 watts of power (enough to power a lightbulb).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Yawning actually wakes you up. It gets more oxygen to the brain.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- The brain's processing speed ranges from .5 meters/second to 120 meters/second.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- The old "fact" that we only use 10% of our brain isn't true. Every part of the brain has a known function.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Excessive stress can ultimately alter brain cells, structure and function.

- A brain cell can only live without oxygen for 4 to 6 minutes.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"> - After 5 to 10 minutes without oxygen, your brain will likely suffer permanent damage.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="color: #ff0088; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 170%;">Psychology of the Brain: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">this is how the brain affects your experiences __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- The amygdala is responsible for your ability to read a person's face for clues as to how they are feeling.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- A new study has shown that the ringing in your ears is actually due to a brain function.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Women usually tend to take longer to make a decision but are more likely to stick with their decision than males.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Scientists discovered that men and women perceive pain differently.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- A study in Austrailia has shown that first-born children are more likely to have imaginary friends. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Some people are more sensitive to cold temperatures and actually interpret cold as pain in some cases.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Some people are naturally active while others are naturally inactive so it's harder to find motivation to exercise.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Researchers have seen that people who are experiencing sadness are more willing to spend money in an attempt to relieve some of the sadness.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="color: #ffff00; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 170%;">Memory: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">factors that influence memory! __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Frequent jet lag can cause excess stress which can ultimately impair one's memory.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Every time you remember something or have a new thought, a new connection is created in the brain.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- When a memory is triggered by a scent, it often has a stronger emotional connection.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Sleep helps for your brain to consolidate all of your memories from the day.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Anomia~ the tip-of-the-tongue syndrome.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Creating associations helps to form memory.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Lack of sleep impairs your ability to learn.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"> - Estrogen (which is found in men AND women) has been proven to promote better memory functions.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="color: #f76618; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 170%;">Dreams and Sleep: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">what occurs during your sleep. __

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Everyone dreams (including blind people). a dream is more than just a visual image.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- On average, people dream about 2 hours a night and can have up to 7 dreams in that time.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Studies whow that your brain shows more active waves as you sleep.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- When you're snoring, you're not dreaming.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- While you sleep, the body produces a hormone that prevents you from acting out in your dream.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- You're more likely to remember a dream when you are woken up in the middle of it.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Caffine works to block adenosine (naturally occurring chemical in the body), creating alertness. Scientists have recently discovered that doing the opposite-boosting adenosine- can actually help promote more natural sleep patterns.



__<span style="color: #00ffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 170%;">Fun, Interesting Facts and Famous Brains: __ <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">- A study has shown that about 6% of people who fly get headaches brought on from flying itself. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Laughing requires the use of 5 different areas of the brain.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- A human is believed to have over 70,000 thoughts in a single day. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Aristotle mistakenly thought that the functions of the brain actually took place in the heart.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- A person who is left-handed or ambidextrous has a corpus callosum that is about 11% larger than a right-handed person.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- Albert Einstein's brain was similar in size to other peoples except for the area that is responsible for math and spatial perception. That region was 35% wider than the average brain.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">- A brain thought to be 2000 years old was discovered recently at the University of York in England.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Here's a link to a short video to watch as a brief recap of what you've just read... []

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">References: __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">Brown, Pamela. "50 Brain Facts Every Educator Should Know." //Associates Degree//. N.p., 27 Jan. 2010. Web. 4 Oct. 2011. <http://www.associatesdegree.com/ 2010/01/27/50-brain-facts-every-educator-should-know/>.

Dr. Mercola. "Fascinating Facts You Never Knew About the Human Brain." //Mercola.com//. N.p., 22 Jan. 2009. Web. 4 Oct. 2011. <http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/01/22/ fascinating-facts-you-never-knew-about-the-human-brain.aspx>.

//Frequently Asked Questions About: Concussions//. N.p.: Rosen Publishing, 2010. Print.

"100 Fascinating Facts You Never Knew About the Human Brain."

//nursingassistantcentral.com//. N.p., 2011. Web. 4 Oct. 2011. <http://www.nursingassistantcentral.com/blog/2008/ 100-fascinating-facts-you-never-knew-about-the-human-brain/>.