About This Quiz
You know you can't live without it. And you probably know that it is the body's control center. But how much do you really comprehend about the human brain?The human brain weighs an average of 3.3 pounds. That's about two percent of the average body weight.
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The cerebrum is made up of the two cerebral hemispheres and serves as the very top of the central nervous system.
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86 billion nerve cells, or neurons, are housed within the gray matter of the human brain.
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There are literally billions of nerve fibers in the human brain. These are made up of axons that carry nerve impulses.
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Synapses are connections, and there are trillions of them in your brain.
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There are two hemispheres, the right and the left, connected by the corpus callosum, which is made up of a bunch of nerve fibers.
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The human speech and language centers are in what we often call the left brain. These areas are called Broca's area (speech) and Wernicke's area (language).
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More creative abilities, like artistic ability, spatial reasoning and visual processing, are housed in the right hemisphere of the human brain.
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The corpus callosum is the bridge between the left and right hemispheres of the human brain. This bridge is made up of nerve fibers.
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The left hemisphere controls the muscles in the right side of the body and vice versa.
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Although math skills are primarily a left-brain activity, you use all of your brain all of the time.
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An EEG, or Electroencephalogram, measures electrical activity in the brain. It's one non-invasive way to study sleep patterns.
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The brain is an energy hog, consuming about 20% of the body's oxygen and energy resources.
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The right hemisphere controls the muscles in the left side of the body and vice versa.
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Your brain is about 73% water, but it takes only about a 2% water deficit (dehydration) to affect the way it functions.
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Although artistic skills are primarily a right-brain activity, you use all of your brain all of the time. Both eyes and both arms are surely involved.
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Work up a sweat for 90 minutes or more and your brain will shrink as much as if you have gotten a whole year older. (Yes, the brain shrinks as we age.)
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Your brain is made up of 60% fat, which means it is the fattiest organ in your body.
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Actually, your brain needs cholesterol, so that's not a bad thing. Without adequate cholesterol, your brain cells will start to die.
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Synapses are connections, and each neuron within your brain has about 40,000 of them.
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After five minutes, a lack of oxygen to the brain can cause irreparable damage.
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Close, but not exactly. A two-year-old's brain is about 80% the size of an adult brain.
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Definitely not! The human brain is not fully formed until about age 25.
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Not even close. Information travels through the brain at up to nearly 270 miles per hour. However, the slowest rate of travel is as low as one mile per hour.
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Your brain generates 12-25 watts of electricity. Maybe that's why cartoons often show a light bulb above the head for good thinking or a "bright idea."
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Out of those 50,000 thoughts, it is believed that as many as 70% of those thoughts are negative.
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Yup. Men's brains are about 10% bigger than women's brains, even once adjusted for the larger male body size.
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It's true! Einstein's brain weighed in at only 2.71 pounds, which is about 10% smaller than average. Not to worry, though, he had a greater than average neuron density, so he clearly made up for lost size.
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Actually, the biggest brain honor goes to the sperm whale, which has a brain that weighs in at 17 pounds.
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Actually, even when we're asleep, the majority of our brain is actively processing information. Don't spread the popular 10% myth.
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Actually, alcohol damages the ability of brain cells to communicate. It doesn't kill the cell itself.
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Oxygenated blood needs to reach every nook and cranny of the brain to keep it energized and functioning properly.
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Actually, the brain begins to lose steam at about age 24. However, different parts of the brain slow down at different times.
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Actually, your brain doesn't forget things when you're drunk - it can't form memories at all. That's why you don't remember what you did last night.
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During a hemispherectomy, half of the brain is removed or disabled. This operation may be done to prevent seizures - in extreme cases.
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